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THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY June 2, 2024 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto Lutheran Service Book Divine Service III – Pages 184-202 OPENING HYMN: 655 ”Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8ViZi7M5p4 The Introit Psalm 13:1-4; antiphon, verses 5-6 I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. Glory be to the Father and to the Son And to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) Congregation: Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. The Salutation – Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And also with you. Our Collect Payer: O God, the strength of all who trust in You, mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing, grant us Your grace to keep Your commandments, that we may please You in both will and deed; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Bible Readings: First Reading Genesis 15:1-6 Psalm 33:12-22 Epistle Reading 1st John 4:16-21 The Verse (Psalm 7:1) Alleluia. O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me. Alleluia. Gospel Reading Luke 16:19-31 The Apostles’ Creed Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 545 “Word of God, Come Down on Earth” THE SERMON – The last words Martin Luther wrote before he died may well have been inspired by our Gospel account of the rich man and Lazarus. Luther wrote, "We are all beggars. This is true." At times, every one of us feels like Lazarus. Vulnerable, in need, perhaps alone, we can watch a world that parties and feasts, and often ignores those going through hardships. And though each of us before God is, like Lazarus, poor and helpless, we haven’t had to settle for mere crumbs fallen from God’s table. Instead, we’ve been invited and seated at the Lord’s feast now in the Church. One day Christians will finally be carried to Heaven to be with God, the source of all true riches and eternal life. This is a message from today’s Gospel lesson. It’s the Good News of Christ. Yet there’s also a warning from Jesus here. It’s not the caution a casual reading of Scripture might leave us with, but an important warning none-the-less. Let’s go back to this account of Lazarus. And I call it that because Jesus doesn’t use the word parable to describe it, but He does include a name, Lazarus, and that’s unique. This is only parable where Christ uses a name, so it may have been an actual individual. The name Lazarus in Hebrew means, “the one whom God helps.” And that was certainly true for this poor man. God ultimately helped him, saved him, when no one on earth would. The rich man in passage is heartless, wicked, and most importantly, faithless. His money has become an idol, his ‘god.’ He knowingly withholds food and shelter from the poor man outside his door. We could take away the lesson that being a child of God is no guarantee of an easy life. And that would be true, but it’s not the point of the account. Neither is the greed of the rich man the real message. It’s only a tool in the story. How do we know the rich man knowingly ignored Lazarus? Because he recognizes him lying comforted at the side of Abraham. He’s been aware of Lazarus, and consciously withheld what he needed. So, the scene is set: the good but poverty-stricken, versus the rich and uncaring. Where could we find this contrast? Sadly, today, in many countries, even in our own. Should we care about those less fortunate than us? Of course. Should we respond to them, and take a warning from these words? Yes. Is that the key point Jesus is making. No. We can draw those lessons from the account, but so can the un-believer. The heart of the message lies deeper. Lazarus dies, and we’re told he’s carried away by angels to be comforted by Abraham. Then the Rich Man also dies, and his fate is coldly reported simply as "being buried.” Immediately, the rich man finds himself in Hell. A place of fire that never goes out, and where pain doesn’t cease, as Jesus describes it elsewhere. It’s real. The rich man sees Lazarus at a great distance. He is at peace. The rich man, however, doesn’t repent, say he’s sorry, or turn to faith. He asks Abraham to have Lazarus fetch some water for him. He’s reminded by Abaham of how, when the situation was reversed during life, Lazarus received no such mercy from Him. And things are so arranged now that Lazarus can’t provide the requested relief. Are we supposed to be frightened by the threat of condemnation here? Yes, but still, it’s not the account’s purpose. Everyone hearing these words from Jesus understood the justice of the situation. They knew evil will suffer in judgment. They knew God called them to be compassionate. Then the rich man asks for Lazarus to be sent to his brothers, to warn, and spare them the misery of his condition. Abraham says they have Moses and the Prophets. They have Holy Scripture, the Word of God to warn and instruct them! Then the rich man makes his point, that the Scriptures didn't work with him! He had ignored the Word of God. He reasoned that Scripture and the Church might not work, but if someone came calling from the grave, that kind of sign would wake his brothers up! Those listening to Jesus might have been in agreement with the rich man on this point. We might be tempted to agree too. The Word of God just doesn’t seem to get through to some people. They either won’t go to Church to hear it preached, or if they do, they just won’t take it seriously. The feeling for some appears to be that God’s Word is always there, and it will wait until they’re ready to believe. This is where the account of Lazarus by Jesus is really going. Jesus drops the whole message on His listeners then, and now, when He says: 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.' Christ is saying that if the powerful Word of Almighty God won’t reach some people, neither will a corpse rising out of the ground persuade them. Our Saviour is blunt in saying if His Word doesn’t move someone, nothing can, or will. Now, I imagine there were a lot of people listening that day who disagreed. And I’d guess that some of them thought a person rising from the dead would move people to sit up, and believe. But that’s a little like the people who say, if Noah's Ark were found, it would prove the Bible is true and bring the world around to the Christian faith. Unfortunately seeing Noah's Ark didn’t work that way for people back when it was built. So why would it work for skeptics today? Jesus gave the world the ultimate proof of what He said by dying and then rising from the tomb. And some of the very people who were listening that day, like the Pharisees Luke tells us were there, may have witnessed His death. The Pharisees knew from many credible witnesses, even one of their own, Nicodemus, that Christ did rise from the grave, and yet they would not believe in Him. In First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Paul gives a list of people who saw the risen Jesus. These witnesses included the twelve disciples, James the brother of Jesus, and a group of more than 500 people at the same time. Some of the Pharisees and Scribes even tried to silence witnesses to the resurrection. They paid the Roman guards at the empty tomb to lie about it. Jesus has risen from the grave, but not all people believe. Christ has risen, but many sin boldly, or call sin something to be proud of. They’ve heard about hell and damnation, yet they just shrug it off. But if the Word of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit, can’t move them to faith at some point in their life, nothing can or will. Your sins have been forgiven because Jesus died in your place on the cross. He rose from the grave to prove sin, death and hell have been conquered, and taken out of your future. It was His resurrection that mattered for the whole world. And as believers you will rise from death one day by the power of Jesus, and live with Him forever. Should we live a life of compassion? Yes. We should try, that is the will of God. But will that save us? No. As sinful human beings, we can’t live a perfect life. Jesus, our Saviour, did that for us, and paid for our sins at Calvary. Believe it. Listen to the Word of God about the One who rescued you. Christians have the comfort that one day, despite the pain and hardships of this life, we will be held by God, and have peace, and all we need from Him. This account of Jesus is meant to tell us where saving faith comes from. The Bible makes clear in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” You are born again by a Word that is living, powerful, and imperishable. It is the Holy Spirit that uses God’s means of grace, His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to work and sustain faith within us. And so, as believers, whatever your status in the eyes of the world – no matter your outward appearance or success as measured by earthly standards –you will be carried by angels to paradise. Until that time, Christians will be nurtured by the true Church, where God’s Word is taught correctly, and the Sacraments administered properly. Where we are given a foretaste of Heaven. May the peace that passes all understanding comfort you, and keep Your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 (Our Communion Hymn is 641 “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart”) Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 CLOSING HYMN: 504 “Father Most Holy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIqp4p2rdJs