September 29, 2013, Pentecost 19, sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Luke 1619-31

    In Genesis chapter12 we are told, “The LORD had said to
Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s
household and go to the land I will show you.’”
    Abraham listened and left the territory we today know as Iraq and
Iran, traveled to another territory much in the news, to Syria.  Finally
he reached Canaan, known today as Israel.  While there, because of a
famine, he went to Egypt for a short while.  But then he returned to
Canaan where the only land he ever actually owned was a burial plot.
    Canaan, however, was not his final destination.  In our text we find
him in Heaven, his real home.  There a man named Lazarus sat at his
side.  And all of this started with Abraham listening to God’s Word.
    I personally am not interested in going to Iraq or Iran or Syria or
Israel or Egypt.  But I am sure that all of us gathered here do want to
go to Heaven.  So, with regard to Heaven, let’s ask ourselves: To get
to Heaven, do we listen to God as Abraham did?
ARE WE LISTENING?
I    THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH.  (19-22)
    1. Life has many differences. (19-21)
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen
and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar
named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell
from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his
sores.
        a) There were two men: one rich; the other poor and unhealthy.
        b) While neither situation is right or wrong in itself, we heard in
our epistle reading that one could be more dangerous than the other (1
Tim. 6:9-10): “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and
a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men
into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
    2. What is common to all is death.  (22)
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him
to Abraham’s side.  The rich man also died and was buried. 
        a) Health and wealth might help extend earthly life a bit.
        b) But neither can stop death, the great equalizer, from coming.
    3. And life after death also is common to all.
        a) Some might like to think death is the end and then
nothingness; or they might get a second chance, like in reincarnation
        b) But in our text three people, while in differing circumstances
on earth, after death still were Abraham, Lazarus, and another man.
        c) In the same way we will not cease to exist.  We’ll be who we
are.  But, there will be a difference as to location and circumstances.
II    THE FINALITY OF JUDGMENT.  (23-24,26)
    1. There is either Heaven or hell.  (23)
In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham
far away, with Lazarus by his side. 
        a) This would be denied by those who say there is no life after
death.  Or some would change this, like the Roman Catholic church
saying there is a third place,  a purgatory, where you have to suffer, be
purged to a greater or lesser degree, before reaching Heaven.
        b) But God throughout Scripture speaks of only two places:
either with Him or apart from Him; either Heaven or hell.
    2. How terrible the judgment of hell is. (24)
So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this fire.”
        a) People may speak of some situations being hell on earth.
        b) But that which endures for a time on earth cannot be
compared with the picture Jesus gives us here of eternal misery in hell. 
    3. And this judgment at death is final.  (26)
“And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been
fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor
can anyone cross over from there to us.”
        a) In our legal system a criminal might be given a life sentence in
prison.  But often it isn’t for life.  Many prisoners get out sooner.
        b) But once in hell, there will be no getting out, sooner or later.
        c) And what about being home in Heaven?  Scripture says, “We
will be with the Lord forever.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
III  THE MEANS OF DELIVERANCE.  (27-31)
    1. We are not saved by our outward circumstances. 
        a) The poorness and sickness of Lazarus are not what got him to
Heaven, but are given here as a contrast to heavenly joy.
        b) To reach Heaven, deliverance comes from outside of us.
    2. It is God’s message that is the means of deliverance.  (27-29)
[The rich man] answered, “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus
to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them,
so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”  Abraham
replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to
them.”
        a) Moses and the prophets proclaimed God’s way of deliverance
from the beginning.  As the answer to Adam and Eve’s sin, the
offspring of a virgin woman was proclaimed, as was His birthplace in
Bethlehem.  Because of Him Isaiah said, “Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”  In chapter 53 he gives a
description that makes you feel you are at the cross where Jesus died.
        b) This, not someone back from the dead, the brothers should
listen to, as Lazarus obviously had and the rich man had not.
    3. This, God’s Gospel message, is the only means.  (30-31)
“No, father Abraham,” he said, “but if someone from the dead
goes to them, they will repent.”  He said to him, “If they do not
listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even
if someone rises from the dead.”
        a) The Bible, the preaching of sin and grace, Jesus as God’s
promised Savior from sin - can that become so routine that we don’t
hear it, that we need a gimmick, something sensational? 
        b) Please don’t expect someone back from the dead in this pulpit.
        c) Whether it is Pastor Spaude, Waldschmidt, or Eckert, listen to
the message, to God’s Word which proclaims deliverance and promises
Heaven because God loved us so much that He gave His Son for us.
IV  THE IMPORTANCE OF NOW.  (25,27-29)
    1. Don’t place the wrong priorities on now.  (25)
But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you
received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but
now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” 
        a) Do our priorities take us from Jesus and His Word as our true
treasure and make earthly wealth or pleasure our first concern?  We
can check that by something as simple as church attendance.  Do we
come just to show up, and then not put our hearts and thoughts into
hearing God’s Word and worshiping Him?
         b) What did it profit the rich man who put other things first, and
what will it  profit us if we lose eternal joy?
    2. See its importance for others.  (27-29)
He answered, “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my
father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so
that they will not also come to this place of torment.”  Abraham
replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to
them.”
        a) Others need to hear of the Savior.  That also is why we come
to church.  It is not only to grow in our faith, but also to share the
Gospel with others, to bring our offerings so others can do that for us.
        b) Now, personally or through others by our financial support, is
the time to share with relatives and friends and others what Moses and
the prophets foretold and what Christ fulfilled for our salvation.
    3. And let’s never forget ourselves.  (24)
So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this fire.”
        a) We want others in Heaven and not facing hell.
        b) And surely we want the same for ourselves, for our families.
        c) Instead of needing to cool our tongues, let us now use our
tongues, our voices, to praise our God.  And let us now, as we heard
in the epistle reading earlier, “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, endurance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of the faith.
Take hold of the eternal life to which [we] were called.” 

    Abraham traveled in a part of the world that has been much in the
news.  He ended up in Heaven because of his Savior God.
    We now are traveling in this world.  We know that after this life
there is either Heaven or hell.  God’s Word tells us how to travel in
this life, and in Christ Jesus proclaims His salvation so that we reach
Heaven as our eternal home of glory. 
ARE WE LISTENING?