A Sermon Double Shot
Last Sunday, I preached on the lesson from John, the raising of Lazarus. The sermon I gave, was not the one I wrote in January. I rewrote large parts of it on the way back to Michigan. I’m posting both of them below.
Final Version
I first wrote this sermon in January as part of one of the classes I had on preaching. My instructor, Dr. Loy, was teaching a narrative form of preaching, that is, to start each sermon with a story from outside the Bible, from real life so as to engage the congregation. You tell a story to draw them in. Then you tie the story into the lesson, or pericope. That way, you help to bring the Bible into everyone’s daily lives.
When I wrote this sermon back in early January, the story I wrote was about flying back here and how flying was physically less draining but mentally more taxing for me. It’s because I don’t like to give up control, or at least the illusion of control. When I looked at the text and my sermon two weeks ago, that story seemed trite and superficial.
But I couldn’t bring myself to write about what I really wanted to, about today’s lesson of Jesus raising his beloved friend Lazarus from the dead. What I wanted to write was too personal and too raw.
So I drafted this while on the flight from Baltimore and Detroit. I fell back on one of the lessons that Dr. Loy taught our class: when in doubt, preach the text. In this season of Lent, the lectionary has decided to give us whole chunks of the Gospel of John. Rather than the usual small, individual sized portions of lessons we normally receive, we are getting the bulk, economy sized lessons. This is because the Gospel of John does not have mini-episodes. John has full movies, rich with details and meanings.
Today’s box of the Gospel tells us the story of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Well, not so much about Lazarus, but about what happened when he got sick and died. We hear about the two sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. One of the other lessons Dr. Loy taught was for us to be true to the Gospel you are preaching from. If the lesson comes from John, preach what John has to say. Don’t bring in material from Luke or Mark. Stay within the confines of what John has to say, or not say. So to do this, let’s focus on what we know about Lazarus, Martha and Mary, prior to the beginning of the 11th chapter of John.
That’s it. We know nothing of them. This is their first mention. Their second mention is foreshadowed in that Mary will anoint Jesus. But that’s chapter 12. We don’t hear about how upset Martha is with Mary over not helping with dinner; that comes from Luke. We don’t know it is supposed they may have financially supported Jesus and his ministry. We don’t know how well Jesus knew this family. We only hear of them at this point in John’s Gospel. But we know Lazarus was close to Jesus. From what we hear, we know Lazarus, Mary and Martha were followers of Jesus. We know Lazarus was a friend of Jesus. So were his sisters. We know Jesus was at least two days walk away from Bethany, and he hears that his friend, his beloved friend Lazarus, is sick. In response, Jesus does nothing. Jesus has healed strangers from the brink of death. In Capernaum, He heals the son of the royal official. (John 4:43-54) Jesus heals the invalid by the pool in Bethsada. (John 5:1-9) He restores sight to a blind man at Siloam on the Sabbath. (John 9:1-41) But for his beloved friend, he does nothing.
At this point in John’s Gospel, Jesus has performed six miracles. His disciples were present to witness, or partake in all of them. In addition to the three healings I just mentioned, Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. (John 2.1-11) As Passover approached, Jesus fed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. (John 6:1-10) The day after the feeding, as His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus comes to them, in their boat, by walking on the water. (John 6:16-25) But for Lazarus, he does nothing.
In the daily drama and dilemmas we face, we wonder where God is. Sometimes it feels like God does nothing. In the constant crisis we face, we wait for God to answer our prayers. And we wonder and we wait. Sometimes it feels like God does nothing.
We believe God is with us. We are certain in our faith that, just as He says, Jesus is “the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die.” We definitely do believe this. We would like to go from faith to knowledge? We believe, have faith, and are resolute. But sometimes it feels like God does nothing. It is that doubt which whispers in our ear late at night. We believe, but we don’t understand. We don’t understand what our faith means, what our faith is telling us.
When Jesus tells his traveling party the time has come to go to Bethany, they resist. They are afraid of the Jewish authorities who are after Jesus. The apostles don’t understand what the hurry is to go to Bethany. They are not concerned about Lazarus’ condition because Jesus does not seem to be concerned. When he heard Lazarus was ill, he did nothing. Jesus then tells the disciples Lazarus had died. Jesus tells his disciples it is for their sake He delayed so they may believe. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”
If any twelve people could and should be absolutely, positively certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah, it would be the twelve apostles. If anyone could and should have known nothing is beyond His power, it would be this group. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” They believe, but they don’t understand.
