“CHRIST IS IN MOSES AND ALL THE PROPHETS”
Saint Luke 16. 19-31
The First Sunday after Trinity: 10 June Anno Domini 2007
Fr Watson
Jesus� parable of Lazarus and Dives is familiar. While not necessarily His most beloved parable it is one that most people think they have a pretty good understanding of. That might be wrong. That might also be one of the reasons that those same individuals are not daily reading the Holy Scriptures. What about you?
Do you understand the point that the Lord seeks to make in this famous story of the rich man and the poor beggar man? Are you daily reading His other Words, in particular His Inspired Presence as contained in the Hebrew Bible�the �so-called� Old Testament? There really isn�t anything �old� or antiquated about it. Genesis through Malachi is more relevant than the latest cable news update or Blackberry text message.
There are some obvious �moralisms� that most people seem to pick up quite easily from Saint Luke�s account. Yes, it is true that rich people should not be stingy misers. It would be better for our fallen race if those with wealth saw fit to use it to help others as well as to feed and clothe themselves. This isn�t being �soft,� �squishy,� �commie,� democrat, or welfare nannies; this is being Christian, a follower of the greatest Giver of all. The Lord commands you to love your neighbor as yourself; to turn the other cheek, to give your neighbor your shirt also when he asks for your coat. Love is to sacrifice ones will and desires in order to help those who need help.
The Lord Jesus isn�t saying that the rich man should have given Lazarus all his money and possessions, but there should be no Christian who doubts that Jesus wanted Dives to help Lazarus.
For a rich man to let a poor homeless beggar starve to death in front of his palatial gates is a sin; every bit as much a sin as for the Levite and the Priest to pass by the beaten and robbed victim on the road to Jericho.
But none of that is the heart of Jesus� teaching.
There is no sin to be wealthy and to have at ones disposal great resources. And anyone in that capacity is going to sin every day regardless of whether they�re a follower of Jesus or a pagan follower of pagan �mammon.�
There is no sin to be poor and to lay in the gutter covered with sores. And anyone in destitute and impoverished conditions is also going to sin every day regardless of whether they�re a disciple of Jesus or a heathen follower of heathen desires.
And likewise, there is no virtue or goodness in being well dressed and well fed any more than there is nobility or honor in taking a vow of poverty and fasting.
None of Jesus� Words are about the externals.
Dives is damned for one reason and only one reason�He did not believe in the Word of God; he did not believe the Prophetic (Old Testament) Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets about God�s Messiah, the Blood Sacrifice of the Suffering Servant and the Forgiveness of Sins by Grace through Faith.
Lazarus goes to heaven for one reason and only one reason�He did believe in all that Moses and the Prophets wrote about the Lord and the Lord�s Christ.
If you are clothed in purple (in the wealth that it represents) well and good; but remember that Jesus commands you to feed the hungry, visit the sick, clothe the naked and love those that are your enemies. If you don�t than you like Dives are damned. But even if you are not as generous and giving as you need to be, you are not damned because you are like Lazarus. The Holy Spirit through the Law has laid you low into the gutter. The Spirit has given you contrition and repentance. You are poverty stricken of your own efforts, will-power, and resolve. You throw yourselves upon Christ�s Mercy. His Love for your neighbors (your enemies) now counts towards your ledger: �paid in full.� His atonement by the giving of His innocent life on the Cross now is reckoned to you: �paid in full.� You are clothed in the rich deep purple-red of His blood. His regal robes of righteousness adorn you in faith.
After death, in un-belief, there is no water for the tongue. The only water of cooling refreshment is poured out freely in the Sacrament of re-generation. The finger of God not only refreshes your tongue unto eternity at the font, but opens your lips to ever more sing His praises.
The way one is surrounded by angels in the after-life, the �ever� life, is to be surrounded here and now by the angels of the Lord; all of His messengers proclaiming Him and Administering Him in Water, Body and Blood. Messengers, Angels, sing and give the Word which is Jesus; the Word as contained in Moses and all the Prophets.
Because of His Grace showered upon you in Jesus, showered upon you in Jesus� Words, showered upon you in the Holy Baptism, the Holy Supper, the Holy Absolution, and yes, the Holy Old Testament, you are even now surrounded by Angels, Archangels and the Host of Heaven. You fare sumptuously every Mass with Father Abraham himself, along with Isaac, Jacob, Jeremiah, Luke and all the rest.
Don�t look for man-centered miracles. You have the Gospel given to you in the Word of God�in Moses and the Prophets. Don�t look for signs and wonders. You have the Evangel of Jesus Christ crucified for your sins in the Word of God�in Moses and the Prophets. Don�t look to church growth, to big buildings, budgets, boomers, or any other man centered (glory centered) indicator of righteousness. Don�t even look to so-called healings, intuitions, charismatic visions, voices or convictions. Don�t look to your own prayer life, Bible dedication, and good works. You have the �Good News� of Christ�s Body given and Blood shed painted brightly in all the bloody pages of the glorious Torah, Writings and Holy Men who spake by the Holy Ghost.
Rightly did King David call the Lord a lamp and a light. That Lord, Jesus Christ, is the revealer of all Holy Writ, the Old as well as the New Testament.
You dear brothers and sisters have Moses and the Prophets. You hear them. You believe the Word of God. You have Jesus.
In the Name of The Father and of The Son + and of The Holy Ghost