Sermon manuscript:
One reading sticks out more than the others today. What
sticks out in that reading is punishment. The rich man is in torment in hell. He
just wants one drop of water from the tip of Lazarus’s finger. This is what you
might call the ultimate punishment. Punishments have a way of capturing our
attention.
I remember as a kid that Mom and Dad didn’t really care too
much about seatbelts. That is, they didn’t care too much until the law added
punishment. They didn’t want to get a ticket, and so we all had to start
wearing our seatbelt.
Punishments have an effect on people’s behavior. We don’t
want to be punished, so we will change our behavior accordingly. But normally
and naturally there is some resentment that goes along with this. Criminals
resent the state for having caught them and punishing them. Children resent
being punished by their fathers. Sinners resent being punished by God.
So, what might we do about this? How about we just get rid
of punishment? That, in fact, would be wonderful. It is truly desirable.
There’s just one problem: People do things that they shouldn’t do. They do bad
things rather than good things. If everyone just did what they were supposed to
do, there would be no need of punishment. Since people do bad things, there
will always be a need for punishment so that people’s lives and livelihoods may
be kept safe. The evildoer has to think twice about whether he should carry out
what he wants to do, because the consequences might not make it worth it.
Now let’s think about the punishment that we heard Jesus
speak about. The rich man is being punished, but one might wonder whether the
punishment fits the crime. We are not told much about the man except that he
lived well, and there happened to be a beggar who lived outside of his estate.
When he died he went to hell and now lives in torment.
Although we might not be so sure that the punishment fits
the crime, the rich man does not seem to doubt the justice of it. His thoughts
turn to his brothers. He knows that they are living just like he did, and so he
asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them. If they were to find out about the
punishment that is in store for them, then they would change their behavior.
Maybe; maybe not. Threatening punishment will not always
work. The best that it can ever do is to make someone conform outwardly. Even
then, the whole thing has to make good sense. It is arguably more comfortable
to ride in a car without a seatbelt, but seatbelts make it much more likely
that you will survive in a car crash. That is why the law was passed, punishing
those who weren’t wearing their seatbelt. Pretty much the whole population was
brought around to wearing seatbelts—and it wasn’t just punishment that did it.
People came to see the good sense of it.
It’s not always like that. There was once another law in
this country (in fact, it was an amendment to the constitution) that prohibited
the sale and consumption of alcohol. The law carried with it punishments, but
it never took hold of people the way that the seatbelt law did. This is because
the sale and consumption of alcohol can be a harmless pleasure. Regardless of
the punishments, people broke the law. They wanted to do what they wanted to
do. Punishment just made them get sneaky about it.
When it comes to the way that the rich man was living, we
are dealing with things that are perhaps even less harmful than alcohol. The
man liked nice things. He accordingly took good care of himself, while the
beggar sat outside his gate. I doubt that threats of the severe punishments of
hell are going to be able to reform most people into mere outward compliance in
such a things. Perhaps if a person could see the punishments, that might work.
But even if the threats somehow did work, there would be a great deal of
resentment. People don’t want to give their money away. Perhaps you can make
them do so by holding a gun to their head so to speak, but they will remain awfully
bitter about it.
This demonstrates the truth of an old Lutheran saying (but,
in fact, it just comes from St. Paul): New life cannot be brought about by the
Law. New life can only be created by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. The
Law and its punishments have their place for evildoers. Punishments set limits
and boundaries that help to preserve life for others. But the threat of
punishment cannot make anybody truly better. The best case scenario with the
application of the Law is that a person outwardly complies. But because the
heart isn’t in it, the person is always going to be looking for shortcuts and
loopholes.
In the case of the rich man, if he could do it all over
again, perhaps he would like to know how much money he should give away or how
much help he should give Lazarus. If he were ever given that figure, you can be
sure that he would give that amount and not a penny more. The rest would be for
him. With this second chance he would continue to live just as much for himself
and for his own happiness as he did the first time. His concern for his own happiness
would require that he do what has to be done so as to avoid punishment. But he
wouldn’t like it. He would resent Lazarus, the requirement, and God who has
given it.
