Last Sunday was Trinity Sunday in which we proclaimed the Triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in whom we trust and believe in. This God is truly rich in mercy and love. As we trust in Him, and lean not upon our own understanding, but rather allow mysteries to be mysteries, we recognize that the Lord’s will is for our salvation, to receive His true riches of forgiveness, love, and mercy, now and for eternity. In this life we are to trust in the Lord, not upon our own possessions, and the things of this earth. He has taught us to crave the true riches now He offers in His Means of Grace, and in turn be rich in mercy and love to our neighbor.
Today we heard of a man who was rich in earthly wealth and money but was not rich in mercy. By way of the story of Lazarus and the rich man, our Lord is teaching us that we can only get into heaven by hoping and trusting in God by faith, and faith comes from hearing and heeding the Word of God. Our text shows us the importance of hearing the Word of God and keeping it.
Our Lord speaks of a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, such as those who lived in luxury and were in king’s courts. This rich man “fared sumptuously every day” (v. 19); that means he had a feast every day, not just on special occasions. When would we normally enjoy a feast? We tend to eat feasts at Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving dinners, perhaps when we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, Independence Day or some other holiday. In Scripture, there is nothing wrong with celebrating special events and occasions. Not only do we have in Scripture the image of the marriage feast, but in Luke’s Gospel just prior to this text, we heard of several feasts. In the Lord’s parable of the “prodigal” or lost son, the father threw a feast because his son who once was lost had been found. The shepherd whose sheep had been lost invited his friends to rejoice with him once he found it. The woman did likewise when she found her lost coin. Such times of rejoicing could involve an extravagant feast. However, the rich man did not wait for a special occasion to have a feast, he rejoiced in his riches, his friends, and in himself and his pride, glorifying and worshipping these earthly things in the meantime. He gorged himself every day while a poor beggar lay at his gate, a man named Lazarus. This poor man would have been happy to eat merely the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. However, he did not get even the crumbs. He was also so weak that he could not fend off the dogs that licked his sores or it could mean that the dogs were the only ones showing care. Regardless, day after day Lazarus lay at the rich man’s gate, hungry and sore, no doubt dying. Day after day the rich man passed through his gate, aware of Lazarus but not lifting even his little finger or giving the tiniest charity to help his neighbor in desperate need. The rich man had not the love of God in his heart, nor the love for his neighbor…only the love of self.
And it came to pass that both men died. Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. That is to say, Lazarus died and is brought to heaven. The rich man, however, was in torment in the fires of hell. Such a notion was contrary to many a Jewish thought: not the concept of hell and judgment, but the concept that the rich man would be in punishment. You see, the Scribes, Pharisees and many others of that time were the prosperity Gospel preachers of their day, they believed that you get what you deserve here on earth, therefore if Lazarus was poor, hungry, and diseased; he must have been a sinner and afflicted by God. The rich man may well have been considered righteous or at least favored by God. However, the opposite was true. No doubt the Lord spoke this parable to point out the evil and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The rich man was in hell, although he was Jewish, He was in name or in blood only. He may have been a physical descendant of Abraham, but he certainly was no spiritual descendant. The spiritual descendants of Abraham in those days placed their trust in the Messianic promises, the promises uttered by the Prophets, speaking of the coming of the Messiah. In these days they (spiritual descendants of Abraham, that is, Christians) place their trust in the Messiah who has come and will come again. If the rich man had been a faithful believer, he would have heard Moses and the Prophets and believed the Word of the Lord and repented in life and been rich and mercy understanding his own need for mercy and forgiveness. Yet there he was—in hell—unrepentant…and still arrogant. He still thought of Lazarus as little more than an errand boy, a slave. From hell, the rich man cried out, “Father Abraham!” He wanted Abraham to send Lazarus down to hell and comfort him. But the sainted patriarch reminded him that there was a gulf fixed between heaven and hell, a gulf no one could cross; one would either be in heaven or in hell forever after death. There was and could be no crossing over between the two.
