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The Message For Sept 25, 2016
Luke 16:19-31
Convinced Yet?
Rob Miller, Pastor
Today we wrap up our three-week worship series on This Changes Everything. Two weeks ago we considered…
- When we view God as a loving parent– this changes everything.
Last week we considered…
- When we see ourselves as trustworthy servants of the faith– this changes everything.
Today we focus on…
- When we see life from the other side of death– this changes everything.
Prayer
In our gospel reading today, Jesus pulls back the curtain to let us see life on the other side of death. This story is only found in Luke’s gospel. We learn in the verses before thisthat Jesus told this story because of the way the self-righteous Phariseeswere living their lives.
They were the intended audience. The Pharisees were “lovers of money” and they were always looking for ways to justify their own selfish sinfulbehavior, but God knows what is in their hearts. God always knows… We ought not be like the Pharisees...
Read Text Luke 16:19-31
Billwas a youth pastorand every yearhe would take the High School Youth Group to the cemetery. They would look at the names, dates, and epitaphs on the tombstones. Then they would talk about the “dash” in between those dates. They wouldtalk about the promises of God and the lifethat Jesus offers in this world and the next.
On one tombstone was this message. “Consider, young man, as you walk by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you soon shall be, so prepare, young man to follow me.” How profound and creative too. The guy in that tomb had a great sense of humor.
Somebodytook a pocket knife and scratched these words on that same tombstone, “To follow you is not my intent, until I know which way you went!” How true and creative too.
There are only two directions to go after we die – to heaven or to hell. (from David Dykes Sermon Central)
Let take a closer look at this story from Jesus. There are three acts in this story.
Act I
Jesus introduces us to a rich man. We are not told his name. He is extremely wealthy. He lives in a beautifulgated home to keep others out. His clothes were made of the finest purple material. The process to get purple dye from shell fish in those days was very expensive. The color purple was reserved for royalty or for the rich. This guy had the very best of everything that money could buy.
His linen was produced from the flax that grew along the Nile River. It was white, very soft, and kept him cool in the warm weather. It was very expensive too.
In contrast to the rich man who had everything, Lazarus was in need of everything. He had no home. His health was failing. He was an outcast. The only food he ate was what others had thrown out. His only companions were stray dogs, who came and licked the oozing sores on his body. The rich man’sworld and Lazarus’ world were worlds apart.
George Truett was a pastor in Dallas, Texas in the early 1900’s. He was invited to dinner at the home of a very wealthy oil man. After dinner, the man led Pastor Georgeoutside to a place where they could get a really good view of the surrounding area.
Pointing to the oil wells dotting the landscape, the man boasted, “twenty-five years ago I had nothing; now as far as you can see, it’s all mine.”
Looking in the opposite direction at the sprawling fields of grain, he said “That’s all mine too.”
Turning east towards a huge herd of cattle, he bragged, “They are all mine.”
Then pointing to the west to the beautiful forests, he exclaimed, “That’s all mine.”
The man paused and expected George to compliment him on his great success. George, however, placed one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointed heavenwardthen said, “How much to you have in that direction?” (from Farewell Ave Christian Church)
Notice –Jesus does not condemn the rich manfor having a lot of money. That is not the issue. Money is not the issue. Jesus condemns the man for having so little generosity – that’s the issue. The rich man was condemned for what he did not do. He did not share his blessings with others.
He was certainly blessed by Godbut he did not give God the credit. He failed to be a blessing to others. He failed to care about others with acts of kindness. His money bought a lot of things but there are some things that money cannot buy.
Act II
There was a huge difference in how the rich man lived and how Lazarus lived. There was a huge difference in their deaths too. When Lazarus died, there was no burial – no memorial service. He was simply carried away to heaven by the angels, so said Jesus.
When the rich man died, the family provided a fantastic funeral. They probably evenhired professional mourners, can you imagine? Put on a good show in life and in death.
No doubt theypurchased costly spices and an elaborate tomb for his burial. Nothing was too good for this guy. No doubt the whole town turned out for the funeral too and listened to the countless stories offered about the rich man and his life.
