Firework display ~ birth pains tribulation Jerusalem

Text for family service: John 11:32-44

(Give out pieces of scraperboard and  wooden scraping tools, to all of the children in the congregation  and ask them to scrape away the black ink , and draw a picture of a live firework. Have a box ready in order to give them a few names of fireworks as ideas, and tell them to work quietly while you are talking, and at the end of the talk, say that you will be inviting them to come out and show everyone what they have done.)

As an RE teacher, I often have the chance to look at other holy books, and read out parts of them to children.

They're not always that easy to understand, but somehow whenever I turn to the Bible I immediately find myself caught up in some very wonderful stories and poems, and my heart is just captured immediately. We have the most amazing book at our fingertips as Christians. It reads so well

In fact, today's gospel contains one of the most beautiful and most moving stories of all time.

Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha has just died, and as Jesus enters Bethany where they live, Mary runs to meet him, expressing her belief that if only Jesus himself had been there, then her brother would not have died.

 Such faith!

Jesus on seeing the depth of the people's mourning, begins to weep himself, and requests that Mary take him to the place where they have laid him.

Some remark how much Jesus must have loved Lazarus, others are critical.

Then Jesus does something very strange. He asks for the stone at the mouth of the tomb to be taken away. To the shock and amazement of all there, he calls Lazarus out from the tomb, and he is brought back to life!

The corpse that has been in the tomb for four whole days, rotting in the heat of the sun, is restored.

Jesus then commands the people to remove the linen grave clothes that bind Lazarus and set him free.

It is a story we can all identify with.

Which of us has never wished to be able to embrace someone who has died that we loved?

What amazes me about Jesus, especially in this particular story is the way in which he calmly faces the 'shadow lands'-by that I mean those places we would call the darkest areas of life.

We see them here in the gospel reading.

First the dark area of REBUKE.

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!"

In other words, "Where on earth have you been, we sent for you and you didn't come!"

Then we have the darkness of GRIEF….of distraught people weeping. In these countries there would be no gentle tears, not like British tears, but the wailing and screaming characteristic of the time in Judea.

Thirdly come that are of darkness we all dread- and that is CRITICISM.

"Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Jesus, whom we call the light of the world, was not intimidated by the darkness. He entered it willingly with a real composure.

He didn't avoid it, he didn't steer clear of it, he didn't go in with all guns blazing to defend himself from it, he didn't retreat and sulk or worry. He faced it head on, BUT he faced it with compassion and understanding.

He accepted rebuke, he wept with those who grieved, and he rose above the criticism that surrounded him, by letting his light shine even more brightly.

What great lessons for us today , in our dark shadow lands.

We may ask ourselves what these areas are. For each one of us they will all be different trials, but they will all have in them the elements of hurt and anger and grief.

Let me name for you some examples of dark areas:-

Fear of hospitals because of bereavement, (yet you could prove to be an ideal hospital visitor)

Dread of death,(yet you could do voluntary work for a hospice or visit a dying person)

A confrontation,(yet our openness and understanding of a situation could turn matters around)

Your gentle opinion expressed to a group of critical people could silence them

Your light, expressed, could chase away the darkness.

How do we fare when we are confronted with the darkness?

I have a music cassette at home, of a singer called Sheila Walsh, and in one of her songs she says that as Christians we should,

' We should be dancing on air, and light up our lights like a firework display,

What a lovely expression.

Just imagine we are all fireworks on a cold wintry night.

 We could choose to stay in the box and hide, and never make contact with anyone. By staying in the box we will never have to face up to our responsibilities, or tackle problems in life, or face up to reality.

We could be lit and be so dull and damp that we remain a dud, the divine spark fizzles out, and we never take flight and we allow the darkness to consume us as we simmer.

Or we can choose to be lit, to be launched, to enter those areas others fear to enter, to soar right into the darkness and be what God intended us to be…. and that is

:- a  firework display, to light up the faces of those who look on.

Could we invite the children to come out here now and make a firework display for us. We were never meant to shine alone as a body of believers, but to work in harmony with each other to the glory of God.

(invite children to bring out their scraperboard picture of a firework, and put them all together to make a big display)