“Where Is Your Spirit Anchored?”

     Sermon Written By Rev. Dick Stetler – March 29, 2020

     On the occasion of church closings due to COVID-19

     Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 130; 1st John 11:1-45

 

    The story of the resurrection of Lazarus after being deceased for four days is an episode that has intrigued me since my childhood.   There is no point debating why this episode was part of John's Gospel but its presence does raise a lot of questions.

    What was Jesus teachingwith this episode?  It appears that this feat was a display of superhuman powerto impress the witnesses that, indeed, God had sent Jesus. Doing so was highly uncharacteristic for Jesus. During the days of Jesus, the average life span for men was 35.Lazarus may have been near that age.  Also, there was no follow-up after his resurrection, e.g., no responses of gratitude fromhis sisters, the crowd of witnesses, or from Lazarus. There are many dynamics to this story that provide food for thought.

    Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were probably the closest friends that Jesus had during his ministry.  He and his disciples frequently used their compound in Bethany for rest and relaxation.  For whatever reason,the crowds seeking healing kept their distancewhile Jesus and his disciples were visiting.

    It was clear that Jesus had received the message to come quickly because Lazarus had taken a turn for the worse.  However, Jesus was delayed and when he eventually arrived at their home, Lazarus had died four days earlier. Rather than receiving comforting, sustained hugs from Jesus, both sisters greeted Jesus with identical condescending words, "If you had only been here, my brother would not have died."  (John 11:21 & 32)

    That was quite a greeting!  They were almost finding fault with Jesus for not abandoning everything that he was doing and racing to Lazarus' bedside. We have to wonder, was Jesus a loving presence in their lives or was he someone whom they needed badly to heal their brother?  We have to admit that on more than one occasion many of us have also turned to God in a moment of desperation.  After all, Jesus did the same thing.  (Luke 22:44)

    In his own defense Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?" Jesus asked some of the on-lookers to remove the stone from the entrance to the burial place of Lazarus. Jesus looked up and said:

I thank you, Father, that you listen to me.  I know that you always listen to me.  I say this because what I am about to do will teach these witnesses to believe that you sent me.  Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  Indeed, Lazarus did just that. (John 11:41-44)

    This brings us to the theme of my message this morning, whereis your spirit anchored?  FromMary and Martha's words, it sounds like they were anchored to the physical world rather than accepting Lazarus' death as a part of life.

    There have been countless people in my life that have abandoned what little faith they had because of their anger toward God. They ask, "Why would God allow tumors to grow in the brains of a newborn?"  "If there is a loving God, why has God permitted diseases totake the lives of millions of people throughout history?" 

    Do we want a loving presence in our lives or a divinity who intervenes constantly so that we never experience pain, uncertainty, sorrow, and the loss of loved ones?  If we look to God for such things, God will continue to disappoint us.  That is not God's role in our lives as much as we may believe that it is.

    We assume that God has human emotions, a belief that the Hebrews had developed.  Perhaps this one assumption hasprevented people throughout history from understandingthe nature of God. This mistaken image of God makes God human.  This belief was held by the Jews who defined events in their nation's history as ones that pleased God or ones that described what happened to them when they turned away from God.

    Clearly, the Hebrews' war-god Yahweh possessed human emotions.  Several times Moses had to negotiate with the Creator of the Universe during God's moody moments in order to get God to change his mind.  Quite often Moses became God's tutor.  There is something amiss in such an understanding. (Exodus 32:14).

    Jesus understood God's nature as one who sends the rain and the sun on all humanity regardless of their beliefs or character.  (Matthew 5:45) God's spirit is one that manifests as a steady stream of consistent loving-energy that creates whether or not humanity understands.  For example, if God were to speak to us about the quality of our choices, God might say:

When pleasing me is a part of the motivation for your choices, you miss understanding whose adventure this is. My spirit is not what is being refined here. Try directingyour loving-energy toward others because that is whatyou want to do.This is your time to grow and mature in spirit.

    All that Mary and Martha understood was that they wanted their brother healed.  They could not imagine him dying when their friend, Jesus, had the power to bring healing. This is the belief that many people have about God.  However, in spite of such a belief, people are born and leave us all the time. Throughout history diseases, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanos, wars, and destructive, oppressive dictators have been part of our earth-experience. Such experiences help each of us to understand where our spirits are anchored.

    Can we live our life's adventure without assigning blame or heaping praise onsomeone elsefor how our lives are unfolding?  There can be little question that it is helpful to have people in our lives that model exactly what Jesus did with his life.  This is one of our roles in this world.  Are we able to choose consistentlyattitudes that work wonders in our lives and the lives of others?

    One of my favorite examples is Horatio Spafford.Many people do not recognize his name, but that does not matter.  The world is filled with unrecognized saints.  Spafford experienced the death of his son who died from a disease.His three daughters drown while on a ship that sank.  He wrote the words to the hymn It Is Well with My Soul.

