Heaven Or Hell Is There A Connection; Or Is It Just Death.

This sermon was delivered Gordon McCulloch to the congregation at Holy Trinity in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 29th September 2019; Holy Trinity is a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries.

Amos 6:1a,4-7 Psalm 146 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31

“Please join me in a short prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)

1 Introduction

Our reading this morning is rather complex, and it is my interpretation on today's reading, and iif you disagree with me, that is ok, we will still be friends but this morning’s gospel reading is not for the faint hearted, because it about a subject that we rarely want to dwell; … our destiny into the unknown, and our lives after we die. … But we all have to face up to it at some point as we all ask the question, what does happens to us after we die? … And we all ask this question because we don’t know, and the brutal fact is, we are all going to die. …

And worse, we do not know anyone who has come back from the dead to ask them what it’s like, because no one we know has ever conquered death. … There is one man who did though … the only man, who died and rose over two thousand years ago, and it is to him, and only him that we can ask that question.

And as he is God after all … I think he is worth listening to, after all he came from the other side in the first place, that is, from “heaven he came helpless babe” to this earth … and lived amongst us … and when he died, he returned to heaven via a short spell in hell. … I think that qualifies him, and therefore he is our authority; … no astronomers, no spooks, no mediums, no oracles nor clairvoyants, nobody but him alone who was raised from the dead, and it is his words we will listen to this morning.

So in today’s reading we hear of Jesus teaching us just that; … but in a way that makes us feel uncomfortable; probably because he wants us to listen to this message, and prepare ourselves for death.

2 Heaven or Hell

In today’s reading, Jesus pulled back the veil between this world and the next … and behind this veil we see both a heaven and a hell. … Many years ago, there was an epitaph on a tombstone which said, “Consider, young man, as you walk by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you soon shall be, so prepare, young man to follow me.” … That’s quite poetic that, it's very profound, however some wit inscribed a response on that tombstone that read, “To follow you is not my intent; until I know which way you were sent”! … There is only one of two places where we can go, and we are all here this morning because we have already decided which one we prefer. … And as it is something that we all must face up to at some point, I pray that today's passage will give you hope for the future, just as Jesus intended.

3 The parable

Now, some people call this a parable, but is it? … It certainly reads different from all other parables I have read; for a start he gives two of the characters names, Lazarus and Abraham, suggesting that this is a true story. … There is a rich man, (whom Jesus never named, possibly it was someone recognisable) … and a beggar is named Lazarus. Now Lazarus and the rich man obviously knew each other, but both are now dead, and have went to separate places on their deaths.

I am sure too that they would have had different funerals; because I am sure the rich man had a great funeral in which many dignitaries attended stating what a great man he was … (and you know what I mean) … whereas the poor man Lazarus received a paupers grave if anything.

In verse 23, Jesus said about the rich man, “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom”. We will stop there for a minute.

a. The rich man saw people in heaven

The rich man was clearly in pain, and in hell, but worse than that, did you notice that he could see directly into heaven, in particular, he could see Lazarus in the “bosom of Abraham” … which is a Jewish expression by the way for heaven.

b. We too will recognise people in heaven