The Lutheran Hour
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"Out of Hell, Into Heaven"
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Text: Luke 10:25-37
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The holy life of God’s own Son was lived for us; His last day was spent suffering for us and His last hours had Him carry our sins. His empty tomb tells us Jesus has done all which was necessary for us to be saved. God grant such faith in the crucified and risen Savior be given to us all. Amen.
The great detective, Sherlock Holmes, is a fictional character. Although based on a real man, Dr. Joseph Bell, Sherlock sprang from the inventive imagination of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Just because Holmes was a creation that should not suggest all of the individuals who parade through Sir Arthur’s writings were fictional. They were not. For example, if you were to look in the short-story, “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client”, you would come across the name of a criminal called Charles Peace. In his day, which was the late 19th century, Charles Peace was a relatively well-known thief and murderer.
For more than one-quarter century Charles Peace managed to make a comfortable living by burglarizing the homes of the rich and famous who lived in the communities of Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, and London. Eventually, Peace was turned in by his girlfriend… a lady whom he had wooed by saying ‘either she could join him, or he would shoot her.’ Charles Peace was tried in one community where he received a life sentence, and then he was taken to another location where it took a jury all of ten minutes to conclude Peace was not only guilty, but he should be executed.
On the day of his death, Charles Peace was being escorted to the gallows. In the group which was walking with him was the prison chaplain, a man who seemed terribly bored and disinterested with the work which had fallen to him. With a monotone voice he droned out some Bible verses deemed appropriate for a man who was about to be hanged. Charles Peace asked him, “Sir, what are you reading?” The chaplain replied, “I am reading The Consolations of Religion.”
The criminal asked, “How is it possible for you to be so unmoved that you can lead me, a fellow human being, to the very shadow of the scaffold and remain dry-eyed as you tell him about the pit which has no bottom, the pit of fire into which this fellow is destined to fall? Is it possible that you, a preacher, believe these words, believe there is an eternal fire that never consumes its victims, but you talk about that idea without a tremor in your voice?
All this was too much for Charlie Peace. So he preached a sermon of his own to the preacher. Addressing the minister he said “Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees, and be glad I had done so if I thought that action would result in saving one soul from an eternal hell like the one you have described.” My friends, Charles Peace did many wrong things, bad things, during the course of his life, but the speech he made on the way to the gallows was not one of them. He was absolutely right and all too often, we in the church, like that bored prison chaplain, are wrong.
The truth is, hell is a terrible place and we Christians should be moving heaven and earth to tell you of the Savior Who gave His life so you don’t have to end up there. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, has done all of the work necessary for salvation; but He has entrusted to His people the job of telling everyone who is on the march toward death that there is an alternative to hell’s everlasting suffering. Truly, if we believe damnation is as bad as we say it is, as terrible as Scripture tells us it is, we dare leave no stone unturned, no word left unsaid, no prayer unspoken, no attempt not made to let you know Jesus has carried your sins, taken your punishment, died your death so that you might be rescued. It’s true. Because of what Jesus has done, with Holy Spirit-given faith in the crucified and ever-living Lord, you can be saved from hell.
I’m a Christian therefore I believe the Bible when it says there is, after death, eternal life in heaven and eternal dying in hell. But if you’re not a Christian, you won’t be over eager to hear me read from the Bible. You would, I believe, prefer a different source for the proof I offer. If so, let me give you that different source. My source which proves life after death… may I have a drum roll please… the source is yourself. That’s right, deep down you know your soul is going to keep on going after you die. Deep down you know you’re not going to get vaporized, you’re not being assumed into the grave’s great grayness, you’re not going to lose your individuality.
And if you don’t believe me, then here, try this little experiment. Eyes shut or open, I would like you to visualize your death. Let’s make it a nice death. You’re 100 years old, you’ve still got your mind, you’ve still got some money, but you’re dying. Your breathing is getting shallow. There, it stopped. Now what? Now, in your mind’s eye, I want you to see yourself as disappearing… as dissipating… dispersing… dissolving into nothingness. Be patient with yourself. Give yourself some time. Go ahead, imagine. Try to think of a time when you’re gone; when you’re not thinking, not seeing, not knowing.
