Certainty in Uncertain Times
John 11:1-45
January 7, 2007
On Wednesday, our family drove home from Deb’s parents house in Canada where we spent 5 days playing in the snow and eating great food.
On our way through Spokane, I noticed a sign -"Number of Traffic deaths this year" was the heading. And underneath the heading were two zeroes - double zeroes.
Number of traffic deaths - number of people killed in Spokane.
As they were going about their day
driving to work
driving from work
running an errand
driving to visit a friend
going for a Sunday afternoon drive
Number of Traffic deaths in year 2007
00
The double zeroes caught my attention with the new year just 3 days old -
No one-
No one
No body had yet been killed in an auto accident.
But the sign - having this sign erected on the side of the road was an indication that there would be lives lost and double digit lives lost on the roads of Spokane in 2007.
3 days earlier, I had wished my in-laws a "Happy and Healthy New Year."
3 days earlier, the world celebrated making it through another year and hoping to do so again in 2007.
But this sign.
This sign indicated and forcasted that
pain
loss
destruction
tragedy
hurt would visit countless lives in year 2007.
On this first Sunday in the New Year-
I want to talk about:
pain
loss
hurt
tragedy.
Why? Because each of us will experience some sort of this, some degree, some measure of these in 2007.
Though we raised glasses and gave a toast for a safe and healthy New Year.
The reality of life.
The reality of lives is that we can not inoculate ourselves from experiencing pain, hurt, or loss.
As Christ followers though.
As people who live each day trusting in Jesus - there are some certainties that we are ours during such uncertain times.
Some things.
Some assurances as Jesus followers that never disappear even when pain comes close.
There is a larger context that we can place our lives - a context that can be a place
of refuge
of peace
of strength even when tragedy draws near.
Our text for today is John 11. It is the story of Lazarus, a man who dies seemingly prematurely.
Despite his sisters calling out for Jesus.
Despite their prayers - he dies.
These Jesus following people, like you and me, experienced loss, tragedy and pain.
What I’m going to do is read through the passage.
Do a little teaching on the passage and then make some personal applications.
There are 3 main audiences in John 11.
In each of the 3 sections, there is an audience, a primary listening group to whom Jesus is speaking.
In the first section, vs. 1-16, Jesus is primarily speaking to his disciples.
In the second section, vs. 17-37, Jesus is primarily speaking to Mary and Martha.
In the third section, vs. 38-44, Jesus speaks to Lazarus for the benefit of everyone.
Section 1 - to the disciples
Section 2 - to Mary and Martha
Section 3 - to Lazarus but for the benefit of everyone.
Though he has 3 different audiences and though there are 3 different settings in which he speaks, Jesus’ message is the same.
He speaks about 2 matters
1st - vs. 4, 40 - Lazarus’ death, sickness will be for God’s glory.
2nd - vs. 15, 25-26, 42 - Jesus will go to see Lazarus not primarily to heal him, but instead so that his audiences will come to believe in him.
Again the theme in each of these sections even though there are 3 different audiences in 3 changing locations is
1st - Lazarus’ death will be for God’s glory.
2nd - Jesus heals Lazarus so that others will believe.
This story is not about death, pain, hurt or loss primarily, but about how God uses such times to bring glory to himself and others to believe in him. Could it not be, that though we experience deep pain at the tragedy, that God can redeem and use such times to advance His Kingdom?
Could not you agree that often in such times, in times of pain, though God seems at first distant, a result of going through these experiences is a closer walk with God? When Jesus chooses to enter into this desperate situation.
When Jesus journeys to a grieving family, He does so for 2 reasons.
1. To bring glory to God.
2. To bring people to believe in Him. These are Jesus’ reasons. His motives in visiting Lazarus
But they weren’t the primary motives of the audiences. They wanted Lazarus healed.
They wanted God to spare them from experiencing this pain, this sickness and eventually Lazarus’ death.
In the first section Jesus heard, "The one you love is sick." V. 3
In the second section Jesus heard, "If you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died." V. 21, 32.
But did Jesus spare his audiences their pain and anguish?
No
Jesus allowed Lazarus to die or more truthfully, Jesus seemed to almost wait for it to happen.
When he is told that the one he loves is sick in verse 3, Jesus according to verse 6 stays where he is 2 days more. He is in no rush to get to Lazarus. Had he worked for an ambulance company, he certainly would have been fired. Reason for his firing/termination, "When the call came in Jesus purposefully delayed going."
This is the testimony repeatedly in Scripture. Like it or not over and over again people whom are God loves and has relationship with are not immune to it, protected from suffering, death, pain, and anguish.
It is a common path for followers of our God to experience deep anguish and pain.
Paul was jailed numerous times.
Beaten
left for dead
stoned
The circumstances he endured were often horrific.
How about Job, he lost everything catastrophically.
He felt pain and suffering.
He didn’t experience comfort, Job endured little relief.
How about Abraham.
