The nation of Israel was at the peak of its greatness at the
very beginning of its history. God led them out of Egypt, distinct from every
other people on the face of the earth. God was with them. No other nation could
say that. He led them by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by
night. They were baptized in the Red Sea, and fed and watered on their way to
Mt. Sinai. When they reached the mountain God took up residence at its summit
with magnificent sights and sounds. Fire, smoke, and trembling engulfed the
mountain.
This is the moment of Israel’s greatness. There was never
another time when the nation was in a better spot or more honored. They were
below the mountain and the Lord had gathered them together like a hen gathers
her chicks. God was theirs and they were God’s. They could look up and see
God’s presence, as much as they were able, for God had to shield them from his
presence somewhat, for no sinner can see God and live.
But here we encounter something astounding. We wouldn’t
believe that it could be possible if it wasn’t right there in the Scriptures
black on white. Here’s what happened: Moses had gone to the top of the mountain
to be with God and to receive from him the covenant—the way God was to be with
his people, and the way the people were to be with God. He was gone for forty
days and forty nights.
While he was at the top of the mountain, the people came to
Aaron, Moses’s brother, and asked him to make a statue for them, so that they
could worship the Lord. They didn’t know what had happened to Moses. How could
he survive without food or water for so long on that barren mountain? We’re on
our own now, and so we better get busy. Aaron agreed to their request. He told
them to give him their gold from their earrings and jewelry. He fashioned it
into a calf and the people said, “Here, O Israel, is the god that has led
you out of Egypt.” Aaron instituted some worship for God. He declared that
the next day would be a feast day. And so they got up early the next day, made
offerings of incense and peace offerings, and celebrated the good fortune that
had come to them. It was springtime in their eyes. They rose up to eat and
drink and play. They had gotten rid of Moses, who was kind of a stickler, and
Aaron was proving himself to be a more flexible clergyperson. He let the people
call the tune.
But these people had no idea how close they were to being
wiped out completely by God because of their disobedience. God told Moses what
had happened while he was still at the top of the mountain, and said he was
going to kill them all, and make his chosen nation from Moses and his
descendants instead. But Moses interceded for the people and begged God to be
merciful to them and forgive their sins. And so God relented of the disaster he
had planned for the Israelites and they were kept alive, but he did punish them
severely for their sin.
What is so astounding about this situation is that you have
such ideal conditions and yet such a disagreeable outcome. Mt. Sinai is a
foreshadowing of heaven where God has gathered together those whom he has
chosen to live with him and be blessed by him. God’s presence among this people
was palpable. All they had to do was look up. Plus they had already received
God’s commandments to guide them on their way. God did not make it a secret
that the people should not construct and worship statues like the filthy pagan
people do. He told them not to make any graven image. There is no way that they
could have missed this teaching.
And yet they sinned.
How can this be explained? I don’t think it really can be explained.
This is the mystery of iniquity, the mystery of sin. It is a great mystery.
They knew God. God had rescued them over and over again just in the short while
it took them to get to the mountain. They knew that he was serious. They knew
his Law. They knew that God surely existed. And then they broke the first and
greatest commandment: “You shall have no other gods.”
The willingness and eagerness to sin is something that we
can only learn from the Scriptures. The most common understanding people have
about our human nature is that it is pretty good. They know that we mess up
from time to time, but there’s always an explanation for it. The boy or girl
wasn’t raised right, or they didn’t have all the right information. And so a
very large portion of our human endeavors is to try to get kids raised right
and to educate them. There are public service announcements that teach us about
this and that. It is assumed that if we only educate a person enough so that he
or she has all the information that is needed, then the person will go the
right way.
But apply this to the Israelites gathered below Mt. Sinai.
What more could possibly be done for them so that they should know right from
wrong? And they did it even though God was right there before their eyes on the
mountain. This was an advantage that we don’t have. We so often foolishly
believe in our hearts that there is no God and that our sins will not be seen
by him, but the Israelites could see God’s glory hovering over their very camp.
Why did they do it?
We might ask the same thing for all kinds of sins that we
do. Here’s a public service announcement for you: “Nobody is ever blessed by
committing sin. Nobody ever, without a single exception!” There, now you have
this bit of knowledge. If we were able to defeat sin by our reason and
abilities, then you should be able to stop sinning. But what the Bible reveals
to us is that our sin is not a minor glitch on the surface. We are evil all the
way down to the core. The evilness we have inherited with original sin is so
bad and so strong that you even find the
people of God falling into gross and shocking sins, like the Israelites do
at Mt. Sinai.
But another aspect of our fallenness and sinfulness is that
we are quite blind to this, our condition, until it is forcefully impressed
upon us. The Israelites weren’t bothered by a bad conscience at the foot of Mt.
Sinai. They were even worshipping the Lord according to their own lights. It is
only when the hammer drops that they see the truth. Then they were in anguish.
