20 March 2014 - at our door

20 March 2014 - at our door

Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.

The rich man is today's Gospel reading is such a man.  Dressing in fine clothes, and eating sumptuous food, he is rich in the things of this world.  He has the strength to provide this sort of thing for himself.  He has success on a human level.  But he is blind to that which is truly important.  He can't see the need of the beggar outside his own door.  In turning away from the beggar his heart turns away from the LORD who loves the beggar.

But the trouble with this sort of strength and success is that it is "like the chaff which the wind drives away."  This is the eventuality of which the psalm warns, "the way of the wicked [which] vanishes."

The solution is to hope in the LORD, to delight in his law, and to meditate on it day and night.  On the one hand we may still endure harsh circumstances here and now.  But on another deeper level we are "like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves never fade."  We are like a "tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream:  It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in years of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit."  We look at the beggar, hungry and covered with sores, and we often can't recognize his blessedness.   We often judge him by the same standard the world uses.

Yet the source of living water that nourishes him endures a deeper change of season than material fortunes. It  survives even after his death.  Indeed, the truth of it is only then fully revealed.  The rich man and the poor can both see the truth of it once they die.  The rich man sees that the beggar has access to the living water while he is "suffering torment in these flames."   The emptiness of worldly success is revealed in stark contrast to the blessedness of those who hope in the LORD.

Perhaps we're worried about self-deception.  We probably should be.  The world, the flesh, and the devil promise compelling rewards.  How do we avoid hearing "you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented"?  The threat is real:

More tortuous than all else is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?

There is only one answer.  Self-deception will remain an issue if we are relying on ourselves to discern these things.

I, the LORD, alone probe the mind
and test the heart,
To reward everyone according to his ways,
according to the merit of his deeds.

The LORD wants to bless us.  A very small amount, a finger dipped in his living water can make a huge difference and effect a huge transformation.  He wants to send his angels to carry us to the bosom of Abraham.  Let us follow his law and meditate on it day and night to ensure that our strength is in him, in the living water that will never dry up.