Thomas, the only apostle we hear from in this lesson, encourages the rest of the group to follow, not so they can see whatever it is Jesus is to show them. No, he wants to go so they can all die with Jesus. Thomas does not doubt. Thomas does not believe. Even if he did believe, he would not understand..
We have friends ask us why we’re go to church every week. Or they don’t say anything, but you notice they get quiet when you talk about church. You know they don’t attend church, at least not on a regular basis. Maybe this is a friend or a member of your family. They may say they believe; they may have been baptized. But you know they have doubts.
One of my friends has doubts and has told me she isn’t sure that God exists. She knows the Bible well, and asks me the tough questions; the ones we have not covered in my semester and a half at the seminary. The same ones that I will not have answers to by the time I graduate. When I have said I am doing what God wants me to do, she asks if I don’t feel arrogant in saying God has a specific plan for me. She is not sure if she believes, because she has not seen anything to convince her.
Jesus knew this family and this family knew Jesus. They were aware of Jesus abilities. Martha knows of the marvelous things Jesus has done. But she greets him by saying, “If only you could have been here sooner, Lazarus would be alive.” Martha believes, but she does not understand. When Martha goes to meet Jesus, she prompts Jesus to make one of the bedrock statements of our faith. In verses 25 and 26, 25Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ Jesus gives her the answer of all answers. He spoils the rest of the story. Jesus tells her his purpose on Earth. Martha, in response to his question if she believes, says yes. Martha believes, but she does not understand.
Martha knew that Jesus was the Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was sent to Earth to do God’s will. She says that in verse 27. She refers to Jesus by those titles. In fact, in the original Greek, Martha uses the perfect tense to speak to her belief. The perfect tense is one of the things that I’ve been taught to look for. When you see something written in the perfect tense, lights, whistles and buzzers should go off in your head. The perfect tense indicates completed action that is still ongoing. Like the Energizer Bunny, it has been going, is going and keeps on going. Martha states her belief is that she has believed Jesus is the Messiah, she believes and she will continue to believe. She knows of the miracles Jesus has performed. She believes, but she does not understand.
Her sister, Mary, comes to Jesus, and says almost the same thing that Martha did, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ Mary believes, but she does not understand.
The Jews who have come to comfort the sister go with the family to the tomb. They have heard of the miracles Jesus has performed. They wonder, ‘Could not he have kept this man from dying?’ Everyone who was gathered around Lazarus’ tomb knew Jesus could and had performed miracles. What more did they need? Did they need to see the seas part? Did they want a burning bush? They know, some believe, but they do not understand.
We know God is working all around us. We know God has touched the lives of those we love, our family and friends. We may even know God has touched our lives. Even in the depths of our sorrows, our pains, our hurts and our heartbreaks, we know God has been with us. We have felt God’s warm embrace. We know of what God has done. We believe, but we do not understand. We are not sure because we have not seen anything to convince us. Unlike the disciples, Martha, Mary and people in the crowd, we have not seen Jesus perform a miracle.
We do not see the miracle right in front of us because we are not looking for it. We are not expecting it, or we are expecting something else. We look for our prayers to be answered in the specific way we asked for them to be answered. We expect God’s answer to always be yes. We expect the miracle to be the one we ordered.
Martha believes with her mouth, but not in her heart. Mary believes in her mind, but not in her heart. The disciples believe in their actions, but not in their hearts. The crowd believes in their ears, but not in their hearts. We believe in our head, but not in our hearts. We have had the benefit of almost 2000 years of hindsight and teaching, and we still do not understand.
Martha, who just moments earlier said she believed Jesus is the Messiah, who says she believes He is the Son of God, who says she has believed, does believe and will always believe, then shows that she does not understand. Jesus orders the rock sealing Lazarus’ tomb to be rolled away. What does Martha do? Martha, the newly crowned chief believer, does not expect a miracle. She expects a stench.
When the stone is moved, Jesus says ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ Please listen to this again. ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ It’s not, if you see it, you will believe it. Jesus is not telling us to watch him raise Lazarus from the dead so we can believe. Jesus is not telling us if we believe, he will raise Lazarus. He says, ‘If you believed, you would see the glory of God.’