I think this is what is so startling and captivating about
our Gospel reading today too. This rich man was oblivious to his damnation
until he woke up in the flames. The flames are so bad that he wishes that
Lazarus could bring him, literally, one drop of water to cool his tongue. But
the time of grace is over for him. He had despised the grace of God while he
was living, and now what’s done is done. There’s no going back. Abraham says to
him that simple, haunting word: “Remember.” “Remember how it was, and what you
did, and how you did not listen when I called?”
Now it’s important that we do not make a monster out of this
man, which we are prone to do, and for good reason. It is so that we can
distance ourselves from him and therefore feel that we are safe from the fires
of hell. Often this man is denounced as some kind of glutton or gourmand, who
required grapes to be fed to him by scantily clad slaves. In fact there is
nothing that is said about how he ate. Our translation says that he “feasted
sumptuously every day,” but that is not what it says in the Greek. In the
original all it says is that he “rejoiced brilliantly,” or “was filled with
joyfulness.” A lot of times we do eat and drink at joyous occasions, so maybe
that’s why the translators assume that he was stuffing his face, but there’s no
reason to assume that. In fact, those who are most joyful and splendorous are
the ones who, among other gifts, also have the gift of self-control.
So when we think of this man who is in hell we should think
of someone who’s got it all together. He simply has a great life. He got up
bright and cheerful every morning. He went to bed contented every night with
what he had accomplished. Sure, he neglected poor Lazarus, but who doesn’t do
that? If you help one poor person, then when is it going to stop? This happy
man just put that out of mind and went on with his day.
What I’d like you to see is that this rich man is not some
nasty oafish tycoon. He could just as well be you. The impulse in him where he
looked out for himself and his own happiness is the very same one that exists
in you. Just as this man thought that he was immune from the fires of hell
because he didn’t think he was that bad of a man (and, in truth, there surely
were many who were much worse than him outwardly), so also you think that God
couldn’t possibly send you to hell. If he sent you to hell, then he’d have to
send everybody to hell, and God can’t be like that, can he? He couldn’t wipe
out the whole nation of Israel and make a nation out of Moses could he? He
couldn’t wipe out the whole population of the earth and make his people from Noah
and his three sons, could he? “Who ever heard of a God like that?” our reason
says. That is why this man is caught so off guard when he dies, and that is why
also so many of our friends, family, and neighbors will be caught off guard
when they die too.
So what can be done? Our Gospel reading tells us. The rich
man wants Lazarus to be sent back to his father’s house so that his brothers
can be warned. He knows that they are living just like he lived. But Abraham
tells him that they have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. That is,
let them hear the Bible. But the rich man knows his brothers. They won’t listen
to that. But if some ghost or specter should rattle some chains in the middle
of the night, that might get their attention.
That is always how our reason thinks. Our reason thinks that
God’s Word is no nearly enough. It has to be jazzed up with some razzle dazzle,
otherwise the churches will be empty. And the fact is that if the razzle dazzle
is good enough, then the place just might be full of bodies. But razzle dazzle
doesn’t make anybody’s soul fear God and believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of
sinners. This is confirmed by what Jesus says through the character of Abraham,
“If they will not listen to Moses and the Prophets, then they won’t listen
even if someone should come back from the dead.” The unusualness of someone
rising from the dead doesn’t help anything, because it doesn’t address the real
problem. The real problem is that people are all too eager to pass off the
words of Scripture as being weird or outdated or outmoded or irrational or
defective or who knows whatever else. What God says is disbelieved. All the
singing and dancing in the world won’t help if God is disbelieved.
The Word of God is like a light shining in a dark place. It
is the only thing that brings light into our minds and into our souls. Without
the Word of God it is impossible for us to know ourselves rightly—what we’re
really like—as we’ve already heard today. Even the Israelites at Mt. Sinai
thought that they were in smooth sailing when they were dancing around the
calf. Likewise the rich man thought that life was good, that he was doing his
part, and that there is nothing to fear when he died. All people, without
exception, will believe this about themselves without the Word of God. And even
we who have the Word of God are all to prone to think according to our Old Adam
instead of what the Scriptures reveal about the mysterious power and evilness
of sin.
Also without the Scriptures we cannot know anything of the
one true God. This is the worse predicament of the two, for without what God
reveals about himself in his promises towards us we will be terrified of God
and hate him. We will think he’s mean. If we catch a good glimpse of what we
are really like, we will never believe that it is possible that God should love
wretched sinners like us and have mercy upon us unless the Bible told us so.
And so if I were you, I’d stay away from people who say that
they don’t need to go to Church to be a Christian, or hear God’s Word, or be
fed and sustained by the Sacrament, or any of these other divine helps that
God’s provides us—I’d stay away from someone like that as though they were the
devil himself. What possible good can someone like that do you, except to put
you to sleep, so that you are surprised at your death and on Judgement Day by
horrible flames and anguish. God has had mercy on you and revealed to you his
Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Do not take this for granted or toss it to the
wind. Cling to him, for there is no forgiveness or salvation outside of him.
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