Luke 16:19-31 - Four Myths from Beyond the Grave - October 20, 2019

I don’t believe it’s on TV anymore – but there used to be a show on The Discovery Channel called Mythbusters. The name says it all. The hosts would take a myth, an old wives’ tale, an urban legend and put it to the test using scientific methods. For example, they tested the Hollywood theory that a car can break through a locked chain link fence (it can), whether elephants are really afraid of mice or not (they really don’t like having them around!), and last but not least, whether it’s actually possible to take someone’s hat off with a bullet – like you see in the Westerns – (yes, but with the caveat that you tend to also put a decent sized hole in the person’s head, too!). Whether or not such a show interests you, the premise is undeniably true: you can’t believe everything you see. While most urban legends are fairly harmless, there are many myths regarding religion, heaven and hell floating around in our world that do real, eternal damage. Today we’re going to bust four of those myths – not with science – but the inerrant Word of God.

Myth #1: everyone goes to heaven. Let’s face it, most people believe that – apart from terrorists and pedophiles – virtually goes to heaven when they die. The generic, American religion teaches that there is life after this one, it’s better than life here and all but the worst people go there. That’s why when someone dies you don’t ever hear “well, they died in unbelief, and now their suffering has just begun” – no, you always hear, “now they’re at peace,” “now their suffering is over,” “they are in a better place.”

But it’s a myth, as Jesus demonstrates in this story. (Incidentally, despite the fact that this is often labeled a parable, it’s probably not. A parable is an earthly story with a spiritual meaning. Here, while Jesus does speak in earthly terms – the spiritual meaning is not at all hidden.) Not everyone goes to heaven; some, like the rich man, are in agony in the fire of hell. What’s striking is that it’s Jesus who is giving us this awful description of hell. Most people think that Jesus is too nice, too tolerant, too loving to send people to hell for all eternity. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus talks about hell more often and in more vivid language than anyone else in the Bible. Here he describes hell as a place of torment, where people burn alive without any hope of death, a state of permanent separation from God and his love. Of course, he’s using earthly language to describe the horrors, but his point is clear: it’s a myth that all people (like all dogs) go to heaven. Some don’t. Some go to hell forever.

Myth #2: outward appearances matter; that you can tell where a person will end up simply by looking at them. The false belief that prevailed in Jesus’ day still survives today – and it sounds like this: if you’re happy, healthy, and wealthy God loves you, and if you’re not, he’s angry at you; wealth equals God’s favor and poverty equals his wrath. And, if you are blessed in this life it’s almost guaranteed that you will be blessed in the next life, because we all know that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Jesus seems to be playing off this myth as he describes two men whose circumstances couldn’t have been more different. At a time when people rarely ate meat the rich man enjoyed a 5-star dinner daily – while Lazarus’ stomach ached for the crumbs that fell from his table. While the rich man dressed in purple and fine linen – which, incidentally, served no practical purpose other than to broadcast how rich you were – Lazarus’ body was only covered in sores. Lazarus died like a beggar. No mention of a funeral. His corpse was probably unceremoniously tossed into the same mass grave as countless other beggars. But the rich man was buried. Ever been to a rich person’s funeral? Flowers upon flowers upon flowers – always with a little card so that the family knows just who to give the credit to. People fall over themselves to make themselves seen and heard at the funeral of a rich person. Even pastors, for some reason, often feel indebted to talk more about the rich, dead person in the sermon than Jesus Christ. Which of the two would you think would end up in heaven?

But then Jesus pulls back the curtain to let us see what’s really going on. What was the most notable thing about Lazarus? Not that he was a beggar – that was common – but he has a name! For the one and only time Jesus names one of the characters in his stories – and that name tells us everything we need to know. Lazarus comes from the Hebrew Eleazar which means God is my help. The rich man may not have helped Lazarus, but God did and wrote his name in the book of life (Revelation 20:12). The rich man, on the other hand remains anonymous, for the damned are not known by God (Matthew 7:23). Second, God dispatches angels to carry the Lazarus’ filthy, sore-covered body to heaven. No angels are sent to fetch the rich man because the damned need no help getting to hell. Finally, Lazarus finds eternal peace and rest at Abraham’s side while the rich man winds up screaming his lungs out in the never-ending torments of hell. Certainly appearances can be deceiving.

There’s a warning here for us. Don’t think that you can tell who will go where based on outward appearances. Stop thinking that wealth equals heaven and poverty equals hell – or that poverty equals heaven and wealth equals hell. To use a crass example: stop thinking that if a drunk driver kills himself he’s going to hell or that the person he kills is automatically going to heaven. Stop judging God by your or anyone else’s outward circumstances. Because the fact is that outward appearances can be deceiving.

