This morning is James chapter two, verses one through 13. My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, you sit here in a good place, while you say to the poor man, you stand over there, or sit down at my feet, Have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy. to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that as we have the opportunity to open your word and to attend to it, that we can be satisfied by your likeness in the face of our Lord Jesus. We pray, Father, that by faith we would see Jesus, that we would trust him, that we would love him, that you would melt away in us the loves of this world, the desires of the eyes, the desires of the flesh, and the pride of life, those things that come not from you but from the world, and help us to set our minds on things that are above where Christ is. Father, we need your grace, and so we pray for your help. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Well, if you're just joining us, it would be good, before we jump into this passage, to talk a little bit about where we've come from so far in the gospel of Luke. Right now, we've, this is our third sermon on Luke 16. And we're actually, narratively, story-wise, we're in the same place that we were back in Luke chapter 14. If you recall, several weeks ago, we preached a sermon about this banquet that God has been preparing in competition with all these other feasts and banquets that the Pharisees had been performing. And Jesus, at one of these feasts of the Pharisees, he begins to talk about it. We're actually still there. We've been in one spot for a really long time. And I say that because if we don't understand that context that Jesus has been now for over almost three chapters full talking about what this banquet looks like. What this activity of God to save the poor and the lame and the crippled. We're not gonna understand this parable. We're not gonna understand what he's trying to say. Because everything within these chapters has to do with what he pronounces there in Luke 14. We've seen now a slew of parables. We saw the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the parable of the prodigal son, all of these coordinating with, in various ways, in various aspects, what Jesus has been saying. Last week, Pastor Bo, excuse me, two weeks ago, Pastor Bo preached on what is largely considered to be Jesus' most difficult parable, the parable of the dishonest manager. What's interesting about that parable is his attention is set directly towards the disciples. When we read parables, we need to make sure who he's talking to to understand we get the parable correctly. In that parable, he's talking to the disciples. This parable that we're about to look at today, his attention has shifted. He's no longer talking primarily to the disciples, but he's talking to the Pharisees. If you look up in verse 14, this kind of sets the stage for everything that follows. It says, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to him, excuse me, he said to them, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. And then everything else that follows, up until the end of chapter 16 is directed toward these Pharisees, directed towards these people. Did you hear how strong the language was? They're lovers of money, they justify themselves before men, and God abominates them. You know what an abominate means? It means that it's the strongest possible detest. And that's what God's feeling is towards these Pharisees, these so-called masters of the law. And that's who this parable is directed towards. When Jesus is talking, that's who he's speaking to in this particular incident. Now there's three parts of this story. There's first, the question of status in this world's economy in this parable. The second part of this parable is status in God's economy. And then the third part is the means by which we know this, the means of confirmation of how this economy works. Now, jumping into this, this is an extremely difficult passage to understand. This was one where I went in thinking I knew what it said, and after I spent time studying it, I didn't think I knew what it said. And then I studied a little bit more, and now I think I know what it says, but I'm not sure. People have been actually debating this literally for millennia. So as early as we can find commentators, they're debating over what exactly is happening in this passage. Is it a parable? Is it historical? Are the people here meant to represent real people? It's very controverted about what exactly is happening here. Unfortunately, depending on either interpretation, whichever interpretation you take, it doesn't make it an easier passage to preach. Because however you take it, Jesus' words are extremely strong, and he's dealing with a topic that no one really likes to think about. No one really likes to discuss, namely, judgment that's coming. So however we take it, and I think Pastor Bo and I are gonna disagree a little bit on the specifics here. However we take it, the basic message is the same. The basic message is the same. Here's the thrust. Take heed of where your comfort is. Regardless of how we interpret this passage, the thing that this passage forces us to think about is, where's your comfort? When you think about, if I could only get that, fill in the blank, what is it? If it's anything else except presence in God's kingdom at the messianic banquet, then you're falling short. You're on the wrong side of this parable. Those are the people that Jesus