Heaven & Hell Series

"Heaven or Hell"

Luke 16:19-31

A sermon for 5/7/23

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Pastor John Bright

Luke 16 “19 There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. 24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” New English Translation

Pause right there. Why are you listening to this? Do you want to become more like Jesus? The power of the Holy Spirit is available to you right now – right here! Do you want to become more like Jesus? It’s a question only you can answer.

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Today… no funny stories… no jokes. We have to talk about hell.

Did I just lose some of you? I am not surprised. In the old days, preachers used “hell-fire and brimstone” sermons to scare folks into heaven. We have gone so far in the other direction of affirming God as the God of Love that hell is rarely a topic of preaching. Perhaps, it’s time to meet somewhere in the middle.

In this parable that looks to the future in Luke 16, we find Jesus telling folks that a rich man who was uncaring of the poor in this live is spending eternity in the place of suffering called Hades. Actually, there is more about hell that is recorded in the words of Jesus than any other Biblical source. Most of the time, the Greek word for hell is “gehenna.” This refers to a “valley south of Jerusalem was where some of the ancient Israelites “passed children through the fire” (sacrificed their children) to the Canaanite god Molech (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:2–6). In later years, Gehenna continued to be an unclean place used for burning trash from the city of Jerusalem. The Gehenna Valley was thus a place of burning sewage, burning flesh, and garbage. Maggots and worms crawled through the waste, and the smoke smelled strong and sickening (Isaiah 30:33). It was a place utterly filthy, disgusting, and repulsive to the nose and eyes. Gehenna presented such a vivid image that Christ used it as a symbolic depiction of hell: a place of eternal torment and constant uncleanness, where the fires never ceased burning and the worms never stopped crawling (Matthew 10:28; Mark 9:47–48).

https://www.gotquestions.org/Gehenna.html

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

The title of this parable points to one of the reasons folks want to put this teaching in a different category – this is the only parable of Jesus that gives any character a name. The simplest explanation is that Jesus is trying to highlight the person in the story that would go un-noticed and likely forgotten in that day. Do the homeless and suffering poor suffer the same fate today?

Another reason - this parable does not center on everyday practices – farming, family life or the practices of a manager handling debts for his master like the beginning of Luke 16. Rather, it looks at situations that are common to each and every human being – life before death and life after death.

How much time do you spend thinking about what’s next for you? Do you think about the blessings of heaven? Do you give thanks that you will never have to experience the pain and suffering of hell? I think most folks spend more time looking beyond the grave the older they get and the more loved ones they have to bury. That’s when it gets real for most folks.