The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 25, 2016
Luke 16:19-31
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Some of you have heard me say this before. I have said it on a number of occasions — both publicly as well as privately. I always have to preface it by saying, “Don’t take this personally.” It goes like this: Don’t take this personally but I don’t care what kind of house you live in. I don’t care what kind of car you drive. I don’t care how much money you have. Now don’t get me wrong. Over the course of the years I have been very impressed by some of the homes I have been in. I have truly admired some of the cars I have seen either in the parking lot at church or parked in members’ garages. In my weaker moments I have even thought about how nice it would be to be able to afford going certain places, doing certain things and having certain possessions that the good Lord has given to some of my members. No, my friends, more than anything else, what I truly care about the most is where you will spend eternity.
The sermon text that we have before us this morning dovetails perfectly with that question— a question that we would not only do well to ask ourselves, a question that we would do well to ask others. That question is: Where will you spend eternity? With that question in mind let’s study our text for today under the theme: As Disciples of Jesus— We Consider the Consequences. As we work our way through this portion of Scripture we’ll see how this portion of Scripture works its way through a progression of four steps. Step #1: As you believe, so you will live. Step #2: As you live, so you will die. Step #3: As you die, so you will be judged. Step #4: As you are judged, so you will remain.
Step #1: As you believe, so will you live. That truth is brought out very clearly in the opening portion of our text. Jesus says, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.”
If you were here in God’s house last Sunday you will remember that in and of itself money is morally neutral. How we view money and how we use money— now that’s a different story. The rich man in our text for today is a very good example of that. Since we know the rest of this story, since we know that this man ends up in hell for all of eternity we know that there was no saving faith in his heart. He did not believe in the Lord as his God. He did not trust in the Messiah that the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had promised to send into this world. What did this man believe in? That’s easy! All we have to do is look at his life! He believed in dressing in purple and fine linen. He had the money to buy the best designer duds of his day and so that’s exactly what he did. He believed in living in luxury every day. A far more literal translation of the Greek here reveals to us that this rich man “was celebrating splendidly— daily.” This rich man had the resources to live it up every single day and so that’s exactly what he did.
Now, does this portion of Scripture teach us that even if God has blessed us with more money than we need it is “wrong” for us as disciples of Jesus to wear really nice clothes or enjoy a comfortable lifestyle? Absolutely not— unless we allow that to become our “god.” We need to consider the consequences of what living a carefree comfortable lifestyle can do to our faith. If that lifestyle lures us away from the cross on Calvary’s hill, if that lifestyle has a negative impact on how often we gather together here in God’s house to hear His holy Word and receive His holy Supper then at the very least we need to examine how well we are letting our faith guide and direct our life.
As you believe, so you will live. The same axiom holds true for the beggar here in our text, the poor man known as Lazarus. Once again, since we know the rest of this story, since we know that Lazarus ends up in heaven enjoying the glorious banquet his God has graciously prepared for him, we know that Lazarus had saving faith in his heart. Lazarus believed in the Lord his God. Lazarus trusted in the Messiah whom the Lord his God had promised to send into this world. Lazarus let his faith guide and direct how he lived his life. How do we know this? That’s easy! First, there is the fact that Jesus Himself gives this poor man the name, “Lazarus.” “Lazarus” means “the one whom God helps.” Every single day his family and/or his friends would carry Lazarus to this rich man’s home and place him by the gate. Every single day Lazarus trusted that his God would help him get through the day— even though that meant “longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table,” even though that meant finding relief in “the dogs (who) came and licked his sores.” Second, we don’t see even a hint of complaining on the part of Lazarus. He didn’t blame God for his poverty or his sickness. He wasn’t angry at God for the situation he was in. He didn’t have a pity party and say, “Why me?” He simply trusted that his God was in control.
There is a very powerful lesson here for us to follow, my friends. Because of the faith that lived in Lazarus’ heart, Lazarus not only knew that the Lord his God would help him through each and every day by literally providing for his daily bread, but Lazarus also knew that one day all of his difficulties and all of his pain would come to an end and then the Lord his God would “help” him in the most wonderful way of all! He would take Lazarus home to heaven! That brings us to Step #2.
Step #2: As you live, so you will die. Jesus says, “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.”
There are two ways in which we need to look at these words. One way is to look at these words from a very superficial earthly perspective. The other way is to look at these words from a far deeper spiritual perspective. From a superficial earthly perspective these words remind us that death is an inevitable— not a natural, but an inevitable— part of life. No matter how rich someone might be and no matter how poor someone might be in the end the playing field is leveled. In the end everyone dies. Death is an inevitable part of life.
Far more important, however, is to look at these words from a deeper spiritual perspective. The rich man lived his daily life in a way that openly revealed what he believed in. He believed in enjoying this life to the fullest. He didn’t have room for God in his heart. He didn’t have time for God in his life. On the other hand, poor Lazarus believed that the Lord his God would “help” him— each and every day. His daily life revealed that his heart was filled with faith and with trust. Both men died as they lived. One man died an unbeliever. The other man died humbly trusting in his God.
