What's Important?

Luke 16:19-31

“What happens after you die?” has been a popular topic of discussion for quite a while, recently it has hit the forefront with a popular book from a Minor Christian celebrity, a book that denies the existence of Hell. The point of the book is that a loving God wouldn’t send people to Hell. It would be great if that was true, because Hell is a terrible place of punishment and separation from God, and nobody wants to go there or for their friends to end up there, and a modern interpretation of who God is might suggest that a God who loves us so much wouldn’t want anyone to end up there, and if he doesn’t want anyone there, and since he is God, after all, he could make it so that nobody ends up in Hell.

The problem with this view, however, is that it doesn’t hold up under biblical scrutiny. Jesus Himself talks about Hell, and when he does, he is clear in its existence.

The context for today’s parable is that Jesus was teaching his disciples and the Pharisees were listening in and got mad at what he was teaching. Not surprising, since he was teaching on money (see Luke 16:13b). If you want to get church people riled up, al you’ve got to do is talk about money. So the Pharisees, who loved money (Luke’s words, not mine), got mad and sneered at Jesus, so he turns to them. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15)

So Jesus continued to teach, and now he aims a story at the Pharisees, who loved money. He begins his story with a rich man. Now this isn’t just any rich man; this guy is ridiculously rich. The wealthy of Jesus’ time dressed in fine linen; the white garment is enough to establish him as belonging to the wealthy class, but the purple was over the top. It was a long and expensive procedure to dye fabric, and purple was chiefly worn by nobles and the extremely wealthy. So the “rich man” is described as wearing what only the richest of the rich would wear.

Contrast that opulence with Lazarus, who is covered in sores. Because of his sores, he would have been considered unclean – and even cursed by God.

The rich man lived daily in luxury. Where it says he lived in luxury every day, this is descriptive of the feasts he had daily. Many of you are familiar with the parable of the prodigal son – when he returned home, his father killed the fatted calf to celebrate the return of his wayward son. This kind of meal could feed up to a hundred guests. The rich man Jesus is talking about… he ate like that every day.

Lazarus, on the other hand, longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In researching this passage, I found out that in an over-the-top feast like this rich man threw daily, they would use loaves of bread essentially like napkins, and when they were done with them, they would throw them on the floor. And like the prodigal son, who longed to eat the pods he fed to the pigs, Lazarus went hungry. Instead, he is licked by dogs. Dogs in the Bible are not man’s best friend. They are always contemptible creatures.

The rich man lived in luxury; his house was in a gated compound, while Lazarus was homeless. He didn’t even choose to sit at the rich man’s gate; scripture says he was laid there. So not only does he have no home, but he doesn’t even have the means to choose where he begs.

Jesus continues the contrast between the two men in their deaths. When the rich man dies, he is buried. To be denied burial in Jewish culture was tantamount to bearing the curse of God, while Romans thought that to leave a corpse unburied would have bad repercussions on the afterlife. Jesus does not give any details about Lazarus’ burial, and I don’t think it’s by accident.

Speaking of what Jesus didn’t say about Lazarus, I want to bring to your attention what Jesus didn’t say about the rich man. Jesus never accuses the rich man of getting his money by theft, extortion, or any other dishonest means. Jesus never accuses the rich man of using his money for anything dishonest. In fact, everything would suggest that it would be the rich man, not Lazarus, who ends up in paradise.

So why would this rich man end up in Hell? I think he gives us a pretty good idea with his after-death conduct. Remember what God told Samuel when He was sending Samuel to anoint a king over Israel? “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b. There is nothing of the rich man’s appearance that would suggest he should end up in torment, but his actions speak louder than words. Even in Hell, this rich man is unwilling to give up his status. His circumstances haven’t humbled him whatsoever. In a former church, I had the opportunity to visit a young man in jail. He had been arrested for a crime he had most certainly committed, and he had lost his work-release job for failing a drug test. Yet he continued to protest that he was innocent. It was all someone else’s fault. If he hadn’t been drinking… the drug test was faulty; he wasn’t doing drugs – he was just in the car with the drug users; he didn’t have anywhere else to eat his lunch, that’s why he was with them. The rich man is acting like this young man. He’s in torment, and he’s making his demands.

He is demanding the rights of God’s chosen people, calling Abraham “Father Abraham,” In Luke 3, John the Baptist comes, calling the crowds to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9) The fruit that we bear is important because fruit only comes from fruit trees, and every fruit tree necessarily bears fruit. Otherwise it’s no longer a fruit tree but firewood. You can tell what kind of tree it is by the fruit it bears. And Jesus says that his family (meaning the family of God!) is open to all who hear and obey God’s Word.

Why might the rich man not be included? Did you notice that he calls Abraham “Father” but he still wants Abraham to do his will? When Jesus teaches us to pray, it’s “Thy will be done” – not our will.

