If We Want Mercy from God We Must Give Mercy to God’s Children by Fr Ted Toppses

5th Sunday of Luke 2013

Lazarus and the Rich man a sermon by Fr Ted Toppses

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

Let us review today’s Gospel reading from
St. Luke 16:19-31

The Gospel Begins…

The Lord said, "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

Fr George Calciu of blessed memory wrote in his sermon on this Gospel “The wealth will not condemn you to hell, neither that poverty will take you to heaven but how you managed them, how you put them in relation to God and your fellow men.” – from Fr George Calciu Interviews Homilies and Talks copywright 2010 St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood Press

The Gospel continues…
And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

What excuses do we have not to help someone in need?  Do we give them even our crumbs?  When giving to God do we give only what is left over?  Giving to God through His church and the poor is commanded by God to come from the first fruits that we are blessed with, not the last.

The Gospel continues…
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. 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 in his bosom.

The fathers speak about the poor man patiently awaiting some kind of help.  God has compassion on this poor man and when he dies he goes to heaven.  The rich man dies without having offered from the bounty that God blessed him with and is in reality rejecting God. 

The Gospel continues…
And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazaros to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazaros in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

The lack of giving and the rejection of helping those in need is in fact a great sin and rejection of God who is Christ laying at our gates.  We need to become aware of what our faith requires ,and become good managers of what God has entrusted to us.  Our faith insists for us to use these gifts for Godly things and helping especially the least fortunate of God’s children.
Where you put your treasure your heart is there also. 

The Gospel concludes…
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses, and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to them, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

We do not want judgment and we understand God to be a loving and kind God yet unknowingly at times we reject Christ who is at our gate.  Riches are not evil but the mismanagement of them by ignoring the commandment of giving back is. Offering to God the first fruits of what we have is a critical part of our faith.

If we want mercy from God we must give mercy to God’s Children.

If we want blessing from God we must give blessings to God and His children.

If we want compassion from God we must be compassionate.

God needs to be the highest priority in our life because there is no eternal life outside our Lord and God. 

God is good and loving but those who reject Him and His commandments separate themselves from our Lord in this life and the next just like the stingy rich man separated Himself from God by ignoring the need of Lazarus.

May God inspire us to have our Lord always in our hearts and on our minds, and have God truly first in our life above all things.  We will then be blessed to be with our Lord in life after death, for we have put our hearts and lives with Christ now.  We must truly live our Christianity, which is demonstrated by our faith in Christ and generosity, by abundantly giving back to God from them blessings the Lord has provided to us.
Amen.


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