250. First Sunday after Trinity. I.
Lord, anoint our eyes, that we may
see what thou dost shew us. Amen.
Gospel Lesson, Luke 16, 19-31. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
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A rich man shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19, 23). A rich man is not condemned because of the fact that he is rich; but rich people are sorely tempted to worldliness and unbelief. The rich man in our gospel lesson is doomed to misery because he is unbelieving, worldly-minded, and self-righteous. His life is described in few, but extremely significant words: He “was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.” Farther on we learn that he “received his good things in his lifetime,” that he did not recognize the word of God as being sufficient unto salvation, and did not understand that faith is the way to life. — If you mind the earthly things, and flatter yourself that salvation, as a matter of course, belongs to you and to all decent people, you are the rich man’s comrade, whether you have much or little of this world’s good things. — Poverty and illness are heavy afflictions; and no man is saved merely because he has suffered here on earth. But these things may help us to hearken to the word of God, and may turn our hearts away from the world. Lazarus did not enter into bliss as a reward for his sufferings; but he inherited life because he believed in the Lord. This is indicated by the name Lazarus, which means one who trusts in the Lord; and, besides, we are told that he found rest in the bosom of Abraham, “the father of the faithful,” and that he did not seek his good things in this earthly life. You are no Lazarus, and will not be saved, even though you suffer never so much; unless you have a believing heart, and endure suffering as a Christian, and have your treasure in heaven. But if you do this, your suffering is blessed, and your tears are a seed from which will spring a rich harvest.
There are in the world beyond the grave but two places; immediately after death the unregenerated lift up their eyes in hell, and the believers go straight to heaven; there exists no middle place, or neutral ground, as it were. The damned must suffer endless torment; they shall never escape from it, and shall never, in all eternity, receive any comfort; while the saved enjoy everlasting bliss, and shall nevermore fear any danger from sin, death, or devil. None shall pass from heaven to hell, nor from hell to heaven; nor shall any return to the earth. — The saved are in good company, and this augments their bliss. They know one another; Lazarus knows Abraham, and Abraham knows Lazarus; all the friends of God find one another there. They also know what is transpiring here on earth. Abraham, who died long before the time of Moses and the prophets, knows what these men have written, and its important bearing on our salvation. — The condition of the damned, on the other hand, is full of horror. They are “tormented in this flame,” and receive not a single drop of water to cool the tongue. They are deprived of everything for which they wish; and feel everything which causes them torment. Their unhappiness infuriates them; they feel the eternal pain of hopeless despair, and suffer all the more by reason of companionship with their brethren from the earth, as it causes the flame of wickedness in them to burn the more fiercely. — All this our Lord Jesus distinctly teaches us in the gospel lesson of today, for our warning and our comfort; and the pictures which he presents before us are not overdrawn. How unutterably important is it not, therefore, to make good use of the time of grace! O, take the matter earnestly to heart; and consider, that wealth and splendor without the fear of God are wretchedness and terror; while the sufferings of the saints are not worth mentioning in comparison with the glory which shall be revealed in them.
Lord Jesus, give us earnestness in the concerns of our soul, and teach us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Help the rich to do good, and to lay up for themselves treasures in heaven; and help the poor to endure suffering patiently, as did Lazarus. Lord, save us from unbelief, and give us a blessed end. Amen.*
Time is earnest, passing by;
Death is earnest, drawing nigh:
Sinner, wilt thou trifling be?
Time and death appeal to thee.
O be earnest, do not stay;
Thou mayest perish e’en today.
Rise, thou lost one, rise and flee;
Lo; thy Savior waits for thee.
251. First Sunday after Trinity. II.
God, give us thy love
in our hearts. Amen.
Epistle Lesson, 1 John 4, 16-21. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth, is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
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God is love. He who lives in hatred and anger is far away from God, and is a most unhappy person. He must repent, and receive a new heart, if he is to become happy. But how blest are they who love God and the brethren! You surely have felt that the reflection of God’s love, — the natural love between human beings, — is the noblest and best of all earthly good things, and delights the heart more than do honors and riches. How much greater, then, must be the divine love itself, or the sensation of having God’s own blessed and heavenly life in the heart! — We have been created because God loves, and we are fashioned to receive this love into our hearts, and to enjoy its bliss. We lost this love at the time when we departed from God; but when the Spirit quickens us, our heart again thirsts after it, and absorbs it, and it thrills every fibre in us. God is love; and his kingdom on earth and in heaven is the kingdom of love. He that does not love God does not know him, and cannot be his child. But if you long after God, and rejoice before him, and there is none on earth that you desire beside him, then is God in you. He loved you first, and you love him in return; your joy in him is his joy in you; and this is life eternal. Now, do you fear to meet him on the day of judgment? Do you now hide yourself from him, as did Adam after the fall? No; he has given his Son to be a propitiation for our sins; and these do not hereafter stand between us to hinder our love. Or, is there now any person whom you hate, and with whom you therefore would not like to have fellowship in heaven? The love in Jesus has made you kindly affectioned toward all men; it has awakened in you a new feeling toward the world, and has caused you to view all things in a new light. As all things live and move and have their being in God, even so has your heart also expanded, and there is room in it for all. How great a thing is love; how rich, how mighty! He that loves is lord of all, independent of all, exalted above all, the servant of all. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
God, give us this most glorious and blessed of all things; give us this most noble, rich, beautiful, and pure life of love; and pour out the love of Christ in our hearts by thy Holy Spirit. Amen.*
O God, thy grace and blessing give
To us who on thy name attend,
That we this mortal life may live
Regardful of our journey’s end.
And when the awful signs appear
Of judgment and the throne above,
Our hearts still fixed, we shall not fear,
God is our trust, and God is love.
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.