Bloghardt's Reflector

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. (St. Luke 16:19-31)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Today's Gospel turns everything upside down—everything we wretched sinners esteem so highly.

This parable puts the high and mighty, those who are so sure of themselves because they've got great big gods surrounding them, like stocks, bonds, securities, cash and nice things—this parable turns the bucket over and buries such people. It even pushes them into the torment of hell.

Thank God for that part of the parable. Because it's all meant to save you and me from the unending flames of perdition. But that is only one side of the overturning. He has cast down the mighty in their own conceit; the rich He has sent empty away.

But then there is the Gospel, the center of Moses and the Prophets, which turns things over too. It takes someone who is least esteemed by the world, by the clergy, by popular opinion—it takes such a person, even Lazarus, and puts him in the hands of the angels, in the bosom of Abraham, in the comfort of That Place.

Lazarus was not surrounded by the gods we adore: no money, no fine things, no future, no luxury, not even a home, a place to lay his head.

The only god Lazarus had was the true God, the One whose care is the lowly and the downcast, the widows and orphans in their distress, those who call on Him as their only Help.

The only god Lazarus had was the true God, Who was walking around in the midst of sinful men, so lowly Himself, trying to warn them before they all ended up in a fire that is not quenched.

This is our God, dear people: the true God, Who appeared in the person of His Son. He was not surrounded by the gods we all respect, by hordes of followers, by high approval numbers, by riches, huge homes and cash stuffed in the bank. The only God He had was the One Who called on Him to do two things—the two things you and I will never learn to do in this world: to love God only, that is to follow His Word and commands; and then to love those who looked like Him, high and low, rich and poor, His neighbors.

Jesus spent His life doing those things that you and I so often think are not very important. His eye was on the poor and downcast, on those around Him who needed so much. Where are your eyes? On others? Or only on yourself?

He lived the truth that He brought nothing into this world and will nothing out of it. He lived the life of godliness with contentment, which is a great gain for everyone.

It is a great gain for you! For His work, Life and Death—that is the whole reason that when you die, angels, swift messengers of your dear Father in heaven, will be right there to carry YOU to Abraham's side. This godly, contented, faithful, good life of Another One, of Jesus the Christ—your only true God—That Life is your life now; It counts for you;

His life takes the place of our proud sins, of our idolatry of money and things, and the poor way we speak of others who are so near to us, the poor way we treat people right at the door of our homes.

You don't go to hell because you are rich in things, nor go to heaven because your life was hard here, and you didn't have the nice things you so much coveted. Nobody should go to heaven—and we should all go to perdition.
God's Son saves us from the burning pit, and sets our feet, NOW, in This Life, on the path of contented, godly living. Such a life praises the God of Life, and cares for the lives of others.

You and I deserve no angels—just six feet of dirt and a shovel. You and I deserve no ascent, but rather a deep drop. You and I, by our utter disregard of God, by our consuming care about ourselves, but so little care for the next guy—you and I deserve no comfort and cool water, but flames and a torment that does not end.

With that Word of condemnation, hope begins to dawn. For if we are this wretched then you and I are counted by God as Lazarus. The only God we have, the only hope we have, is The Lowly Man Who lived the only godly life. The only God we have is the One Who was killed by those who loved money more than others, who loved their station in the world more than god.

The Bible says that the priests, the Pharisees—those who were certain of heaven because they had riches they so much loved—such people plotted and carried out the death of this poor man, Who did nothing but good in His life; good for others, good in the eyes of God.

And when He died, He took upon Himself the fires we so richly deserve. Then He quenched the fires for you and me with the waters of Holy Baptism, marking us as His own, no matter how little the world esteems you and me OR our Baptism.

And to keep us to that day, He feeds us with what the world thinks are only crumbs and a great big nothing, while they feast on the riches they have piled up for themselves. What the world thinks are crumbs, poor Lazaruses confess as the True Body that was broken for us, and the True Blood of Jesus, which was shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

Dear Saints of God, there is a heaven; there is a home of God with men, in which He treats us not as we deserve, but as Jesus deserves.

And, dear Saints of God, there is a fire, a burning gehenna, a hell. There is an home—if you can call it that—in which we get what we deserve. If we continue in our impenitence, in our hardness of hearts, we are doomed to a place of torment from which we will never escape.

The Word of God condemns us to such a spot. You are doomed; and I am doomed. The rich man did not care for the poor man at his door. How often must you admit that you do not care for the people even inside of your house, in your church, much less strangers who need the stuff you have so much of?

The rich man cared nothing for the Word of God—but thought that miracles, like people rising from the dead, was great TV. Do you hold the Word as able to save you? Or are you more interested in the season finale of your favorite TV show?

The parable of our Lord ends with words of doom falling from the blessed in heaven upon the damned in the agony of hell. How shall it end for you and me today? What's the last word over us?

I can't tell you anything to do to save yourself from such a bad end. If I put anything in your hand, in your power, to do to improve this situation, I will just secure a spot in hell for you.

Moses and the prophets do not offer us a self-improvement plan to keep ourselves from hell. Moses and the prophets tell us to love God without fail or die. Moses and the prophets order us to love our neighbor as ourselves, or suffer forever the neglect we have shown to others in this world.

For no amount of money, no amount of re-thinking, no amount of sorrow or changing our ways will satisfy the demands of Moses and the prophets. No amount of tears will put out the fires of hell that we have stoked for ourselves.

Our only hope is the only hope Lazarus had. There is a God, the Only True God- who is your Heavenly Father. He sent His Son into the world to live a good life for you and to die your death. Jesus did these things.

And now, to put out the fires of hell, He has baptized us into His Name, into the family of God. That Baptism is our hope of escaping damnation—for we are baptized into the other Lazarus, the poor and rejected Jesus Who has been to heaven and hell.

And He preaches His Word in our midst, the Law, to teach us the good we should do, to teach us to mourn our many sins against God and each other.

And He preaches His Gospel in our midst, so that we do not despair of improvement, but work to do better—NOT to gain heaven, but because we are destined for comfort, because of the Son.

Yes, you deserve the fate of the rich man who suffers forever. But His Word, His Washing, His Absolution, and His Body and Blood say that you will not get what you deserve. He is coming, again, with His angels, to carry you to the Home of Comfort, to Abraham's bosom, to the house of your God and Father to dwell with Him forever and ever. In Jesus' Name. Amen.