Luke 16:19-31 - Four Myths from Hell - September 9, 2022

There used to be a show on The Discovery Channel called MythBusters. From the very name you can probably guess what it was about. The hosts would take a myth or an old wives’ tale or an urban legend and put it to the test using scientific experiments. 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 hear or see. While most urban legends are fairly harmless, there are many myths from hell that the devil uses to do real, eternal damage. Today Jesus busts four of those myths – not with science – but with the inerrant Word of God.

Myth #1: everyone goes to heaven. Even in our increasingly secularized society, most people believe that there is a life after this one, that it is a better life than this one, and that – apart from terrorists, pedophiles and politicians – virtually everyone will go there when they die. That’s why even when you’re at the funeral of a confessed unbeliever, 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,” or “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 which conceals a spiritual meaning. Here, while Jesus does indeed speak in earthly terms – the spiritual meaning is not at all hidden.) Not everyone goes to heaven; some, like the rich man, are suffering 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 of Jesus as nice, tolerant and loving – far too nice, tolerant and loving to ever send anyone to hell. But the truth is that Jesus talks about hell more often and in more horrifying 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 of hell – which can’t really be described – but his point is clear: it’s a myth that all people go to heaven. Some don’t. Some go to hell forever.

Myth #2: outward appearances matter. The false belief that prevailed in Jesus’ day still survives today – and it goes like this: if you’re happy, healthy, and wealthy God loves you, and if you’re not, he’s angry at you. In other words, 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 busts this myth by describing two men whose outward circumstances couldn’t have been more different. At a time when people rarely ate meat the rich man enjoyed a 5-star feast daily – while Lazarus’ stomach ached for the crumbs that fell from his table. While the rich man dressed in purple and fine linen – which served no practical purpose other than to broadcast how rich you were – Lazarus was clothed in sores. Lazarus died like a beggar. No mention of a funeral. His corpse was probably unceremoniously tossed into a mass grave somewhere. But the rich man was buried. While I must confess that I didn’t watch a single second of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, I’ve heard it was quite the show. 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 obligated to talk more about the rich, dead person in the sermon than Jesus Christ. Based solely on appearances, 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. First, what was the most notable thing about Lazarus? Not that he was a beggar and a cripple – that was all-too common – but that he has a name! This is the only time Jesus names one of the characters in his stories (or parables) – and that name tells us everything we need to know. Lazarus comes from the Hebrew name 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 don’t need any help in 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. Paul put it succinctly: let him who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). Don’t think that you can tell who will go where based on outward appearances. It’s not only that wealth doesn’t equal heaven and poverty doesn’t equal hell – or vice-versa; but that no outward circumstance can be used to judge a person’s eternal fate. To use a crass example: don’t assume that a mass-shooter is automatically going to hell and his victims get a one-way ticket to heaven – because appearances can be deceiving.

Myth #3: church is no big deal. One myth that prevailed among people in Jesus’ day is still prevalent today; it’s that faith is a very subjective, very mystical thing. It’s the idea that God comes to us directly, apart from external means. And so when seeking certainty for their salvation, people are directed to look at themselves, their feelings, their heritage, their circumstances. People equate faith with the emotion of “feeling” close to God. 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 one of the first things they will say is “Don’t worry pastor, I have a bible on a shelf somewhere; I pray sometimes; my faith is strong!” The problem is that as a result of the Fall 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 faith that looks inward at one’s feelings or heritage or circumstances is no faith at all.

Where do we see this in our story? Well, why did the rich man go to hell? Well, because rich people are bad and poor people are good – or, because the rich man abused and mistreated Lazarus. But the text doesn’t explicitly say that, does it? We aren’t told that he spit on Lazarus, kicked him, or yelled at him to get off his lawn. Nor are we told that the rich man went to hell because he was an idolater, insurrectionist, murderer, adulterer or thief. In fact, we are probably safe in assuming that he was viewed as a Jew in good standing from the fact that he called Abraham Father (and Abraham even called him child). No, the only sin directly 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 proper Jewish burial, he apparently didn’t make it a priority to listen to Moses and the prophets, that is, the Word of God, preached and taught.

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 think that this faith can exist apart from hearing the Word of God. Faith can no more live in your 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 Christ and how Christ comes to you: in 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 comes through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). And Hebrews commands let us not neglect meeting together, as some have the habit of doing. Rather, let us encourage each other, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Faith is a miracle but God has decided to not create or sustain it mystically but through totally ordinary, objective external means: water and Word, bread and wine.

That’s why, if you’ve ever doubted or questioned or wavered in your faith – I have good news for you. Why? Because it means you don’t have to search for comfort and certainty in your heart or the circumstances of your life. Instead, you can find him in the clear, objective means he has given. Were you baptized? Then your name is written in the book of life in heaven (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). Are you faithfully 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 (if that were the case, then all of us should be damned for neglecting the poor in our world) but because he neglected the means of grace.

Now I know where that third myth may be leading many of you. You worry about the people you know and love who 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 believes 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 far too many Christians do today: that you need more than the Gospel to save people – maybe not someone rising from the dead but at least some kind of supernatural wake-up call.

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 shout “Hell is Real and your brother is there!” they wouldn’t be convinced – that is, they wouldn’t believe. Miracles don’t convert people. There are plenty of miracles recorded in the Moses and the Prophets (the OT), including people being raised from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-37; 13:20-21). Moreover, Jesus did raise another Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) and it only made the Jews want to kill him (and Lazarus, again) even more (John 11:45-57; 12:9-10). And, ultimately, when Jesus himself rose from the dead, they paid the guards 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 he can 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), converted 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 conversion and repentance through the completely ordinary Word. And you have this Word. The Word of God spoken by you to the 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 busted myths in order to entertain. Jesus busts myths in order to save souls. Don’t believe the myths. Believe the One who is telling this story; the One who suffered hell for your sake so that you might be carried by angels to heaven when you die. Amen.