Valerie Rae Hanneman
Luke 16:27-28 (The Message) "The rich man said, 'Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment.'”
We have all heard things like, “I don’t care if I go to hell, because that’s where the party people are,” “....all my friends will be there!” “….I’ve got family there!” and so on. We have seen satan, that prince of lies, made a joke on cartoons, on TV, in movies - everywhere we look he is made into a clown figure of red skin and horns. (Do not believe for one second that satan is not rejoicing at being a laughingstock in this world. What people laugh at - they do not fear.) Luke 16:19-31 (please read this passage) recounts Jesus telling the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. He tells about the rich man who had the best of everything and about Lazarus the sore-covered beggar thrown at the rich man’s gate to eat the rich man’s leftover garbage. Verse 22 says, "Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.” Notice that the rich man was buried, with all the pomp that befitted his station in life. It does not say that Lazarus was buried, simply that he died. With no money, no family, no nothing - was Lazarus’ empty shell dumped on the garbage heap?
It was a much different story when these two men stepped into eternity. The parable does not talk about their relationship with God, but their final destination does! Lazarus danced into heaven; the rich man was delivered to hell. Hear the torment in his cry, “Father Abraham! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to just cool my tongue. I am in agony in this fire.” Father answers that in his lifetime the rich man had the best of the best and Lazarus had nothing. Then Father adds that there is a chasm between heaven and hell that none can pass through. Even if Lazarus was willing (and I will bet that he was), he could not go to help the rich man. When he realized that there was no further hope for him, the rich man turned into an evangelist. “Father, for mercy’s sake! Send Lazarus to my five brothers so that they do not end up here!”
There are not any God-doubters, atheists, agnostics, unbelievers or fence-sitters in hell. In spite of what they believed on earth - they absolutely believe in God now. They are - each one of them - powerful evangelists. But they have no voice with which to speak to us. If they could, they would fill the earth with their cries of warning. “This is NOT party central!” “Your friends don’t want you in this place of eternal death!” “Your family is begging you to not come here!” “Turn back! Turn back! Turn to God before it is too late!”
Father Abraham went on to say, “Your brothers have the law & the prophets – let them listen to them.” Hell’s evangelist knew that his brothers were not paying any more attention to the law & the prophets than he did, so he tried again, “If one went to them from the dead, they would repent!” “If they don’t listen to the law & the prophets they will not be convinced – even if someone rises from the dead,” Father Abraham ended the conversation. Did you notice the subtle difference between the evangelist’s statement and the answer given by Father Abraham? The rich man talked about somebody who was dead going back to his brothers, Father Abraham said that they would not repent even if somebody rose from the dead. There is only one person who has risen from the dead by His own power and that is Jesus.
There are not many in this world who has not heard of Jesus, and they understand that He rose from the dead. It is as Father Abraham said, they do not listen to the law, they do not listen to the prophets and they will not listen to the One who rose from the dead. And they cannot hear the evangelists from hell. There is only one way that they will listen and that is if somebody who is physically alive tells them about Jesus, the eternally alive. They need somebody to tell them, “Listen to what I know about Jesus. Let me tell you what Jesus has done for me.”
Whose job is it to tell them? Is it the pastor’s job? Of course it is, but it is not just their job. If it were Jesus would have said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of me just as soon as you finish seminary.” Jesus did not say that. Maybe it is the evangelist’s job! Of course it is, but it is not just their job. If it was Jesus would have said, “I will make you fishers of men just as soon as you can draw 1,000 people to an event.” He did not say that either. Nor did He say, “Follow me and I will make somebody else fishers of men” so if you are thinking that it is somebody else’s job, it is not. What did Jesus say? He said, “I will make you fishers of men.”
He is talking to us – you and me. I do not know about you, but it scares me that Jesus wants me to fish for people. I mean, I love Jesus with my whole heart (well, as best as I can), and I try to live a life that shows that (ditto) – but deliberately fish for people? Wow. I do not know what to say to them. I will say something wrong or freeze up and do not talk at all. What are they going to think of me? What if they laugh at me? What if they tell everybody I am a religious nut? Are they going to avoid me? Have you had some of these questions? Sure you have, we all have.
Take a moment, and picture that person that you know and love – the one who does not know Jesus. Jesus has done all that He can. He laid down His life for them; He laid it down in front of the gates of hell so that they have to step over His dead body to go there. But if they do not understand what they are stepping over - they will step over it. So now it is in our hands because we are Jesus’ fishers of men. If we are hoping that our life is so Christ-filled that they will ask us maybe they will – but what if they do not? Maybe we are hoping that somebody else will talk to them about Jesus – but what if they do not? How do our fears of what they will think of us compare to knowing that our silence may cause them to be the next great evangelist in hell?
I wish that I could tell you that with time it gets easier – it has not for me. It is still hard to open that conversation. However, if my loved ones step over Jesus’ dead body and into hell, it is going to be their informed choice. They are not going to go to hell because they knew about Jesus but did not know Jesus. It is going to be because I told them about knowing Jesus personally and they chose not to know Him. Jesus has done His part, I will do my part, and the rest is up to my friend.
LORD Jesus, my fear of speaking to others about You is a pride issue – I do not want anybody to think I am a nut. Help me to remember that it does not matter what they think – only what You think. You have called me to fish, You have taught me how to fish, and You have equipped me to fish. I just need to get busy fishing.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministry of FFBC at Valerie@fresnofirst.org