In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Last
week, we sang This is the Feast for the first time in 15 weeks.
That's a long time. See, we normally take a break from singing it in
Lent – This is the Feast or the Gloria in Excelsis go away in Lent.
And the last few years I've been using DS4 in Lent, the more talky
service – and then back to the Feast with gusto on Easter. And
there's a reason for that – the image of joy and celebration that
tops all others in the Scriptures is that of a feast. The Scriptures
begin with Adam and Eve in a garden feast – I mean, that's what a
garden is for – a feast. God doesn't plant a “forest” - it's a
garden. Eat! And the end, Revelation – it's a wedding feast, a
reception, a party. Taste and see that the Lord is good! And as let
is a time of fasting – we are reserved. But normally that time of
fasting is just six weeks. Not 15.
And
strangely perhaps this COVID lockdown has taught us something that
years and years of the six weeks of Lent just never quite did. We
human beings were created by God to be together, celebrating and
eating together. That's the Garden – it's not good for Adam to be
alone, Eve, be with him. That's revelation – it's not good for
Jesus to be alone. The Church shall be with Him forever. This is
the feast. From beginning to end, God created us for joy and
celebration together. And when that gets curtailed, either in the
season of Lent when we pull back on things a bit, or when the world
and circumstance prevent us from celebrating – from having our
graduations or even our Easter dinners and the like – we see the
point of celebration, and we see again what sin does. Sin tries to
shutter, to cancel and close down the celebration that we have in all
the good gifts that God gives us.
Alright
Pastor – enough with the talk about food. Well, we're going to get
it for the next three weeks at least, because this idea of feasting
and celebration is going on in the background of our lessons for the
next three weeks (and in an awful lot of our Gospel lessons the rest
of the year too). As for today - the setting for the story of the
Rich Man and Lazarus is that of a feast. Listen. There was a
rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted
sumptuously every day.
So who is this rich man, what do we know about him? No much other
than this: for some reason he had been spared the worst ravages of
sin in this life, and as such he was able to celebrate and feast
daily. They were brilliant feasts – not just good food but lights,
the whole shebang. Yet he is not the only character in the story.
And at his gate was laid a poor man named
Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell
from the rich man's table.
And there's Lazarus. Who wants to feast, well, not even feast.
He'd be happy with table scraps, with left over – with trash. And
this blessed rich man is so callous, so blind to his neighbor in
need, that he lets Lazarus starve to death on his door step. No
feast for you, no scraps for you, nothing for you, Lazarus!
This
is a stark and gross depiction of what the Scriptures would call
“injustice.” Justice in the Scriptures isn't about legal rights
or jail time – not at all. Justice is this – recognizing that
there is sin in the world, and instead of taking advantage of that
fact, using the gifts you have received from God to mitigate and
lessen the impact of sin. This is why we get in the Catechism things
like we support our neighbor in his body and life, or to help him
protect and improve his possessions and income. That's what justice
is scripturally speaking. It's stewardship – it's you using the
blessings God has given you for the good of your neighbor. It's you
being your brother's keeper. It's you treating them fairly, even if
they are desperate and couldn't fight back if you con them or rob
them blind. And the rich man, who had been sheltered by God from the
harshest impacts of sin in his life couldn't care one lick about
justice. And Lazarus suffers for it.
But
in the end, the wages of sin isn't just a bit of trouble. The wages
of sin is death. The poor man died and was
carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and
was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and
saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
They both die. And for the sake of the story, they can see each
other. And what you probably missed is that Lazarus is at a feast.
If you remember the old fashioned translations they would say that
Lazarus gets taken to the bosom of Abraham. Lazarus is laying on
Abraham – and do you know when you laid on each other in Jesus'
day? At a feast. Because you didn't sit on a chair at a table with
the person next to you at your side, you reclined at a low table, and
to fit, you'd be laying up, supporting yourself on the person on your
left. This was also why you didn't eat with the lepers – eating
with involved contact. Or why they freak out when Jesus “eats with
sinners” - it's not Jesus across an 8 foot table saying, “would
you pass the Grey Poupon” - it's contact, it's closeness. Not
quite the same closeness as that of a nursing child with her mother,
but still pretty close.
