Rogate Wednesday - Devotion in Exile

Lection for Rogate Wednesday
Numbers 10:11-36      Luke 16:19-31

We could spend a long time examining the reading from Luke and all the things going on in it. I’d like to examine it as the reason for evangelism, and then a simple formula for doing evangelism.

I believe we have lost the primary reason for doing evangelism, but it is right there in our text. the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’(vv. 22b-24)

The rich man died and went to hell, what the Greek language calls Hades. He was suffering, in torment, in great anguish. There is your reason for evangelism. There are people who will go to hell, there they will suffer eternally in torment and anguish. Do you desire this to befall anybody?

On the other hand, there was poor Lazarus, he had died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. That is, he was taken up into heaven.

First, we must address a simple, but misuse of this text. Some claim this teaches that the poor go to heaven and the rich to hell. That is not what Jesus is speaking about here.

Jesus is telling a parable, and the key to understanding why the poor man went to heaven, is in his name – Lazarus. Lazarus means, “God is my help or comfort.”

There will be rich and poor in heaven. There will be rich and poor in hell. Some of your good neighbors and some who you are convinced are awful neighbors will be in hell. Some of your good neighbors and some that you are convinced are awful neighbors will be in heaven.

Those who trust in God as their help and comfort will be in heaven.

Neither earthly blessings, nor poverty, reveal how one stands before God, although some Christian teachers proclaim just that. You cannot measure the love of God for you by anything you accomplish, by the size of your bankbook, the well-being of your family, or any other outward sign.

If you want to know the measure of God’s love for you, you must look only to the cross of Jesus Christ. Consider the price God’s own Son took upon His own flesh to pay for your sins and the sins of the whole world, there you see both the wrath of God against your sinfulness – and the love of God toward you and know of your relationship to God.

And then, it is not your relationship toward God, but God’s love for you. It is not based upon how much you love God, but God’s love for you. Do you trust in God’s work of redemption to free you from your sins? There is your salvation. There is that which brings you eternal life in heaven. Is God your help and your comfort? Are you a Lazarus? Not poor, but a poor, miserable sinner who trusts in Christ alone, for salvation alone, by God’s grace alone.

Peter declares God’s Word in his first sermon, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) In torment and suffering, the rich man begs for assistance, but Lazarus is not even allowed to ease his torment in hell with just a drop of water on his finger tip.

Now the rich man, suffering great anguish, does worry about his family. ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”(vv. 27-31)

If someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. No! No gimmicks! No tricks! No fancy evangelism techniques! Miracles do not even convince!

There is something that God ordains. 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'  If they reject the Word of God, they will also reject anything extraordinary.

We have lost the urgency to do proclaim the Good News (evangelism). We do not believe that there is a place where unbelievers will spend eternity in torment. Yet, in this text, and throughout Scripture, we are reminded again and again that there is such a place, and that those who reside there for eternity will be in anguish, suffering in a manner we cannot even begin to imagine.

There are people all around us who are going to suffer such a fate – friends and neighbors, maybe even family members – all those who do not trust and hope in God as their comfort. Maybe they trust in themselves. Maybe they trust that since they have all they want for this life, that is all they need. Other believe, rather fatalistically, life is all there is – and then you die. Others believe that God is a god of love who would never send anyone to hell – so why worry.

You know the truth. God has given you a valuable tool to use, Moses, the prophets, the evangelists and apostles – the very Word of God. This Word, we are promised, will not return empty and void, but will accomplish what God desires. (Isaiah 55:11)

We are all in the same boat, for we are in the world, and our flesh appeals to us. Like the rich man, we are easily tempted to trust in self and the things of this world. 

I know how easily the desires of the flesh entice. It is so easy to get caught up in making family work, enjoying even the most simple pleasures of a day on the lake, getting the garden in, keeping the weeds at bay, and just getting a couple hours for myself. Morning devotions and evening prayers get buried in between commercials on TV, cause they would take time away from the latest episode of NCIS, Law and Order – SUV, or Blue Bloods.

We are sinners, just like our relatives, friends and neighbors. They need exactly what we gather to receive every Sunday, the forgiving grace of God, purchased by His beloved Son on the cross, and delivered in Word and Sacrament.

Who are you going to tell? Do not do it because you need to be about evangelism, doing your part. BUT, tell them about the grace of God which is your comfort and hope – especially as the uncertainty of our world in the midst of COVID-19.  Proclaim to them the peace of God which passes all understanding, the quiet calm that pervades your soul when you have basked in the riches of God’s love to you as you gather in His house with your brothers and sisters in Christ. (Yes, we are “planning” to return to full services as regularly scheduled the first Sunday in June.)

The lesson of this parable is simple, trust neither your outward blessedness, nor the troubles that plague your life. Jesus Christ, and Him crucified is the only thing you need remember is Lazarus - “God is my help or comfort.”.

The Word of God strengthens and builds faith, for that Word points only to Christ, and it is in Him that you trust and hope. It is why, at every opportunity, we receive that Word – we receive Christ – spoken into our ears, eaten with our mouths, and drunk with our lips. In that Word, Christ comes to you. We invite others to join us, that they too might share in our hope and comfort to everlasting joy.

Let us pray:    Bless us Lord, through Your Word, in our Christian lives, that we would be granted faithfulness in times of temptation, repentance and forgiveness when we fall, and love for all who have been created in Your image, and for whom Christ died, that we might all be granted the boldness to confess the faith we have in Christ unto life eternal.  Amen.