Myth #3: church is no big deal. You might be thinking – where did this come from? This is just pastor justifying his existence and his job. No. One myth that is very popular among many Christians – and which, has sadly seeped into Lutheranism – is a mystical doctrine of faith. It’s the idea that we can find God in our feelings and emotions, that he comes to us directly. And so when seeking certainty for their salvation, people are directed to look inside themselves. “Is your faith strong? Have you felt God’s touch or heard his voice?” Or someone will say “I felt God’s presence in that sunrise. God spoke to me in that movie.” Do you ever hear that? I do. When people find out I’m a pastor they often feel the need to justify themselves and sometimes say “Oh, well I think about God all the time.” When I contact members who don’t come to church the very first thing they say is “Don’t worry pastor, my faith is strong!” The problem is that as a result of sin we are already turned in on ourselves far too much. By nature we are self-centered rather than God-centered. But the fact is that a mystical, baseless faith is no faith at all; it’s faith in faith and faith in faith doesn’t save anyone.

Where do we see this in our story? Well, why did the rich man go to hell? Many people believe it was because the rich man was a jerk to Lazarus, he didn’t share any of his wealth or food with him to help him. But the text doesn’t explicitly say that, does it? We aren’t told that the rich man spit on Lazarus, or yelled at him to get off his property. Nor are we told that the rich man went to hell for any number of other obvious sins; that he was a murderer, had committed adultery, got his wealth fraudulently, or that he was guilty of giving false testimony. In fact, we are probably safe in assuming that he was a Jew in good standing from the fact that he called Abraham Father. No, the only sin specifically named in this lesson is a sin against the third commandment: not [listening] to Moses and the prophets. In other words, while this rich man may have received a Jewish burial, he apparently never made it a priority to listen to Moses and the prophets, that is, the Word of God, preached and taught.

Now please don’t misunderstand. Faith in Christ certainly does save because faith is the open hand that receives the forgiveness, life and salvation that he won on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). But don’t for a second believe that this faith can exist apart from hearing the Word of God. Faith can no more live in the heart apart from the Word than your body can live apart from eating food (John 6:53). Going to church is important because church tears your attention away from yourself, your feelings, your circumstances and places it on the Word and Sacraments. And you might say: “I read my bible at home,” “I pray.” Good, I hope you do. But the Bible teaches that faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Not to mention that God hasn’t given the sacraments to us as individuals but to the Church. Faith is a miracle but God has decided to not create or sustain it mystically but through totally ordinary means: water and Word, bread and wine.

And, if you’ve ever wondered about your faith, that’s great news. Why? Because it means you don’t have to search for God in your heart or the world around you. Instead you can find him in the clear, objective means he has given us. Were you baptized? Then your name is written in the book of life (1 Peter 3:21). Were your sins forgiven moments ago in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? Then the gates of heaven are open to you (Matthew 16:19). Will you be eating and drinking Jesus’ true body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins? Then God is strengthening your faith in Jesus, whether you feel it or not (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Church is important because church is where the Word is preached and the sacraments are administered. The rich man went to hell not because he neglected Lazarus but because he neglected the means of grace.

Now I know where that last myth leads many of you. You worry about the people you love who also neglect and despise Word and Sacrament. You wonder “if they die like that rich man, what’s going to happen to them?” You want them to be saved so badly that you run the risk of falling for myth #4, of believing that if only God would just do something miraculous in their life, they would repent. That’s the fourth myth from hell we have to bust: miracles convert people. Even in hell the rich man still labors under this myth. He’s concerned about the fate of his brothers who apparently were accustomed to despising the Word just like he was. He asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn them. He thinks like a whole horde of Christians do today: that you need more than the Gospel to save people – you need gimmicks and programs and emotional music and practical sermons.

Is that true? No. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to Abraham. Abraham states point blank that if they reject the Word of God, even if Lazarus were to suddenly show up on their doorstep and shouted “Hell is Real!” they wouldn’t even be convinced – that is, convinced that they weren’t hallucinating or dreaming. Miracles don’t convert people. There are plenty of miracles recorded in the Bible: 6-day creation, the Flood, Jesus walking on water – but most people in our scientific age regard these miracles as myths. Even more, Jesus did raise another Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) and it only made the Jews more determined to kill Jesus (John 11:45-57). And when Jesus rose from the dead, they paid the soldiers to keep it quiet rather than repent and believe (Matthew 28:11-15).

Don’t fall for the myth. Don’t think that God isn’t doing everything possible to save the people you love. He is. He’s still sending his same powerful, faith-creating Word to every corner of the earth. The same Word that created the universe (Genesis 1), changed a murderous Pharisee like Saul into the missionary named Paul (Acts 9), that calmed stormy seas (Luke 8:22-25) and fed thousands (John 6:1-15) – is still being proclaimed. God is still working the extraordinary miracle of repentance through the completely ordinary Word. And you have this Word. The Word of God spoken by you to people you love is far more powerful than any miracle – even someone rising from the dead – because miracles don’t change hearts – the Word of God does.

Hell is no myth. Jesus has busted that myth. People do go there. But no one has to. The gates of heaven are open today for the rich, the poor, the obviously sinful and the secretly guilty. No one is so good that they can get into heaven without hearing the Word of God, but no one is so bad that the forgiving Word of God can’t bring them to repentance and faith. Mythbusters bust myths in order to entertain. Jesus busts myths in order to save souls. Don’t believe the myths. Believe the Words of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Amen.