An Instruction for the 22nd Sunday After Pentecost (20)

«So he» (the rich man) «cried and said: father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame» (Lk 16:24).

We have, beloved brothers, a bad habit—of not recognizing ourselves in those parables and examples which sometimes touch directly upon us, you and me. This, we say, does not concern us; we are not like that; it concerns only such-and-such other people. And from this it follows that we quite often, for instance, on hearing a Gospel parable or narrative, draw no useful instruction for ourselves from it, and, on leaving church, go on living just as we lived before. We act neither well nor honestly in this. Let us, then, apply today’s Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus to ourselves, as far as a good conscience compels us to relate what we have heard to ourselves too. Let us hear of whom, and what, today’s Gospel speaks. It speaks of a rich man and of the poor Lazarus; of the rich man it is said that he lived richly, dressed luxuriously, as some ancient king once did, delighted himself and his friends every day with the richest of tables, and was extremely hardhearted and stingy toward the poor and unfortunate. Of Lazarus it is said that he lay at the gate of the rich man’s house, full of sores, and desired only to be fed with the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and that the dogs came and licked his sores; then it speaks of the fate of each after death—of the most unfortunate lot of the rich man and the most blessed portion of Lazarus: «the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into the kingdom of heaven, into the bosom of Abraham the forefather. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said: father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said: I beg you, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him: they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said: no, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him: if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead» (Lk 16:19-31). Here is the whole sacred parable, spoken by the most pure and unfailing lips of the Lord Himself.

Let us proceed, then, to draw edification from it for ourselves. Let us consider the rich man’s conduct, for which he was condemned to eternal fire, and the grievous condition of poor Lazarus: the rich man dressed, like some king, in purple and gold—in short, in the costliest garments—and feasted luxuriously every day; and yet he was extremely proud and hardhearted; seeing daily a poor man at the gate of his own house, he passed him by without the slightest compassion—and poor Lazarus longed to be fed even with the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table. Notice how modest, how extremely limited, were the poor man’s own desires: he wished only to be fed with crumbs from the rich man’s table; would these crumbs have ruined the rich man, had he himself, out of compassion, given them to the poor man? But he was unwilling to give him even the crumbs; perhaps only the servants, secretly, gave him something; the dogs were more compassionate than their own master: they came and licked Lazarus’s sores. See how wealth puffs up and hardens the heart of a person who makes unwise and ungrateful use of it; he despises a fellow being of his own nature—a man, in every way like himself—fails to recognize in him his own brother, counts him almost worse than the animals, since he caresses and feeds the animals, but abhors the poor man and refuses him even his own crumbs. And yet, for all his haughtiness and hardheartedness, this rich man enjoys the respect of many—though, of course, not a sincere respect; he is flattered, he is extolled for his cheerful character, for his skill in living well, for his refined taste, for his skill in dressing tastefully, for his intelligence, and so forth. But the judgment of God, brothers, is not the judgment of man. See what follows the rich man’s death. The much-praised rich man dies; his body is committed to the earth, while his soul is cast by cruel demons into an unbearable fire. And behold, the former rich man, burning in the flame, asks Abraham only that Lazarus would dip the tip of his finger in water and come to cool his tongue—that same tongue which had once been fastidious, down to the smallest detail, about luxurious food and drink. But even this small comfort is refused him, and quite justly: for the rich man, while living on earth, was unwilling to grant even the smallest comfort to a poor man, giving him not even a crumb—and so, in the other life, after death, not even a drop is given to him. What exact, inexorable justice! May I remember this, before all others, as one myself often given to hardheartedness; may all who suffer from this same sickness remember what strict, inexorable justice from God awaits us for hardheartedness toward the poor: if we do not amend ourselves, do not come to our senses, we too will be cast into the fire, and there will be no comfort at all for us in the fire of Gehenna.

