Homily One on the Fifth Sunday of Luke (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily One on the Fifth Sunday of Luke  
(22nd Sunday After Pentecost)

On the Rich Man and Lazarus

By St. John of Kronstadt

The Gospel read today depicts the fate after the death of the rich and luxurious merry man and the poor sick Lazarus. Especially remarkable and edifying is the conversation of the rich man with the forefather Abraham, whom he saw from hades far away in the heavenly dwellings, and with him the former beggar Lazarus. In general, there is much that is instructive and edifying for us in today's Gospel. Let us, with God's help, compose a discourse on today's Gospel and derive from it spiritual benefit for our souls.

In this Gospel, as in a mirror, sinful humanity is depicted, especially the noble and rich, abundantly endowed by God with earthly gifts; and we can also see ourselves. Listen. The Lord says: "There was a rich man, who was clothed in porphyry and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day." In this verse, you may not quite understand the words "porphyry and fine linen." Porphyry is a precious garment made of purple or crimson fabric, in which ancient kings and nobles usually dressed. Fine linen was also the name given to a precious, golden garment made of fine and delicate yarn gathered from an Indian tree, or, as others say, spun from feathers, which was also called byssus, from the Hebrew language būṣu which means whiteness; however, it was yellowish or purple in color and was precious as gold. This means that the mentioned rich man liked to dress very luxuriously, set feasts and lived to the fullest of his pleasure. But what is especially bad here, will ask our contemporary luxurious merrymakers? God has given us a good means of living: why not live for our own pleasure, when we also have dear friends with whom we can share our time? This is what very, very many people think, say and do now. The pursuit of a merry life, of feasting, of ostentation, of luxurious living conditions is now in great vogue. And in order to live in pleasure, people do not neglect any means: neither large thefts for thousands and tens of thousands, or even hundreds, nor large murders, nor various deceptions and swindles.

Brethren! God's judgment is more certain than ours. The Lord God truly condemned the rich man after death into the fire, into torment. He was worthy of it for his passion to a luxurious and cheerful life, for his hardness of heart towards poor Lazarus, whom it would have been so easy for him to shelter, caress, and soothe. Such was the hardness of heart of the rich man, addicted to pleasure, that the dogs were more affectionate to the sick man, because when they came, they licked his scabs; but the rich man did not want to throw him a morsel, who only wanted to satisfy himself with the crumbs falling from the rich man's table. How quickly will you take crumbs to satisfy your hunger? Oh, inhuman, base soul! Oh, the heart of stone, unfeeling! But let us look at our deeds: are we not also like the rich man mentioned? Yes, we are. Sometimes we also like to dress up in silk, velvet and gold, and although we do not feast brilliantly every day, we are not averse to lust every day; and yet, from these passions, our hearts become coarser and less and less sensitive to shortcomings, sorrows, pain and misfortunes of our neighbors; and we are more and more overcome by wicked self-love, the desire to live to our heart's content and pleasure; we care less and less about our soul, created in the image and likeness of God; we think and care less and less about correcting our lives, about cutting off the thorns of passions and evil habits that have grown in the soul, about good deeds that please God. Brothers and sisters! In whom the passion for wealth, for finery and carnal pleasures reigns, Christian love cannot live; it is impossible for God and mammon to work together (Matt. 6:24). Let us live with the fear of God!

But let us continue the explanation of the Gospel: “And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon 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'” ( Luke 16:20–24 ). This is the fate after death of the honest, the poor, the sick, who bear their position with submission and without complaint, and the fate of the hard-hearted and voluptuous rich! One is carried immediately after death by the Angels to the Kingdom of Heaven to enjoy blessings inexpressible in language, and the other is cast down into the abyss of hades, into fire, into unbearable torment. This is the end of the sufferings and joys of sinners here!

Let us live with the fear of God, spending our days in abstinence, in virtue, especially in mercy to the poor. Let us use God's generous gifts to us according to the will of the Lord, and not according to our own whims, remembering that we are stewards, and not lords of the property given to us by the Lord.

But let us listen to what Abraham answered the rich man. "Child," he says, "remember that you received your good things in your lifetime, but Lazarus received evil things; but now he is comforted here, but you suffer" (Luke 16:25); that is, you enjoyed yourself on earth without measure, forgetting God and virtue, in complete negligence of the soul, indulging only in carnal pleasures - and for this you have a just punishment from the just Go. You ungratefully trampled all the gifts of God, despised the love of God, which led you to repentance, despised your neighbors: for this you are condemned to eternal torment, and Lazarus, for his patience, for his sufferings, is now eternally comforted. O the Terrible fate of the rich! And meanwhile, here on earth their lot is often enviable: they have a full cup of everything, until death; and an occasion for pleasure and luxury every day. But what is their soul, that is, the soul of the unmerciful, hard-hearted rich men? Does God favor her? Is there in her the grace of God - this is the true wealth of the Christian soul? Is there living faith, is there Christian hope, support in sorrows, deprivations, in misfortunes and illnesses - is there Christian love, loving all, sympathizing with all, merciful to all? No, where there is passion for corruptible goods, there is no place for incorruptible, heavenly virtue; there is no place for the grace of God.

But what does Abraham say next to the rich man? “And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf is fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us” (Luke 16:26). What a terrible misfortune! An unrepentant sinner has no hope of passing from hades to paradise; and even the righteous cannot help the unrepentant; all communication, all help ceases. A terrible impossibility! The soul grows numb at these words! Blessed is he who has stocked up here with a sufficient number of good deeds, and ended his life with sincere repentance! After death there is no longer room for virtue and repentance!

Let us hasten then, brethren, to repentance and good deeds. Time is still ours, by the mercy of God. But it may soon be taken from us. Let us listen to what the rich man says in despair: “I beseech you therefore, father, that you send him to my father’s house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:27–28). Both the rich man himself and his brethren evidently did not believe that after death there is a terrible and lamentable torment for sinners, and therefore they lived, as he did, without caring for repentance and correction. The former rich man now felt pity for his brethren, fearing that they also might be cast into the same intolerable hellfire; and he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his brethren, to testify of the existence of terrible torments for sinners after death; i.e. the rich man wanted Abraham to send the dead Lazarus to his brothers to admonish them. But Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets," that is, their writings; "let them hear them." But the rich man said, "No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent." Then Abraham said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though someone rise from the dead” (Luke 16:29–31).

How many people today do not believe in the torments of hades after death! They also think and say what the rich and luxurious merry man thought and said in his time: "Who was there to tell us that there are the torments of hades? There are no torments; here is the end of all pleasures and torments; after death there is nothing." Just as many now would like someone to rise from the dead and testify that there is a terrible place of torment for sinners! They do not believe God Himself, the Savior, who testifies to us about this in the Gospel, they do not believe the Apostles, the Holy God-bearing Fathers, and imagine that they would believe a resurrected dead man! But this is impossible, for they would also consider the resurrected one to be a phantom, a dream of the imagination, and they would not believe either. So, read, brothers, the word of God, listen, become wise and be saved. The Gospel is the word of God Himself: “Not one jot or one tittle will pass from it: all will be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). Attend the temple of God diligently; educate your souls here for the Kingdom of God; for the temple is a nursery of souls, a school of Christian piety; be zealous for every good deed; conquer sins, correct yourselves; adorn yourselves with meekness, mercy, compassion, abstinence, purity and chastity; and at the end of life you will not remain in shame, and after death you will not be given over to torment, and you will rest in the bosom of your forefather, or more - you will be with Christ, as the Lord said to the repentant wise thief: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.