Signs
This is the sermon I preached this past Sunday at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY. It is based upon John 11:1-45.
“Signs, signs, everywhere
there's signs...Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign” sang the Five
Man Electrical Band. In John’s gospel, we don’t encounter parables, but there
are plenty of signs. Jesus performed miracles, but they were not the big
picture. They were signs, which do not point to themselves, but elsewhere, to
Jesus. John’s gospel surprises us with frequent and personal expressions of
Jesus’ self-disclosure.
This week’s reading too is
fraught with double meanings and further revelation of who Jesus is. The
raising of Lazarus signals the beginning of the end of Jesus’ teaching and
signs. It was the tipping point of Jesus’ relationship with the Jewish
authorities and the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, putting into
motion the events that led to Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus’ enemies shifted from
generalized opposition to a formal decision to have him killed. The story of
Lazarus anticipates the events of Holy Week.
As a sign story, the primary
function of the event that takes place is to reveal God and to show God’s glory
(v. 4). This is why Jesus is persistent in the face of those who did not
understand.
We too, often have times in
our lives when we wonder where God is in our situation--why God didn’t
intervene to save the life of a loved one or why a friend was allowed to lose
her job or why Jesus didn’t come early enough to prevent the breakup of my
marriage? When we struggle as a church, we may think, “If Jesus had been with
us...but he wasn’t.” Sometimes in
hindsight, we’re allowed to see God’s plan while other times we will never
understand while we are on this earth.
From the get go, we are told
that the story is not so much about a family crisis in Bethany as about the
crisis of a world caught in sin and death, not so much about the resuscitation
of a corpse as it is about giving life to the world. This is really what the
story of Lazarus is about. Although we think of this story being about the
raising of Lazarus, that actual sign takes up only two of the forty-five verses
in today’s gospel. The primary focus is Jesus’ interaction with the women—first
with Martha and then with Mary.
When we get to Jesus’
arrival in Bethany, we are at this story’s theological heart. However, no one
understands—certainly not Jesus’ hapless disciples who misunderstood Jesus’
metaphor of death or Martha who had trouble understanding Jesus’ delay. She had
expected Jesus to do something, so she was complaining. Can you hear the
accusation in her words to Jesus, “if you had been here!” (v. 21). It’s
ok to complain to God. He’s big enough to take it. Martha’s remarks were so
thoroughly Jewish and belonged to the language of faith that we find in the
Psalms. In fact, the edge of complaint in Martha’s words gives greater impact
to her statement of confidence in Jesus that follows. In the face of Lazarus
death, Martha confesses that “even now” God would act in response to Jesus’
prayer (v. 22). She further declares her belief in the future resurrection,
much as we confess our faith in the Apostles’ Creed.
Martha’s understanding of
the resurrection was consonant with that of other Jewish people of the time. It
was seen as strictly a future event that occurred on the last day. Jesus moves
that future into Martha’s present reality when he declares, “I AM the
resurrection and the life” (v 25). The promise of resurrection and life is not
lodged in some distant event, but is available already in the person of Jesus.
Jesus affirms his sovereignty over the present and the future lives of
believers. Mary struggled as her sister did, with the belief that everything
would have been different had Jesus arrived sooner.
Nonetheless, Jesus continues
teaching that those who believe even though they die, will live and that those
who live and believe in Jesus will never die (v. 25). The two statements sound
like they mean the same thing, don’t they? The phrases spell out what it means
for Jesus to be the resurrection and the life, but they are not the same thing.
Jesus as the resurrection means physical death has no power over believers.
Their future is determined by faith in Jesus, not by their death. Jesus’
declaration of himself as the life means the believer’s present is also
determined by Jesus’ power for life experienced in the gift of eternal life.
Make no mistake; Lazarus was
dead, not just in a coma. He had been dead for four days and was good and
stinky when Jesus and his disciples arrived. Jesus calls Lazarus from the tomb.
This deed follows Jesus’ words. Jesus speaks and acts and there is life.
Approaching the grave, Jesus is amid the symbols of death. He encounters the
intense grief of the sisters and the other mourners, a skeptical and somewhat
impatient audience, the odor of a decaying body and tightly wrapped grave
clothes. After he’s raised, Lazarus is still bound by the grave clothes. Jesus
doesn’t take them off. Lazarus can’t get out of them. Jesus issues a command to
the waiting crowd to “Unbind him, and let him go” (v. 44). The community of
faith gathered around Lazarus is invited to participate in God’s redemptive
work. It was entirely Jesus’ work, yet the community had to do something that
was essential and meaningful. What a wonderful example of what we Lutherans
refer to as “God’s work. Our hands.”
What does this passage mean
for us today? God’s promises are not solely about eternal life in the future
with God or even about forgiveness at the last day. “...the Gospel should make
a tangible difference now, open up opportunities and options now,
transform relationships now. The promises of God are present tense, not
just future” [tense] (David Lose). That truth demands a response from us. God
is inviting us to make a difference in this world right here and right now. We
have the opportunity to act. What are we doing about these things and more? God
is telling us “Find a need and embrace it.” God is calling us to claim Christ’s
resurrection power now by participating and completing the work God is doing
all over the place.
We have already begun
cooperating with God’s work through the Baskets of Promise to help those in
need. There are numerous ways and means for God to use us. Maybe there’s
someone you have not seen at church for a while. Call them. Visit them. Send
them a card. When is the last time you visited people at any of the senior
housing or nursing homes or hospital? We’ve all heard stories about elderly
residents who go for weeks or months with no visitors. Why? Why aren’t we there
visiting?
There are plenty of
organizations that need volunteers to fulfill their missions. Why aren’t we
there? As the winter turns into spring and hopefully spring turns into summer,
we will have many opportunities to make an impact in Portville and the
surrounding communities. All we need to do is to come out of our cocoons, shake
the dust off and look around us. The opportunities to participate in God’s work
are endless. We just have to recognize them.
God invites us to claim our
faith as a present tense invitation to live our promised salvation now. “Why?
Because Jesus is the resurrection and the life and has promised to give us, not
just more life, but life in all its abundance” (David Lose). Amen!
Resources:
Charles B. Cousar, Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary
Commentary Based on the NRSV-Year A.
Fred B. Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year
A.
David Ewart, holytextures.com
Robert Hoch, workingpreacher.org
David Lose, workingpreacher.org.
Brian Stoffregen, http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/
Comments