Luke 16:19-31 NRSV
19 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.24 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; for I am in agony in these flames.”
25 But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.”
27 He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.”
29 Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.”
30 He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”
31 He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”’
One of my all time preaching heroes is a guy called Philip Hacking. And in one of the very first sermons I heard him preach he told the story of how he’d been called in to hospital to talk to a guy who was dying.
Anyway, they talked at some length about his life, about how childhood church-attendance had faded and been replaced by a troubled family life, violence and regular run-ins with the police. And he asked Philip
How could God possibly want anything to do with a wretch like me?
And Philip gently pointed him back to the prayer book, to what we call the Prayer of Humble Access. It’s a prayer we may pray later in the service, just before we receive communion, that beautifully summarises the basis on which we all come to God, through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Why don’t you turn forward in your books to page 27 – and let’s just spend a moment looking at what Philip explained to the man. I’m going to read the first few lines…
We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.
What are we praying when we say that? We’re saying “The basis on which we know God is not how good or righteousness we are, but God’s mercy.” Mercy is forgiveness shown to someone whom it is within your power to punish.
The prayer is saying, none of us by ourselves can be good or moral enough for God. We sometimes hear the idea that – good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. Well this prayer and indeed the whole Bible says “that’s a load of rubbish.”
That’s why the prayer continues,
We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.
Because no matter how good we think we are, we can never be good enough for God.
Jesus sets out how good we have to be for God in the Sermon on the Mount. Here’s Matthew 5:48
Be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect.
That’s the standard of goodness that God would accept from us. Absolute 100% perfection. No matter how good we think we are, we can never be good enough for God. And that’s why we can’t come to God trusting in our own righteousness. Praise God then that there’s another way.
The prayer continues –
Grant us therefore gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies maybe made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him…
So how does that work? Well it isn’t about us taking communion. Ceremonies can’t save us. Instead, it’s through what the bread and wine point us back to – to Jesus’ death on the cross. And to receive the benefits of the cross, we have to do what the prayer says – admit our failure and ask for God’s mercy. Which of course he’s delighted to offer us because he loves us.
Now you might be wondering why I’ve started with that prayer. Well all through this chunk of Luke’s gospel that we’ve been reading on Sundays lately, Jesus has been talking to religious people who think they’re good enough to earn God’s love. They thought that by doing good, by saying the right prayers, doing the right rituals and services, singing the right psalms and keeping their own version of God’s rules, that they would become good enough for God to save them.
And our passage today is the antidote that sort of thinking. It’s a warning to rich religious people that they are in terrible danger of going to Hell.
Do we have any rich religious people here today? Let’s see shall we? Let’s look at Jesus’ way of spotting them…
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple (Luke 16:19)
Anyone dressed in purple here today?
And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores. (Luke 16:10)
How pathetic! Every day someone carries Lazarus to the rich man’s door in the hope of some scraps from his table. He’s helpless and immobile – he can’t even fend off the stray dogs that come and lick his sores. We’ve probably all seen this guy haven’t we? Maybe not on our doorstep, but on the news – maybe at Sangatte Camp in Calais, or at any of a hundred refugee camps scattered across eastern Europe and Turkey. Compared to Lazarus, or the people there, we are all rich.
And ‘cos we’re in church today – it could well be that we’re religious. So if this parable about a rich religious man who finds himself in hell begins to feel uncomfortable for you – it’s because God is trying to get your attention.
So we’ve a rich man and a poor man. And they both die on the same day. Lazarus awakes to find himself in Heaven – and the rich man – he awakes to find himself being tormented in Hell. And here’s the thing about this story – the rich man is surprised to find himself in Hell. He hadn’t expected it. It wasn’t in his life plan. He thought he’d taken the necessary steps to insure against it.
Let me show you what I mean.
First he’s wealthy. And in that culture, people assumed wealth was a sign of blessing from God.
The Second reason he’s surprised to be in Hell is because he’s religious. All through the parable he’s on first-name terms with Abraham – v25 Abraham even calls him CHILD – He’s a child of Abraham, a circumcised Jew. He’s done the rituals, been to synagogue and temple, prayed the prayers, sung the psalms, been on pilgrimages and retreats. He’s ticked all the boxes but still he ends up in Hell.
The third reason he’s surprised to be in Hell is because not only is he religious but he reads his Bible. Glance down to v28-29 – where he begs Abraham to send a warning to his brothers, Do you see Abraham’s reply? That they already have Moses and the prophets. That’s 1st century language for saying “this family knows it’s Old Testament”. This is a family that went to Sunday School and did an O-level in Religious Studies. And has been regular in church ever since.
And there’s a fourth reason he’s surprised to be in Hell. That’s there in v30.
If someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.
He even knows that repentance – turning away from our sin – is part of how we come to know God.
So how come this rich, religious, knowledgeable man is in Hell? What’s going on?
Well you might think – given how the story begins – that it’s something to do with generosity towards the poor. Is he in Hell as some sort of punishment for failing to use his wealth to help Lazarus? Perhaps if he’d just done a bit more good, it would have made all the difference.
But do you remember that verse earlier from Matthew’s gospel?
Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.
Doing good can make us better, but it will never make us perfect.
We can’t earn salvation by doing good. Just as we can’t earn it by being religious or spiritual or by acquiring knowledge. We can’t earn it at all.
So how could our rich man have avoided Hell? And for that matter, how can we be sure that we will avoid Hell?
Well the answer is in the very first sentence That the rich man cries out when he arrives in Hell.
Father Abraham, have mercy on me. (Luke 16:24)
The man who had everything – money – power – knowledge – religious practice – has just realised that everything that he built his life on has failed him. His wealth – it’s gone. His acheievments – don’t matter. His rituals and rules and circumcision. No help at all.
And that’s the moment he finally realises that before God he is completely helpless – and he cries out for mercy. The problem is – by then it’s too late. But it isn’t too late for us. And that’s why Jesus tells this story.
You see if you’re like this rich man – trusting in wealth or power or knowledge or skills or religious or spiritual practice – then Jesus wants you to know you will share the rich man’s fate.
One day you’ll find yourself crying out for a mercy that is no longer available.
Or you can heed the warning that Jesus gives here – and stop trusting in yourself and the things you can do – and turn to Jesus, admitting your helplessness and ask for mercy.
I had that experience many years ago – as a teenager. I spent months struggling with guilt and shame over some aspects of my life that I wasn’t proud of. And I couldn’t make that go away. No matter how good I tried to be, it didn’t take away the wrong I’d done away.
Thankfully a friend at school explained Jesus’ death on the cross to me – that the key to being a Christian wasn’t about doing good, but about admitting my failure, and asking for mercy and forgiveness – which is what Jesus offers to us through the cross.
And that’s when everything changed for me – and I just knew I had a relationship with God through his son Jesus.
There’s an old hymn – Rock of Ages, cleft for me, which sums it up beautifully. Let me read the third verse to you.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
And until we can admit that about ourselves, like our rich man, we will never receive God’s grace and mercy.
Remember our dying man from the start? The vicar Philip talked him through the prayer of Humble Access, and asked him if he believed it. After a short pause, he said yes, and they prayed those familiar words from his childhood, and for the first time in his life he really understood what they meant. And as they prayed together, tears began to flow down his face, as he realised that Jesus loves even a wretch like him. And me. And us.
Soon after he died. And he’s with the Lord now. Unlike our rich man. What about you?
Shall we pray?