| "What Was Jesus Doing" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – April 10, 2011 Centenary United John
11:17-44 This morning we are
going to consider Jesus' remarkable miracle of raising Lazarus from the
dead. What makes this story
quite distinctive from all other miracles performed by Jesus is that he
intentionally allowed his good friend to die and was even glad that he
was not present to heal him.
He told his disciples, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but
I will go and wake him up.
When the disciples misunderstood, Jesus restated his comment, “No,
Lazarus has died, but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him,
so that you will believe." (John 11:11f.) What was Jesus doing? This same theme
appears again when Martha learns that Jesus was approaching her home.
She ran to meet him and exclaimed, "If you had only been here,
Lord, my brother would not have died!"
Jesus responded, "I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and
those who live and believe in me will never die.
Do you believe this?"
Martha said, "Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Messiah, the
Son of God, who was to come into the world." Once he knew that
his identity was firmly embedded in the minds of all the witnesses,
Jesus then went to the tomb, had several people remove the stone and he
called out Lazarus' name.
Miracle of miracles, Lazarus walked out of the tomb and Jesus gave
instructions for friends to unwrap his body from the burial cloths.
Everyone was awe-struck with what they had just witnessed.
This event spread
like a wild fire.
Eventually, reports of Lazarus’ resurrection reached the ears of the
Pharisees and the members of the Sanhedrin.
They were so startled and troubled by this information that the
authorities began plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.
(John 12:9f) It was
the rumors of what Jesus accomplished that became partially responsible
for the remarkable crowd that filled the street leading into Why would Jesus put his friends through
the death of a loved one simply to imprint his identity in their minds?
Our lesson described the strong emotions of those who came to
comfort Mary and Martha. Even Jesus wept. The answer to this question
may lie with Jesus’ understanding of what was going to happen to him. He was on
a
collision course with the
established religious authorities.
He had planned to surrender peacefully and willingly in spite of
what outcome he would experience.
He wanted his most intimate friends to understand beyond the
shadow of any doubt who he was. What made Lazarus'
resurrection so critical was that it would deeply impact everyone who
witnessed it.
The resurrection of Lazarus
became a necessary ingredient as important as the symbolism displayed by
Jesus on Palm Sunday as well as the bread and the wine during his final
meal with the disciples.
Jesus hoped that these intentional acts would inspire the
confidence and courage of his followers to carry on when the day arrived
that he would no longer be with them. Perhaps a number of
us have experienced a seminal moment in our lives that changed our
entire orientation of our relationship with God. It is one thing to
attend and remain attentive at church and Sunday school having never
missed a single Sunday for years, and quite another to experience an
event that is so powerful and so convincing that God
touched us in such a way that
we never got over it. Jesus understood
that living in this world is a very challenging assignment.
He was never sure that his disciples understood much that he was
teaching. Several times he
had to explain the meaning of his parables to them.
There were moments when he became so frustrated with his
disciples and his listeners that he scolded them, "How unbelieving you
people are! How long must I
stay with you? How long do
I have to put up with you?" (Mark 9:19)
He knew that if the worst thing imaginable happened to him, his
disciples would scatter. Even if they went
into hiding, he wanted them to remember him and particularly what he had
asked them to do. He was
placing into the hands of his emotionally fragile disciples his mission
and purpose for coming into the world.
Even Peter, the rock, would deny ever knowing Jesus.
Another among his chosen would betray him.
All the events of Holy Week were
carefully scripted by Jesus to create images his followers would never
forget.
He wanted to communicate what the will of God was for all
humanity and that people had to be taught what living in the Today, most of us
recognize that the testimony of others recorded over 2,000 years ago has
not raised the spiritual consciousness of the world.
No matter how wonderful
our teachers are or have been, growing up and living the values they
left with us is a choice each of us has to make.
According to our
Gospel writer, this opportunity happened right after the resurrection of
Lazarus. The self-absorbed
Pharisees however, only worried about one thing.
They said, "What should we do?