is preaching against. These people whose comforts, whose hopes, whose aspirations are misdirected. Now I wanna say a couple things, three things actually about parables in order to understand them. I can't remember if Bo and I have talked about this yet in our preaching, but parables are tricky things to interpret. They're very difficult, there's lots of different kinds, but there's general rules that can help us understand what's going on. First is this, no parable is meant to be taken literally. No parable is meant to be taken literally in the sense of, In our passage here, Jesus is not trying to give a detailed account of what the afterlife is like. At least that's my conviction. Jesus is not trying to give detailed description of the afterlife, just like in the parable of the sower in Luke 6, he's not trying to give advice on strategies for sowing wheat. Jesus is using pictures, language, imagery, to talk about something else. Sometimes they're very close. This seems to be a parable called an example, where the imagery and the language are very close to the topic at hand. Other times they're very far apart, like for instance, the parable of the lost coin. Very different imagery, very different language, and yet applying to the situation of the people of Israel. Here's the last thing about parables. Generally, not all the time, but generally, the emphasis comes at the end. So when you read a parable, the thing you're looking for to understand what's happening is the punchline. You wait for the end to understand what's trying to be communicated, okay? So not necessarily literal, speaking of things beyond the scope of this parable and waiting for that end stress, waiting for the end of how that sort of clarifies what's being said. Now unfortunately, the ending of our parable makes it even more confusing, because it seems to be out of nowhere that Jesus brings in this topic of the law and the prophets, but I think As we'll go through, it makes sense. Here's what I wanna do today. I just want us to walk through the passage, notice some things, and then we're gonna end by speaking specifically about how it applies to us as people reading this passage today. So we jump into the parable, and we're not really told much. We jump right into the middle of things, and immediately we're told of two people, a rich man, He's unnamed, that's important, he doesn't have a name. But we're told that he is clothed in purple, he wears fine linen, and he feasts sumptuously every day. This picture is one of extreme opulence, extreme display of wealth and of prosperity. If you don't know, purple was one of the most difficult colors to dye in the ancient world. The only way to get this kind of purple was to gather a whole bunch of snails from the sea. And you had to mash their shells together, and you'd get this very special purple. And it was so valuable, this was very interesting, it was so valuable that actually in the rabbinic literature, they condemn trying to fake this color. I don't really know why, but it's an interesting fact. So many people were trying to fabricate this, were trying to look successful, trying to look prosperous, that the rabbis actually had to say, you can't do this. You gotta stop faking this color. The second character is this poor man, and he's named Lazarus. Lazarus is a Greek version of a very common Aramaic name, Eleazar. Eleazar means God is my help. That's become massively important for the rest of this parable. We have this rich, unnamed man and this poor man whose name is God is my help. And the only thing we know about him, besides his name, is basically the exact opposite of what this rich man has. Rather than feasting sumptuously, he desires to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. He wants the rejects, and actually what they think that this was, in the ancient world when you would eat, rather than having a napkin, you would use bread to wipe your hands. So these scraps were likely used and discarded bread that would fall to the table. That's what this poor man wants to eat. You should be hearing some similarities between this and the prodigal son. Because what does the prodigal son desire to be fed with? The pods of the pig food. Again, just absolute, absolute destitution. And we're not told anything about his clothing. The only thing we know that he's covered with are sores. Rich man clothed in fine linen and purple clothing, this man clothed with sores. And he's at the rich man's gate. Right outside where this rich man is feasting, where he's demonstrating his magnificent wealth, right outside there's a poor man in complete need. And from what we can tell in the text, this rich man is doing nothing to relieve him or to serve him. And in fact, this is directly contradictory to the law. of the Old Testament. This is directly contradictory. It's Deuteronomy 15, Deuteronomy 15 verses 7 and 8, Moses as he's speaking to the people of Israel, he says, if among you one of your brothers should become poor, In any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. He's not doing that at all. He has no care for this poor man. He is, instead of showing love and kindness and generosity, he's just delighting himself in his own riches, delighting himself in his own opulence, delighting himself in all the things that he possesses, rather than using that wealth to fulfill the calling that the Lord had placed on him. Now, it's important to notice that because this man is not just a pagan. This is not a Gentile. In fact, we