The First Sunday after Trinity

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

The story of the rich man and Lazarus is one of the fundamental biblical texts. It is not as well-known as many of the other Gospel stories, such as the parables and miracles of our Lord, which is a shame because this story teaches and illustrates many important Biblical truths. In the person of the rich man, this story illustrates the danger of the allurement of wealth, which can cultivate a selfish and sinful attitude curved inward. This story illustrates the blessed death of God’s saints, who are carried by the angels to the bosom of father Abraham—a beautiful picture of our blessed rest in heaven. This story also illustrates the finality of the torments of hell. Despite the rich man begging to father Abraham, his torments in hell would not be quelled. For there is no opportunity for repentance after death. How a man lives in this life determines his eternal fate.

But all of these things are incidental to our main point for today. For this story also corrects a false assumption that many have about how faith and conversion work. It is God’s Word alone which converts hearts to faith and sustains them in Him. When the rich man realizes that his eternal fate is sealed, he demonstrates at least some amount of compassion for his brothers, begging father Ambraham to do something which will ensure that they do not end up in hell also. The rich man says: “I beg you therefore, father, that you would send [Lazarus] to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment” (Luke 16:27-28). Notice how the rich man assumes that if his brothers receive a miraculous sign, then they will come to faith. His assumption is that faith is rational. If I see something miraculous which convinces me of the reality of spiritual things, then I will come to faith. But father Abraham tells us how faith really works, despite the rich man’s insistence to the contrary. Abraham says: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them…If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead” (Luke 16:29, 31).

This, dear friends in Christ, is how faith and conversion works. We like to think that we are rational creatures. We like to pretend as if we will always make the logical decision given all the necessary facts. But that is not how faith in Christ works. Faith is not a matter of rationality. Miracles do not work faith. In fact, the Lord did send back another Lazarus from the dead, and the Jews sought to kill him. And when the Lord Jesus Himself came back to life, the Jews sought to punish and kill all who bore witness to this resurrection. It is the word of God alone which works faith in the crucified and risen Christ. This is why we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandalous offense and utter foolishness to those without faith. But for those who are called by the Holy Spirit, this Word of God is both the power and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

How often are we like the rich man in our thinking? Do we rely on the Word of God alone for conversion and sustenance in the faith? Or do we seek out something more for ourselves and for our loved ones? When we raise our children, do we ground them in God’s Word through daily devotions, Bible stories, and prayer? Do we bring them to church every Sunday, never giving them a chance to consider that church attendance might be an option? Or do we let them choose, even though they are not yet capable of making the best decision for themselves? Do we rely on religious experiences such as Confirmation or the National Youth Gathering to be the “miraculous” conversion moments for our children? What about for our adult children who may have wandered away from the church and from faith in Christ? Do we commend them to the Lord in prayer constantly like the persistent widow, as if their return to the Lord is our most earnest desire? Or do we only pray occasionally, as if our prayers don’t really make a difference? Do we gently but firmly continue to speak of Christ and His great love for them? Or are we more concerned with speaking a word of scriptural condemnation toward their life choices?

If we take seriously what Holy Scripture says here and elsewhere about the supremacy of God’s Word and its role as the only means of conversion and sustenance in the faith, then it will compel us to live differently than the world and to revolve our lives around the Church and the things of God. Our Epistle for today speaks of abiding in Christ: By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit (1 John 4:13). And the Prophecy teaches us that such abiding in Christ and living in His Spirit doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through intentional cultivation of pious and godly habits. Moses writes: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:4-9).

Here is a radical question. What if we actually did this? Not in a literal and hypocritical way, like the Jews who bound to their bodies small boxes filled with these words of the Torah but failed to live by them. But what if we actually did this in a way which sought to abide in Jesus by delighting in His Word through this kind of structured lifestyle? I fear that we twenty-first century Christians have become so afraid of merely “going through the motions” and reciting empty words that we have thrown out the wheat with the chaff. For example, if you find your recitation of the Lord’s Prayer to be rote, the problem is not with the Lord’s Prayer but with your heart! Likewise, if you say that memorizing the Catechism is useless because you would rather focus on teaching your child to know what it means, I would counter by suggesting that one can never know what the First Commandment means if he does not know the First Commandment! Maybe, just maybe, our faith would be stronger, our children would be more grounded in the faith, and our church and school would be vibrant again if we lived as if we actually believe God’s Word! God’s Word alone converts hearts to faith in Him, and God’s Word alone sustains our faith unto eternal life. How could we spend our time more prudently than to read, recite, and teach God’s Word in our homes? The answer is, we can’t.

Now, to be clear, I am not suggesting that we all become monks and hermits, reading the Bible and praying 24/7. Allow me to suggest a practical way that you might take this word of God seriously in a way that is manageable. Moses says that the words of God should be “in your heart”, that you should “teach them diligently to your children” and that you should talk of them “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” You cannot do this if you do not have the Word of God committed to memory. Thus, I suggest you establish a regular routine in God’s Word—that is, a liturgy for your day and week. This should consist of two things.

First, coming to church every Sunday (and/or Wednesday) should be the start of this routine. If you are not here every week, then receiving God’s gifts have become nothing more than an option for you. Besides, what do you have to do which is more important that receiving the gifts of God? The side benefit of being here week in and week out is that the liturgy becomes ingrained in your heart, your mind, and your soul. What you may think of as an annoying earworm that you sang in church is actually the Word of God “in your heart”, as Moses says.

Second, you need to have something outside of church—a daily routine of your own. It can be as elaborate as a scheduled reading and prayer plan for morning, noon, and night. But most of the time, biting off more than you can chew ends up being counter-productive because it causes you to give up and not do anything at all in the end. Instead, I recommend an incremental approach. Whatever you are doing now, try to improve it slightly. Begin by adding devotions after dinner. Use the “Daily Prayer” handout in your bulletin (which is also available on the church website) as a guide. If you omit the singing, it takes well under 10 minutes to complete. This gives you a liturgy which can be used alone or as a family and will ground you in God’s Word, causing you to memorize (or at least become quite familiar with) key passages of Scripture and the Catechism through daily recitation. It allows you to read key Bible texts in short, manageable chunks. And it gives you an easy form for prayer. Feel free to supplement this routine with the Portals of Prayer or other devotional resources and reading plans. But, again, don’t go overboard. The goal is consistency not burning yourself out.

Dear friends in Christ, God’s Word alone converts heart to Him. And God’s Word alone sustains us in the faith. If we daily delight in His Word and teach ourselves to depend upon it, then His Holy Spirit will continually work in our hearts and lives, and we will truly be blessed from now until we join Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, awaiting the resurrection to eternal life.

God grant it.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.