Sunday after Trinity, 2012 - Eight souls were in attendance at our Briarcrest "Nursing Home" outreach this AM. We have a number of ‘regulars’ that were either too ill to attend or who were not with us for other reasons. So, we read Morning Prayer with a somewhat smaller than usual group this morning. The traditional reading for today speak of GOD’s love and how we are to reflect that love to others. But, there is an interesting gospel lesson appointed for today in that we read the account of “The rich man and the beggar”. This passage points to the fact that the rich man walked by this beggar through life, paying him little to no attention. How often have we passed by someone asking for change, and given them nothing, not even eye contact? Or have we seen someone with a sign, off the highway that says, “Will work for food”; and we did not stop to hear his story or offer even a kind word? That is much like what this rich man did; a too common response.
The narrative points out that both the rich man and the beggar died. The beggar found himself in, what the scripture terms, “Abraham’s Bosom”. A place of safety and peace where he was in the presence of the great patriarch of our faith, Father Abraham. The rich man, however, was in a place of torment. Not simply a physical torment that ate away at his flesh. But an overall torment that touched him heart, soul, minds and body. The torment of an existence void of God! Now, it may be asked, is it too much to assume that his pain was all encompassing? The scripture simply says that he was in torment. But, what we know of this place, what we know of the state in which man finds himself after a life of not living for GOD, is that his life’s destination is “hell”; not because of some punishment for evil done (Although some do get hellish torment for such works!). But, mostly because the one who chooses not to have GOD in this life will not be forced to spend an eternity with a GOD they wanted no part of. So, this “Hell”, this eternity without GOD, gives the soul there EVERYTHING that is not of GOD. The absence of GOD is also the complete absence of the attributes of GOD. So, heaven is a place filled with GOD. Heaven is filled with all that GOD is; filed with peace and joy and comfort and complete-health and perfection and ‘enough’ and goodness and timelessness and power and strength, etc…….. But, “hell”, far from being any of those things, being void of GOD and his attribute, has no peace, no health, no painlessness, full anxiety, total disease, torment, ‘lack’, mental stress, etc….. (Neither list could even be fully complete, because the list of the good things of GOD is never complete.)
So, how can such a frightening scene be a true showcase for the Love of GOD? S
imply, GOD loves you so much that he will respect your life’s chose to not be with him. If you live a life that says you do not need GOD; HE will not force you to be with Him in eternity. But, as we know, GOD calls all men to salvation and wants none to spend eternity away from Him. He proved this so fully in that Jesus; our great GOD come in human flesh, lived a life of sinless-ness, then died a death that He did not deserve so that my sins and yours could be forgiven. He died for you, and as the well known bumper sticker says, won’t you now live for Him? HE truly loves us. He could force us all to be with him; making us all robot -ike beings that only do what we are programmed to do. But, instead, GOD gives us freedom & as much as it may hurt His heart to not have one of his children with him for eternity, He will love that lost sinner right into the Hell they chose for themselves. GOD, in no way, sends man to Hell; but GOD respects man’s personal choice to go there.
Seek Him and all that is Him today. He will come into your life and lead you to all that He is. Peace to all who read these thoughts! Amen..