learn as we read down that this is a Jew. When he goes to Hades, we're gonna see that he addresses Abraham as father, Abraham. A Gentile would not have done that. Only a Jew would consider Abraham to be his ancient patriarch. And so, this Jew who, by all accounts, at least for some of the Judaism of the day, was blessed, wealth being a sign of God's blessing, was the one who was completely reneging on the obligations that the Lord had commanded him to do. So in terms of status, these two men could be hardly further apart. In terms of the world's economy, both in terms of possessions and success, and also in terms of demonstration, Remember, Pharisees are lovers of money and they love to be justified and exalt themselves in the sight of man. Those are the two things that Jesus condemns about them. That's what this rich man is doing. He obviously loves his wealth. You remember back to the old Disney cartoons where Donald Duck swims in his money? That's the picture here. Swimming in his money, delighting himself in his wealth. On the other hand, this poor man has nothing. Completely deprived of basic needs. And in the world's economy, a nobody. In the economy of this day, a nobody. Someone who was forgotten, obviously had no family to care for him. was ceremonially unclean because of the sores that covered his body, and even, to add insult to injury, the only people who tend to him are dogs. As his wounds are licked by these dogs, he would have become detested by these rich, sitting in their houses. In terms of the world's economy, that's very clear. And here's the great reversal that happens, that Jesus then describes for us. Notice how this is completely switched in the event of their death. On the one hand, when the poor man dies, what happens? We're told, that the angels themselves come and carry him up into Abraham's side. Angels themselves come up and carry this poor man, this man who was forgotten, who was neglected, who was outcast, who no one cared a fig about. The angels themselves now come and accompany him in this heavenly and glorious retinue to the presence of the great patriarch himself. Now there's a lot of debate over what Abraham's side means. We're not gonna get into all of that. Some people have suggested this is something like purgatory. It seems to me, based off of the context, that what he's talking about here is this Lazarus, who is longing to eat scraps from under the table of the rich man, has now been brought to sit next to Abraham at the banquet. At the Messianic banquet, this poor man is now seated at the table with Abraham. That's what I think is going on there. Because it can mean, the word is his bosom, Abraham's bosom, it can mean It can mean side, it can mean bosom, it can mean a specific place, but generally what it communicates there is just the presence of Abraham. He's in the presence of Abraham, and in this string of parables that Jesus has been telling us, the most sensible choice there is the presence with Abraham in the banquet of the Messiah, okay? So he's brought into this banquet with nothing less than the angels themselves. What's amazing is though when we now look at the death of the rich man, this man who had remarkable wealth, who had, in terms of the story, just ridiculous opulence, it's remarkably brief. All it says is that he died and was buried. He died and was buried, and that's it. Now almost certainly he would have had, if he was as wealthy as he says he would, he would have had a magnificent funeral. There would likely have been inscriptions carved out for him. There would have been some sort of funeral march with people wailing and showing the mourning that they had. But compared to the poor man, that's nothing. All he does is he's died and he's buried. Nothing else important for us to know. Another man who's passed away who now descends into Sheol, into the place of the dead. In the world's economy, okay, remember, the world's economy, this rich man far surpassed the poor man. And yet now, even at their deaths, we see how that economy has flipped. Angels have come and gathered the poor man into the side of Abraham, while the rich man, excuse me, dies and is buried. It's remarkable to see that switch, that reversal. But that reversal gets even more pronounced. Because while Lazarus is sitting up there feasting with Abraham, delighting himself in the good things that God has given in his messianic banquet, we're told that the rich man is in Hades being in torment. He had all the good things of this life and now in his death, all the things that he had with him, all the things that he procured for himself, all the fineries, all the opulence, all the extravagance, it does nothing for him in Hades. There's nothing, and in fact, he's in torment. And when he sees Lazarus, God is my help, he sees God is my help, standing next to Abraham, and he asks Abraham, Father Abraham, please send Lazarus down just to touch the tip of my tongue with a little bit of water. Now he's the one begging for the scraps that fall from the table, the messianic table. And it's even worse, it's not just scraps that he wants, he just wants a little drop of water. A little drop of water to assuage his thirst. That's all he wants. Now remember, I said we shouldn't read this as a detailed description of hell. But what it is telling us is the vast difference that exists between those who justify themselves in front of men, whom God abominates, and those who, in the sight of God, have nothing. Abraham's response is a