The rich man then asked Abraham to send Lazarus to the rich man’s brothers to warn them of what was awaiting them in hell. Abraham responded, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (v. 29). They needed to hear the Word of God and believe it, for, as we hear in Romans 10, faith comes from hearing. The place to hear the Word of God had been in the liturgy of the synagogue and temple, just as the place to hear the Word today is here in the Lord’s house, for He comes to us in His Word. The rich man thought little of God’s Word in his life, it was no priority; he didn’t need it. The Word was not enough for the rich man or his brothers, maybe if something spectacular happened, like someone coming back from the dead, maybe then they would be moved to repent. But Abraham rightly said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead” (v. 31).
It is Moses and the prophets that testify of the resurrection that is promised to those who live a life of repentance and faith, glorifying and trusting in God and His promises, feasting on His Word, waiting for the Messiah and showing love and mercy to one’s neighbor. Faith only comes by hearing God’s Word as it is proclaimed in God’s Word, in its preaching, teaching, and application in the sacraments which announce God’s righteous Law to work repentance and then the Gospel announces the fulfillment of God’s messianic promises in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
Many people of this day and any age miss this message, they feast and celebrate at the altar and table fellowship of selfish pride. Whether they seek after the physical treasures of this life for their own enjoyment and glory, or they deny the pleasures of this life and try to fulfill the law in order to earn salvation, they are united by their false worship of self. They miss out on that which is necessary for salvation, the message of our and all people’s unworthiness. The fact is all people in the eyes of God’s Law are more miserable and in more poverty than Lazarus because of our sin. The sores of our sin, fester, yet quite often we, like the world, wear them as badges of honor and glory in our shame.
But it is the Word of God’s Law that like Lazarus causes us to see our sinful condition, turning to God, begging for His mercy for Christ’s sake to be healed.
Unlike the rich man in the story who had no mercy, God is rich in mercy and love, so He sent His Son down from heaven, Jesus Christ, to take our sins and the sins of the world upon Himself. Jesus, the Son of God, fulfilled the Law, yet became despised and destitute of earthly glory, wearing the wretched rags of our sin upon His flesh, being crucified to pay the demands of the Law. He is the One testified about by Moses and the prophets, the One who did rise from the dead as a testimony of God’s justice and love. So we have Moses, the Prophets, and He who has been risen for the dead, yet sadly many refuse to turn while there is time.
How do we obtain this faith which can save us from ending up like the rich man? How is faith restored when we have sinned? How is it strengthened and renewed? Only by hearing His Word, repenting, receiving His Grace, and living by the wealth of those treasures as they are outpoured in His Divine Service and in the study of Scripture. These are they that testify of Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and ascended for the forgiveness of sin.
Here, we who are beggars, come and receive that forgiveness for Christ’s sake and are renewed in our baptismal grace and received again into the bosom of the Church, the place of shelter and rest in Jesus Christ. Here the Lord rejoices over us with all the saints who have gone before us, with all the angelic host, that we who were lost have been found and redeemed again! Here Jesus comes to serve and welcome us, to forgive us our sins, too bind up our wounds, and make us whole. Here He makes a feast in His body given for you and His blood shed for you, to strengthen you as we rejoice. Responding with shouts of Alleluia, that is Praise the Lord! Confessing that faith that He has given us. Then having received such uncountable and profound riches of grace and mercy, we in turn, strengthen each other, serving, admonishing, and exhorting one another to faithful unity in the confession of Christ’s teachings, and in loving service to each other here and then of course, also in the community. Respecting life but not worshipping the things of this earth and its priorities and neglecting the proclamation of repentance and life in Christ.
Let us ever return here for comfort and hope, for our hope where we meet the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be in His presence and hear His Word. Let us feast and rejoice this day and in this grace until the day that we are brought by His angels, to eternally bask in the joy of our Lord to evermore rest at the side and bosom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Pr. Aaron Kangas