Seeing, Hearing, and
Understanding (4/2/17)
Jesus MAFA, Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life
On Sunday, April 2, I preached on the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. I suppose I could have posted this sermon earlier in the week, but I decided to let it sit for four days. Like Lazarus. Follow the link to read the full text of the sermon.
Pre-Exegesis
Our Gospel lesson this morning comes
from the Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verses 1-45. And yes, it’s another really
long story: Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead. I’m guessing that
most of you know this story. This is the last sign—the last miracle—that Jesus
performs in the Gospel of John. It may be the most important of all the signs,
too.
The story of Lazarus’ resurrection is
a little bit different than the previous signs. Remember, the typical pattern
is sign—dialogue—discourse. That is, Jesus performs a sign, has a conversation
with someone who witnessed the sign, and then explains the miraculous thing
that he did. In all of those stories, the sign was the shortest part. That is
true of the story of Lazarus, too, but the pattern is different. In this story,
the conversations and the explanation come first, and then Jesus raises Lazarus
from the dead.
The story of Lazarus continues to
develop the picture of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, and what it means
to be in relationship with Christ. As you hear this story, think about all of
the relationships it details, and then think about why this sign is presented
differently than the other signs. Hear the word of the Lord.
Sermon
Good morning! I was on Facebook the other day and I got a
message from one of my fraternity brothers, Chris. I haven’t seen him in a few
years and he’s not super active on Facebook. Anyhow, Chris responded to a post
I made and his response was something like, “It’s been too long since we’ve
gotten together.” It was really nice to hear from him—it wasn’t like Lazarus
coming back from the dead, but it was good. And it reminded me of a story from
college. One morning, I was brushing my teeth, getting ready for class, and
Chris comes into the room. He’s standing in front of the mirror, tying his tie.
I turned to him and asked the obvious question: “Interview this morning?”
Chris had an interview with Nationwide or some other big
insurance company. Mind you, Chris was studying computer science. To this day,
he works as a programmer. But of course, I had to be a smart aleck. I said, “Oh,
you want to be an insurance salesman?”
Chris rolled with it. He chuckled, and then he got up in my
face, and said, “Would you like to buy some insurance?”
It was sooooo funny. I almost spit my toothpaste all over
him. It was completely out of character. I was laughing about it for the rest
of the day. And I’m still laughing about it today. That’s the power of a
relationship. The story might be a little bit funny to you, but it means the
world to me, because it’s about a connection to an old friend. Chris and I
shared a powerful experience; we have a bond of friendship that extends far
beyond the years that we lived in the same fraternity house.
Believe it or not, this story ties in to this morning’s
Gospel lesson. It connects to a superficial understanding of what we believe,
as Christians, and also to a deeper and more profound understanding of our
faith, through our relationship with Christ.
On the superficial level, we’re all gathered here today for
fire insurance. That is, there’s a notion that we all should believe in God and
come to church every Sunday so that we avoid eternal damnation—fire insurance! I
think this notion is pervasive, within the church and without. It was certainly
something I heard as a kid.
My great aunt, Minnie, watched Pat Robertson every
afternoon. Once, when I was eight or nine, she asked me if I wanted to watch Pat
Robertson with her. I wanted to go outside and play with my cousin. Aunt Minnie
kind of suggested that if I didn’t watch the program with her that I might be
going to hell. For not watching Pat Robertson. That’s an awful lot to lay on a
kid. I went outside and played with my cousin, anyhow.
I think a lot of the people who used to come to church, as
well as many who have never been, also hold this same superficial notion—that
we come to church and profess our faith to avoid some eternal punishment and
enter some sort of paradise. Maybe they don’t see the need for fire insurance.
And to be quite honest, I’m not an
insurance salesman.
The truth is, there are a lot of false gospels out there.
Our culture tells us that buying more stuff will lead to happiness and
satisfaction. Some preachers will tell you that if you believe hard enough in
Jesus, not only will you be saved, but you’ll get rich, too! They will tell you
that your faith will bring you a fortune in this life! You don’t need to wait
for an eternal reward! If you watch their programs, send them money, and buy
their books, then Jesus will shower you with riches!
Now I’m sure that all of you see the emptiness in that sort
of theology, but that caricature of Christianity is quite plain in the minds of
many people who have given up on church. And those superficial notions of
Christianity fail to address the real suffering in the world.
To put it another way, you can’t sell people on fire
insurance when Hell is real and present for all to see. Hell is real and
present for children in Africa who are forced to work in mines or serve as
child soldiers in a civil war. Hell is real for young women who are trafficked
from Asia or Eastern Europe to work in brothels. Hell is real for the children
who were abused by members of the clergy. Hell is real for those who are
addicted to drugs and alcohol, and Hell is also real for the loved ones of addicts.
Looking back on things, my Aunt Minnie probably wasn’t
saying that I would go to Hell if I didn’t watch Pat Robertson, but she didn’t
do a good job of articulating why I needed to watch the program with her. And I
think if we, as the Church, the body of Christ in the world are to communicate
the message of salvation that comes to us through the incarnation and the
resurrection, we have to move beyond a superficial understanding of what it
means to be a Christian; we have to move beyond fire insurance.
In the stories from the Gospel of John that we’ve heard
over the last four weeks, we see the full range of understanding of Jesus’ true
identity. We meet Nicodemus, who can’t quite understand how God can enter the
world in the person of Jesus—well, not in the stories we’ve heard thus far. We
meet Pharisees who hear reports of the miraculous signs that Jesus has
performed, but they cannot believe that the Messiah could perform a healing on
the Sabbath.