little chilling for us. Because he says, Abraham, and he calls him child. He actually acknowledges his status as a covenant member. Yes, you were a member of Israel. You were a people of the covenant. But you in your lifetime received your good things. You in your lifetime had your comforts. And now Lazarus, who had nothing, who was in anguish, is now being comforted while you yourself are in anguish. At first reading, that's kind of shocking. Because in the scope of most of the world, we are the people who have comfort in this world now. Compared to the rest of world history, in fact, compared to most of the known world today, known world, as if, compared to the rest of the world, we live in remarkable comfort. We live in remarkable wealth. But Jesus, he's not making a statement that a communist could simply sign on to. He's not saying that the simple disparity is the thing that causes the mix match, the reversal. The problem with the rich man wasn't that he was rich. The problem, as we saw, was that he neglected to do what God had given to do. For him, the thing that mattered, the thing that was of concern for him, the thing that he focused his attention on was his own wealth, his own money, his own opulence, his own festivity, completely neglecting what God had given him to do. That was the problem. It was actually because of him that Lazarus was in anguish. It wasn't just Lazarus' status as a poor man, the rich man had actually oppressed and caused anguish for the poor man. continually denying God's law, and that's the reason why he's now in torment. He had all this outward blessing, and yet, now that he's in Hades, that outward blessing is the very thing that testifies against him. You had those things, and you're not having them again. You had them then, you misused them, you used them to your own ends, you used them to justify yourself in front of men, you used to exalt yourself in front of men, and now they turn around and condemn you where you are now. The comfort that he thought he had in earth, this is what's ironic, the comfort he thought he had turns out to be no comfort at all as he's faced now with the reality of his decisions. And then Abraham again says, not only that, but there's this wide chasm, this remarkable difference between where Lazarus is and where the rich man is, so that no one can cross. There is no chance in Jesus' parable for this rich man ever to now make his way across. This is a great argument against purgatory. The man is not trying to pass this chasm. He simply is where he is. There's a great line from C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, where he says, die before you die, because there is no chance after. Die before you die, because there is no chance after. Die, let all the comforts go, let your grasp on yourself, the justification of yourself, the exaltation before men, let all of that go, because if you don't do that before you die, there's not gonna be another chance after. So the rich man, after this happens, he says, okay, all right, I understand, I know the predicament that I'm in. At least send Lazarus to tell my five brothers about what's happening. Send him so that they can know how to avoid this torment. And the exchange here is remarkable. It really is interesting to pay attention to it because Abraham says they have the law and the prophets. Let them hear them. They have the scriptures, the inspired word of God. Everything that they need is in here. All the warnings, everything they might learn from, everything that might ready them for what's happening is in scripture. And the rich man's response should sort of baffle us. He says, no. No, Father Abraham. But if someone should rise from the dead, then they will repent. If they have this magnificent display, if they've got this wonderful sign, miracle of a man coming from the dead, that'll be enough. Whatever this is he's saying isn't enough. Everything you've given us here, this is confusing, this isn't clear. And then Abraham responds with this. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. If they're not willing to hear what God has said in his word, it doesn't matter what's going to happen. They're not going to repent. It's not going to be enough. And of course, this is gonna happen. pointing to Jesus' resurrection. When Jesus rises from the dead, people continue to reject him. The hard-hardness of the religious leaders proves immovable even in the face of that. They lie about it. They say, let's spread a, let's spread suspicion that his body was stolen. Let's cover this up, let's fabricate something so we don't have to deal with this. They know that he's risen from the dead and yet still they don't repent. It's amazing that the story has come here because the story that we thought was about wealth is actually about the validity and the certainty of God's promises in his word. And the way we understand the rest of this parable is essentially this is the story that God has been telling. He's been warning. He's been trying to speak to his people. He's again and again and again. And they refuse to listen. And the thing that's going to testify against them is the fact that in the face of God's word, in the face of continual rebuke, in the face of prophets inspired scripture teaching, Jesus himself, whom the law and the prophets bear witness to, The people hardened their hearts. People refused to submit. The people refused to let their own desires be shaped by what God would have them to do, what God would have them