The Parable of Lazarus and the Compassion of Jesus

An mp3 file of a teaching on the Compassion of Jesus as shown through the Parable of Lazarus is linked here (small file size), and a larger downloadable file size is here. (These files may also be played directly from host site without being downloaded.)

Luke 16:19-31English Standard Version (ESV)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.^[a] The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on 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.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Footnotes:

1. Luke 16:22 Greek bosom; also verse 23

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Journaling through the Psalms

Those who love the Psalms and enjoy journaling will find The Psalms Journal to be the ideal companion for both. The Psalms Journal provides a convenient place to record your devotions, prayers and reflections, as you meditate through the Psalms.

This version of the Psalms comes from the Psalter of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The psalms are printed on the left page and are faced on the right page with blank unruled paper for notes. The Table of Contents is divided up into 60 segments for those who follow the Benedictine method of praying through the entire Psalter each month.


The Psalms Journal is available through Saint Austin's Press for $10.55 each, plus shipping. Bulk pricing is available. The Psalms Journal is available for $13.55 on CreateSpace and Amazon.

Wisdom for men

My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands; for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being. Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. Proverbs 3:1-6 [HCSB]

Gossip and Verification

The following words of wisdom remind us of the admonition from James chapter 3 about the danger of an ungoverened tongue. We are also reminded of the direction from Jesus to talk directly with the person who may have offended you. This gives him the opportunity to repent or correct a misunderstanding. 

Below, the teacher is warning us that a rumor we have heard may not be true. We must verify it with the source. Along with James, the teacher reminds us of the destructive nature of gossip, and our weakness in keeping secrets. 

Christian leaders especially must be faithful in holding words shared with them in confidence. Priests are bound by their vows to keep confessions in absolute confidence.

Gossip is corrosive. We know this from personal experience as well, don't we? So, why do we participate in it? The teacher tells us, the one who hates gossip reduces evil!

Ecclesiasticus 19:4-17
⁴ One who trusts others too quickly is lightminded, and one who sins does wrong to himself. ⁵ One who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned, ⁶ and for one who hates gossip evil is lessened. ⁷ Never repeat a conversation, and you will lose nothing at all. ⁸ With friend or foe do not report it, and unless it would be a sin for you, do not disclose it; ⁹for some one has heard you and watched you, and when the time comes he will hate you. ¹⁰ Have you heard a word? Let it die with you. Be brave! It will not make you burst! ¹¹With such a word a fool will suffer pangs like a woman in labor with a child. ¹² Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word inside a fool. ¹³ Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything, so that he may do it no more. ¹⁴ Question a neighbor, perhaps he did not say it; but if he said it, so that he may not say it again.¹⁵ Question a friend, for often it is slander; so do not believe everything you hear. ¹⁶ A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has never sinned with his tongue? ¹⁷Question your neighbor before you threaten him; and let the law of the Most High take its course. -- RSV

Grace in Pilgrim's Progress

“God's grace is the most incredible and insurmountable truth ever to be revealed to the human heart, which is why God has given us His Holy Spirit to superintend the process of more fully revealing the majesty of the work done on our behalf by our Savior. He teaches us to first cling to, and then enables us to adore with the faith He so graciously supplies, the mercy of God. This mercy has its cause and effect in the work of Jesus on the cross."

- John Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress

Glory to God!

Mary Sumner - Founder of the Mother's Union

The Mother's Union, which celebrates its 140^th anniversary this year (2016), is well known in the UK and Africa. Its founder, Mary Sumner, is remembered in the Anglican Church's Festival Calendar on August 9^th. Being an American, and unfamiliar with Mary Sumner, I decided to do a little research and found the following quotations that reminded me of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20, 21:

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. . . . 20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. [ESV]

Mary Sumner's advice in the following excerpts is directed at mothers and assumes the father of the home is too busy working outside of the home to be involved overly much in the nurture and education of children. However, God's commandments to Moses in Deuteronomy are directed at fathers, as well, if not primarily.

Even so, Mary's advice is wise, biblical and worth recovering, especially at a time when God's role for fathers, mothers and the family are being redefined by a culture who does not know God and often rejects righteousness.

Message at Portsmouth 1885 (excerpts)

" Rich homes and poor homes — all alike — must be won for our God ! It is a call to every one of us to live in prayer, that His help, His blessing and His inspiration may rest upon our earnest efforts."

And again:

" Let us settle it in our hearts that the greatest work we can do for the nation is to strive to bring the Church into the Home; which means Christ Himself into hearts and homes; Christ must be in every home, if it is to be in any way a home of peace and love ....

" . . . . God's plans are better than our own, and He has ordained that the training-place for His human creatures should be the home: the training-place for parents as well as children ....

" . . . . Our task is to restore true family life — for it is God's own institution, and therefore a divine thing — and to convince all our members that there are these two Divine Institutions in the world — the Church and the Home. The Home is God's institution as truly as is the Church: let that be the truth that we proclaim ! "

Conference of November 1887 (excerpts on principles)

" The Principles upon which we would build our work are these: —

" That the prosperity of a nation springs from the family life of the homes.

" That family life is the greatest institution in the world for the formation of the character of children.

“ That the tone of family life depends in great measure upon the married life of the parents — their mutual love, loyalty and faithfulness the one to the other.

" That religion is the indispensable foundation of family life, and that the truths of the Christian faith should be taught definitely at home as well as at school.

" That parents are themselves responsible for the religious teaching of their children.

" That character is formed during the first ten years of life by the example and habits of Home.

" That example is stronger than precept, and parents there fore must be themselves what they wish their children to be.

" That the history of the world proves the divine power given by God to parents, and to Mothers especially, because children are placed in their arms from infancy, in a more intimate and closer relationship with the Mother than with the Father, and this moreover, during the time when character is formed.

" That the training of children is a profession.

" That it needs faith, love, patience, method, self-control, and some knowledge of the principles of character-training.

" That it is the duty of every Mother with her own lips to teach her child that he is God's child, consecrated body and soul in Holy Baptism to be our Lord Jesus Christ's soldier and servant unto his life's end.

" That every baptised child should be taught the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments .... and all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health."

Excerpts from archive.org here.

Mary Sumner's Prayer

O Lord, fill us with thy Holy Spirit, that we may firmly believe in Jesus Christ, and love him with all our hearts. Wash our souls with his precious blood. Make us hate sin and to be holy in thought, word and deed. Help us to be faithful wives and loving mothers. Bless us and all who belong to the Mothers' Union; unite us in love and prayer and teach us to train our children for heaven. Pour out the Holy Spirit on our husbands and children. Make our homes, homes of peace and love and, may we so live on earth, that we may live with thee for ever in heaven; for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen

From: A biographical companion to Common Worship, by John H. Darch and Stuart K. Burns