Manuscript for Prayers and Sermon for First Sunday After Trinity

June 14, 2020

INVOCATION

P    In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C    Amen.

P    O God, the strength of all who trust in You, mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing, grant us Your grace to keep Your commandments that we may please You in both will and deed; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 C   Amen.

Psalm 33:12–22

12Blessèd is the nation whose God is the Lord,
   the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13The Lord looks down from heaven;
   he sees all the children of man;
14from where he sits enthroned he looks out
   on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15he who fashions the hearts of them all
   and observes all their deeds.
16The king is not saved by his great army;
   a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
   and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
   on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19that he may deliver their soul from death
   and keep them alive in famine.

20Our soul waits for the Lord;
   he is our help and our shield.
21For our heart is glad in him,
   because we trust in his holy name.
22Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
   even as we hope in you.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS                          LSB 187

P    Glory be to God on high:

C    and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee,

we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory.

O Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty.

O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ;

O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.

Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer.

Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.

For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord.

Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost,

art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

HOLY GOSPEL                                                                                                                                  Luke 16:19–31

P    The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the sixteenth chapter.

   19[Jesus said:] “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he called out, ‘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.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘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. 26And 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.’ 27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

P    This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C    Praise be to Thee, O Christ.

APOSTLES’ CREED

C    I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

     maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

     who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

     born of the virgin Mary,

     suffered under Pontius Pilate,

     was crucified, died and was buried.

     He descended into hell.

     The third day He rose again from the dead.

     He ascended into heaven

     and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

     From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

     the holy Christian Church,

          the communion of saints,

     the forgiveness of sins,

     the resurrection of the body,

     and the life T everlasting. Amen.

SERMON

Luke 16:22 The poor man (Lazarus) died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 

It is a good thing to hear how Jesus talks about heaven and hell. There are several things we can learn from this passage. In heaven we will recognize people, important people who have gone before us, important people to us, who have been separated from us by death. Abraham lives. His soul is awake, though his body has been dead for thousands of years. He speaks to newcomers who enter into the heavenly realms. Those who are dear to us, we will see again. We have that hope because Jesus lives, and He will bring all His loved ones together to Himself in heaven.

We also learn from Jesus here that angels carry the soul to heaven. What an honor that will be! What glory!

Then, there’s this Chasm between heaven and hell, that we cannot cross. Let that be a word of dire warning for all men, women and children. In Hebrews chapter 9 it says, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment”.

But the lesson today from this story Jesus told is this: There are only two kinds of people: Those for heaven. Those for hell.

Too often there’s talk about the different kinds of people: There are those who speak this language or that language; There are those whose skin is this color or another color; There are the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots. All such differences are superficial, temporary and often, only imagined, not real differences.

Take the difference between the rich and the poor. Economists and politicians like to make a lot of hay out of that. But consider the two men in Jesus’ story: the rich man and Lazarus. You can hardly imagine any two men more different than these two. One feasted sumptuously, every day; One begged for scraps. One was clothed in fine, fancy clothes; one was covered in sores. One held parties with A-list guests; one had only dogs for company.

But then comes a moment in the telling of this story where all these differences are made completely insignificant. Both men died. And in death nothing else mattered. Money can’t change death. Popularity can’t prevent death. The comforts and pleasures of this life are at the instant of death, made completely meaningless. Death has a great leveling affect on all of humanity. No matter what we have or what we lack, no matter how we dress or how we look, death treats us all exactly the same.

It puzzles me why there must be race riots in the year 2020. Why do we still have race as an issue. It’s one of those superficial differences among people.

I try to be very careful how I use that word race. We who believe in God who created us, know that there aren’t races of people. There is one race. When Paul preached in Athens, Greece, he said, “God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth”.

The talk of races better fits in the world view of the evolutionists who suppose that humankind, without any help from God, rose up from ancient mud. Much mischief has been made from the horrible, evil idea that some of us have raised ourselves up higher than other races. As if some of us are more evolved.

There are only two kinds of people, those for heaven and those for hell.

It is sinful, egotistical and selfish to imagine that our other differences are important. It is selfish if I were to imagine than I am somehow totally different from other mortals.

