This past week I spent some time on YouTube in my office watching videos (not the normal cat-videos I usually watch… just kidding J) – – I was watching a bunch of different videos where a person would interview random folks on the street. And in all of the different ones I watched the question was pretty much the same: When you die, are you going to heaven or hell? Can you guess what some of the answers were? Let me share just a few…
This man said, “I believe I’m going to heaven because I grew up in the church.”
This young lady wasn’t quite sure but said… “I’ll go to heaven maybe if the rest of my life I’m a good person.”
The middle aged man here didn’t believe that heaven and hell existed. He thought there is an afterlife though saying, “You just keep coming back until you get it right.”
This college kid said… “I definitely think I’m going to heaven because I’m an overall good guy.” Although he did also say, “After my decision making lately I might have some repenting to do…”
I wonder if you went out this week and asked people if they were going to heaven or hell in your neighborhood, or your playgroup, or your office, or Friday night over drinks… what do you suppose you might hear?
The reason I ask… is that the story Jesus tells in our sermon text today really makes you think about that question… and the two men that Jesus talks about in this story would have answered that question in two very different ways.
If you asked the rich man if he was going to heaven or hell before he died… he might have said what? “Well, sure! Look at me, God must be pretty happy with me… after all he’s given me a lot of wealth and happiness in this life.” Or maybe he would have pointed to his connections… “Of course I’m going to heaven, I’m an Israelite! I’m from the family of Abraham, we’re all going to heaven.”
But do earthly wealth and happiness mean God is rewarding you for being his child? Is it family connections that get you into heaven? And on the flip side… if you live a pretty difficult life does that mean God is punishing you and that you’ll end up in hell? Well… let’s look again at that story Jesus tells: 19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The nameless rich man had it all in this life. Nice clothes, plenty to eat, luxurious lifestyle… Lazarus though was dirt poor… he had to beg for food, he would have been thrilled to have even the leftovers from the rich man’s dinner table… but all he had instead was a bunch of street dogs bothering him. Now, if your standing with God was reflected in your position in life there’d be no question… the rich man was on his way to heaven and Lazarus… well… he was not.
But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus goes on: 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
Clearly their station in this life wasn’t a reflection of the way God felt about them and their eternal destination. Lazarus, whose name means God is my help, well he was carried by God’s angelic helpers to the side of Abraham in heaven – Abraham who in the Bible is called the father of those who believe. And the rich man, though everyone surely knew his name on earth… he is left nameless and helpless in hell.
And so the question is, why? Some people might say… “Well, it’s because the rich man didn’t do good with his riches in this life! Lazarus was sitting at his gate and he never helped him out!” After all in the story doesn’t Abraham even say to him: ‘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. But is that Jesus’ point? That if you don’t do enough good in this life you’ll end up in hell?
No… Jesus’ point becomes clear as you listen to the end of this story. After realizing that hell is permanent and there is no relief coming for him… no second chance after death… the rich man asks Abraham to at least give his brothers back on earth a sign from God so that they won’t end up where he is. In fact he asks that Lazarus be sent back from the dead to tell them the truth… And this is where we see the real point of this story… the answer the rich man got from Abraham… “If [your brothers] do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Do you see the point? Why was the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven? Not because of what they had or didn’t have in this life… not because of their relationship to a church or a family… it all came down to my Word – or as it the Old Testament Scriptures were commonly referred to in Jesus’ day, “Moses and the Prophets” – The reason one was in heaven and one was in hell was because one of them listened to God’s Word… and the other didn’t.
Jesus is making this point: Use the Means of Grace during your Time of Grace. There is only one way to heaven and that way is revealed through only one means: God’s Word. Each of you have been given a Time of Grace… time in this life to know who God is and what he’s done to save you. And the only place you’ll find that answer is in God’s Word.
And for many of you… perhaps even most of you listening to me right now… you’re thinking, “Yeah pastor, I got it. You know you’re preaching to a bunch of Lutherans, right? I know I’m going to heaven because Jesus lived a perfect life for me, died to pay for my sins, and then rose from death, and promises to give me heaven through faith in him. I’ve heard this many times from the Bible!” And of course, that would be exactly the right answer. But let me follow up with another question then. Do we always live our lives, our Time of Grace, with that thought that God is the one we love and cherish above all else? And that the Means of Grace – his Bible which reveals our God to us – that this is the greatest gift he has given in this life?
Or do we get caught up loving the other gifts God gives more than God and his Word? In the hymn we’ll use after the sermon we’ll sing: Earth has no treasure I would share, heaven itself were void and bare, if you Lord were not near me. But when I look at my own heart… I admit I fail to treasure God and his Word like that… there are times I find myself wishing I had the house or bank account some of you have… that’s the treasure I’d like to share… there are days when my Bible sits on my desk or on my nightstand and I pass it by to get to something I think is more important… and I’ll admit… there’s even a part of me some days that looks at my wife and kids and says, heaven just wouldn’t be as good without them…
But when I long for the joys of this life instead of longing for the Lord… when I ignore the Word of eternal life to get to the business of this life… when think that somehow God alone wouldn’t be enough for me here on earth or forever in heaven… well… that’s a problem. But in his mercy it’s a problem that God addressed for me and for you. And he made sure to tell us all about it. He uses his Word as the means – the tool, the channel – through which he funnels his grace, his underserved love to us. Because in his Word he tells us that he created us to live with him forever. He tells us that though we sin he sent Christ to be our Savior to fix our relationship… to restore our unity with God. In fact this truth is the very thing Jesus prayed you would know as you listened to his Word. The night before he died Jesus was praying for his disciples, and listen to what he included in that prayer, he said: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us… May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-21; 23).
God loves you… and he gave you his Means of Grace for your Time of Grace… so that when your time on earth is up… you aren’t left wondering where you’ll end up…
This past week I asked the 7th Graders in Catechism class a question similar to the one I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. I had them write down what they would say to God if they died tonight and he asked them, “Why should I let you into heaven?” Do you know what they said? “I believed your Word… You sent your Son… he lived perfectly… he died for my sins… he rose again… because of him, you love me… because of Jesus, I will go to heaven.”
They knew the right answer to the question because they listened to what God says in his Word. And this is what you’ll hear as you come to church each week… and study with others in Bible class… and read from your Bible at the dinner table… and listen to sermon podcasts on your commute to work… you’ll continue to be fed with the only Means of Grace for your Time of Grace… and you’ll grow in your love for the Lord and in your longing to be with him forever. What a priceless treasure! And my friends this treasure will sharpen your focus in life… and be your comfort in death. Rest in God’s Word this week brothers and sisters… and know that because of what he’s done for you… you’ll rest in the arms of your Lord forever. Amen.