Furthermore the rich man’s demand is that Abraham send Lazarus, whom he never served in life, to serve him in death, to make him feel better. He is denied for two reasons. First, because Jesus reversed the assumed order of things. Listen to Jesus’ words from Luke 6:20-26.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:20-26)

Simply by virtue of being born where we were born, we have more resources and wealth than most of the world. There are people who live on $1 a day, who never know when they are going to have a meal. Why were we born here? Why were they born “there”? Jesus is saying that those who have suffered here on this earth will receive comfort, wealth, satisfaction, and joy in the life to come. Heaven will be unbelievably wonderful, incomparably good.

But Jesus makes it clear – the rich have already received their reward.

The rich man is also the victim of his own choices. He has chosen to live a lavish life of luxury without regard for the plight of Lazarus or anyone else. And the truth is, our lives mean something. The choices we make today have eternal consequences.

“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.’ (Luke 16:25-26)

So the rich man has his first bout of conscience, begging Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house. (Luke 16;27-28) He still thinks of Lazarus as lower than himself. Even his place of torment has not humbled him. C.S. Lewis suggests that the doors of Hell are locked… from the inside. That those who would turn and accept God’s free gift of grace could do so, but because of their selfish pride, they do not, even when the result is pain. I don’t know if I can accept Lewis’ view, but I am absolutely certain that Hell is real.

It could be hard to understand how someone could sit in Hell and fail to acknowledge God, but I’ve seen plenty of people on earth, in trying situations, railing at God. After September 11^th, there were plenty of people in churches… and plenty of others shaking their fists, angry at God for “allowing this to happen.”

But Jesus’ parable really doesn’t have to do with getting out of Hell. What it does have to do follows in the final dialog between the rich man and Abraham. The rich man’s family, who were presumably just as Jewish as he was, needed warned. It was obvious to the rich man that they were not headed for Heaven. If they continued on their current path, they would end up joining him in Hell. Won’t somebody tell them?

“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.’ (Luke 16:29-30)

They have no excuse. They have the Law and the Prophets, but they have not listened and obeyed, and thus, they are not included in God’s family. And with a final denunciation he prophesies (Luke 16:31) “‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

How true is this? Our culture is full of people who will accept Jesus as a good teacher but who reject what he taught. We can empirically prove to someone that Jesus existed and even rose from the dead, but they refuse to take Him at His Word.

Friends, these words Jesus spoke were not spoken to unbelievers. They were not spoken to pagans or heathens. They were spoken to the Holiness movement of Jesus’ time. Someone has been complaining about sermons that have made them feel uncomfortable - talk about making people squirm! Here Jesus is, suggesting that the Pharisees were on their way to Hell, not because they were on the margins of society, but because they loved the wrong things. Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15)

I’ve been struggling with this passage all week long. I’ll be honest when I tell you that this has been one of the most difficult passages to preach. One thing I always try to do in every message is to answer the “so what” question – what does this mean to me, and what do I do about what I’ve heard? Honestly this is a struggle.

Jesus’ point in this parable is that he turns the values of our culture upside down, but when I look around, I often see a church culture that values the same old things. We value comfort. If that wasn’t true, I wouldn’t still be hearing about the old pew padding. We value the familiar. If that wasn’t true, there would never be any complaints when someone changes the order of worship or the placement of furniture. We value money. If that wasn’t true, we would have to go looking for ways to spend it all. I would never have to mention the word “tithe” because people would come back saying, “God only required a tenth? That’s it?” The sad thing is there are a lot of people in churches who are not Christians. There are a lot of church people who have put their trust in something other than Jesus Christ, who place their worth in the things of this world. Jesus Himself says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.’” (Matthew 7: 21-23)

He says this to reinforce the truth that we will be known by our fruit. This week is a good time to stop and evaluate your fruit. You can do this various ways; I’d like to suggest a few. If  you’re not very adventurous, simply ask yourself, “Who has come to love Jesus more because of what I’ve said or done?” or “Are people closer to Jesus because of the things I say and do?” If you’re a little more adventurous or extroverted, ask someone who you trust enough to give you a true answer the same questions. And no matter what, ask the Holy Spirit. For truly the Holy Spirit is the One who grows the fruit.

If you get an answer that isn’t satisfactory, your responsibility is to find out what it is that is holding you back and to ruthlessly eliminate it from your life. Jesus said if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to do it for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what is in the way of you giving your all to Him. 

The lesson of the rich man and Lazarus is two-fold. For the poor, the suffering, there is a reward, there is comfort. For the rich, those of us who have the word of the One who has come back from the dead, there is a mandate. Don’t wait until tomorrow; what we do right now counts. It means everything, and eternity hangs in the balance.