to love, and instead sought after anything but. I want us to see I have three things that I want us to see from this text. And the question here is not the question, the point, take heat of where your comfort is. Take heat of what your hope is in. Take heat of the things that you find yourself wanting and establishing yourself in and striving for because God is clear in his word about what he wants, and there will be a reckoning. Here's the things I want us to see from this. First, it speaks to those who want comfort in this life, who want comfort in this life. Remember the language that Abraham uses, you had comfort in this life. Lazarus didn't, and now he is being comforted, and you're in English. To those of us who want comfort in this life, and this we can break down further. First of all, to those who are, actually have, by all accounts, true, physical, financial comfort. Now remember, wealth is not a curse. Wealth is not inherently evil. Throughout the scripture we're told that God gives wealth, gives finances, gives resources as a blessing to his people. But Jesus could hardly be stronger about the dangers that these pose to those who would carelessly and thoughtlessly approach financial means. Who would carelessly and thoughtlessly approach worldly success. They are good things, but they very easily, very insidiously destroy you if you let yourself be bought by them. Now here's what he would say to those who have it now, who have comfort in this life, who really have the blessing of financial resources, of physical good material things. First of all, beware that. I don't mean beware like fear it. I mean be wary of it. Be wary of it. Don't take that as simply your lot in life. Don't think that this sets you apart. Don't think that because you have those things that you have no need to worry. Examine your relationship to it. Now again, that's all of us compared to the rest of the world. Examine your relationship to the resources that you have. How do you think about them? How do you spend them? Where do you devote your time to? Don't just find yourself there, approach it thoughtfully, approach it carefully, because God has given that to you for a purpose, and it is not for your own comfort. God has given you those good things for a very specific reason, And it's not yourself. That is, think carefully about how you think about the things that you own. Think carefully about how you think about your money. And then secondly this, don't neglect what God has given you to do. He's given you a vocation and obviously if you have financial means, if you have resources, praise God for his blessing and it seems that then in that case you would be, in most cases, you're being faithful in your work, being faithful in your vocation, but you can be a really good lawyer and completely disregard what God has given you to do, to care for the poor, to care for those in need, to love your neighbor. You can be a really good If I can speak to myself here, I can be a really good pastor in one sense. Look busy, be productive in many metrics of the world, even caring for people, and be completely in it for myself. Completely neglecting what God has actually given me to do. So while you fulfill your vocations, remember that your vocation is bigger than just your job. And God has given you things to do, to devote your time to, to devote your resources to, beyond just making money, beyond just accumulating wealth, beyond just adding another property to your ledger. And then finally, this. Don't forget that this will leave you soon. This is the message again and again in scripture. The rich and the poor die together. Both go down to the grave. Obviously, generational wealth is great. Many of us have been blessed by and benefited from the faithfulness of our ancestors. And that's a good thing to pass on. The wise man, Proverbs says, prepares for his children and his children's children's inheritance. It's not what I'm saying. I'm not speaking against that. But you're not gonna, when you pass away, the wealth that you accumulated, it's not gonna mean anything to you. You're not gonna be able to show your dollar bills to God and say, Hey, look at this. Look at all I did. You gave me 10 talents. I got 20 talents more, maybe literally, and it's going to be nothing. It's going to mean completely nothing. So that's to those who have resources. Now, to those of us who may not have resources, again, that's relative in the sight of the world, but for those of us struggling with maybe financial, not destitution per se, but certainly not comfort, first of all, remember this. 1 John, it's very clear, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, they are not from the Father, they are from the world. Success is not the solution to your problem. Even if finances are tight, even if you don't have all the things that you want, getting them is not the solution. And in fact, you might be poor, and you might actually be the rich man in this parable. If you think that if you could just get that job, or you could just get that recognition, or you could just get that whatever, you're thinking the same way the rich man thinks. Instead, remember Psalm 73. Psalm 73, 25 and 26, whom have I in heaven but you, and there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart and my finances and my bank account and my car and my children, everything may fail me, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Whatever we have, whatever your mind is attuned to, if it's anything besides God himself, it will pass away. It will diminish. And in the end, it will be worthless. And remember this too. Luke 1, at the very beginning of Luke's gospel, he says this, speaking of Jesus' work. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away. Why do you want to be rich? Wouldn't it be better to be exalted with the king of Israel than to be sent away by him? Okay, I'm not saying rich people just de facto are gonna be sent empty away. It's not about the amount you have, it's about what you realize about it, that God has given it to you for a reason. That it is a tool, a means of glorifying God, not glorifying yourself. I said I had three things. I'm gonna conclude with that second one. But as we think about this, we should take seriously the Heidelberg Catechism, question one. What is your only comfort in life and death? In life and in death. That you are not your own, but you belong in body and in soul, in life and in death, to your faithful savior, Jesus Christ. That's your comfort. Anything else? It's going to condemn you, but Jesus will save you and lift you up and exalt you. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the magnificent promise that in our weakness, in our poverty, You are the one who fills us with good things. Jesus himself, who was rich, he became poor, Father, that we might be rich with you. And I pray that as we continue to grow into Christ, that we would see more and more the things you've given us, the good things you've given us, not as ends to themselves, but as means to serve you and to glorify you, as we find our comfort not in them, but in you and in Christ himself. Guard our hearts from idolatry. Guard our hearts from greed and covetousness. that we might love Christ and love you. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen. Our communion homily text is from Psalm 36, verses five through nine. Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like the great deep. Man and beast, you save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God. The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. Amen. I mentioned in the sermon that when we look at the gospel of Luke, when we look at all the gospels and even the rest of the New Testament, it's amazing how much they talk about money, how much it talks about possessions, how much it talks about the dangers that lurk when we find our hope, find our comfort, find our resolve in the acquisition of riches and of wealth. What's amazing, is that Paul, when he's writing about what Christ has done, when he's writing about what Jesus came to do, he completely flips all that on his head again. He says, he who is rich became poor, so that we in our poverty might become rich. The one that we serve, the one who actually spread this table for us, is rich beyond compare. Richer than any of us can even fathom, because he is seated at the right hand of the Father, And rather than flaunt that, rather than thinking that that was something to be grasped and to be displayed, he humbled himself and he became poor. What's amazing about this table is, and this is what's wowed the world since Christianity came into existence, is that the bar for this table is not on a socioeconomic scale. In the ancient world, there were things called associations, and they're very much like guilds or unions, and they were often organized, both the associations themselves and within the associations, by wealth, by prestige. The amazing thing about the Christian faith is that there's no bearing on our communion with one another and our communion with Christ. And in fact, if you come to this table, you're recognizing that you are poor, that you owe everything in dependence upon someone else, that nothing you have is yours, that everything has been given. But if you come to this table, regardless of what you have in this life, if you come to this table and you come by faith and you come to eat with the Lord Jesus, you are incomparably rich. You are rich beyond our understanding because you are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. And all of his riches have been applied to you. And you get to partake of that, you get to participate in that, and you get to know that in Christ, who's the king of the universe, he has made you an heir with him to all the glories and all the riches and all the delights of his kingdom. And that's what you get to taste here. And so I wanna invite you, but I wanna invite you, and as you come, think and reflect on the fact that coming here does mean that you're admitting that you don't bring anything. and that everything you're getting here not only so far exceeds your possible desires that all you can do is respond with praise, but also that the thing that you're looking forward to is not the raise or the tax return or the promotion, but it's the return of Christ. when we'll see him and we'll know him and we'll actually be seated around a table with him. And we'll all delight, because he who was rich became poor that we might become rich. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. Let us give thanks for the bread. We do not presume to come to your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your many and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose character is to have mercy. Thank you, gracious Lord, that our sinful bodies are made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, so that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. These are the gifts of God for the people of God.