The application here is simple and straightforward. We need to live our life in a way that prepares us for our death. We need to live our life in a way that openly reveals that Jesus is the King of our hearts. We need to live our life in a way that openly proclaims that our Savior God is the top priority in our lives. While we thank the good Lord for “death bed conversions” (here we think of the thief on the cross) in reality “death bed conversions” are rather rare. We need to daily consider the consequences of the way that we live our life. We need to encourage others to daily consider the consequences of the way they live their life. Those consequences are brought into clear focus in Step #3.
Step #3: As you die, so you will be judged. Jesus continues, “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.’”
Many people today naively try to deny the existence of hell. “God is a God of love,” they say, “He would never send anyone to hell.” Many people today nervously try to diminish the severity of hell. “Well, if I do end up in hell,” they say, “at least I’ll have lots of company.” How foolish! The Lord our God is not only a God of love— pure agape love— but the Lord our God is also a God of justice— pure perfect justice. (See Exodus 34:6, 7) Think about it, my friends. Even as imperfect human beings with an imperfect sense of justice we would never tell the terrorists who are killing innocent people all over the world or the criminals who assassinate police officers or that man up in Washington State who walked into a mall and killed five people, we would never tell them, “We’ll let you go this time, but please don’t do that again.” If our imperfect sense of justice calls for consequences to be meted out when someone violates the law, imagine how the perfect justice of a holy God requires that when someone rebels against Him— and that is exactly what each and every sin is, a rebellion against the Almighty— when someone breaks God’s Law God says that they deserve to endure the consequences of their rebellion.
This portion of Scripture reveals to us exactly what consequences people can expect to receive when they die and stand before the judgment throne of God. For those who lived their lives believing that the “good things” that they had here on this earth— dressing in nice clothes and enjoying a comfortable lifestyle — was all that was truly important, for those who die without saving faith in their heart, for those who die not believing and trusting in Jesus as their Savior the consequences they can expect to receive are described here in our text with words such as: “hell…torment…agony…fire.” On the other hand, for those who lived believing that whatever “bad things” they endured here on this earth were only temporary, for those who lived knowing that whatever situation they found themselves in the Lord their God would “help” them, for those who died believing and trusting in Jesus as the Lord’s Christ, this world only Savor from sin, the consequences they can expect to receive when they die are describe here in our text with words such as: “the angels carried him to Abraham’s side” and “he is comforted here.” The fact that these are the only two consequences possible, the fact that there is either heaven or hell waiting for everyone when they die is emphasized in Step #4.
Step #4. As you are judged, so you will remain. Jesus has father Abraham bring this truth out when he says to the once rich man now suffering in hell, “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
These words paint a very clear picture of a very powerful truth: the judgment we receive from God at the moment of our physical death is the judgment that will either enjoy or endure for the rest of eternity. Even if, even if, we get home to heaven and “see” that someone we love is “missing” we cannot go and rescue them from the suffering of hell. Even if, even if, someone finds themself in the fires of hell agonizing for just a drop of water and desperate for a “second chance” it will not be allowed. As Scripture says, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Whew! This is pretty heavy stuff, isn’t it? Just thinking about the fact that we need to consider the consequences of what we believe in our hearts, just thinking about the fact that we need to consider the consequences of the way we live our life because the way we live our life here will determine where we live for eternity, well, that could cause our heads to spin and our hearts to ache. Thankfully, the good Lord freely gives us everything we will ever possibly need as we consider the consequences of what we believe and as we consider the consequences of how we live. Look at verses 27-31 of our text. Knowing that his brothers were blindly following the same path which led this rich man directly to hell, he “begs” Abraham to send Lazarus back to “warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” How did father Abraham respond? He responded with words that we would all do well to take to heart, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” If father Abraham were to speak those words today he would say something like, “They have God’s holy inspired inerrant Word; let them listen to it.”
Yes, my friends, God has graciously given to us everything we need— right here on the pages of His holy Word. From what we need to believe in our heart to the way in which we need to live our life, from what happens to us when we die to where we will spend eternity— it’s all right here in the sacred Scriptures. If someone humbly listens as God speaks to them through His holy Word, then all will be well with their soul. If someone is not willing to listen to God as He speaks to them through His Word, then as father Abraham brings out here in our text, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Don’t take this personally, but I don’t care. I don’t care what kind of house you live in or what kind of car you drive or how much money you have. I care about where you will spend eternity. Therefore, my prayer this morning is that we will use this very familiar portion of Scripture to both remind ourselves and to remind others that we all need to consider the consequences. As we believe, so we will live. As we live, so we will die. As we die, so we will be judged. As we are judged, so we will remain. Stay focused on the cross and consider the consequences.
To God be the glory!
Amen