We have to believe in order to see the glory of God. The glory of God is all around us. God performs miracles around us all of the time. We don’t need faith for it to be done; we need faith to see it done. God doesn’t require our faith to work on us, for us, by us and through us. God will do all of those because that is what God does. Our faith is required for us to see and understand what God is doing. Our actions, what we do or don’t do, do not effect if the miracle will come. Whether our prayers are answered, or not answered, has no relation to how often we pray, how hard we pray, how we pray, or even if we pray. God does miracles and God answers prayers as God decides to on God’s schedule. God is as God does. Often it appears God is doing nothing, and we do not understand.
We do not recognize the miracle right in front of us. We don’t see or notice the miracle provided through medicine that saves a baby who otherwise would have died. Diseases and conditions that we found out someone had upon their death, people can now live with and survive. We may be praying and begging for a cure, but miss the miracle of extra years. We want the miracle to be for someone to get better. We want the miracle to be someone being there for the big days to come, and we miss that they were already there for the big days. We want someone to get better, and miss that the miracle was they had time to see things were going well. We don’t see the miracle was time to say, “I love you” and “Goodbye.” We don’t see the miracle we get because we are looking for the miracle we are hoping and praying for. God has to be believed to be seen. The Glory of God has to be believed to be seen. God’s love and miracles have to be believed to be seen.
Jesus did not perform miracles because his disciples believed. Jesus did not raise Lazarus because Martha and Mary asked him to, or because they were friends, or because they may have given him money. Jesus did these things to that you may believe. Jesus did these things so that by believing, we can see the glory of God.
Everything that has ever happened was so we (you, me and everyone of every time and of every place) can believe and see the glory of God. These things happened so we would know and realize Jesus is the resurrection and the life. It occurred so through that belief, even though we die, we shall live. So that everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die.
Do you see this? Amen.
Earlier Version
I flew into Saginaw yesterday. I flew from Baltimore to Detroit, had a lay over there for a couple of hours, and then flew into Tri-City airport. It’s a much less stressful trip than driving ten to twelve hours through the mountains of Pennsylvania, the flatland of Ohio and the pothole filled roads of Michigan. But it isn’t for me. That drive is physically draining. You have to keep your total focus on the road, the cars in front and behind you, how full your gas tank is and how full your bladder is. Flying is much less physically demanding. But when I’m driving, I’m in control. I’m behind the wheel. I’ve made sure to have my car tuned up and checked out before I make the trek home. But when I fly, I give up control. The statistics on airline travel show that less than one in every ten million flights ends in a crash. But, I always worry if I’m on that one flight. It only takes one. That is the hope the lottery and the casinos sell. It only takes that one time out of ten million for you to be rich beyond your wildest dreams. It only takes that one time out of ten million for you to be on the wrong plane.
If you sat next to me, you wouldn’t know the angst I'm feeling. I will be polite, carry on a conversation, or let you sleep; whatever you want. But I’m worried about every hum, buzz, clink, bump, hiss and creak. I know air travel is safe. I know the statistics. But I worry about that one out of ten million.
In the daily drama and dilemmas we face, we wonder where God is. In the constant crisis we face, we wait for God to answer our prayers. And we wonder and we wait.
We believe God is with us. We are certain in our faith that, just as He says, Jesus is “the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die.” We definitely do believe this.
But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go from faith to knowledge? We believe, have faith, and are resolute. But we are not absolutely, positively certain. We may be 99.999999% of the way there, but there is that little, teeny-tiny bit of doubt, just sitting there. It is that doubt which whispers in our ear late at night. That one out of ten million chance gives us pause; it nags us in the quiet moments.
We have our friends, great people they are, asking us why we’re going to church every week. Or when they don’t say anything, you notice they get real quiet when you talk about your service at church. You know they don’t attend church, at least not on a regular basis. Maybe that’s a relative or a member of your family. They may say they believe; they may have even been baptized. But you know they have doubts.
One of my friends has doubts and has told me she isn’t sure that God exists. She knows the Bible well, and asks me the tough questions. The ones we haven’t covered in my semester and a half at the seminary. The ones that won’t get answered by the time I graduate. When I have said I am doing what God wants me to do, she asks me if I don’t feel at all arrogant is saying that God has a plan for me. And that one out of ten million chance grows and loses a few zeroes.
If only, we could be certain. If only, we had a sign. What we need … is a miracle.
