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Staying (or Making) Alive!
Who has not experienced what it means to be where Martha and Mary were? Whether we try to process it in our heads as did Martha as she worked through her theological questions, or whether we experience the grief flowing from broken hearts expressed in the tears of Mary, or the ebb and flow of both, the losses we feel are powerful. Both the ache and the questions are real. Even with the assurance that those who die are only asleep until the resurrection morning, a hope that is both a source of comfort and healing, the ache is still real. Not only Mary and Martha, but Jesus Himself wept over the loss of a friend and so much more.
What's more, not only was there loss to deal with, but also the sense of delay. Why, Mary and Martha (and the rest of us) wonder, did Jesus not intervene sooner in ways that we would expect? Why the seeming delay?
And so for Mary, Martha, Lazarus and much of the time the rest of us as well, it's all about "staying alive." But in this story, it appears that for Jesus it is more about "making alive" than "staying alive." Is there a difference? Is there are difference between avoiding death and really being alive?
In this seventh sign of Jesus that Pastor Jon explores with us this morning, we catch a glimpse of the reality that as painful as the impact of sin is, and even in the midst of what can seem to us like delay on the part of God, that death cannot ultimately stand in the presence of Jesus. We see a God that provides reassurance and comfort in our times of grief. We see a God Who weeps with us as we weep. But we also see a God Who calls us by name, and invites us to live. We see that God does not always act merely to keep us alive (which is generally what we think we want), but rather to make us alive (which is more than we could have anticipated) in ways that are fuller and richer than we ever imagined. And, for those looking on, what often is seen is a clearer and more complete picture of Who God actually is than might have been seen otherwise.
As is seen in the events of the resurrection weekend that we celebrate at this time each year, and as is reflected in the communion service that we celebrate together as we think about this story, those times when God seems the most absent and His action delayed, are often prelude to amazing moments of life and transformation!
If you would like to listen once again as Pastor Jon leads us through this passage, or if perhaps you would like to listen for the first time, you can access our sermon library by clicking here.
As you reflect on the story to the right, particularly in the wake of the celebration of communion together, take a few moments to think about . . .
What section in this story are you most drawn to? Why do you think it catches your attention at this time and in this place in our life?
Which character in the story do you find yourself identifying with, or being drawn to, the most as you read?
As you think about how you process your own moments of difficulty and grief, do you tend to do it more like Martha or Mary?
What feelings or emotions do you find this story stirring in you? What do you think that is about?
As you take a long, loving look at Jesus and How He interacts with people in this story, what aspect of what you notice speaks to you the most powerfully?
Do you sense there is something here that God especially wants you to notice, or that you feel nudged towards? If so, how will you respond to this?
The story we consider this week is one that clearly points to the resurrection of Jesus, even as it reminds us of the kind of life He would like to raise up within us - more than just keeping us alive, but making us alive. If you ever wonder just what it might be that God is raising you up for . . . or what it might look like to live in the wake of that . . . or perhaps, one of the ways He might be wanting to use you to help others catch the hope that comes from fuller and richer lives, this video may give you some additional things to think about . . .
John 11 (TNIV)
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when people walk at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
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