Live With Confidence In The Lord Of Life

Although we will be focusing our Old Testament Lesson for a sermon together this morning I want you to think back to our Gospel Lesson for this Sunday. I want to use those verses from John 11 as the introduction to my message today. Perhaps you were already familiar with the account of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. I think one could make a strong case that Lazarus being raised from the dead is second in notoriety only to Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead. We didn’t get all of the backstory for our Gospel Lesson from John 11 since we read selected verses and not the whole chapter.

But, again, perhaps you recall what led up to the famous miracle. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were dear friends of Jesus. And remember where they lived. They were residents of Bethany, a village about two miles from Jerusalem. John tells us that Lazarus had become very sick. So, his two sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus. “Your friend Lazarus is sick.” But Jesus didn’t go to them right away. Remember, he waited two days. During that time Lazarus died. We might wonder why Jesus did that. Then, at last Jesus, said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.” Of course, the disciples think this is a good thing. “If he sleeps, he’ll get better, right?” Finally, Jesus tells them the plain truth that Lazarus had died. Jesus then went to Bethany where the two grieving sisters awaited his arrival. Our Gospel Lesson for today recorded Martha’s interaction with Jesus. As I said, since our Gospel Lesson skipped ahead a few verses we didn’t hear Mary’s interaction with Jesus. But it was similar to Martha’s. Yes, the two sisters were grieving. Perhaps they were even a little disappointed that it took Jesus so long to arrive. They also seem to have had questions about their brother’s untimely and unexpected death. But the two sisters were also filled with faith in Jesus and the hope that they would see their brother again when Jesus raised all the dead on the last day.

With their story in mind, I have a question for you. On a scale of 1 to 10 how well do you think Mary and Martha handled their brother’s illness and his death? You might be saying to yourself, “That’s a little incentive, isn’t it, Pastor? How can you rate someone’s response to sickness and death? How can you quantify grief? Especially when it’s someone close to them, like their brother?”

I am asking you this question because I want you to think about how you handle sickness and death. How we as a congregation handle sickness and death. similar situations for yourself and others. Perhaps you have found yourself in a situation not unlike the one Mary and Martha were in with their brother Lazarus? It’s also good for us to consider what we will do when the reality of death strikes home in our lives.

With those thoughts in mind let’s direct our attention to a much less familiar section of the Bible. With Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in the back of our minds let’s consider what happened in our Old Testament Lesson. Although we are not even told the woman’s name her story is powerful. From her we also learn how live each day with trust in God’s power over life and death. When the Shunammite’s son became ill and died she went to the prophet Elisha. The woman recognized that it was at the Word of the Lord that she gave birth to her son. And she believed that it would be at the Word of the Lord that her son would live again. As we direct our attention to 2 Kings 4:17-37 it is my prayer for you that God the Holy Spirit would enable us to:

“LIVE WITH CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD OF LIFE”

I. Entrust those you love to His care

II. Expect those who die to live again

One of the challenges that goes with an Old Testament Bible story like this is presenting all the background information. We could spend our whole sermon digging into the history of these verses. Elijah and Elisha. Just a couple of weeks ago we heard about Elijah appearing at Jesus’ transfiguration. And do you remember how Elijah’s ministry ended? He was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Then Elisha took over the work of being the LORD’s prophet. The event in our Old Testament lesson happened early in Elisha’s ministry.

But perhaps it would be helpful to at least give you background that we know concerning the Shunammite woman and her connection to Elisha. The woman was well-to-do. She had no children. When the Prophet Elisha came to her town she invited him to her home to stay for a meal. Then her hospitality extended beyond food. She recognized that he was a prophet and so she spoke to her husband about Elisha. They decided to prepare a room for him I their house with a bed, a table, and chair, and a lamp.