When Jesus tells his traveling party the time has come to go to Bethany, they resist. They are afraid of the Jewish authorities who are after Jesus. The apostles don’t understand what the hurry is to go to Bethany. They are not concerned about Lazarus’ condition because Jesus does not seem to be concerned. Then He tells the disciples Lazarus had died. Jesus tells his disciples it is for their sake He delayed so they may believe. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”
Now at this point in the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus has performed six miracles. His disciples were present to witness, or partake in all of them. He turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. (John 2.1-11) In Capernaum, He heals the son of the royal official. (John 4:43-54) Jesus heals the invalid by the pool in Bethsada. (John 5:1-9) As Passover approached, Jesus fed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. (John 6:1-10) The next day, as His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus comes to them, in their boat, by walking on the water. (John 6:16-25) Finally, He restores sight to a blind man at Siloam on the Sabbath. (John 9:1-41)
If any twelve people could and should be absolutely, positively certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah, it would be the twelve apostles. If anyone could and should have known nothing is beyond His power, it would be this group. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” Thomas, the only apostle we hear from in this lesson, encourages the rest of the group to follow, not so they can see whatever it is Jesus is to show them. No, he wants to go so they can all die with Jesus. Doubting Thomas, indeed.
Jesus knew this family, and so do we. Jesus has dinner at Mary and Martha’s home in Luke’s Gospel. John tells us Mary was the woman who would anoint Jesus in the week prior to his crucifixion. Mary and Martha were followers of Jesus. It is supposed they may have financially supported Jesus and his ministry. They were aware of Jesus abilities. When Martha goes to meet Jesus, she makes one of the bedrock confessions of our faith. Martha knew that Jesus was the Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was sent to Earth to do God’s will. She says that in verse 27. She refers to Jesus by those titles. In fact, in the original Greek, Martha states her belief is that she has always believed Jesus is the Messiah and she will always continue to believe. She knows of the miracles Jesus has performed. She knows of the marvelous things Jesus has done. But she greets him by saying, “If only you could have been here sooner, Lazarus would be alive.” Her sister, Mary, comes to Jesus, and says the same thing, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ The Jews who have come to comfort the sister go with the family to the tomb. They have heard of the miracles Jesus has performed. They wonder, ‘Could not he have kept this man from dying?’
Everyone who was gathered around Lazarus’ tomb knew Jesus could and had performed miracles.
What more did they need? Did they need to see the seas part? Did they want a burning bush?
We know God is working all around us. We know God has touched the lives of those we love, our family and friends. We may even know God has touched our lives. Even in the depths of our sorrows, our pains, our hurts and our heartbreaks, we know God has been with us. We have felt God’s warm embrace. We know of what God has done. But we do not see it.
Martha believes with her mouth, but not in her heart. Mary believes in her mind, but not in her heart. The disciples believe in their actions, but not in their hearts. The crowd believes in their ears, but not in their hearts.
After he had people remove the stone covering the entrance to the tomb, Jesus says ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ Please listen to this again. ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ It’s not, if you see it, you will believe it. Jesus is not telling us to watch him raise Lazarus from the dead so we can believe. Jesus also is not telling us if we believe, he will raise Lazarus. He says, ‘If you believed, you would see the glory of God.’
We have to believe in order to see the glory of God. The glory of God is all around us. God performs miracles around us all of the time. We don’t need faith to do it; we need faith to see it. God doesn’t require our faith to work on us, for us, by us and through us. God will do all of those because that is what God does. Our faith is required for us to see and recognize what God is doing.
Our actions, what we do or don’t do, does not effect if the miracle will come. Whether our prayers are answered, or not answered, has no relation to how often we pray, how hard we pray, how we pray, or even if we pray. God does miracles and God answers prayers as God decides to on God’s schedule. God is as God does.
However, we don’t recognize the miracle right in front of us. We may be praying and begging for a cure, but miss the miracle of extra years. We don’t see or notice the miracle provided through medicine that saves a baby who otherwise would have died. Diseases and conditions that we found out someone had upon their death, people can now live with and survive. We don’t see the miracle we get because we are looking for the miracle we are hoping and praying for.
Jesus did not perform miracles because his disciples believed. Jesus did not raise Lazarus because Martha and Mary asked him to, or because they were friends, or because they may have given him money. Jesus did these things to that you may believe. Jesus did these things so that by believing, we can see the glory of God.
We do not have to worry about that one out of ten million chance. If we see what we believe, we will see that we are one with Christ. That is a certainty.
Everything that has ever happened was so we (you, me and everyone of every time and of every place) can believe and see the glory of God. It occurred so through that belief, even though we die, we shall live. So that everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die.
