Everett Henes: Eternity

King Solomon wrote, in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart.” There are many things about this life that are good, true, and beautiful. Whether we take a walk out in creation, or we sit near someone we love, there are many things for which we can be thankful. Even still, for all the good things we can have in this life, man was made for eternity and so it’s no wonder that Jesus spent a good deal of time teaching about that truth. In Luke 16, Jesus tells two parables that are meant to focus our attention.

In the first place, Jesus tells a parable called the Shrewd Manager. The parable concerns a wealthy man who discovers that his manager has been wasting his resources. The man calls the manager in to settle accounts, but the manager is shrewd and decides to secure his future by making friends with the debtors of the man. He reduces their debts, thus making them grateful to him.

The point of the parable is that we should be wise in using the resources and opportunities that God has given to us. It’s not teaching us to bribe our way into God’s graces. It is a “lesser to greater” argument. If the shrewd manager is willing to labor for material things, how much more ought we to care for eternal things? The truth is that we have all wasted the gifts and blessings from God. We ought to “make friends” with God through faith and repentance, not continuing to squander the time he has given us.

The better known of the two parables that Jesus tells in Luke 16 is the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. In the parable, there is a rich man who lives a life of luxury, while a poor man named Lazarus lies at his gate, covered in sores. Despite Lazarus' suffering, the rich man does nothing to help him. Eventually, both men die. The rich man is sent to hell, while Lazarus is carried by angels to heaven. From hell, the rich man cries out to Abraham in heaven, asking for help. Abraham replies that there is a great divide between the two realms and that the rich man can no longer cross over.

The rich man, realizing that his eternity is sealed, asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house so that he can warn them, “lest they also come to this place of torment.” Every time I read this parable, I am struck by the fact that even in hell the rich man wants to see Lazarus as his servant. It wasn’t enough that in life he was a beggar, he wants Lazarus to be a beggar in the afterlife as well. What follows is an important exchange.

“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

And here the parable ends with the Pharisees and those listening left to ponder its meaning; left to decide whether they will hear the witness of God’s word. This parable would become very clear once Christ is raised from the dead for there were many in Jesus’ own day who did not believe that he had been raised. Despite the eyewitness accounts and the power of the Spirit they began with the presupposition that someone rising from the dead is impossible; therefore, Jesus could not have been raised. They refused to hear the testimony of God’s word.

This parable teaches us that the greatest miracles will not regenerate a sinner; the command is to repent and believe the gospel, and if you won’t do that then you won’t change your mind if you were to see someone rise from the dead. This is one of those chapters that include both a comfort and a challenge. The comfort is for those who believe that regardless of what this life brings, you will find a welcome in God’s presence. This passage warns against rejecting Jesus’ teaching. His message is clear: Believe on him and live. This parable calls us to use our resources in this life with eternity in view. Whether we have much or little, we can share with others.

— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Everett Henes: Eternity