And
the rich man sees Lazarus at the feast with Abraham, and the rich man
has none, and he wants it. Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
He doesn't have to touch me, just a bit of water. Something. No
dice, fella. Child, remember that you in your
lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad
things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
Comforted, Paracleted – the Paraclete was the comforter, the
counsellor, the advisor at your side, right next to you. Lazarus
knew the word of God, knew the Spirit, and by faith Lazarus was
saved, even though he saw such wickedness in his lifetime. And you,
well, apart from faith there's just sin and death. And I can't
bridge that chasm for you.
Well,
Abraham, send Lazarus to go warn my family. And Abraham refuses to
dismiss Lazarus from the feast. Abraham says, “They
have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.”
This is lovely. What are you complaining about – they have Moses
and the Prophets. I didn't have the Scriptures in my day – I
didn't have the Scroll of Isaiah. I might have to wait 10 years for
the Word of the Lord, they've got it all over the place. Go listen
there. No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes
to them from the dead, they will repent.
Yeah, Abraham, I know I'm burning in hell and you're Father Abraham
and all, but you don't know what in the, well, hell, you are talking
about. Arrogance and injustice go hand in hand. And Abraham has
enough of it – If they do not hear Moses and
the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise
from the dead.
Listen to the Word, that's where it's at.
If
you don't hear the Word of God, if you ignore the Scriptures, you
miss out on the feast. You don't see the world for what it is, you
don't recognize sin, you don't recognize blessings, you don't
understand death and you don't know where there is salvation if you
don't listen to the Word.
Because
you know what the Word of God proclaimed, what Moses and the Prophets
taught and teach until this day? That the LORD, Jesus Christ, is
Himself our shield. That He Himself will secure for us every
blessing, and not just for a century or so, but for eternity. For
the Scriptures declared from Genesis 3 onward that God Himself would
become Man, that the LORD Himself would be our Savior, that He would
take up the wages of Sin upon Himself, that He would die and rise
again. And that is what Jesus Christ has done, and what He has done
for you.
And
so Jesus calls you here. This place – it's a place of His Word.
If I'm over at that Lectern, I'm going to be speaking His Word. If
I'm in this pulpit, I'm going to be preaching His Word – and it
better not be just my hobby horse or my opinion, otherwise I've got
no business saying that it is in the Name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, and you've got no business saying Amen at the end. And
the Word of God is true – and it shows us our sin. And it shows us
our disdain. And the Spirit uses it to make us see things about
ourselves that we'd rather not admit. But the Scriptures also show
God's plan of Salvation in Christ Jesus for you. And the Scriptures
declare that Jesus is for you. And being immersed in the Scriptures,
to where we are gathered here and we hear His Word and speak His Word
– because the Words you've said and sung are just Scripture or
pretty hymns plagiarizing the Scripture, the Holy Spirit works
repentance and faith upon us. There is no repentance apart from the
Word and Spirit, there is no faith apart from the Word and Spirit.
And
with all that going on, all that being done to us – we say Amen.
We pray the back to God the promises that He has made to us in His
Word, indeed the very words that Jesus taught us (if I don't forget
and skip it) – and then, out of His great love and mercy, Jesus
calls us sinners to His table for His Supper, and we receive
forgiveness, life and salvation. This is the feast. And here we
touch upon and join in the heavenly eternal feast, with angels and
archangels and all the company of heaven – even until we are there
ourselves in the Resurrection.
See
the feast. See the everyday feasting of daily bread that you have,
and use your daily bread with justice for all. And come to the feast
of forgiveness and mercy, even until our Lord brings you to the feast
of Victory that will have no end. You are invited. Christ Jesus has
died and risen for you, so you belong here. In the Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
