After Lazarus died, “the angels carried him to Abraham’s side” (Luke 16:22), that is, heaven. As for the rich man, he died and went to Hades, that is, hell. In torment the rich man saw Abraham who was far away in heaven and begged him to “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue” as he was in “agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24). Abraham explained to the rich man that this was not possible as “between us and you a great chasm has been set in place” (16:26). The rich man then requested Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his (the rich man’s) five brothers not to come to hell, Abraham also rejected his request.

This account reveals an important point: the rich man is unable to contact his brothers, as much as he wished he could to save his brothers from torment in hell. Thus, the dead are either in hell or in heaven. People who did not receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour when they were still alive would be in hell for eternity. Like the rich man who could not contact his brothers who were still alive at that time, those in hell, too, are unable to contact you in anyway. Hence it is pointless to offer anything to the dead. For this reason, we do not worship our ancestors.

That does not mean, however, that we cannot remember them. We can talk about them—the sacrifices they made for the family whilst they were alive, their achievements, their exemplary character, and the good they have done. We show our gratitude to the deceased.

That said, however, we must also remember that whatever we do or say cannot affect those in hell or heaven, whether for good or for worse. Our remembrance or our show of gratitude, really, is for the sake of those who are still alive: by remembering them, we teach ourselves the virtue of being grateful. We also receive inspiration to emulate the good acts of those who have left us. In other words, it is for the good of the living and not the dead because the living cannot affect the dead, whether that person is in hell or heaven, in anyway.

This leads us to a very important matter: because death carries with it such finality—death seals a person’s eternal destiny forever—there is nothing that the living can do for a person once he or she dies. Hence, we must love our loved ones when they are still alive. Most importantly, we must preach the gospel to them because “people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment” (Heb 9:27). If a person carries his or her sins into the next life, that person is most pitiful because God will condemn that person to hell for eternity with no hope of ever leaving this place of extreme pain and torment. Thus, we must pray and work hard to bring the gospel to our loved ones and “warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment” (Luke 16:28). This is a most urgent task.