When Love Is Absent

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

There is a rich man. He is a reminder: “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

This lesson from the Gospel—this parable, which, since it has a named character, might very well be a true story that Christ is relating—is heavy in the law. For this rich man, who should be taking care of his neighbors. This rich man, who should be a kinsman‑redeemer in his town, in his city, because he has the means to take care of those who fall on hard times. At his gate is laid a man named Lazarus. Lazarus doesn’t just wind up there accidentally. People place him there on purpose, saying, “Rich man, this is your responsibility. Here is your neighbor. Love him as the law commands you to.” And the rich man is completely oblivious to Lazarus.

Our epistle text said this: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Now, the rich man would probably be the first to object and say, “I never hated Lazarus. I didn’t wish his destruction.” But by his not caring—by the absence of love—there is hate. He was ambivalent at best about Lazarus. It didn’t matter that Lazarus was covered in sores. It didn’t matter that Lazarus was licked by the dogs, made ritually unclean over and over again, because the rich man’s belly was full. His clothes were nice. He had the largest TV screen so he could watch the Cowboys lose once again. That’s the Dallas Cowboys, by the way. He had the coldest beer in the fridge. He had all his buddies over. He drove the largest, most luxurious car possible. And he was completely blind to those in need.

We could read this text and say, “Hey, this is a very works‑righteous text though, right?” But no—because he doesn’t love God, because God is not first in his life. As a result of that, he is not loving his neighbor. So he is a man without faith. He was solely concentrated on himself. And that’s why the First Commandment is the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.” That’s why in the garden, the commandment that Satan attacked was that first one when he tells them: “You will be like God.” That’s what he tells Eve. And Adam is there like an ignorant bump on a log, doing nothing to see if his wife is going to drop dead or not. They both take it and eat.

The rich man is so focused on himself that he winds up in the bad place. And in the bad place, he looks up and he sees the man who lived in torture every single day now next to Abraham’s side. And he tells Abraham, “Send that guy who I didn’t care about, who I still don’t care about—send him to me because I’m hot. Surrounded by flames. Give me a drink of water.” Water here isn’t just water; it’s a symbol of the river of life. In other words, “Have him come down here and take me to heaven.”

Abraham’s like, “That’s not possible for a multitude of reasons. Ain’t happening. You had the good things in life. You could have amended your ways, but you didn’t.” And so then the rich man—again, this unnamed rich man—says, “Well, then send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers.” He sounds like a caring guy, doesn’t he?

And when we read this text, you might think of it kind of like A Christmas Carol—that Lazarus is going to be like the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future, right? But how does Abraham respond? “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Send Lazarus back to his disease‑riddled body. Don’t cure him. Don’t make him better. But send that disease‑riddled Lazarus to my brothers.

The man does not care, even at the end, about his neighbor. He only cares about himself.

And I’ve got to tell you, we are all that rich man. This world is racked with selfishness. We are selfish people. How many times have you sat around and solved the world’s problems with your friends? And how many times does solving the world’s problems basically boil down to: If everybody thought like I did, did what I did, and spoke like I did—in other words, if the world made itself in my image—it would be great. Because we forget all our bad qualities. Do you want the world as stubborn as you are? Or the world to be as much of a pushover as you are?

Do you want the world to have the medical knowledge you have? I want my doctors to know more than me, personally.

We don’t make the world in our image. We conform ourselves, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into the image of God. We want the world to be in God’s image.

We have been given much. And so God does expect a lot out of us because God gave us everything. God gave us Christ on the cross. God covers our selfishness in the blood of the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. God covers our sins in His righteous forgiveness. And this is for rich and poor, men and women, young and old—Christ for everyone.

We pray “Thy kingdom come” in the Lord’s Prayer, and how we teach our confirmands: This kingdom comes of its own. It’s God’s kingdom. But we pray that it would come to us also. And what is the kingdom of God? The grace of Jesus Christ. And that God would use us to take that kingdom out into the world. And the world needs to know to stop navel‑gazing. It needs to stop focusing on itself because it leads to destruction. It leads to the bad place—the fiery place.

And we who have been saved—yes, a great weight has been placed upon us. But it’s also an easy weight. “My yoke is easy. My burden is light.” To proclaim Christ crucified for the nations—that all are sinners and all are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

If you’re crushed by your sin today, if you’re examining your heart and thinking, “Oh, how ungrateful am I? What a sinner I am”—fix your eyes on the cross and take hope, for there is your salvation.

Take hope that Christ has shed His blood and poured out the living waters as an unending flood upon you. And if you question this, just think of your baptism—that’s why water is tied to the Word in baptism.

You have been forgiven of your sins. Rest in that forgiveness.

And if you came to church today thinking, “How righteous am I?”—look to the cross and see you’re not righteous enough to die for the world. Christ died for you as well. And again, be comforted in the Gospel. Then take that law and take that Gospel out into the world. Live your life not by solving the world’s problems, but by being the love of Christ in the place where you are called—which ultimately solves the world’s problems. And conform yourself to the image of Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.