But how blessed, by contrast, was poor Lazarus’s own lot after death: he is at once carried by radiant, good Angels into the kingdom of heaven, and his soul tastes the sweetest comforts, such as never even entered his mind here. See how changeable our own lot is! See how quickly earthly, vain, fleeting goods pass away! See into what calamity they cast a person forever, who makes unwise use of them, not according to the will of God, but according to his own sinful lusts! Blessed, a hundred times blessed, are all the Lazaruses who bear, without complaint, on earth, poverty, hunger, cold, and sickness. They will suffer here only a short while, but will be eternally comforted there, if with faith, patience, and humility they bear their own hard lot. In justification of our own hardheartedness toward the poor, we usually point out to ourselves and to others their weaknesses, their real or imagined faults, calling them lazy, idle, drunkards, and the like. In every family, it is true, there is no lack of a black sheep; but it is unjust to lump them all into one category and refuse them all alike. Look closely at them, speak with them, and you will see. Many of them deserve our full sympathy and compassion. And yet, let us not be harsh judges of our neighbors either: let us rather look impartially at ourselves, and sincerely condemn ourselves for our own daily pleasures, for our own amusements and entertainments, for our own costly clothing in the latest fashion and taste, for our own exquisite, luxurious household furnishings, and the rest, and let us not judge the poor too harshly for sometimes comforting and warming themselves with a warming, comforting drink: after all, they were not made of iron and stone, but, like us sinners, are made of the same flesh and blood; they too grow cold, and go hungry, and go naked, and endure many, many hardships, and, to crown it all, suffer general contempt, enduring our own hardheartedness and mockery, and are deprived of church gatherings, of public prayer and praise—that great comfort and support for the soul.

Concerning today’s Gospel, it is worth noting that it is especially instructive for people who have adopted the modern, false views on the fate of people beyond the grave. Foolish people say: there will be nothing after death—neither torment nor blessedness; everything ends with this present life. But behold, eternal Truth itself, which cannot err, says today: no, it is beyond the grave that either real, eternal life begins, or real, eternal torment for the eternal soul, unable to be rid of its own evil. Consider: Abraham died nearly four thousand years ago; the rich man mentioned in the Gospel has died; Lazarus has died—but they died only in body; in soul they are alive, just as if they had not died even in body: some are in blessedness, comforted, while the other is in torment; the soul of the rich man, like that of Lazarus, retains its own vitality, its own feelings, its own sensations, its own full personhood; the one is in fearsome deprivation, in a state entirely the opposite of what it was on earth; the other is in joy and contentment. Hear: they converse—the one in hell, in the flame, the other in the kingdom of heaven. And what an instructive conversation between the rich man, cast into hell, and Abraham, answering on Lazarus’s behalf! The rich man asks for even a small comfort—he is refused, and told that there is no possibility whatsoever of passing from paradise into hell, or from hell into paradise; the rich man points to his five brothers still remaining alive on earth—unbelievers, presumably likewise wealthy revelers—and asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house, to assure them that there is life beyond the grave, a merciless judgment for all who are unmerciful, so that they too might not come to that place of torment. But what does Abraham answer the former rich man? They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And to our own unbelievers and freethinkers it must be said: you have the Gospel—read it diligently, so that you do not lose yourselves entirely in the labyrinth of this vain, earthly life, and do not choke in the smoke and fumes of your own passions and lusts, and perish forever. Let us hear what the former rich man answers Abraham: no, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. Even today many unbelievers would wish that the dead might come to them from the other world, to assure them of the life to come, as though the dead were more trustworthy than the Lord Himself, or the Apostles and Evangelists. Abraham answers: if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, even if one should rise from the dead. And if today’s wise men, or fools, do not believe the Gospel and what is written in it, then, of course, they will not believe even a man risen from the dead either. So then, it remains for all of us, for our own salvation, and to escape the fate of Gehenna, to read and hear the Gospel diligently and to fulfill it, and especially to be merciful and compassionate toward our neighbors. Amen.