Do you see this? Amen.
Final Version
I first wrote this sermon in January as part of one of the classes I had on preaching. My instructor, Dr. Loy, was teaching a narrative form of preaching, that is, to start each sermon with a story from outside the Bible, from real life so as to engage the congregation. You tell a story to draw them in. Then you tie the story into the lesson, or pericope. That way, you help to bring the Bible into everyone’s daily lives.
When I wrote this sermon back in early January, the story I wrote was about flying back here and how flying was physically less draining but mentally more taxing for me. It’s because I don’t like to give up control, or at least the illusion of control. When I looked at the text and my sermon two weeks ago, that story seemed trite and superficial.
But I couldn’t bring myself to write about what I really wanted to, about today’s lesson of Jesus raising his beloved friend Lazarus from the dead. What I wanted to write was too personal and too raw.
So I drafted this while on the flight from Baltimore and Detroit. I fell back on one of the lessons that Dr. Loy taught our class: when in doubt, preach the text. In this season of Lent, the lectionary has decided to give us whole chunks of the Gospel of John. Rather than the usual small, individual sized portions of lessons we normally receive, we are getting the bulk, economy sized lessons. This is because the Gospel of John does not have mini-episodes. John has full movies, rich with details and meanings.
Today’s box of the Gospel tells us the story of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Well, not so much about Lazarus, but about what happened when he got sick and died. We hear about the two sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. One of the other lessons Dr. Loy taught was for us to be true to the Gospel you are preaching from. If the lesson comes from John, preach what John has to say. Don’t bring in material from Luke or Mark. Stay within the confines of what John has to say, or not say. So to do this, let’s focus on what we know about Lazarus, Martha and Mary, prior to the beginning of the 11th chapter of John.
That’s it. We know nothing of them. This is their first mention. Their second mention is foreshadowed in that Mary will anoint Jesus. But that’s chapter 12. We don’t hear about how upset Martha is with Mary over not helping with dinner; that comes from Luke. We don’t know it is supposed they may have financially supported Jesus and his ministry. We don’t know how well Jesus knew this family. We only hear of them at this point in John’s Gospel. But we know Lazarus was close to Jesus. From what we hear, we know Lazarus, Mary and Martha were followers of Jesus. We know Lazarus was a friend of Jesus. So were his sisters. We know Jesus was at least two days walk away from Bethany, and he hears that his friend, his beloved friend Lazarus, is sick. In response, Jesus does nothing. Jesus has healed strangers from the brink of death. In Capernaum, He heals the son of the royal official. (John 4:43-54) Jesus heals the invalid by the pool in Bethsada. (John 5:1-9) He restores sight to a blind man at Siloam on the Sabbath. (John 9:1-41) But for his beloved friend, he does nothing.
At this point in John’s Gospel, Jesus has performed six miracles. His disciples were present to witness, or partake in all of them. In addition to the three healings I just mentioned, Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. (John 2.1-11) As Passover approached, Jesus fed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. (John 6:1-10) The day after the feeding, as His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus comes to them, in their boat, by walking on the water. (John 6:16-25) But for Lazarus, he does nothing.
In the daily drama and dilemmas we face, we wonder where God is. Sometimes it feels like God does nothing. In the constant crisis we face, we wait for God to answer our prayers. And we wonder and we wait. Sometimes it feels like God does nothing.
We believe God is with us. We are certain in our faith that, just as He says, Jesus is “the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die.” We definitely do believe this. We would like to go from faith to knowledge? We believe, have faith, and are resolute. But sometimes it feels like God does nothing. It is that doubt which whispers in our ear late at night. We believe, but we don’t understand. We don’t understand what our faith means, what our faith is telling us.
When Jesus tells his traveling party the time has come to go to Bethany, they resist. They are afraid of the Jewish authorities who are after Jesus. The apostles don’t understand what the hurry is to go to Bethany. They are not concerned about Lazarus’ condition because Jesus does not seem to be concerned. When he heard Lazarus was ill, he did nothing. Jesus then tells the disciples Lazarus had died. Jesus tells his disciples it is for their sake He delayed so they may believe. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”
If any twelve people could and should be absolutely, positively certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah, it would be the twelve apostles. If anyone could and should have known nothing is beyond His power, it would be this group. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” They believe, but they don’t understand.
