Luke 16:19-31 (Pentecost 16C)
St. John, Galveston 9/28/2025
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

    The story of the rich man and Lazarus is before us this morning. As the story goes, the rich man lived his life in luxury, ignoring the suffering and the plight of the poor, while the poor man lived his life in poverty and squalor. When the two men died, the tables were turned. The rich man went to hell. Lazarus, the poor man, went to heaven.

    I suppose if you’re poor or disadvantaged, this is one of those happy ever after stories. On the other hand, if you’re rich, not so much. The story seems to suggest that there is ultimately a cosmic justice in death, a righting, if you will, of the inequities of the universe. If you prosper in this life, you suffer in the afterlife. If you suffer in this life, you prosper in the life to come.

    The original hearers of this story though wouldn’t have taken it that way at all. In fact, they most likely would have been completely baffled by this story. The reason being that they were generally of the opinion that riches signified God’s favor in life, while poverty signified His disfavor. The rich, they believed, were close to God, while the poor, and those who suffered, were not. Therefore, in death, the rich went to heaven and the poor suffered the indignities of hell.

    Job’s “friends” were staunch supporters of this view. Job’s suffering, the loss of his children and all of his possessions, indicated to them that he had done something terribly wrong, something that offended God, for such things to happen in his life. Their message to Job was, “unless you figure out what you did to offend God and repent of it, you will never find peace in life again.” In short, suffering meant God was displeased with you, while riches and luxury meant that you were on the right path in life and God was pleased with you.

    Some would say though that this story isn’t about justice, the affirmation of God’s favor or disfavor in life and death. They would say instead that the story is an indictment of riches. Picking passages out of context from the Bible seems to support this view. After all, Jesus said, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” And, of course, the Scriptures also tell us that,“the love of money is the root of all evil.” So, maybe the story is simply about a rich person who failed to enter the kingdom of God because, try as he may, he couldn’t squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle!  

    In the end, this story isn’t about justice. Nor is about riches, or poverty. In fact, it’s not even about Lazarus, or the rich man, per se. What it’s about is something that Jesus said toward the end of the reading. The rich man, Divies, as he is sometimes called, asked Father Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to warn them about his fate. He reasoned that if someone returned from the dead with a warning they would believe him. To which Abraham said, “if they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

    Ultimately this story is about Moses and the Prophets and the message they proclaimed to the world about the coming Messiah, the Christ of God. It isn’t a story though that is only for past generations, or for people who were, or are, the blood descendants of Abraham. No, you too are the man or woman who is living out your life, perhaps in luxury, or, perhaps in struggle and suffering. You have repeatedly heard Jesus proclaimed, both from Moses and Prophets, as well as, from the Gospel’s and the other letters of the New Testament. Rich or poor, the message is the same to you as it was to Lazarus and the rich man. Repent, for the Kingdom of God has come upon you in the person of Jesus Christ.

    It’s true, you know, that is, that where Jesus is, there is the kingdom of God. While people were trying to figure out who Jesus was, at one point, when crowds of people began to wonder if He might be the Christ, others were wondering if He worked miracles before them by the power of the devil, He said, “If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” I hope you understood what Jesus said in response to the crowd. Where He is, whether in the written or spoken word, in the water of baptism, or in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, there is the  kingdom of God!

    God’s kingdom is a kingdom of grace and mercy, of forgiveness, of life and salvation. For sure, it all begins with Jesus, with His suffering and death, and with His resurrection from the dead, which assures you of your place in the life of the world to come, when you close your eyes in death.

    His is a kingdom of grace and mercy, and even in this broken, fallen world, with all of it’s inequities and injustices, there is good! Did you ever think about that? I mean, that there is good in this world of ours? We always ask, why is there evil? Why is there suffering and pain? But being what this world is, that is, a world that has been plunged into the darkness of sin and death, we might better ask, why is there any good in the world?

    God’s hand is on this great, big creation of His, helping, consoling, forgiving, encouraging, even grieving for the sake of another, and the thing is, sometimes His hand looks remarkably like yours and mine. Whether your’e rich or poor, you have been put here for a purpose, a holy purpose. It’s often been said, God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does. And so, by God’s grace, we reach out and extend a hand. Not because we’re hopeful that God will reward us with a place in His kingdom, but because He already has given us the Kingdom.    

    More powerful and salutary than the testimony of one who returns from the dead, God’s Word creates a living, vibrant faith within you, a faith that keeps you looking to Christ and His gifts for your life and salvation. A faith that keeps you reaching out with a hand of mercy toward those who need your help.

    Moses wrote, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of the greatest of all of God’s gifts. “The seed of the woman (that is, the Christ of God) will come into the world to crush the head of the serpent.” Jesus has done just that, for the world, and for you. As such, He has prepared a heavenly home for all those who, in Him, would believe. Young and old, rich and poor, the gifts of Christ are given freely and abundantly, both to you and to all those who would be blessed through you. Indeed,    
   
“O Christ, do Thou my soul prepare
For that bright home of love
That I may see Thee and adore
With all Thy saints above.”

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

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +