Monday, August 25, 2008
Luke 16:19-31
IDEA: The rich man is in hell because he really didn’t listen to the full message of the Word of God.
PURPOSE: To show that knowing the Bible is not the same thing as heeding the Bible.
Here is a parable that Jesus told. As you hear it read, try to answer a very basic question: Why does the rich man end up in hell? Why does the beggar end up in paradise?
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead’" (Luke 16:19-31).
I. There are some apparent answers that are obviously wrong:
Someone might explain this as simple role reversal: If you’ve had it good on earth, you’ll have it bad in eternity; if you have it bad on earth, you’ll have it good in eternity.
God dislikes rich people and has a great love for poor people. OR All rich people are bad and all poor people are good.
That’s simply not true. Abraham, into whose bosom Lazarus comes, was a wealthy man by the standards of his time. Experience tells us that there are many poor people who have no regard for God at all, and experience tells us that there are wealthy people who do love God and show it.
Others might say that the rich man didn’t have God’s truth to guide him.
He is in hell simply because of ignorance. There are a lot of rich people who simply don’t know the gospel.
The refutation of that is the end of the story: like his five brothers, he had Moses and the prophets. He recognizes who Abraham is and calls him ‘Father Abraham.’ So he sees himself as a good Jewish person, and therefore religious.
Still others might say that he didn’t have enough social concern. If he had helped out Lazarus or started a fund for sick beggars in the community, then he would have been rewarded for doing this by going to heaven.
II. The question is "Why is the rich man in hell and the poor man in heaven?"
While the rich man had Moses and the prophets, like his five brothers, he did not hear them. What should he have learned from reading the law and the prophets?
He should love God with his whole being.
His love for God would show itself in loving those whom God loves. God doesn’t love things; God loves people. The rich man clearly loved things and had no regard for people. That showed he had no regard for God.