Thomas, the only apostle we hear from in this lesson, encourages the rest of the group to follow, not so they can see whatever it is Jesus is to show them. No, he wants to go so they can all die with Jesus. Thomas does not doubt. Thomas does not believe. Even if he did believe, he would not understand..
We have friends ask us why we’re go to church every week. Or they don’t say anything, but you notice they get quiet when you talk about church. You know they don’t attend church, at least not on a regular basis. Maybe this is a friend or a member of your family. They may say they believe; they may have been baptized. But you know they have doubts.
One of my friends has doubts and has told me she isn’t sure that God exists. She knows the Bible well, and asks me the tough questions; the ones we have not covered in my semester and a half at the seminary. The same ones that I will not have answers to by the time I graduate. When I have said I am doing what God wants me to do, she asks if I don’t feel arrogant in saying God has a specific plan for me. She is not sure if she believes, because she has not seen anything to convince her.
Jesus knew this family and this family knew Jesus. They were aware of Jesus abilities. Martha knows of the marvelous things Jesus has done. But she greets him by saying, “If only you could have been here sooner, Lazarus would be alive.” Martha believes, but she does not understand. When Martha goes to meet Jesus, she prompts Jesus to make one of the bedrock statements of our faith. In verses 25 and 26, 25Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ Jesus gives her the answer of all answers. He spoils the rest of the story. Jesus tells her his purpose on Earth. Martha, in response to his question if she believes, says yes. Martha believes, but she does not understand.
Martha knew that Jesus was the Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was sent to Earth to do God’s will. She says that in verse 27. She refers to Jesus by those titles. In fact, in the original Greek, Martha uses the perfect tense to speak to her belief. The perfect tense is one of the things that I’ve been taught to look for. When you see something written in the perfect tense, lights, whistles and buzzers should go off in your head. The perfect tense indicates completed action that is still ongoing. Like the Energizer Bunny, it has been going, is going and keeps on going. Martha states her belief is that she has believed Jesus is the Messiah, she believes and she will continue to believe. She knows of the miracles Jesus has performed. She believes, but she does not understand.
Her sister, Mary, comes to Jesus, and says almost the same thing that Martha did, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ Mary believes, but she does not understand.
The Jews who have come to comfort the sister go with the family to the tomb. They have heard of the miracles Jesus has performed. They wonder, ‘Could not he have kept this man from dying?’ Everyone who was gathered around Lazarus’ tomb knew Jesus could and had performed miracles. What more did they need? Did they need to see the seas part? Did they want a burning bush? They know, some believe, but they do not understand.
We know God is working all around us. We know God has touched the lives of those we love, our family and friends. We may even know God has touched our lives. Even in the depths of our sorrows, our pains, our hurts and our heartbreaks, we know God has been with us. We have felt God’s warm embrace. We know of what God has done. We believe, but we do not understand. We are not sure because we have not seen anything to convince us. Unlike the disciples, Martha, Mary and people in the crowd, we have not seen Jesus perform a miracle.
We do not see the miracle right in front of us because we are not looking for it. We are not expecting it, or we are expecting something else. We look for our prayers to be answered in the specific way we asked for them to be answered. We expect God’s answer to always be yes. We expect the miracle to be the one we ordered.
Martha believes with her mouth, but not in her heart. Mary believes in her mind, but not in her heart. The disciples believe in their actions, but not in their hearts. The crowd believes in their ears, but not in their hearts. We believe in our head, but not in our hearts. We have had the benefit of almost 2000 years of hindsight and teaching, and we still do not understand.
Martha, who just moments earlier said she believed Jesus is the Messiah, who says she believes He is the Son of God, who says she has believed, does believe and will always believe, then shows that she does not understand. Jesus orders the rock sealing Lazarus’ tomb to be rolled away. What does Martha do? Martha, the newly crowned chief believer, does not expect a miracle. She expects a stench.
When the stone is moved, Jesus says ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ Please listen to this again. ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ It’s not, if you see it, you will believe it. Jesus is not telling us to watch him raise Lazarus from the dead so we can believe. Jesus is not telling us if we believe, he will raise Lazarus. He says, ‘If you believed, you would see the glory of God.’
