1 John 4:16–21
St. Luke 16:19–31
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hell is getting your way forever. You want to resist God? You want to keep your sins to yourself instead of letting them stay with Jesus on the cross? Then God will let you do that. He loves you, so He will not force you. You can go where you want, get what you want… and you can go to hell. Don’t believe me? Just ask the rich man. Abraham explains what you need for salvation: you need Moses and the Prophets—you need the Bible. You need the Word of God that gives you Jesus, forgives your sins, and resurrects you. “No, father Abraham,” says the rich man. “You’re wrong, with all due respect. I know what’s needed. I know what’s right. I’ll have it my way.” And that’s why the rich man is in hell.
He cared nothing for others, as evidenced by how he failed to notice the poor beggar laid on his doorstep. And he cared nothing for God, as he evidently refused to listen to the Scriptures either during his life and after it. And if anyone else is thinking, “Well, at least I listen to the Bible and believe it,” make sure you also listen to this particular Scripture from 1 John: If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. So, the rich man didn’t love God and he didn’t love his brother. He was alone. He only cared about himself. And so, in the end, that’s all he got: himself. Hell is being alone. Hell is caring about yourself, all by yourself.
In this life the rich man wanted material goods to comfort his body: nice clothes and sumptuous food; a nice job that brings in enough money for the games and toys on the side; health, security, and a nice retirement. And while he was getting all of that he ignored his bad conscience. He let his soul languish and be tormented by sin and doubt and fear. And whenever he got a little worried—whenever he woke up in the middle of the night wondering if God might actually punish him—he shoved it all back down and moved on to more happy times and fun stuff. See, he got everything he wanted for his body, while killing his soul. But in death there is no comfort for the body. So, in death, he got the only other thing he ever wanted, he ever worked for: torment for his soul.
This is really why damnation is so terribly sad—they choose it. God loves people. He does not force them into heaven. But they do not love Him. They reject Him and force Him away. And nobody gets to push God around with no consequences. So, God does not force people into hell either. They don’t want God’s forgiveness and mercy. They don’t want His love. They want their sin. They want to do things their way. And they get it. They get what comes from pushing God away. Hell is having your way forever… and finding out your way is torture.
But if hell is getting your way and ending up alone, then heaven is God’s way and ending up at a party with God and all His saints. Just ask the poor beggar Lazarus, now at Abraham’s bosom, by his side. Lazarus is leaning against Father Abraham, resting his head against his shoulder or upper chest, because that’s how you did it at a good party, late at night with close friends. At the time of Jesus, you didn’t sit on chairs at a high table. You reclined on cushions around a low table. And sometimes you leaned on the close friend next to you. Remember John, the beloved disciple, leaning his head on Jesus at the last supper.
So, heaven is reclining at table, not eating alone, but enjoying a feast with good friends. The Holy Trinity is the original community: Father, Son, and Spirit with each other, talking with one another, sharing with each other, loving one another. God is love—that can only be said of the Trinity, where there is an eternity of love between the three Persons. So, heaven is also a place of love. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Hell is solitary confinement, where you’re trapped inside yourself forever. But Heaven is everlasting community: God and His saints with each other, talking with one another, sharing with each other, loving one another.
So, Lazarus gets what God wanted for him. And that did mean suffering for Lazarus in this life. There’s no promise from God for everything being perfect and easy. God doesn’t really care that much about your happiness. He cares about your blessedness, your holiness. He cares that you end up with Him, because He loves you. Just look at Father Abraham and the other patriarchs of Israel. They all had suffering in this life. They all lived in the promised land without every owning it, and in that promised land they all suffered from famine. By faith Abraham went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:9–10). They made do with less. They trusted God and suffered for it, because they knew a better home and life was in store for them.
So, yes, Lazarus missed out on some of the good things in life. He didn’t get the nice clothes, the sumptuous food, and instead of health insurance he had stray dogs. He didn’t get any of the comforts for his body, but he got something even better. Lazarus got a good conscience by faith in His Savior—He got comfort for his soul. He listened to God’s faithful Word—He listened to Moses and the Prophets. And in death, the pains of his body didn’t matter anymore. But instead, he got to experience the comfort and peace that he always had in his soul.
Dear Christians, you have everything this poor beggar had and more. You have many good things in this life, but more importantly, you have exactly what Lazarus had. You have Moses and the Prophets, and the Apostles, and the Gospels. You have the whole Bible full of God’s loving promises for you. And you even have the powerful Word of the Man who really did rise from the dead. You have the crucified and risen Jesus in your midst, speaking to you and confirming all His promises to you. You have Him, right here in this Holy Supper that He gives you. So as a proof of the forgiveness and life He has promised you, He gives you His body to eat and His blood to drink. There can be no doubt about it with a Supper like that, He loves you and wants you with Him. He gives you here a blessed foretaste of the comfort and peace to come in that eternal heavenly feast of love.
Hell is getting your way forever. And really, how awful is that? Anyone who’s seen a kid throw a tantrum knows that’s it’s no good for him to get his way. Getting my way? I’m the worst! Who needs that? Heaven is getting God’s way forever—getting mercy and love, comfort and peace—getting the Father, Son, and Spirit, and a great big party with all God’s saints that has no end.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
