Let us
pray, Gracious God, You inspired Moses and the prophets with Your Holy Spirit
and this morning we hear they are enough to hear to prevent our being in agony
in the flame. Your word is truth and
when we trust in You and what Moses and the prophets prophesied about the Son
of God, our salvation is assured. For we
want to be like Lazarus and be comforted when we enter into Your kingdom,
because of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary for all of us saints
gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.
AMEN.
When I
first began teaching Lutheranism 101, I asked a question that caused everyone
to do a double take. I asked, ‘Are you
in or of the world?’ At first glance
this question would easily be answered, ‘of course, I am in the world.’ But like an onion, peel a layer back and this
question is not asking about the physical location, but more as a Christian,
‘do you believe in the world’s values and beliefs and what is important?’
Ironically
in our Gospel lesson this morning the story of the rich man and Lazarus begs
the question for all of us, ‘are we in or of the world?’ Lazarus lived in the world. He was a poor man who laid at the gate of the
rich man. Dogs licked Lazarus wounds and
sores, while the rich man ate extravagantly and dressed in purple and fine
linen which is the color of royalty. The
rich man was both ‘in the world’ and ‘of the world’, but Lazarus was ‘in the
world’, but not ‘of the world’. They
both died and Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom and the rich man went to Hades
also known as “HELL”. The rich man was
in torment in a dry place where his tongue was in agony and flame. But why did the rich man want to have some
relief? Why this was happening to him
since his life had been so good and he was never in need? But now all he wanted was a small measure of
relief. Once the rich man understands
there will be no relief in Hell, he wants to warn his brothers, but Abraham
says, your brothers have Moses and the prophets, that is enough. And the rich man counters, ‘they like me
won’t listen’, but ‘send someone from the dead to warn them, then they will
repent’. However, Abraham knows, ‘even
if someone rises from the dead’ the rich man’s brothers will not believe.
This
story told by Jesus is meant for us today.
We hear the lessons from the Old Testament and New Testament in our
worship service. We confess our sins and
we do our time here at church and we like the rich man expect to enter into the
pearly gates of heaven. But the sad
reality is we like the rich man who rested on his laurels and looked only after
himself and cared for no one else will reap what we sow. Moses and the prophets are clear, Jesus
Christ came into this world in order that we might be saved through Him.
We
Christians today are called to live ‘in the world’, but not to be ‘of the
world’. We like Abraham to the rich man
are called to trust and believe in Moses and the prophets and what they
proclaimed. We are called by name in our
baptism to be active participants in the world in which we live, not having the
morals and values of the world. We are
called to hold each other accountable and responsible for our actions as
children of our heavenly Father. But we
are also called to not be ‘of the world’, but like Lazarus live ‘in the world’.
Our
Epistle says it so well, we know ‘God is love, and the one who abides in love
abides in God, and God abides in him’.
And the promise God makes to and for each of us in our baptism into
Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection is that in abiding in God, “love is
perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment;
because He is, so also are we in this world”.
We like Lazarus are not ‘of this world’, we are Christians called by
name by God, baptized into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection and made
heirs of eternal life are set free from the bonds of the devil. We are not bound by sin, death, the devil,
hell and damnation. Jesus Christ set us
free because of His great love for each and every one of us and we now can live
‘in the world’, but not be ‘of the world’.
The rich
man illustrates very clearly his desire to ‘change’ what would occur with his
brothers. Unlike in Groundhog Day, where
the main character Phil Connors can ‘redo’ his entire day over and over again,
the rich man cannot. We here today in
Goodland, KS have the opportunity to ‘change’ what we do and how we do it. We can unlike the rich man pay attention to
Lazarus and impact people in our daily lives.
We can reach out and aid the sick and the down trodden. We can hear the words of Moses and the
prophets and say, to everyone we meet, Jesus Christ came into this world for
you and for me. We have someone, Jesus
Christ Who rose from the dead and set us free from our sins and that is the
promise that we can share with one another.
We unlike the rich man are gathered here today to be fed with God’s Holy
Word from Moses and the Prophets and we are equipped to not only engage in
ministry, but as we begin our Vacation Bible School this evening to spread the
message of Jesus Christ and what He did on the Cross of Calvary for all of us
saints ‘in but not of the world’ gathered here at Emmanuel this morning. AMEN.
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