Charlie    P18 07 September 30, 2007

One of my favorite old television programs is "The Twilight Zone." The master story teller, Rod Serling tells a story of a man I remember as Charlie. Charlie was a two bit criminal, who didn't do as much wrong and what he failed in doing right.

The story begins when Charlie finds himself in a big house, not knowing how he got there. The host asks him to relax, and offers to get him anything he wants. Charlie gets anything he wants. Not only some good food, but when he asked to have a drink, the host opened the bar with a never-ending supply of alcohol. When he asks for good-looking women, three scanty dressed women come and sit in his lap. When he wants to gamble and play cards, Charlie gets into a game he never loses.

We learn that Charlie was a small time criminal that had swindled money and cheated at every turn. In this house, he can steal and cheat as much as he wants. He wonders why he always wins, and why his new friends let him do whatever he wants. When he asks for a new car, a big convertible strangely appears outside in the driveway. The host says here are the keys. He occurs to him that something weird is happening to him. The last thing he remembers is getting shot in a robbery attempt. He wonders how he ever survived.

Charlie comes to the conclusion that he must have died and went to heaven. Then he says he wants to go and take his new car for a drive. The host laughs, and says, "Charlie, you can’t leave." He can’t drive that car. The host explains that this is not heaven. The show ends with Charlie screaming in pain, because he knows that he is in hell.

Is hell as described in Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, where you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave? Is it a place where we are left to suffer from our own devices? As Rod Serling used to say, the truth is stranger than fiction.

The truth is we don’t know what heaven will be like. All we can say is that heaven is eternal life with Jesus. The scriptures refer to heaven and hell several times. In our reading for today, Jesus tells a story about two people, one going to heaven in the bosom of Abraham, a popular image in Jesus culture, and another who goes to hell.

It’s the story of the rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man was not a bad guy; he was just a rich man who lived in luxury and loved money. We can assume he was good to his family; he his dues were paid at his local synagogue. He probably had many friends and belonged to all the right social circles. In all ways, he seemed like a respectable citizen with all the comforts the world could give him.

Outside the gate of the rich man’s estate was the poor sick beggar, Lazarus. His skin was covered with ulcers that dogs would lick. The rich man didn't mind that Lazarus ate the leftover garbage after each meal. The rich man didn't try to chase him away from his gate. He accepted the sick old Lazarus as part of the landscape of the world. Back in those days, rich people didn't mind the poor and sick people, as long as they kept their place and didn't cause any trouble. Lazarus was no trouble at all to anyone.

One day, the man noticed that Lazarus was no longer lying at his gate. He had died, and as Jesus told the story, angels carried him to sit beside Abraham at heaven's feast. Soon after, the rich man died and was sent to hell and was in great pain.

He looked up and saw Lazarus sitting next to Abraham. He called to Abraham, "I'm thirsty here. Just send your boy Lazarus to give me some water and cool off my tongue.” Abraham told him that during his lifetime, he received all the good things. Now it was Lazarus’ turn. Even more, Abraham said that there is a great pit separating them, and no one can get across. God has this thing about justice, and now it was Lazarus’ turn.

Then the rich man asked Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers, who were still living in luxury. Abraham said that people have had plenty of warning, yet they did not choose to listen. They wouldn’t listen if God’s own Son came to warn them.

For us, this is a strong warning and a promise. Jesus is warning us about the danger of shirking our responsibility to others, especially the poor. To the poor and the sick, he’s promising that justice will be done, and a future of plenty.

The parable is clear. It is not enough to just say I believe, or to worship God. Following Jesus means that those who are rich have a responsibility for the sick and the poor. Following Christ, we also accept the friends who now sit with him. Lazarus is one of the friends sitting with Jesus at Heaven’s table. It’s a call to love our neighbor first by recognizing him or her wherever ever we meet them.

Let me tell you another story. This is not a parable, but a true story of a man that followed Christ by loving his neighbor.

Meet Tom. Tom also had it made. He had the right education, the talent, and the wisdom to gain all the worlds’ riches. Tom was a lawyer with a successful practice in a good firm. Now I know that lawyers are not respected in some circles, but Tom was respected by all who knew him.

He served as a state representative. He had a good family. In his church, he did whatever he could to help its mission. He served on the church council, and always advocated that the church budget should pay a sizable portion for benevolence. He gave more than a tithe to his church and other charities. People in the church listened to Tom if for no other reason than he was far and away the largest contributor to the church.

Tom was a leader. When it came time to put together a group to help a poor family, Tom organized a group to help them out. He was active in the local food cooperative, which allowed the poor a free visit once a month.

One day, a member of the church came to him and said that his wife had emptied his bank accounts, and was living with another man. The guy said that he wanted to get a divorce, and he wondered if Tom would be his lawyer. "I will,” Tom said. “But I'm not going to try to cheat your wife out of any money. I’m going to be fair to all concerned." If you want a lawyer who will try to take her for all she’s worth, I can give you some names of some other lawyers in town.

"That's fine," he said. "I'm glad you'll be my lawyer." “You know I don't have any money right now,” he said.

“I'm not going to charge you anything, except my expenses, said Tom.”

The divorce went through and the two never did get back together. But as a result of what Tom did, that young man's faith in God was strengthened a hundred fold. And from that day on, he emulated Tom’s faith in his own faith.

There’s another story about heaven and hell. Once upon a time, a faithful woman came to the pearly gates. St. Peter told her she was welcome at the heavenly banquet. She was delighted. There was a huge banquet there. And the really odd thing was that no one at the heavenly banquet could move their elbows. Their arms were all locked straight, but no one cared about that. They simply fed each other.

After time, she wondered and asked St. Peter if there was really such a place as hell. “Would you like to see the place,” said St. Peter? “Well yes,” she said, “So long as you promise I won’t have to stay there.” “You don’t have to worry. I’ll be glad to show you what’s happening in hell.”

To her amazement, hell looked just like heaven. It also was a grand feast, and the people also had elbows that were locked so that their arms were straight. But no one was happy because they couldn’t get any food. They were all trying to feed only themselves.

Now we can come to a foretaste of the heavenly feast. What I mean is, Holly Communion is a small sample of what happens in heaven. We exchange the peace of God with each other. We sing praises to God, the Holy One who rules the heaven and the earth. We pray together. Our sins are forgiven as we forgive those who sin against us. At our Lord's table, we share the cup and the body of Christ Jesus our Lord.

The question is, what will each of us as we go out into the world? What difference will it make in our lives in one hour, and in the days that follow? Will we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves? Will we help fed the hungry, and bring comfort to the sick?

There are many opportunities show our love God and our neighbor right in our ministry as Grace Lutheran Church. We have Crowley House of Hope, the activities at the Fall Festival, just to name a few. Let us love God and our neighbor with all our heart mind, and strength. Amen.