Lazarus and Dives
The Scriptures for today were Galatians 1:1-20 and Luke 16:19-31.
I, for one, am glad that the Church put those two Scriptures together. The first one is St. Paul’s brief recounting about how he received the Gospel which he preaches. The second one is our Lord Jesus’ story of the poor man who died and went to be with Abraham and the rich man who died and went to Hades. From Hades he petitioned Abraham for a drop of water, then petitioned him to send a messenger to his brothers.
So, why am I glad that these two Scriptures were put together?
These two Scriptures put together, in one place, two sides of an argument that has been fought with great vehemence throughout many epochs of Church history. There are those who point to accepting the Lord as the sole basis for salvation. But, then, there are those who say that the behavior of a Christian affects his/her salvation. The modern upshot of that has been a division between those who are theologically conservative and those who are theologically liberal in the USA.
Among theological conservatives in the USA, it often appears that only the preaching of the Gospel and a one-time adult decision to accept the Lord is all that matters for puposes of salvation. Works are only our loving response to his salvation, but nothing more. Among theological liberals, works are often pointed to as the defining characteristic of salvation. Unfortunately, many reject the salvation story, giving many reasons why it is not accurate. For instance, important components like the Incarnation (Virgin Birth) and the Resurrection (And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith, 1 Corinthians 15:14.) are thrown aside as though they did not affect the faith, and, therefore, our salvation. In short, St. Paul was supposedly wrong about the necessity of the Resurrection.
But today’s Scriptures point to both sides of the argument. St. Paul makes it very clear that the Gospel he received came directly from the Lord. The preaching of the Gospel, the adult mature acceptance of our Lord as our personal Savior is tremendously important. Our Lord, Himself, insists that if one is not born again, then that person shall not see the Kingdom of God. — John 3:3. [Important note: the issue with babies and children is somewhat different. I am not dealing here with infant baptism and its related issues.]
However, it is also important to remember that it is the same Lord who insisted that we must be born again who says that the rich man is in Hades because he did not care for the poor around him. He also speaks of the final judgement in Matthew 25:31-45 in which the sole basis for judgment appears to be how one has behaved toward the widow, orphan, prisoner, sick person, etc., with no mention of a personal acceptance of God.
In other words, the Scriptures today insist that both sides of the argument are actually mecessary. On the one hand one must hear and respond to the Gospel. On the other hand, one must also be concerned about one’s neighbor. A personal Christianity that does not care for its neighbor is not Christianity. A Christianity that cares for its neighbor but denies the reality of the Gospel is not Christianity either.
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