My sermon is based on
All four passages warn against placing trust in wealth, privilege, or comfort while neglecting justice and compassion. The readings suggest that relying on these can blind us—lest (so that not) comfort blinds us—to the eternal realities that only come from God.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke illustrates this perfectly. Even after death, the rich man still tries to use his privilege to get what he wants and treats Lazarus as his servant. God does not grant his request to warn his brothers. If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, what makes you think they would listen to someone rising from the dead?
Whenever I hear this story, I think of Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Rose in the movie Titanic. Ruth once lived in high society, but after her husband died, she discovered that he had left her with nothing but debt. Desperate to regain wealth, she tried to marry Rose off to a rich man. Ruth’s lack of compassion shows most clearly when she boarded a lifeboat. Instead of being grateful for her safety, she complained that she hoped there were first-class seats so she would not have to sit next to “commoners.” That moment shows how deeply she relied on wealth, privilege, and comfort, and how little room she had for compassion.
As I mentioned at the beginning, all four passages warn us not to put our trust in wealth, privilege, or comfort, because these can blind us to God’s eternal realities—the Kingdom of God, eternal life, and the call to love God and neighbor through justice and compassion.
I know each of us here cares deeply about justice and compassion. The problem is that we live in a divided world, where people define justice differently and choose to be compassionate in different ways. Secular politics often defines justice in individual or tribal terms. For some, justice means liberty—freedom from constraint. For others, justice means equity—protecting the vulnerable. Both have truth in them, but they clash when one person’s freedom feels like another person’s oppression.
But Jesus shows us that justice is not “my justice versus your justice.” Instead, justice comes from God, who calls us to restore relationships, care for the vulnerable, and seek the common good. God’s justice always holds together truth and mercy, because it is based in His love.
That is the Kingdom we are invited to build together. It means living as “we” over “me.” It means striving to love one another, meeting each person where they are, and creating space in our hearts for them, just as Jesus did. That is the Christian way.
The forces of division surround us. But we must stay rooted in Christ’s love and not let bitterness divide us further. When we do that—when we choose compassion, generosity, and justice shaped by God’s love—we will begin to glimpse those eternal realities, even here and now.
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