    What enabled him to write those words?  The answer is that he was describing where his spirit was anchored.  Long ago, he made a choice of what would define his life. Why should he poison his mind and sabotage his life by thinking, "If only you had been where I wanted and expected you to be, my children would not have died!"  Similar words were spoken by Mary and Martha.  Does this mean that God and Jesus are heartless?

    Jesus and his Heavenly Father were not in the business of doing everyone's homework for them.Jesus understood his mission and purpose in life as one that pointed to the truththat he had discovered.(John 18:37) He made it quite clear what our task was when he taught:

Do not dwell on matters that exist only in this world where change is a constant thief. Rather develop attitudes and values that will work in any environment where you find yourselves.  Your emotions, attitudes,and spirits will be anchored to what brings you the most happiness.  (Matthew 6:19-21)

    Perhaps John inserted this episode into his Gospelas a preparatory prelude for what would happen a week later on Easter morning.  Jesus' resurrection astounded people that life does not end.  Today, such information is not so surprising.  Many people have supplied countless testimonies of their encounters with the deceased. Could all of them be wrong?

    Books have been written about people who have died and been resuscitated.  Patients have floated above surgical teamsin operating roomsand watched what the medical staff was doing and saying during moments when the crash-cart was needed to restore their lives. Personally, I had an extensive conversation with Lois' brother, Keith, who was killed when an ambulance collided with his car.  The evidence is everywhere for those who pay attention to such things. 

    God created a playground for us to enter and to enjoy a very temporary experience just as Walt Disney created parks where we can go to experience a flight to Mars or enter a world where prehistoric animals live.  Our experience at death is beyond anything we can imagine. (John 16:12-13) Paul wrote the same thing in his second letter to the Church in Corinth.(2ndCorinthians12:3-4)

    What can we take away from this story of Mary and Martha?  We need to pay attention to where our spirits are anchored, the material world, or the world of spirit.   The experience of Lazarus' death and resurrection was a metaphor for a reality that would be revealed when Jesus made his appearances following his death.To God the outcome of all of our lives is the same, whether or not we believe anything of a spiritual nature. (John 14:2)

    Our understanding allows us to enjoy thoroughly everything about our lives whether they are filled with pain or filled with happiness and pleasure. Life is easier when we understand that we are temporary actors in a drama that will end one day.  Beliefs are only tools for enjoying the thrilling ridethat life can be.  When those beliefs are absent, we find ourselves feeling like a ping-pong ball being swatted over themysterious netof the physical world, by the paddles of change and fear.

    Jesus said to Mary and Martha "Let me demonstrate for you what is real, 'Lazarus, come out of your grave!'" and he did.  When we transition from this life, we will hear the same words with our names attached. We, too, will re-enter the world of our origin.

    What defines our role in this world depends on where our spirits are anchored.  Are our lives consumed and defined by our developing the skills that are necessary to thrive in this world, or have we developed the skills of spirit that will work in any environment?  Perhapsit is best to do what Jesus did, i.e., bring our spiritual skills of loving-energy to help us creatively navigate in the physical world.  How haveour choices been working for us?

     

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

We are grateful, O God, that you never sleep.  Each time a sparrow falls, you know.  Each time someone expresses his or her pain or gratitude, you hear.  Each time someone feels alone and forsaken, you are present.  How many times have unexpected events turned our lives upside down?  How many times have our worries chased smiles from our faces, inviting fear to take up residence in our minds?  Help us to remember that it is our choices that dilute the strength of our peace.  Only we can allow doubt to cloud our remembrance that you walk beside us.  Thank you for helping us to remember that we belong to you and not to this world.  Amen.

     

THE PASTORAL PRAYER

Loving and always present God, we marvel at the way you created us.  How we wish we could cling only to the attributes of spirit that Jesus taught his listeners. We enjoy living with a spirit that knows laughter and joy, that has developed forgiveness and acceptance as tools for living,and has learned to be grateful for our countless blessings even during periods of uncertainty.

Yet we also know intimately the part of us that continues to need refinement and growth.  Jesus inspired us to realize that developing this understanding is part of our opportunity that comes with being born in this world.  To work, our lives find themselves in a highly diverse world where remarkable distractions exist that pull us in many directions.

As we walk through our final days of Lent, help us to identify personally with the times Jesus' teachings were challenged and rejected, the times his disciples demonstrated their poverty of understanding, the time when he was betrayed by one of his chosen, the time when his best friends abandoned him, and the times when he faced injustice.  Through all of these experiences, he managed to walk to the drumbeat of a different drummer.  From Jesus’ life we learn that he was tested in more ways than we are, and yet nothing in his experience was powerful enough to cause his life to cease being the light on our path centuries later.   Bless us with such a remembrance of our leader who taught us to say when we pray . . .