Unfortunately, he learned a valuable life-lesson a bit too late. And that lesson is this - according to Jesus. How we live our lives in this world matters. Let me say that again, how we live our lives in this world matters. It matters a lot…
Lazarus went to heaven. The rich man went to Hades (hell), where he was in torment. He called to Abraham and begged for Lazarus to come and give him a drop of water to cool his parched tongue.
In this world the rich man never ever gave Lazarus anything, but now the tables are turned…
That’s what we have here. They lived separated lives in this world because of the choices the rich man made every day. Imagine the agony, the fire, spending eternity without hope.
Jesus uses the words of Abraham to explain that it was absolutely impossible for Lazarus to come and help the rich man. After all – the rich man never helped Lazarus – not even once. Besides all of that – there is a great chasm between heaven and hell and no one can cross over to other side.
The lost and the found are separated forever in the next life.
Consider this: There are no exit signs in hell. It is a place reserved for Satan, his demons, and all who reject Christ Jesus and what he has done for us on the cross. It is a place of everlasting punishment and separation.
Who knows if it exists… The Bible says it does… Jesus says it does… Our Creed says it does… Anyone in their right mind would not want to go there. That’s the point of it all…
Dr. Kuebler-Ross researched and interviewed terminally ill patients and families and then wrote a book about her findings called, “Death & Dying.” Her book has helped many people deal with a difficult issue of death at the end of life. She would travel around the country and offer seminars based on her research.
She would also invite people to a Q & A time after her presentation. One time she was asked this question, “You have told us about all the patients you interviewed over the years and you stated, ‘They all saw or experienced good or light beyond death.’ Did any of your research interview patients who saw evil or torment beyond death? Her answer was interesting, ‘Yes,” She said,“but we discounted those because they were not real.’”
In other words, Dr. Kuebler-Ross rejected what the Bible says, what Jesus says, what the dead and dying say about life after death. Denying that something exists does not make it so.
What if… the way we live our lives in this world determines where we will spend eternity? This changes everything for us or it should.
Act III
The rich man tried one more time. He begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his family members who were still living. He did not want his brothers to join him in hell. For the first timethe rich man thinks of others instead of himself. A little too late, wouldn’t you say. He comes to realize the need for repentance and for faith in God instead offaith in oneself. There is a message in there for each one of us.
The rich man wanted Lazarus to come back to life to warn his brothers. Listen to his request, “Father Abraham, if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”
Listen to how Jesus makes the message plain and clear as he tells the story. Abraham said, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, theywill not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!”
In other words, they have everything they need. They have the word of God through Moses and the prophets to guide their lives and so do we... More importantly we have Jesus. He is the one and the only one who rose from the dead. We ought to listen to him.
That’s why participation in a disciple-making church like ours is so important. It is here that we are focused on Jesus and his ways. Nothing else is as important as that.
We have Jesus or more importantly, Jesus has us. He makes life possible in this world and the next. So listen to Jesus and what he is saying to us in this story. He is saying,the way we live our lives in this world has enteral consequences.
Of course, we cannot earn a place in heaven. Jesus has done that for us on the cross. But we can forfeit our place in heaven. We can reject his gift of life. We can go on living our lives for ourselves and the heck with everyone else.
This is not intended to scare you – although it might. If it does scare you thenwhat do you need to change about the way you are living your life right now?
This is intended to empower you and equip you to live your life a certain way. We are to live our lives on a mission as we journey through life in this world. That mission is captured in these words…
Living lives the Jesus’ way by faith, hope, and love.
That’s the topic for our worship series beginning next week. For now let me show you some people who were on a mission yesterday to touch the lives of those in need. These people were being a blessing to others. The people in these pictures gave over 70 - $50 Walmart gift-cardto those who were affected by the flood. Check out these people who were sharing the love of Jesus with those in need…
As you can see from these pictures, they had a lot of fun and they touched a lot of lives with the love of Jesus.
We are blessed to be a blessing to others. We will be doing this again. I hope pray you will consider joining us the next time we hand out gift cards to those who were affect by the flooding. And if you cannot join us,there is still time for you to write a check and add to the $25,000we’ve received so far.
Last thought…
The rich man lived for himself and was not very generous to anyone. May we live into our heavenly calling everyday by being generous towards others… Why? You might ask, because the way we live our live in this world has eternal consequences and this changes everything. Amen