Well, how’s it going? Shall I tell you? You can’t do it. You can’t think of a time and place where you won’t be alive. And what does that prove? It proves what every culture, in every part of the world, in every century of history has known: we all know that when our bodies breathe their last, that is not the last of us, of our souls. And, in case you’re wondering, every culture, in every clime, in every time has known that those souls are going to be judged by God. “And where did that knowledge come from?” I hear you ask. “From God-given consciences”, I reply. There is a voice inside us which tells us we’ve done wrong, and we must be punished for our wrong doing. We can beat down that voice, strangle it, throttle it, stomp it into the dust, but it is there in almost everybody. It is there in almost everybody and it is consistent in its message. It says you are in trouble, you are going to be punished and you won’t like God’s punishment.
It was that knowledge about judgment which brought a lawyer to see Jesus almost 20 centuries ago. He began by asking an incredibly important question. The lawyer asked Jesus: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The flip side of that question is: “What do I have to do to avoid eternal death?” That’s the question you doubters and disbelievers, you cynics and skeptics OUGHT to be asking. Why? Well, think about it. If you’re right and there is nothing after death, you’re going to be OK; all of us are going to be OK. We just live and then we stop living. On the other hand, if I’m right, if the Christian faith is right and there is more, if there is a Judgment Day and there is eternal life and eternal dying… then you’re in trouble. You’re going to be judged and without faith in Jesus as your Savior, you’re not going to like the verdict.
What must I do to inherit eternal life and avoid eternal dying? That was the lawyer’s question. And before the conversation was over, both the lawyer and the Savior Jesus, came to an agreement on what he should do. Would you like to hear their final answer, the ultimate conclusion of the conversation? They agreed: if you want to have eternal life and avoid eternal dying all you have to do is: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and (love) your neighbor as yourself.” Well, that made the lawyer feel pretty good. After all, if that’s all a person has to do, he felt he was in pretty good shape. I think most folks would think they could do that.
Sure, there are exceptions. Guys like Adolf Hitler and Mao and Stalin and a few of the world’s present dictators might have a tough time getting into heaven, but most folks think they won’t have much problem passing the Judgment Day test. We’re not like the folks who commit really, really big sins. We’re not terrorists who blow up innocent women and children. We’re not business tycoons who crush others to achieve power. We’re not politicians who can lie out of both sides of their mouths. We’re not like ….
Have you noticed the list of the good people is getting smaller? Thankfully, we’re still on the short list of people good enough to get into heaven. We are, aren’t we? Or are we? Are we that good? Tell you what, how about if I ask your friends, your family, even your mom to tell me about you? I’ll bet, if they’re honest, I’m going to hear some things you won’t like. They’re going to tell me things you’ve done wrong, things they generally overlook because they love you. But the truth is, if they’re honest, they’ll tell me you haven’t loved God that good … and as far as loving your neighbor. .. well, we know the answer to that one, don’t we?
But it gets worse. Those folks can only see the outside stuff, the things they’ve heard you say, the things they’ve seen you do. But they haven’t seen the really bad stuff, have they? They’ve not privy to those thoughts which are hateful and horrible, cruel, critical, and unkind; your feelings of lust, and greed, and envy. If they had seen those, what would they think? Would they let you into heaven? Well, I don’t know what they’d do, but I know what God says. He says, “You’re not good enough, nobody on their own is good enough to get into heaven.”
