JOHN 11:1-45
MOST OF US HAVE GONE
THROUGH A TRAGEDY. WE MIGHT HAVE LOST A SPOUSE, A PARENT, A CHILD, A
BEST FRIEND. WE MIGHT HAVE HAD A LIFE-THREATENING DISEASE. WE MIGHT
HAVE LOST OUR BUSINESS OR OUR JOB OR GONE THROUGH A MESSY DIVORCE.
WE MIGHT BE IN THE PROCESS OF SUFFERING, AND THE TRAGEDY IS HAPPENING
RIGHT NOW, IT IS NOT BEHIND US.
WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL
IF WE COULD ASK GOD TO TAKE AWAY OUR PROBLEM, AND KNOW THAT HE WOULD?
I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO CHRISTIANS, AND PERHAPS
ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN GOD, IS THAT OLD QUESTION, WHY DO BAD THINGS
HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE? WHY DOES IT SEEM AS THOUGH GOD DOES NOT CARE?
THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE JEWISH THINKER WHO SAID, “HOW CAN A JEW
BELIEVE IN GOD WORTH WORSHIPING AFTER THE HOLOCAUST?” I PERSONALLY
BELIEVE THAT GOD WORKS A MIRACLE NOW AND THEN, FOR REASONS WE DON'T
REALLY KNOW; AND PERHAPS THERE IS SOME POWER IN HUMAN BEINGS THAT CAN
MAKE SOMETHING LOOK LIKE A MIRACLE. BUT THEY DON'T HAPPEN VERY
CONSISTENTLY, AND CERTAINLY NOT IN PROPORTION TO THE PRAYERS PEOPLE
PRAY TO BE RELIEVED OF A TRAGEDY. SO IS THERE A GOD? THAT'S THE
ANSWER SOME PEOPLE GIVE. A FAMOUS RABBI, READING THE OLD TESTAMENT
AND MEDITATING ON THIS PROBLEM, CONCLUDED THAT THERE WAS A GOD BUT HE
WAS NOT ALL KNOWING, NOR ALL POWERFUL – IF HE WAS, THEN HE WAS
CRUEL FOR ALLOWING WHAT HAPPENS TO HAPPEN.
LAST WEEK YOU MIGHT HAVE
HEARD THE STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON. THAT STORY TELLS US A LOT ABOUT
GOD, THAT HE GIVES US UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, AND OUR RESPONSE TO HIS
LOVE IS WHAT DETERMINES WHETHER WE GET TO GO INTO THE PARTY WE CALL
HEAVEN, OR SIT OUTSIDE AND FEEL SORRY FOR OURSELVES, IN HELL. TODAY
WE HEAR ANOTHER STORY THAT TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT GOD.
NOTICE THAT JESUS WAITS
TWO DAYS AFTER HE HAS HEARD ABOUT LAZARUS' ILLNESS. THEN HE SETS
OUT, TAKING MORE TIME TO GET TO THE HOME OF HIS FRIENDS. EVEN THOUGH
MARTHA, MARY, AND LAZARUS ARE SOME F HIS BEST FRIENDS IN ALL THE
WORLD, AND EVEN THOUGH JESUS HAS ALREADY SHOWN THAT HE CAN HEAL FROM
A DISTANCE – HE DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO GO TO BETHANY TO HEAL LAZARUS –
HE SEEMS TO DO NOTHING, AND ONCE HE GETS THERE, HE ANSWERS MARTHA'S
GRIEF WITH PLATITUDES – “DON'T BE CONCERNED, HE WILL RISE AGAIN.”
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID TO A GRIEVING FAMILY MEMBER, “HE'S IN A
BETTER PLACE NOW?” AND MARTHA ANSWERS, “I KNOW HE WILL RISE
AGAIN ON THE LAST DAY.” MARTHA LIKE MANY OF HER FELLOW JEWS,
BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION AT THE END OF TIME.
THEN HE MEETS MARY, WHO
IS THERE WITH SOME FRIENDS, ALL WEEPING. AND JESUS WEEPS AS WELL.