We have to believe in order to see the glory of God. The glory of God is all around us. God performs miracles around us all of the time. We don’t need faith for it to be done; we need faith to see it done. God doesn’t require our faith to work on us, for us, by us and through us. God will do all of those because that is what God does. Our faith is required for us to see and understand what God is doing. Our actions, what we do or don’t do, do not effect if the miracle will come. Whether our prayers are answered, or not answered, has no relation to how often we pray, how hard we pray, how we pray, or even if we pray. God does miracles and God answers prayers as God decides to on God’s schedule. God is as God does. Often it appears God is doing nothing, and we do not understand.
We do not recognize the miracle right in front of us. We don’t see or notice the miracle provided through medicine that saves a baby who otherwise would have died. Diseases and conditions that we found out someone had upon their death, people can now live with and survive. We may be praying and begging for a cure, but miss the miracle of extra years. We want the miracle to be for someone to get better. We want the miracle to be someone being there for the big days to come, and we miss that they were already there for the big days. We want someone to get better, and miss that the miracle was they had time to see things were going well. We don’t see the miracle was time to say, “I love you” and “Goodbye.” We don’t see the miracle we get because we are looking for the miracle we are hoping and praying for. God has to be believed to be seen. The Glory of God has to be believed to be seen. God’s love and miracles have to be believed to be seen.
Jesus did not perform miracles because his disciples believed. Jesus did not raise Lazarus because Martha and Mary asked him to, or because they were friends, or because they may have given him money. Jesus did these things to that you may believe. Jesus did these things so that by believing, we can see the glory of God.
Everything that has ever happened was so we (you, me and everyone of every time and of every place) can believe and see the glory of God. These things happened so we would know and realize Jesus is the resurrection and the life. It occurred so through that belief, even though we die, we shall live. So that everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die.
Do you see this? Amen.
Earlier Version
I flew into Saginaw yesterday. I flew from Baltimore to Detroit, had a lay over there for a couple of hours, and then flew into Tri-City airport. It’s a much less stressful trip than driving ten to twelve hours through the mountains of Pennsylvania, the flatland of Ohio and the pothole filled roads of Michigan. But it isn’t for me. That drive is physically draining. You have to keep your total focus on the road, the cars in front and behind you, how full your gas tank is and how full your bladder is. Flying is much less physically demanding. But when I’m driving, I’m in control. I’m behind the wheel. I’ve made sure to have my car tuned up and checked out before I make the trek home. But when I fly, I give up control. The statistics on airline travel show that less than one in every ten million flights ends in a crash. But, I always worry if I’m on that one flight. It only takes one. That is the hope the lottery and the casinos sell. It only takes that one time out of ten million for you to be rich beyond your wildest dreams. It only takes that one time out of ten million for you to be on the wrong plane.
If you sat next to me, you wouldn’t know the angst I'm feeling. I will be polite, carry on a conversation, or let you sleep; whatever you want. But I’m worried about every hum, buzz, clink, bump, hiss and creak. I know air travel is safe. I know the statistics. But I worry about that one out of ten million.
In the daily drama and dilemmas we face, we wonder where God is. In the constant crisis we face, we wait for God to answer our prayers. And we wonder and we wait.
We believe God is with us. We are certain in our faith that, just as He says, Jesus is “the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die.” We definitely do believe this.
But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go from faith to knowledge? We believe, have faith, and are resolute. But we are not absolutely, positively certain. We may be 99.999999% of the way there, but there is that little, teeny-tiny bit of doubt, just sitting there. It is that doubt which whispers in our ear late at night. That one out of ten million chance gives us pause; it nags us in the quiet moments.
We have our friends, great people they are, asking us why we’re going to church every week. Or when they don’t say anything, you notice they get real quiet when you talk about your service at church. You know they don’t attend church, at least not on a regular basis. Maybe that’s a relative or a member of your family. They may say they believe; they may have even been baptized. But you know they have doubts.
One of my friends has doubts and has told me she isn’t sure that God exists. She knows the Bible well, and asks me the tough questions. The ones we haven’t covered in my semester and a half at the seminary. The ones that won’t get answered by the time I graduate. When I have said I am doing what God wants me to do, she asks me if I don’t feel at all arrogant is saying that God has a plan for me. And that one out of ten million chance grows and loses a few zeroes.
If only, we could be certain. If only, we had a sign. What we need … is a miracle.