Because God says you’re not good enough to get into heaven, you ought to be saying, “If I’m not good enough, then how can I get into heaven; how can I avoid hell?” Now, if I’m going to be honest, I have to tell you there are a number of things you can do. First, you can pretend the judgment is never going to happen. That would be a very big mistake. Or you could hope that God is going to grade us on the curve. You know, like a teacher, God is going to lower His standards so the vast majority of sinners get into heaven. You can hope that, but it’s not going to happen. God doesn’t grade on a curve, He uses a pass-fail system. If you have always loved Him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength; if you have always loved your neighbor as yourself, you pass and get into heaven. If you haven’t done those things, then you fail and heaven is lost. To this rule there are no exceptions. God says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
Now if you’re one of those folks who think all religions are the same, you can, up till now, be happy. On most of what I’ve said so far, most religions are in agreement. They agree we are sinners and God isn’t pleased with those sins. But if you are one of those who think all religions are the same, I’ve got some bad news: this is where the road divides. This is where Christianity goes in a different direction from all the other religions of the world. A Chinese Christian, a man who had survived persecution for what he believes, explained the difference this way. He said, “Imagine if I have fallen into the quicksand of sin and am being sucked under. If Buddha came along and saw me in that predicament,
he might say something like: ‘My friend, please do not be overly concerned about this state of things; if you are wise, you will learn and you will grow and you will avoid the quicksand the next time you are reborn.'” My Christian friend then added, ‘Having said this Buddha would pass by leaving me in the quicksand.’ My friend continued: “Now
imagine what might happen if the Prophet Mohammed were to come upon me and my sorry situation. What would he do; what would he say? It probably would be something
like, “I am most sad to see you in such a sorry state, but it ought be obvious this is the will of Allah. If you wish, I have five pillars which may help you, but ultimately your fate is your fate.” Then, having shared his wisdom, Mohammed would pass on by and I would
be left dying.As he told the story, I have to be honest, my friend’s face brightened up just a little when
he said, “Then Jesus came along. Jesus saw my situation and He felt sorry for me. But
He did more than feel sorrow, and He did more than give me bits of wisdom and statements of deep philosophy. Indeed, seeing my state Jesus jumped into the
quicksand Himself. As He waded past me, He confidently said, “Don’t be afraid.” I soon found out why. Rather than letting me sink further into sin, Jesus lifted me up. He pulled me out of the muck of sin and lifted me up to freedom and life. “What a wonderfully kind thing Jesus is doing”, I thought to myself. I kept thinking that until I realized, every inch
Jesus pushed me up was an inch He sank further down. He was saving me by
sacrificing Himself. Amazing.”It is amazing, you know. It is amazing that God would care about sinners like you and me. It is amazing that the heavenly Father would send His Son into this world to become One of us. It is amazing Jesus would live a perfect life, resist a multitude of hell’s temptations and carry our sins to the cross. It is amazing that Jesus was silent before His accusers, amazing He did not seek revenge against those who tormented Him; amazing He did not countermand the authority of the Roman Procurator who gave the order for the Christ to be crucified.
Did I say all of this was amazing? It’s more than that, it’s God’s grace. It’s amazing grace that God extends to sinners like us. Undeserved, unearned, God’s grace comes and brings with it the Lord’s invitation to repent, believe, and be saved. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That was what the lawyer asked Jesus. Now you have been given the answer: you must “Repent, believe, be saved.” That is the message The Lutheran Hour brings to you today … it is the message that tens-of-thousands of supporters of this broadcast want me to share with you. It is simple: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
Some time ago I heard of a Sunday School teacher who was telling her class what I’ve told you today. Toward the end of the lesson the teacher did a review. It went something like this. She began: “If I sold my house and my car, and everything I had and gave the money to the church would that get me into heaven?” Confident of their answer, the kids shouted, “No.” “How about if I washed the church windows and vacuumed the carpet and cleaned all the bathrooms, would that get me into heaven?” The room shook as each child shouted, “NO!” Finally the teacher ran out of questions and then she said, “You’re right children those things won’t get me into heaven. What must happen before I can go to heaven?” In less time than it takes to tell, a little boy blurted out, “I know teacher! Before you get into heaven, you galla die.” The boy was right… as far as he went. I hope you know the rest of the answer. I hope you know that if you are going to go to heaven and avoid the other place, you must believe on Jesus Christ Who has defeated sin, Satan, and death for your salvation. To that end, if we can tell you more of this amazing grace, please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers)
July 11,2010
Topic: Is Holy Communion Really Necessary?Announcer: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark
Eischer. And, today’s question comes to us from a concerned member of the Lutheran
Laymen’s League.Klaus: And I think we better explain who The Lutheran Laymen’s League is, Mark.
Announcer: Well, the League is a group of people who share the Savior in many different ways and they’ve supported the broadcast of “The Lutheran Hour” for more than 75 years.
Klaus: That almost sounds like an advertisement. Good job. What’s the topic, Mark?