If we allow this man to go on this way, everyone will believe in
him and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Jesus could come
back today, perform the same miracles, proclaim the same message and
generate the same results. Not
everyone would care. Some
might turn their heads briefly out of curiosity, but like on Palm
Sunday, they would melt back into their routines, their
television programs, their video games, their sporting events, their
concerns about the faltering tourist trade, the impact on food from the
rising commodity prices as well as the amount of import duties, the home
foreclosures and the recent gang-related murders of young men.
The list of distractions is as enormous for us as it was for the
people in Jesus’ day. Every generation has had its distractions that are capable of
making people blind to the presence of the Recently, we have
heard or read about the laments of former teachers over the senseless
gang-related murders of some of their former students.
They are heart-broken.
We hear all the reasons why
gangs are evolving, e.g., prayer was taken out of our public school,
both parents are working and into their own worlds, boundaries for
children in many families are more vague than in prior years, gangs
provide an identity for which these young men hunger and modern families
have grown more complacent in exposing their children to spiritual
values and guidance. People always look for places to assign
blame for why people behave as they do.
The one they seldom mention is the failure of many people to take
personal responsibility for the choices they make.
These
young men are so
asleep that
they are not aware of what they are throwing away.
There was one time
when Jesus experienced the same thing and he said, “ If Jesus were here
today he would say to them, “Wake
up! Wake up! God has
made you in his image. God
made all of you to be creators. You
are lost in a dream that will
not allow your spirit to evolve.
Let the light within you shine so that it will enhance the lives
of others.” Where has the
motivation gone for people to polish their own stone and bring their
best into every circumstance of life? One day a young boy
went to the drug store and asked to borrow the telephone.
He called a woman named Mrs. Johnson.
He said, “Mrs. Johnson, do you need a yard boy?
I am a very hard worker.”
Mrs. Johnson replied, “No thank you.
I already have a yard boy and he does excellent work.”
The young man persisted, “Does he get there on time?
Does he charge a fair wage? When he is finished, does he put
everything away in its proper place?
Is he conscientious?” Mrs. Johnson responded, “I really
appreciate your enthusiasm, but the young man I have now does a
remarkable job and I am not interested in having anyone else.”
The young man thanked her for her time and hung up. The pharmacist
overheard a part of the conversation and immediately offered him a job
which he could start any time he was able. The young man replied, “Thank
you very much, sir. I really appreciate your offer, but I already have a
great job. You see, I am
Mrs. Johnson’s yard boy and I was just checking up on myself.”
Today, where is that spirit?
During Lent, are we checking up on ourselves? One of the
saving graces that God placed before humanity is that absolutely nothing
else works to help us grow toward our ultimate destiny until we discover
and use the creative, loving energy patterns of which all of us are
capable. Loving energy comes in
millions of different forms from yard boys to wealthy industrialists who
love giving back to the world.
Any other
response that people make, any other substitutes, any other excuses will
only cause people to engage in delay in finding the narrow gate
that leads to our continued evolution as spirit beings. This reality can
never be compromised or threatened by anything any more than we can stop
the sun from coming up in the morning.
Nothing
can prevent God’s will from being accomplished in every one of God’s
children. Those who wake up and open their eyes to this level of
understanding will have discovered the pearl of great price.
It was this
understanding that allowed Jesus to go to the cross without any
resistance.
He knew that he had overcome the
world by continuing to exude compassion for those who had driven nails
into his hands and feet.
Absolutely nothing has
been able to extinguish
the
eternal flame that continues to radiate from that cross. God remains very
patient with the evolution of humankind as civilizations come and go, as
very passionate religious zealots resonate with a gospel of
destruction and death, as dictators terrorize the people they claim to
be serving, as military groups need to win wars that no one ever wins,
or as people struggle in poverty while suffering indignities and
injustices that only time and love will heal.
Jesus wanted future generations to
remember that we are all children of God and no one can take away from
God his ownership of who each of us will eventually become.
God's love for his children goes well beyond anything we
human beings can imagine. Jesus said, "In my father’s house are many
mansions." There are
probably more levels of awareness on
the other side
of
the curtain than
there are grains of sand on Everything Jesus did from the
resurrection of Lazarus to the empty tomb has helped us to remember that
when we follow Jesus, we too will overcome the world and all its
enticements that do not exist beyond the boundaries of this world. |