Trinity 1 2021

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. John 16:19-31

Trinity 1

June 6/10, 2021

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus rings in our ears as though, on the one hand, the only way to heaven is to be financially poor—to have nothing and to eat the crumbs and scraps that fall from the dinner tables of the rich. On the other hand, those who go to hell are the rich—those who eat sumptuously, who have everything their hearts desire. Perhaps the marxists, the socialists, and humanists are right. The parable rings in our ears as though it is a tale of equalization. All things even out in the end. The rich man becomes poor and spends an eternity in hell. The poor, then, through struggle, become rich, having everything and are comforted in heaven. But that’s not the way it works. That’s not actually what the parable is about. Many rich people are devout and pious Christians. Many poor people reject Jesus outright. The contrast between Lazarus and the rich man is not found in their wallets, or their works, but in their hearts. For while it seems as though hungry Lazarus has nothing besides the mercy of canines, in truth, he has riches the world can scarcely imagine. Lazarus has Moses and the prophets.

Now throughout his life, the rich man rejected Moses and the prophets. The term “Moses and the Prophets” is shorthand for “Holy Scripture.” And so during his earthly life, the rich man had nothing to do with the Bible, or the teaching of Holy Scripture, or the things of faith. But it must be said, that the rich man did have a certain kind of faith. He had an historical faith. But this kind of faith does not save. Even the rich man knew that there was a God. For he himself cries out from heaven, even to Father Abraham and he realizes that there is a heaven in the midst of hell. But throughout his life, he did not have justifying faith. Even the devil and demons have an historical faith. Even people of other religions—those who practice modern day Judaism, Islam, even the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons have what is called an historic faith. Sure, they may believe that there is a God. They may even believe that Jesus was a real person, who walked this earth some 2000 years ago. But what none of these people truly believe in, including the rich man in hell, is what Moses and the Prophets proclaim: God is Triune, Jesus is consubstantiate with the Father, Jesus is God and man and He ransomed the entire world from sin and death by His own blood on the cross, and that He desires all people to turn from their sinful ways.  

All who reject Moses and the Prophets, who reject Holy Scripture and God’s Word, or who desire to conjure up their own interpretation will end up in hell. The rich man rejected Moses and the Prophets. Even in hell’s fire, even despite the witness of Abraham himself, the rich man refuses to believe that Moses and the prophets can save his brother, “No, father Abraham,” he says, “Moses and the Prophets aren’t enough. The testimony of Holy Scripture is not enough. Rather, do something else for me. Send someone from the dead and then they will believe.”

Those who enter into eternal life are the sheep. Those who enter into the eternal fires of hell are the goats. The stubbornness of the goats perseveres into eternity. They want to be judged by their works. They want a god of their own design, who looks like them and gives them what they want. Thus, did our Lord calmly hand over the pharisees and the priests to their self-chosen faith with one of the saddest sentences in all of the Scriptures, “They have their reward. 

Longing for crumbs from the table, while dogs licked his wounds, miserable Lazarus found no mercy from the rich man, no crumbs to satisfy his hunger, no medical treatment for his wounds, and no friendship for his ego. The kingdom of men rejected him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hid their faces he was despised, because he was a beggar. He was ugly and arrayed with sores.

But in the end, Lazarus found what he sought. He found mercy that endures forever. He found Living Water and Bread from Heaven. He found satisfaction and health. He found it in Moses and the prophets. For he himself found there a Man, in worse shape than himself. A Man who was no man but a worm, condemned for sins He did not commit, in whom there was no beauty, no comeliness, and surrounded by dogs. That Man bore the iniquity of all the evil that fallen men have done, so that fallen men like Lazarus and the rich man and all of who ever lived might go free.[†]

The earthly situation that Lazarus found himself in was that of a beggar. He had nothing. And he wasn’t too proud to beg. God gives to His children all things that they have. And we are not worthy of any of it. For He gives us clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all we have. He provides for us and supports us with all that we need. He defends us from all danger and guards and protects us from all evil. For we are not worthy of any of this. But God gives us these things only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us. We are His children. So also, does He provide for us His only-begotten Son to purchase us not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood.

This grace is not earned. For the works of men are but filthy rags and they don’t merit salvation. Yet this grace is freely given. And this grace was also granted to the beggar Lazarus. For the God of Abraham, the Christ—God’s anointed—foreseen and prophesied by Moses and all the prophets, found Lazarus through His word. So that Lazarus, for all his trouble in this sad life, now knows perfect joy and peace. Soon also the heavy chastisement leveled against even you, will be taken away, and the angels will bear you home.

Our prayer is that God in His perfect wisdom and grace would make us like that beggar, helpless, weak, and dependent, trusting in no one else but Him, satisfied with no other food, and drinking no other wine. That we would be dogs eating underserved crumbs from God’s banquet table, licking His wounds unto salvation, and basking forever in His love. For of such, dogs and children, drunks and outcasts, beggars and sinners all, is the Kingdom of God.

In +Jesus’ name.

[†] The previous three paragraphs are adapted from a sermon preached by Pastor David Petersen on Trinity 1.