FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
1 John 4:20: “If a man says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”
Luke 16:25: “But Abraham said [to the rich man], ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.”
Reflection
Last week, I said that our mission during the Trinity Season is to examine and purge ourselves of those seven “passions” or “sins”, which hinder our relationship not only with God, but also with each other. To that end, the church has crafted a threefold (trinity?) cycle of seven Sundays each to take us every step of our walk with God. But before we get to this mission, we need to understand why we have to go through with it in the first place. After all, aren’t we already “saved”?—as some Christians proudly proclaim. And, sure, even if we make a mistake here and there, well, “Christians aren’t perfect—they’re just forgiven.” Yes, I’ve unfortunately seen that bumper sticker too.
But we know it’s not that simple. We know that things are not right in the world, and that they never have been. Nothing, not even the Church, is exempt from that reality. The First Letter of John says that God loved us first—not because God is obligated to love, but because “God is love” (emphasis mine). John’s Community goes on to ask how anyone can love an unseen God, and yet hate a neighbor they can see every day. We might take it a step further. If the Creator, who is above the creation, still loves the creation, then how can we not love our neighbor, who is our fellow human being, equal to us in every way that matters?
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a perfect illustration of this, but before we get to that, let’s first take a moment and discuss what this story is not about. It’s not about doctrinal details of what exactly happens after death. Consider that, in the parable, both men, immediately after their deaths, go to their assigned eternal dwellings—one to “Abraham’s bosom”, the other to “Hades”—whereas Paul envisioned the afterlife quite differently. I think Jesus took advantage of popular speculation of the afterlife, and wove together a story in order to make a point. The story itself contains clues to support this, extremes like: the rich man’s life of daily sumptuous feasts, dogs licking sores, even angels carrying away a dead beggar. My own favorite is the exchange between the rich man and Abraham. The rich man’s plea sounds almost comical: “Oh and hey, Father Abraham… would you mind sending Lazarus to me with water? It’s so hot down here!” Not what you'd expect from someone “in anguish in this flame”.
Now if we are to look at both the moral of this parable, and the reason why it was chosen for the First Sunday after Trinity, then we have to look at the rich man. He’s the one who does all the talking—Lazarus has no lines—and when he finally talks to Abraham, we learn a great deal about how his mind works. First, he knows Lazarus’ name! This whole time, Lazarus hadn’t just been some nameless beggar on the corner; this was someone he saw every day, knew on a first-name basis, and still passed him by on his way towards his parties. But second, and more important, even in the anguish of hellfire, the rich man still sees Lazarus as some sort of servant. He asks Abraham to send Lazarus to him with water. Then he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers as a warning. The rich man may have asked for mercy, but does he really sound contrite to you? Does he sound like he’s learned his lesson?
We can contrast the rich man’s kind of love with God’s love. God loved us when he didn’t have to; the rich man didn’t love when he should’ve—when, out of his abundance and means, he could’ve. He feasted daily in front of the starving Lazarus, almost mockingly, whereas God has invited all of his children (even calls us by name!) to feast at a table of grace, equally and without restriction. This kind of love, then, is what we ground ourselves on as we begin our journey, not only through this Trinity Season, but also, by extension, through our lives. We may not always be able to help everyone we meet, but the lesson before our inward quest is that we can always show love outwardly, and at least acknowledge each other as fellow human beings.
Prayer of the Day
O God,
the strength of all who put their trust in you:
Mercifully accept our prayers,
and because in our weakness,
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in keeping your commandments,
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
—Collect for the First Sunday after Trinity, Book of Common Prayer, 1662 (used as the Collect for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany in the 1979 edition).
O God,
you have taught us to keep all your commandments
by loving you and our neighbor.
Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit,
that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart,
and united to one another with pure affection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
—Collect for “Proper 9: the Sunday closest to July 6” in the Book of Common Prayer, 1979; ultimately derived from the Leonine Sacramentary (Commentary on the American Prayer Book,, Marion J. Hatchett, p. 188)
Hymn: “God is Love, let heaven adore him”
(Words: Timothy Rees, 1874-1939; © A. R. Mowbray & Co. Ltd.
Tune: ‘Abbot’s Leigh’, by Cyril Vincent Taylor)
God is Love, let heav’n adore him.
God is Love, let earth rejoice.
Let creation sing before him
And exalt him with one voice.
God, who laid the earth’s foundation;
God, who spread the heav’ns above;
God, who breathes through all creation:
God is Love, eternal Love.
God is Love, and love enfolds us,
All the world in one embrace.
With unfailing grasp, God holds us,
Every child of every race.
And when human hearts are breaking
Under sorrow’s iron rod,
Then we find that selfsame aching
Deep within the heart of God.
God is Love, and though with blindness,
Sin afflicts all human life,
God’s eternal lovingkindness
Guides us through our earthly strife.
Sin, and death, and hell shall never
O’er us final triumph gain.
God is Love, so Love forever
O’er the universe must reign.
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