What is required of us is not just a penny here and a penny
there. In fact, what is required of us is so great that nobody can render it.
To use the language from last week: We have to be born again. You, like
Nicodemus, might wonder, “I’m not supposed to enter into my mother’s womb a
second time am I?” In like manner we might say, “I’m not supposed to care for
everybody who happens to cross my path am I?” Or again: “I’m not supposed to
sell all I have, give it to the poor, and follow after Jesus am I?” Or,
following the example of the widow who gave her last two mites, her whole
livelihood, we might say, “I’m not supposed to do that am I?”
With man all these things are impossible. It’s about like
trying to shove a camel through the eye of a needle. With man all these things are
impossible. With God nothing is impossible. Along these same lines we might
also add that with the Law and with punishments none of these things are
possible. Punishment and more punishment and more punishment for the failure to
do that which is impossible for us to accomplish is only going to bring about more
and more sadness and despair. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear no
matter how much you beat it and whip it. The change that is required is too
radical for mere punishment to accomplish.
To bring about this change in us is why God became man, why
he died on the cross, killing sin, and why he was raised from the dead. What is
required of us Christians is what Jesus has accomplished for us and gives to
us. By baptism we are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. We die to
sin and are resurrected to newness of life. We are born again—not by entering
into our mother’s womb a second time. That would just be another fleshly birth.
What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is Spirit. We
are born again by the water and the Spirit. Thereby we are made into children
of God.
In our epistle reading the apostle John says, “We have
come to know and believe the love that God has in us. God is love. And so he
who remains in this love remains in God, and God remains in him.” The
apostle’s claim here is quite extreme. When you remain in God’s love that he
has for you, you abide in God, and God abides in you. God is in you—assuming,
of course, that you have come to know and believe in God’s love for you. God is
in you. You are in God. This is not something we would know or believe unless
it were revealed to us like St. John does here.
There are tons of demands in the New Testament, and in
Jesus’s talks in particular, where requirements are laid upon us that flesh and
blood cannot tolerate. The requirements are too much for us. But this does not
make the requirements go away. If we do not fulfill these requirements, then we
will end up just like the rich man. Why did he go to hell? Because he liked
nice clothes and delicious food a little too much. How in the world can we
reform ourselves so that we can gladly forego these things and care for the
poor Lazaruses around us? More punishments? More severe and vivid threats of
punishment? No, these do not have the power to change in the radical way that
we need to be changed. It’s impossible. But nothing is impossible with God,
and, as the apostle John says, God is in you.
And not only is God in you, but God is linked particularly
with love. God who is in us does not make us into the stereotypical superheroes
or X-men where we can do unusual, physical signs and wonders. These flashy
signs are less than the miracles that God would work in us. Because what God
would work in us is that we would love our neighbor, love those around us. This
means that we will give our money away. It means that we will forgive those who
trespass against us. It means that we will love our enemies. God, who is in us,
can and will accomplish these things.
You might be thinking, “I can’t do those things.” That might
especially be the case if you think specifically about your own life. If you
think about how much money you have. If you think about that specific person
who has hurt you so much and so repeatedly over the years. How can I let go of
my riches? How can I forgive this terrible person?
Let me ask you a question: Have you prayed for God to do
this in you? Here we have a risky prayer, because God just might decide to
grant it! There is a goodly part of us that wants to cling to our riches not
just until we are plopped in the grave, but even beyond the grave. There is a
part of us that loves to sip on the sweet nectar of righteous anger against the
one who has sinned against us. How can we let go of these delightful,
pleasurable things? This demon, it seems to me, can only be expelled by prayer.
Our sanctification is accomplished only with prayer. No
amount of threatened punishment, no amount of learning, no amount of striving
can accomplish what only God can do. We are new creatures. God is in us, and we
are in God. God is love. We need to pluck up the courage to trust in God’s love
in us. This love can do miraculous things in us. It might not make us leap over
tall buildings or speak in tongues, but there are greater gifts than these. And
the greatest of all gifts is love. God is love.
And so you might try this out: Pray for God to sanctify you.
Pray for God to do those things we have talked about today that are impossible.
Don’t be surprised if God grants your requests.
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