June 11, 2023 Trinity 1 The Sunday of Lazarus and Dives
June 19, 2022 Trinity 1 The Sunday of Lazarus and the Rich Man
Trinity 1
Luke 16:19-31
June 19, 2022
“The Man to Be”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We know we aren’t to be the Rich Man who gorges himself every day on food and drink and never gives anything to the poor, hungry Lazarus outside. He goes to hell. So that’s not the man for us to be. But if Lazarus is the man that we’re all to be, then the whole world will be full of beggars on every corner and there won’t be anyone to feed any of us. So that won’t work either. This seems like a salient point to be made on this day we’ve set aside to give thanks for men, called Father’s Day. Who is the man that all men are to be? Who’s the man all Fathers are to be?
…Trinity 1 The Sunday of Lazarus and the Rich Man June 14, 2020
Trinity 1
Luke 16:19-31
June 14, 2020
“How Does God Judge?”
A Sermon on Justification and Love
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When someone’s on trial in court, attorneys know how important their appearance is. For better or worse, the people on the jury are looking at that person on trial and making all kinds of judgments just by how they appear. After all, the jury members can’t see into the person’s heart. So the question is—do they look guilty? Attorneys know the right dresses to wear, the right suits, the right colors. Because we judge by appearance.
It’s almost comical at times. You’ve heard of these politicians paying big bucks for people to tell them which color tie to wear. Silly stuff like that. Have you noticed in the news how they will find the most unflattering pictures ever of people they don’t agree with? They’ll find a picture, for instance, of Joe Biden in mid-sentence looking all angry and sinister. But if they like Vice-President Biden then we get a nice, stately-looking picture. It’s silly. But they do it because they know that we judge by appearances.
What a terrible shock to us then when we learn that God doesn’t judge by appearances. You all could dress up in thousand dollar suits and dresses and come to church looking like a million bucks—or you could come to Church in your pajamas. And God’s judgment of you wouldn’t change. He’s not fooled at all by outward appearances. He sees through all of that.
…Trinity 1 June 23, 2019 The Sunday of Lazarus and the Rich Man
Trinity 1
Luke 16:19-31 & 1 John 4:16-21
June 23, 2019
“We Owe Love”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In Romans 13, Paul’s talking about paying people what you owe them. So pay the government the taxes you owe, he says. Pay money to whomever you owe money. Pay respect and honor to those whom it’s due. And then the next verse is one I wanted to start with today, Romans 13:8. It’s an odd way to talk about love. He says you owe love. He says you shouldn’t owe anyone anything except this one thing—love. You owe love to everyone. Like God sending you a bill. What do you owe God? Nothing. Jesus has paid your debt. Zero balance. But what do you owe everyone else? You owe them love.
…Trinity 1 – Sunday of Lazarus and the Rich Man June 3, 2018
Trinity 1
Luke 16:19-31
June 3, 2018
It’s good to be Lazarus.
It’s good to love Lazarus.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God gives us some challenging words in the Epistle today from 1 John chapter 4:
Trinity 1 The Sunday of Lazarus and the Rich Man June 18, 2017
Trinity 1
Luke 16:19-31 & 1 John 4:16-21
June 18, 2017
“A Poor Man with Faith and Love in his Heart”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I’ve seen these magnets and bumper stickers around, you know, in little gift shops and so forth, that say, “Lord, help me to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.” Have you seen those? Maybe some of you have one of those. I’ve always thought that was kinda clever. Then I googled it this week and find out there’s actually a country western song from about ten years ago with that exact refrain. He prays in the song that God would bring his dog Jake to heaven and give him a pair of wings. Kinda crazy. I wasn’t expecting that…
Yet at any rate, this catchy little phrase hits on something pretty significant. We’re hypocrites. Even to our dogs—we’re hypocrites. Isn’t that terrible? Our dogs are better than we are! Our dogs are more faithful and loving than we make ourselves out to be.
And we see a little bit of that in the Gospel reading today. No one is there to help poor ‘ol Lazarus who’s covered in sores and sitting at the gate begging for food—except who? Who has compassion on poor Lazarus? The dogs. The dogs—they come and lick on his wounds. Cleaning him up. Showing love to this poor man. …