When Jesus tells his traveling party the time has come to go to Bethany, they resist. They are afraid of the Jewish authorities who are after Jesus. The apostles don’t understand what the hurry is to go to Bethany. They are not concerned about Lazarus’ condition because Jesus does not seem to be concerned. Then He tells the disciples Lazarus had died. Jesus tells his disciples it is for their sake He delayed so they may believe. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”
Now at this point in the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus has performed six miracles. His disciples were present to witness, or partake in all of them. He turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. (John 2.1-11) In Capernaum, He heals the son of the royal official. (John 4:43-54) Jesus heals the invalid by the pool in Bethsada. (John 5:1-9) As Passover approached, Jesus fed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. (John 6:1-10) The next day, as His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus comes to them, in their boat, by walking on the water. (John 6:16-25) Finally, He restores sight to a blind man at Siloam on the Sabbath. (John 9:1-41)
If any twelve people could and should be absolutely, positively certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah, it would be the twelve apostles. If anyone could and should have known nothing is beyond His power, it would be this group. “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” Thomas, the only apostle we hear from in this lesson, encourages the rest of the group to follow, not so they can see whatever it is Jesus is to show them. No, he wants to go so they can all die with Jesus. Doubting Thomas, indeed.
Jesus knew this family, and so do we. Jesus has dinner at Mary and Martha’s home in Luke’s Gospel. John tells us Mary was the woman who would anoint Jesus in the week prior to his crucifixion. Mary and Martha were followers of Jesus. It is supposed they may have financially supported Jesus and his ministry. They were aware of Jesus abilities. When Martha goes to meet Jesus, she makes one of the bedrock confessions of our faith. Martha knew that Jesus was the Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was sent to Earth to do God’s will. She says that in verse 27. She refers to Jesus by those titles. In fact, in the original Greek, Martha states her belief is that she has always believed Jesus is the Messiah and she will always continue to believe. She knows of the miracles Jesus has performed. She knows of the marvelous things Jesus has done. But she greets him by saying, “If only you could have been here sooner, Lazarus would be alive.” Her sister, Mary, comes to Jesus, and says the same thing, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ The Jews who have come to comfort the sister go with the family to the tomb. They have heard of the miracles Jesus has performed. They wonder, ‘Could not he have kept this man from dying?’
Everyone who was gathered around Lazarus’ tomb knew Jesus could and had performed miracles.
What more did they need? Did they need to see the seas part? Did they want a burning bush?
We know God is working all around us. We know God has touched the lives of those we love, our family and friends. We may even know God has touched our lives. Even in the depths of our sorrows, our pains, our hurts and our heartbreaks, we know God has been with us. We have felt God’s warm embrace. We know of what God has done. But we do not see it.
Martha believes with her mouth, but not in her heart. Mary believes in her mind, but not in her heart. The disciples believe in their actions, but not in their hearts. The crowd believes in their ears, but not in their hearts.
After he had people remove the stone covering the entrance to the tomb, Jesus says ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ Please listen to this again. ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ It’s not, if you see it, you will believe it. Jesus is not telling us to watch him raise Lazarus from the dead so we can believe. Jesus also is not telling us if we believe, he will raise Lazarus. He says, ‘If you believed, you would see the glory of God.’
We have to believe in order to see the glory of God. The glory of God is all around us. God performs miracles around us all of the time. We don’t need faith to do it; we need faith to see it. God doesn’t require our faith to work on us, for us, by us and through us. God will do all of those because that is what God does. Our faith is required for us to see and recognize what God is doing.
Our actions, what we do or don’t do, does not effect if the miracle will come. Whether our prayers are answered, or not answered, has no relation to how often we pray, how hard we pray, how we pray, or even if we pray. God does miracles and God answers prayers as God decides to on God’s schedule. God is as God does.
However, we don’t recognize the miracle right in front of us. We may be praying and begging for a cure, but miss the miracle of extra years. We don’t see or notice the miracle provided through medicine that saves a baby who otherwise would have died. Diseases and conditions that we found out someone had upon their death, people can now live with and survive. We don’t see the miracle we get because we are looking for the miracle we are hoping and praying for.
Jesus did not perform miracles because his disciples believed. Jesus did not raise Lazarus because Martha and Mary asked him to, or because they were friends, or because they may have given him money. Jesus did these things to that you may believe. Jesus did these things so that by believing, we can see the glory of God.
We do not have to worry about that one out of ten million chance. If we see what we believe, we will see that we are one with Christ. That is a certainty.
Everything that has ever happened was so we (you, me and everyone of every time and of every place) can believe and see the glory of God. It occurred so through that belief, even though we die, we shall live. So that everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die.
Do you see this? Amen.
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