St. Luke 16:19-31
Divine Service
Pentecost 18 (Proper 21)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Today’s Gospel is the parable that we normally refer to as The Rich Man and Poor Lazarus.  It helps if we can make one of those mental cultural adjustments that allow us to become part of the original audience that heard Jesus tell this story.  The First century Middle Eastern culture, particularly Judaism, expected that God would bless the righteous with good fortune in this life and to the unrighteous He would send bad fortune.  Jesus, on the other hand, often told stories about rich men who were unrighteous and suffering men who were righteous.  This totally reversed the expectations of the listeners.

So the story begins with “a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.”  He was living large.  He wore high fashion clothes.  He ate gourmet meals.  He had a party every day.  The crowd would think, “Everything seems to be going his way.  Surely, this man must be righteous.  Why else would he be so rich and live so well?”

Then we see that “at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores.”  This poor, wretched guy named Lazarus had sores all over his body.  Apparently, he couldn’t even walk because someone had to lay him at the entrance to the rich man’s estate.  He was hungry.  The only beings that paid any attention to him are the dogs that licked his sores.  The crowd would think, “Everything seems to be going wrong for this guy.  Surely this man must have sinned greatly to receive this sort of treatment from God.”

Then Jesus told the crowd that “[t]he poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.” And not just to heaven but to the most elite spot in heaven: at Abraham’s bosom.  Then the rich man went to Hades, another name for hell – to the place of eternal fire.  OOPS!  What is the crowd supposed to think now?  Wait, if a rich man can go to hell, anyone can go to hell – I can go to hell.  If this wretched Lazarus can go to heaven, then anyone can go to heaven, including me.  Jesus taught His listeners that earthly wealth or status is no indication of eternal salvation.  This is a very good point and worth remembering, but it is not the main point of the story.

Jesus continued the story with a conversation between the rich man and Abraham.  The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus with just a fingertip dipped in water to cool his tongue.  During his life this man only drank the best beverages that money could buy.  Now he was in such torture that a wet fingertip was a luxury.  Jesus taught His listeners that Hell is a wretched and terrifying place and heaven is a place of comfort and joy.  This is a very good point, but it is not the main point of the story.

Abraham informed the rich man between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.  As the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to the Hebrews to say, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)  This story teaches us that there are no second chances after death.  There is no place between earthly life and heaven or hell.  We do not spend time working off our sins while we wait to go to heaven.  While this is a good thing to know, it is not the main point of the story.

As the rich man realized he was beyond all hope, his thoughts turned to his living family.  “He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send [Lazarus] to my father’s house – for I have five brothers – so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’”  At last, his thoughts finally have turned to someone else.  He begs for the souls of his brothers.

“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’”  Abraham reminded the rich man that God’s Word is readily available to his brothers.  They can go to the synagogue every Sabbath and hear it and discuss it and learn from it.  They were to have been studying it from their youth.  But the rich man is not satisfied.  He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  Apparently, his brothers were kind of stubborn.  He despaired that they would listen to something as boring as God’s Word.  They needed something to spice it up – something to make it exciting – like a messenger risen from the dead.

Abraham “said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”  Here is the main point of this story.  The keys to salvation are in the Word of God.  Even someone coming back from the dead with information as to how terrible it is is not enough if that person will not listen to the Word of God.  If you don’t believe this, consider what happened when Jesus rose from the dead.  “Some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, ‘Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’’” (Matthew 28:11b-13)

Consider also a real man named Lazarus.  Jesus did raise this man from the dead.  Instead of rejoicing, the temple authorities who were already panning to kill Jesus began making plans to kill Lazarus as well.

People look at the pulpit and say, “That man is a sinner the same as I am.  Why should I listen to him?  Now, if someone rose from the dead or if an angel descended from heaven, that would be exciting, that would energize the flock.”  Such people mistake the messenger for the message.  For if the pastor preaches from God’s Word, then no angel from heaven or messenger from the dead could do more.

Even Jesus Himself, after He rose from the dead, proclaimed God’s Word.  The Gospel of Luke includes these Words:  Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:44-47)  Jesus Christ Himself proclaimed nothing, even after His resurrection that was not based in Moses and the prophets.

We have Moses and the prophets.  They tell us about God’s Law and about His promises.  They tell us that we cannot avoid Hades in our own power.  They also tell us that a Messiah will come who will provide a new way, a way that does not lead to Hades, but to Abraham’s Bosom.  They tell us that this Messiah will be a suffering servant who will heal our souls with the stripes on his back and take away our sins with His holy sacrifice.  They tell us that those who believe in this Messiah will live forever with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In the Gospel of Luke, the risen Christ also told His chosen apostles, “You are witnesses of these things.”  (Luke 24:48) They were witnesses of not just His resurrection, but He meant that they actually witnessed the fulfillment of the Laws of Moses and the Promises of the prophets.  He meant that they would share their witness of these things.  Today, we have their witness – the inspired witness of the Evangelists.  It is they who tell us that the Messiah is Jesus Christ.  It is they who tell us that Jesus kept all the laws of Moses and all the promises of the prophets.  It is they who tell us that the stripes on His back came from a Roman scourge.  It is they who tell us that the sacrifice happened on a cross.  It is they who tell us that Jesus Christ is both savior and Lord.

Even the Holy Spirit relies on the Word of God to establish and strengthen our faith.  The Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to write, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  And the Holy Spirit inspired St. Peter to write, “You have been born again … through the living and abiding Word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)  It is this faith that the Holy Spirit gives us through God’s Word that receives the gifts that Christ earned for us on the cross – the gifts that avoid the flames of Hades and escort us to the comfort and joy of Abraham’s Bosom.  For on that cross, He declares the comforting news that your salvation is certain — because it is for Jesus’ sake, and only for Jesus’ sake, that you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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