Parish Notes for Trinity I

Grace and Peace be unto you. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

In this Sunday's Collect, it says first, we are to trust God because without trust there is no relationship with God. Second, we are to ask God to mercifully receive our prayers because we are weak due to our mortal nature. In other words, we are habitual sinners and we cannot do anything without him so we pray to him for help. And third, we also ask God to give us Grace or will to keep his commandments so we can please him both in will and deed. It is not enough to pray but we must act through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In this Sunday’s Epistle, St John addresses the reader as beloved. In Christian term, beloved means the saved people. First, God is love but love is not God. Contrary, he, who does not love one another, does not love God because God is love. If God loves you, then you are to love one another as a maxim. Second, God didn’t just talk about love, he acted. He sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ so that we may live through him, have him as our propitiation for our sins, and have him as the savior of the world by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Third, and if we love one another then God dwells in us and his love is perfected in us. Thus, we dwell in him for salvation and he in us for sanctification.

Fourth, in the Old Testament from Genesis 1 to 3, God walked with Adam, Eve, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. But once sin occurred, God didn’t walk with the Old Testament Saints, he was among them. And in Exodus 25 - 40, he tells them to make the sanctuary in the Ark of the Covenant so that God may dwell in there. Fifth, in the New Testament, God the Spirit, no longer walks with the saints or is in the sanctuary, God the Spirit dwells in us as individuals. But that can only happen if you accept Jesus as the Christ and love one another. And that is why, we are to keep our bodies holy because God the Spirit dwells in us to seal our souls for salvation.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the reading is prefaced as a parable. But this is erroneous. In Luke Chapter 15:3, the Bible reads Jesus spake this parable unto his disciples. Yet in Chapter 16:1, Bible reads: he said unto his disciples as a matter of fact, not as a parable. First, what does this mean? Generally a parable uses generic name. Here, the names are specific such as Lazarus, Father Abraham, and Moses.

Second, the Richman and Lazarus’ story is real and hell is real. This is what hell looks and feels like - eternal torment. The word torment is used four times here. Third, Paradise in this story is the Paradise in our Apostles’ Creed, Jesus Christ was crucified, dead, and buried. And he descended into hell - to bring the Old Testament Saints from Abraham’s Bosom up to Heaven.

Fourth, in life, the rich man had royal purple fine linen and ate sumptuous food daily. However, Lazarus laid at the gate because he was crippled, was full of sores, and was waiting for the rich man’s crumbs. Moreover, the only contact the beggar had was with the dog - only to lick his sores. Fifth, in death, the rich man died and was buried. But Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham’s Bosom – a sign that he is being carried to a saintly place in Paradise.

Sixth, notice in hell all your five senses and body parts are still alive. For example, rich man lifted up his eyes. He sees Abraham far off & sees Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man also asks to dip or touch his finger in water to cool his tongue.

Seventh, hell has other names: gehenna, sheol, and hades. But they are the same, a place of eternal torment. Eighth, some people believe that hell is a place of cool party with Satan. This is far from the truth. Just in this story, St Luke uses the word torment four times. The rich man asks to cool his tongue and begs for mercy. But it is too late to ask for mercy because there is no salvation in hell.

Ninth, the rich man asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus to earth to warn his five brothers - but oddly not all the sinners. But Abraham says if they hear not Moses and the prophets, they won’t believe the one who rose from the dead. Note, in Rev 21:8, unbelievers are listed second before murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars for the second death into the lake of fire.

In sum, what is the message today? One, the rich man and Lazarus story is real. Two, hell is a place of eternal torment that even Abraham can’t help you. Three, the rich man is in hell because he had no love for a fellow human being in need, so God the Spirit did not dwell within the rich man. And four, how do we love God. We build trust in a relationship with God. This occurs with us talking with God in prayers - to give us Grace, to keep his commandments, and to love God and one another. This is the Great Commandment. John Donne once said “death is a great lever” because rich died despite being rich. CS Lewis read a tombstone: Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go. Lewis replied: I bet he wishes that were so.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
-- Fr. Deacon Anton Yoe