Be careful of such ideas. Of course you don’t ever want to feel superior to others. Nor do you want to feel worse than all others. You ought never have a cause to feel sorry for yourself, saying something like, I have permission to despair, like no one else has ever despaired.

What all this with COVID 19 has brought on has been unprecedented, indeed. But that doesn’t make it so that you are somehow different than all the rest of humanity. Just because it is unprecedented doesn’t mean that now you are in such a unique situation that you can cheat your customers or cheat on your bills or cheat on your taxes. These may be extraordinary times, but not so extraordinary that we can say, we are different than others, different from what we used to be. We still must be responsible, kind and generous.

Nothing has changed to make us different inside. We are who God has made us to be and called us to be by faith.

The rich man in Hades, imagined that his was an exceptional case, so he tried to bargain on that basis. If his brothers had some special help, they wouldn’t end up in Hades, like him. Still thinking of Lazarus as his inferior, that he could order around, he wants to send him on an errand for him. He says, “If someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent” (Luke 16:30).

Abraham, the father of the faithful, in heaven answers him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’

There’s only two kinds of people in the world, those for heaven and those for hell. Another way of saying it is this, there’s only two kinds of people in the world, those who hear the Word of God and keep it, and those who don’t. Understanding this will shape how we think of ourselves and our neighbor.

All this other stuff only matters for the time being, if it matters at all. Riches and money, food and clothing, all that’s only for the here and now. Don’t let it be higher on the priority list than it deserves.

The differences among the nations and the cultures are superficial and not defining of who one truly is. What defines a person is his or her faith, or lack of faith.

Because all people come from one Creator and because all people have one common, ultimate problem, death, there is one and only one, fix for that problem of death, and that fix is Jesus. Jesus atoned for the sins of the world by his sacrificial death. The Gospel of Jesus is for all. All sorts of people can hear that Universal Gospel and be assured it’s for them.

May the Holy Spirit continue to work on people everywhere in every nation in every culture in every stratus, that they would hear their salvation and by it believe that they are not for hell, they are for heaven.  Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

P    Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

God, our Father in heaven, look with mercy on us, Your needy children on earth, and grant us grace, that Your holy name would be hallowed by us and all the world through the pure and true teaching of Your Word and the fervent love shown forth in our lives. Graciously turn from us all false doctrine and evil living whereby Your precious name is blasphemed and profaned. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    May Your Kingdom come to us and expand. Bring all transgressors and those who are blinded and bound in the devil’s kingdom to know Jesus Christ, Your Son, by faith, that the number of Christians may be increased. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    Strengthen us by Your Spirit according to Your will, both in life and in death, in the midst of both good and evil things, that our own wills may be crucified daily and sacrificed to Your good and gracious will. Into Your merciful hands we commend all who are in need, praying for them at all times: Thy will be done. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    Grant us our daily bread, preserve us from greed and selfish cares, and help us trust in You to provide for all our needs. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    Forgive us our sins as we also forgive those who sin against us, that our hearts may be at peace and may rejoice in a good conscience before You, and that no sin may ever frighten or alarm us. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    Lead us not into temptation, O Lord, but help us by Your Spirit to subdue our flesh, to turn from the world and its ways, and to overcome the devil with all his wiles. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    And lastly, O heavenly Father, deliver us from all evil of both body and soul, now and forever. Lord, in Your mercy,

C    hear our prayer.

P    We trust, O Lord, in Your great mercy to hear and answer us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

C    Amen.

LORD’SPRAYER                                                                                                                                                  

BENEDICAMUS                          

A    Bless we the Lord.

C    Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION                                

P    The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and T give you peace.

C    Amen.

728 HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

1     How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He has said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

2     “Fear not! I am with you, O be not dismayed,
For I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

3     “The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never, forsake!

4     “When through fiery trials your pathway will lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, will be your supply.
The flames will not hurt you; I only design
Your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

5     “Throughout all their lifetime My people will prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hairs will their temples adorn,
Like lambs they will still in My bosom be borne.”

Text: Public domain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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