Though God chose him, selected him, his life wasn’t an easy road. He and his wife struggled for years to have kids. The took matters into their own hands to have a child born by their slave girl. And after doing so Abraham experienced his wife turning on him. . .
Ruth was widowed early on and found life difficult.
How about
-Joseph
-Daniel
-Moses
-John the Baptist
or any of the other men and women of faith.
They each experienced for themselves the pain, the suffering, the seeming abandonment of God and yet in each of their stories, in each of their lives:
God was given glory and people came to believe in Him. As Christ followers, (people who live by faith now - to have a certain future), times of pain and suffering are not time when we are abandoned. But instead the times when our God draws near
to be given glory and to bring others to believe in Him.
Our God can redeem to most painful situation to bring hope to those affected by it.
Our tendency is to think and to believe that pain, suffering and hurt is a judgment from God. We tend to believe that when our lives are in turmoil, when things just can’t get any worse that we have been abandoned by God.
In such times, it is only natural to cry out for help.
To beg for
-relief
-rescue
-a place of refuge
This is to be expected. "Every one in the Bible begged for God’s mercy as well in such times."
Yet when we look from the outside at their stories and at the painful events in our own lives, it seems to me that from them, our God (as crazy as it seems) is given glory and others come to believe in him.
When I think about how I desire to live my life and be your pastor in year 2007.
As I think about how I want to respond when tragedy draws near to us, I desire to remember that even in such times, God can be given glory and others can come to believe in Him.
Now notice these things from this story.
Make note of some facts that John writes about.
1st -Lazarus was loved.
v. 3 describes him as "the one you love is sick."
v. 4 tells us Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
v. 36 tells us even bystanders could see how much Jesus loved Lazarus.
Friends,
-painful times
-death and loss
-sickness and hurt are part of life.
Yes? So do not believe for a moment the lies you’ve come to believe about these matters. You will experience these but when you do, do not believe that you are
-abandoned
-forsaken
-or judged
No - Not at all - You are loved. Those who are affected are loved.
Your circumstances do not prohibit the love of God from reaching you.
Your pain does not eliminate God’s tender thought toward you.
Jesus loves - He Loves - the text told us that Jesus’ heart was "deeply moved"(v. 33 and 38). He weeps. (v. 35)
Why? Because he loves you and has compassion on you in that situation you find yourself in.
Notice additionally - a second fact.
Your timing is not God’s timing.
As mentioned earlier, though Jesus heard of Lazarus’ condition, he delayed in come immediately. Jesus’ timeline was different than Mary and Martha’s
Have not you said along with Mary and Martha.
"Lord if you had been here, my _________ (husband, child, friend) would not have died?"
Have not we blurted out an expectation that if God would have been more attentive -
if he just would have done something
if he would have been on time then everything would still be ok.
But this text reminds me/us that my timing is not God’s timing.
When we would have had Mary and Joseph at the inn earlier to get a room, God’s timing was different.
When we would have stopped Paul’s killing of Jesus’ followers long before God actually did, - God’s time waited until Paul was making the trip on his way to Damascus.
When we would have never allowed Judas in as one of our disciples, never allowing him to eat at the table with us, God’s timing was to allow him to eat and tell him to go and do what he needed to do quickly.
God’s timing is not ours, but in his timing as we do our best, to wait, he is given glory and others are brought to belief.
And notice 3rdly, -Your stinking situation moves Jesus to response.
When Jesus finally arrives at the tomb of Lazarus and says in v. 39 to, "Take away the stone Martha, Lazarus’ sisters want to stop him. She says, "But Lord by this time there is a bad odor." The King James Translation translates, this verse, "He stinketh."
But Jesus is not deterred. He enters into the situation, wanting others to see how a stinky situation can be left behind. Jesus does not leave Lazarus to rot, no -he bids him come out - to leave behind the confining tomb and the restricting strips of linen.
Jesus embraces our dying condition and by His word brings release.
"Lazarus, come out. Lazarus come out!"
And Lazarus came out.
With the result being vs. 45, "Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did put their faith in him."
Lazarus’ sickness, true to Jesus’ words, would not end in death but would bring glory to God and bring others to belief.
Once we got home on Wednesday night after driving 489 miles, the phone started ringing. In the hours before we went to bed, we got 5 calls.
3 from telemarketers.
2 from people we love who were going through a time of pain/loss.
When I came into Church on Thursday morning, the answering machine had 6 messages. All but one of them, five of the six messages, were from people trying to make it through a tough time.
They called to be prayed for.
to hear some certainty.
to know of God being with them in such a time.
Though we had made it home safely, I was quickly brought back to the reality that none of us are immune from experiences what Mary and Martha experienced in our text. But as Jesus followers, we can live with certainty even in such times knowing that:
we are deeply loved
That though this may not have been our pick for a time for this to happen, God’s
timing is different.
Our stinky situation moves Jesus to respond.
And his response brings glory to God and brings others to believe in Him.
And as I think about my life. For who I am living for - this brings me great peace and confidence for the tough times ahead.