We also meet lots of people who have only a partial understanding
of Jesus’ true identity. They see the signs and they follow Jesus, but they are
not true disciples. They’re only following because they saw something
miraculous and many of these people will desert Jesus after Palm Sunday.
Others—like the twelve disciples, the Samaritan woman at
the well, and the man who was born blind—will actually hear Jesus’ call and they will follow Jesus. Some, like the
Samaritan woman, will go out right away and recruit new followers; they will
witness to the Word made flesh. Others, like the twelve disciples, will
continue to teach and preach the Word, after the resurrection. But still,
throughout the Gospel stories, we see that the disciples have an incomplete
understanding.
We can see this very clearly in the story of Mary and
Martha; they love Jesus and they trust in Jesus. That’s why they’ve summoned
him. This story doesn’t tell us how they came to know Jesus or why they came to
believe in him. All we know is that a relationship already exists; Mary,
Martha, and Lazarus know Jesus well enough that Mary and Martha sent a message
to Jesus, telling him that Lazarus was sick: “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
Yet this is the first time that Lazarus is mentioned.
This, too, is a story about discipleship. “In placing their
confidence in Jesus [Mary and Martha] demonstrate the dependence demanded of
discipleship, but more so, they demonstrate what it means to see, truly, who
Jesus is.”[1] They reach out to Jesus in
their greatest time of need. They know that Jesus can change their situation,
yet their trust and their understanding are incomplete.
Mary and Martha are upset; they think Jesus did not arrive
in time to save Lazarus. Each one says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.” They think Jesus has abandoned them. Can you
blame them? I think there are a lot of people in this broken world who feel
that they have been abandoned by God or by Jesus.
Mary knows that Jesus is the Messiah; she says so. Martha
knows that God will grant whatever Jesus asks; she says so. But when Jesus
promises that Lazarus will rise again, Martha responds: “I know that he will
rise again on the resurrection in the last day.” She doesn’t quite understand
what Jesus is saying; she can only imagine the resurrection as a future event.
Ultimately, Martha connects Jesus with life:
The interchange here
between Jesus and Martha is the primary reason for changing the structure of
sign, dialogue, discourse as used for all the previous signs. Martha’s response
to [Jesus indicates Martha’s] general belief in a final resurrection. Jesus’ correction
of Martha’s conviction is the theological center of this chapter.[2]
The order of the miracle
story is reversed because Jesus needs to teach Martha a different understanding
of the resurrection.
Also, by reordering the elements of this sign, the Gospel
writer raises the stakes—John increases the tension of the story, he builds the
anticipation. But before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he weeps. Jesus
weeps with Mary and Martha. The Gospel writer tells us that Jesus takes on the
pain of Mary and Martha’s loss; Jesus experiences the pain himself. It tells us
that Jesus truly understands us, understands our needs.
Finally, Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb. Jesus calls,
just as he calls the disciples; just as he calls the Samaritan woman at the
well; just as he calls the man who was blind from birth. Jesus calls out to the
man who has been dead for four days. Jesus asks the impossible. Jesus calls, “Lazarus,
come out!”
“Lazarus, come out!” And hearing Jesus’ call, Lazarus comes
out from the tomb! Jesus calls him from beyond the grave and into the here and
now! Jesus tells and shows Mary and Martha that the resurrection is not just a
future event. The resurrection is here. The resurrection is now. Jesus’ power
to give life is constant and complete. This story also points forward to Jesus’
death and resurrection. What is true for Lazarus is true for Jesus. It’s also
true for us. The resurrection is present and it’s real. And we must understand
that if we’re going to speak into the brokenness of our world.
We can be forgiven for not knowing this stuff, for not
truly understanding. Mary and Martha don’t truly understand the present nature
of the incarnation and the resurrection until Lazarus is raised from the dead. So,
we have to study our Scripture carefully. We have to understand it
intellectually and we have to experience it personally and directly. And that
takes a lot of hard work.
Jesus Christ is fully God, fully human. Jesus is God in
direct relationship with humanity. The Church is an embodied network of
believers who are busy living into the knowledge of the resurrection. We
continue in Christ’s reconciling work by maintaining our human relationships;
we can’t be Christians in isolation. And we are sent forth from the Church to
be witnesses to the resurrection.
The signs that Jesus performs in the Gospel of John
demonstrate to us what it means that the Word became flesh. These stories show
restoration, people made whole through relationships with Christ. These stories
remind us that we have to be living witnesses for Christ—like the Samaritan
woman at the well, like Mary and Martha, and like Lazarus. We have to invite
people into this complicated network of relationships. We won’t do this by
offering fire insurance or peddling the prosperity gospel. False gospels don’t
work! We must show the power of the resurrection through the relationships we
already have and we must show the power of the resurrection by entering into
new relationships. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Benediction
Now, beloved, as you depart from this place, here the Word
of the Lord: Lazarus, come out! Remember that we are called to be the Church,
the body of Christ. As the Church, we are called to participate in the work of
re-creation, through relationship. Go forth and be instruments of God’s love
and peace and reconciliation. Do not return evil for evil to any person, but
know that we are all loved by God, and that we are called to reflect that love
to everyone we meet. Go forth and be the salt of the earth and the light of the
world. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Let all God’s children say, Amen!
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