Announcer: Well, our friend recently spoke with a young man from his church who said he didn’t really feel the need to receive Holy Communion. He thought that hearing the Word of God was enough and it’s perfectly all right if churches never even offered the
Lord’s Supper.Klaus: Fascinating. And, I assume there’s a reason.
Announcer: Well, according to this young man’s belief, the Lord’s Supper is a nice gesture, he said, but it’s really not necessary to his faith.
Klaus: Well, let’s see what we can do with this. Mark, and did the young man say what
Bible he was reading?Announcer: I don’t believe so. Is that important?
Klaus: I’m just curious. You see, you know, in the versions I read, it has Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday … the night He was betrayed. At that meal, He said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body’; and then He said, ‘This is my blood. Drink ye all of it.” That’s from the King James Version. I realize that’s an old translation and if you looked at a New International Version or another new translation, it says, “Take and eat, this is my body; drink from it, all of you”.
Now, you should, from what I’ve said so far, understand something here. Let me try and explain. If you hear anything … and I would encourage our listeners to look up that event on Maundy Thursday, in any translation they want, and see if this gift from God appears to be an elective.
In the Sacrament, Jesus is giving us a gift … a wonderful, gracious gift that creates faith and forgives sins. That’s what Jesus said, the Lord’s Supper was instituted “for the forgiveness of sins.”
Mark, did you ever work hard to give somebody a gift and then, from that person’s reaction, you could see that they thought that gift was garbage?
Announcer: Well, I have and I’ve also been ungrateful myself.
Klaus: Me, too. Now, let me ask, “Did Jesus work hard so that all our sins might be forgiven?”
Announcer: Through His obedient life, His suffering, His death. Yes, you could say He worked hard to remove our sins.
Klaus: And He gave us this gift–the sacrament of His body and blood–to forgive us?
Announcer: Yes, He did.
Klaus: And this young man is saying, “No thank you. Don’t need it. Don’t want it”?
Announcer: But, if I could speak for him, I think he would say he’s already received that forgiveness because he reads the Bible. He’s listened to his pastor’s sermons.
Klaus: And so he does.
Announcer: So why bother with Communion?
Klaus: I understand. What we’re talking about is someone who is asking, “What is the least I need to have and do to receive to make it into heaven?”
Announcer: Better amplify that point a little bit.
Klaus: Well, certainly. He’s not especially worried about what His Savior wants here. Jesus said, “Do this” and, coming from Someone Who gave His life for us, that request should be enough. But Jesus wasn’t asking us to “do this” for Himself. He wanted to give us a gift, a beautiful gift which says He is with us… which assures us that we are forgiven… which brings His people together for a special feast… which provides an extra measure of assurance when the oppressive times of life get us down. Jesus is giving a gift, and this fellow is saying, ‘Jesus, give me the bottom line here. Let’s keep it to a minimum. Baptism-probably not necessary; worship-who knows; Communion–not necessary; fellowship–not necessary. Give me the bare bones, so I can get saved and get out of here.
Announcer: Might not that be a little strong?
Klaus: Not half strong enough. Look, Pam and I have been married for over 35 years.
What kind of relationship would we have if she said to me on the day we got married,
“Look, here’s the story. I said, ‘I love you’ at the wedding. You’ve heard it once, I hope
that’s good enough because that’s all you’re gonna get.’
What kind of marriage would we have if she said, “Tell me, exactly what’s the minimum I have to do to collect your life insurance? I really don’t want the cuddling, the affection, the physical, the talking, the support, the meals together, walks, romance, children … ”
What kind of relationship is it that takes wonderful gifts offered in love and says, “No, thank you; I’ve already got one?”Announcer: It doesn’t sound like much of a relationship at all.
Klaus: You know, Mark, the relationship may survive … but it’s sure never going to be what it should have been.
Announcer: Thank you. Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
http://www.1utherauhour . orglsermon. asp ?artic1eid= 14 929&mode=print
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Amazing Grace” From Hymns for All Saints (© 2004 Concordia Publishing House)
“Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee” by J.S. Bach. From Organist Frederick Hohman & Johann
Sebastian Bach by Frederick Hohman (© 1988 Pro Organo)“How Can I Keep from Singing?” arr. Robert Hobby. From Thine Is the Glory by Robert
A. Hobby (© 1997 MorningStar Music Publishers)