NOTICE THAT NO ONE EXPECTS HIM TO RAISE LAZARUS – NOT MARTHA, NOT
MARY, NOT THE APOSTLES, NOT THE TOWNSPEOPLE. THEY ALL KNEW THAT
AFTER FOUR DAYS THE SOUL HAD GONE ON TO SHEOL, IT WAS NO LONGER ABLE
TO RE-ANIMATE THE BODY. DEAD WAS DEAD. ALL THEY CAN SAY THEN IS
THAT JESUS MUST HAVE REALLY LOVED THE MAN, LOOK AT HIS GRIEF.
WE KNOW THE END OF THE
STORY, AND IT DISTRACTS US SOMETIMES FROM AN IMPORTANT OBSERVATION.
LAZARUS IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, BUT JESUS LET HIM DIE! SOME PEOPLE
SAY ALL OF THIS WAS TO CONVINCE THE OBSERVERS THAT HE WAS GOD. AND
MAYBE THAT'S THE CASE. BUT I THINK THAT WE ARE REALLY SEEING HOW GOD
OPERATES HERE. WHEN YOU AND I FACE A TRAGEDY, GOD SUFFERS WITH US,
GOD WEEPS WITH US. HE SHARES OUR GRIEF, SO THAT IT IS NOT AS
BURDENSOME AS IT COULD BE. HE SHARES OUR GRIEF SO THAT HE CAN BEGIN
TO HEAL US. AND ONLY AFTER PASSING THROUGH THE TRAGEDY WITH US DOES
GOD DO WHAT HE ALWAYS DOES – BRINGS ABOUT RESURRECTION, BRINGS GOOD
OUT OF BAD. AS SAINT PAUL SAID, “WHERE SIN, OR EVIL, ABOUNDS,
GRACE ABOUND MORE.”
AND JESUS SHOWS THIS
AGAIN IN HIS OWN CRUCIFIXION. HE IS GOD, HE COULD EASILY STEP DOWN.
HE DIDN'T HAVE TO BE UP THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT ON THAT CROSS
HE SUFFERS WITH YOU AND I DOWN THROUGH THE AGES, THROUGH ALL THE
TRAGEDIES AND MISERY HUMAN BEINGS WILL FACE. AND IN HIS
RESURRECTION, HE PROMISES THAT HE WILL TRANSFORM EVIL INTO GOOD,
TRAGEDY INTO JOY, DEATH INTO LIFE.
AND JUST BEFORE HE RAISES
LAZARUS, HE TELLS MARTHA, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE
WHO BELIEVES IN ME EVEN IF HE DIES, SHALL LIVE.” AND HE ASKS HER,
AND HE ASKS YOU AND I, “DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?”
IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE
HAD A GOD WHO KEPT US OUT OF TROUBLE, WHO RESCUED US FROM THINGS THAT
HAPPEN, WHO MADE SURE WE LIVED TO A RIPE OLD AGE, HEALTHY, WEALTHY,
AND LOVED BY EVERYBODY; AND THEN ONE NIGHT DURING A SOUND SLEEP TOOK
US TO HEAVEN. WE DON'T HAVE A GOD LIKE THAT. WE HAVE A GOD WHO
PROMISES TO BE WITH US WHEN WE SUFFER, WHO PROMISES TO BRING LIFE
FROM DEATH, WHO PROMISES THAT IF WE BELIEVE, EVEN IF WE DIE, WE SHALL
LIVE.
IF YOU ARE SUFFERING, IF
YOU EVER HAVE SUFFERED, KNOW THAT JESUS, OUR GOD, IS THERE, WEEPING
WITH US, SUFFERING WITH US – WAITING FOR THAT MOMENT WHEN HE KEEPS
HIS PROMISE AND SAYS TO US, “DID I NOT TELL YOU THAT YOU WOULD SEE
THE GLORY OF GOD?” AND THE SUFFERING WE EXPERIENCED WILL SEEM LIKE
SO MUCH SMOKE, AND WE WILL WONDER WHAT THE FUSS WAS ALL ABOUT, AS WE
GAZE UPON THE FACE OF GOD.
