Annual Spiritual Checkup
As an extra resource, we encourage you to read this piece by The C.S. Lewis Institute called "Pride and Humility." The C.S. Lewis Institute writes: "Each year many of us will go through a physical checkup, perhaps do a financial checkup at year's end or at tax time, and perhaps do a performance review at our workplace. But how often do we take time to review our spiritual life?" As the fifth in a series of "spiritual checkup" topics, and as we consider the doctrine of final things, this piece challenges us to have a right view (a realistic sense) of who we are before God and others. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matt. 23:12). Let's examine our spiritual lives and prayerfully seek God's help and growth in the New Year. Read the article HERE.
Discussion Questions
“These last words of the parable were undoubtedly uttered by the Saviour with a view to His own resurrection. The sign for which the Jews had so often asked would be given by His resurrection, but He knew that even this would not move the worldly-minded to a saving faith in Him.”
GENERAL BIBLE STUDY
The following questions are meant to facilitate a study of the passage. These questions are optional.
Observation - What does it say? When you hear and read this passage what do you observe? What do you see that particularly catches your attention or strikes you?
Interpretation - What does it mean? What is the importance of the Doctrine of Final Things? In the epic sweep of God’s eternal, redemptive story, why does the Doctrine of Final Things matter?
Application - What does it mean to you? What, if anything, about the Doctrine of Final Things, challenges or deepens your understanding of your faith or your relationship with God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
THE DOCTRINE OF FINAL THINGS
(Excerpts from To Be A Christian: An Anglican Catechism and The Book of Common Prayer*)
The Apostles’ Creed states, “He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” The Nicene Creed states, “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.”
This leads us to consider several questions:
What resulted from the ascension? Jesus ascended into heaven so that, through him, his Father might send us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, Christians together are united to Christ, the living Head of his Body, the Church. ( John 14:15–17, 25–26; 16:7–15; Acts 2:33–36; Ephesians 4:7–16)
What does it mean for Jesus to sit at God the Father’s right hand? The throne on the king’s right hand was traditionally the seat of one appointed to exercise the king’s own authority. Ruling with his Father in heaven, Jesus is Lord over the Church and all creation, with authority to equip his Church, advance his kingdom, bring sinners into saving fellowship with God the Father, and finally establish justice and peace upon the earth. (Psalm 2; Isaiah 9:6–7; Acts 2:33–36; Ephesians 1:20–23; Hebrews 1:3–14)
What does the Creed mean when it says, “He will come again”? His coming in victory with great glory and power will be seen by all people and will bring this age to an end. The present world order will pass away, and God will usher in a fully renewed creation. All the saints will be together with God at that time. (Proverbs 30:4; Daniel 7:13–14; Luke 21:27–28; Acts 1:10–11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 2 Peter 3:3–13; Revelation 21:1–4)
How should you understand Jesus’ future judgment? All people, whether living or dead, will be judged by Jesus Christ. Those apart from Christ will receive eternal rejection and punishment in hell, while those who are in Christ will receive eternal blessing and welcome into the fullness of life with God. (Psalm 50:1–6; Matthew 25:31–46; Romans 2:16; 2 Corinthians 5:10)
How do you rightly live in the fear of God? With the help of the Holy Spirit, I examine my conscience according to the Word of God. Particularly useful are the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, as well as the godly counsel of fellow Christians and the moral teaching of the Church. (Exodus 20:1–17; Psalm 139:23–24; Matthew 5–7; 1 Corinthians 4:1–5)
THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS (LUKE 16:19-31)
God’s Pursuit - Prior to this story, Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7), the Parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10), and the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). What do these parables tell us about God’s love? God’s pursuit? God’s mercy and forgiveness?
God’s Warning - The Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Luke 16:1-9) is followed by this warning, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13). Is money or wealth the problem? (See 1 Timothy 6:10.) Do the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, the Prodigal Son, and the Dishonest Manager inform our understanding of the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus? How?
God’s Judgment - In the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus we see a consequence to our choices. The rich man “had chosen worldly riches and worldly pleasure and luxury as his highest good. He had reveled in it completely without accumulating treasures for eternity, and so it is his own fault that he has now become the beggar steeped in suffering.”* What does this tell us about sowing and reaping? (See Galatians 6:7-8.) Accountability?
God’s Fixed Chasm - Abraham tells the rich man, “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” (Luke 16:26). What does this tell us about God’s judgment and justice? In his commentary on the Gospel of Luke, John Nolland writes, “The rich man quite properly sues for mercy, but he is too late. The irrevocability of the decisions of God about his fate is symbolized in the great chasm that separates the two realms of the afterlife.” (See sources below.) What is your response to this finality?
God’s Warning - The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers to warn them to repent, but Abraham denies his request. He tells him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). “These last words of the parable were undoubtedly uttered by the Savior with a view to His own resurrection. The sign for which the Jews had so often asked would be given by His resurrection, but He knew that even this would not move the worldly-minded to a saving faith in Him.”
REFLECTION
This is an unequivocal and sobering story. How does it impact you?
Does it lead you to examine your own heart? Your priorities? Your stewardship of your money, possessions, relationships, and time? In what ways?
Does it provoke you to become not only convinced of but also capable of communicating the Doctrine of Final Things clearly, compassionately, yet unequivocally with others?
What else does it stir within you?
Closing Prayer - Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Epiphany
Almighty God, look mercifully upon your people, that by your great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Sources:
The Book of Common Prayer, (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019), pages 20, 127.
To Be A Christian: An Anglican Catechism, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), pages 40-41.
Nolland, John, The World Biblical Commentary: Luke 9:21-18:34, (Dallas, TX: Word Books Publisher, 1993) 832
*Geldenhuys, Norval, The Gospel of Luke: The New International Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983) 425-426