Jesus is on the way to a funeral. And He is late. At least in the minds of the mourners He is late.
I have a friend, colleague of mine, pastor Edy who is always late. He supposed to preach in my church and he showed up two minutes before the service. In my frustration I told him: "Man, you will be late to your own funeral". And he answered: "I hope so Ovidiu, you got the point."
John 11 - Jesus is late. At least in the minds of all who are there, working hard for the "success" of that funeral… He didn’t just miss the opening song… or the obituary. He missed the funeral. He is 4 days late and this is about the late as you can be to a funeral.
Think about - His friend is dead, buried, decomposing... That’s late. But now He appears and is a stirring in the crowd. It’s amazing, isn’t? There is always a stirring in the crowd when Jesus Christ appears. Even after 2000 years we still talk about Jesus Christ. And it is a stirring and excitement in the crowd… when He appears. Amazing, isn’t?
We still thinking, we still talking about, we still debating - about Jesus Christ.
In spite of secularism, humanism, determinism, atheism, we still talking about Jesus Christ. And… what He is doing? Is on the way to a funeral.
His life style impacts us. Yes. Evan after 2000 years meet Him in every conceivable spot on the earth, to honor Him, to respect Him, to reverence Him and to love Him. And to worship Him.
Jesus Christ is still the center of the whole Universe. Amen! Books in our libraries, arts adorning our galleries, rem of music of… all about Jesus Christ. Everywhere TV and radio stations talk about Him, sing about Him, honor Him 24 ours a day, seven days a week… I mean, somewhere in this world in this very moment He is honored, not only here… And what other figure in the history is so honored, so well-regarded? What other figure in the history is so acclaimed? I mean, forces of evil fought against Him for 2000 years but… He is unconquerable… And we are here together because of Him. We chose to come here, driving from distance, all different. We are here because of Jesus Christ. (Ron Halverson illustration)
And He is on His way to the grave, on His way to our tomb, to our personal crypt. Where are buried hatred, and wickedness, and prejudice… To awake in us to a new life, called the life of the believer. And to heal the deep wounds of our past memories. To heal the deep wounds of our past animosities and prejudices. To awake in us new life.
And you notice then in John 11: 33-35, 44 at what He says. Look at this passage and think about with me…
God is on His way. But no, He is already arrived. And the story grips us and this is why I love and I respect this book, the Bible, it’s real! It does not pull punches. I mean it does not create dreamy Hollywood scenarios. It’s real. It paints real people with flesh and bones and guts. No makeup, no special lighting, no touch-up jobs, no recorded laughter, sit-coms, with background music…. Di-da-da-da di-di…to modulate our emotions.
The Bible stories are real life. Real people - hurting people, and unhappy people, and desperate people .. It’s God stories about us - hard heading dramas about real world; is God wrenching stories about failure or successes in life, and leaving home and coming back home, and death and life.
I mean stories of laughter, stories of tears, but this story form John 11 gets right in our mind… Hemingway could not write it! Shakespeare could not write it! Jack London no… Only John could it write it. His pen is deep enough and red enough to give us a glimpse of the Calvary…
To my thinking this is the greatest story from the Bible, the story of raising Lazarus. It’s the story of raising a friend. Surly it push us over the incredible, sensational… I mean if it was done today, it would be in “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”… Or on some sit-coms on cable TV, reality TV… I mean, the exhibition of pathos and the power never before or after in history because nobody was seeing such thing happen – the raising of a dead.
Did you ever have a funeral and the dead rose up, back to life and his family, living happily ever after?...
Imagine the feelings of the family to see the love one rising. Can you see the face of Mary, the eyes of Martha and all the open mouths around down there? Can you picture this while Lazarus came out from the grave? Am sure some fainted. Perhaps I would it… if he was my brother. But yes, Lazarus is my brother from the Bible.
It’s an epic. It’s an unforgettable story. It will become a classic everywhere, throughout the land, throughout the world, it will be told with reverence of the time when Jesus came. You see, all things are impossible with man, but all things are possible with Jesus Christ.
God deals always with the impossible. Evangelizing in our modern society, in LA, speaking to the people who don’t want to listen, who don’t want to be accountable before God, who don’t want to change, this is not an impossible mission. I mean Jesus spoke to a dead man and he heard. That’s better than some of church members.
ILLUSTRATION - This is is just a commercial brake: I remember the church where I was a youth leader. None of the 12 members of the board but me were under 60. And I came before them with a proposal. Give me the permission and several Bibles to go door to door around the tires factory where I worked for a while. I’ll go there with young people from our church and find opportunities. Interest in studying the Bible and also poor and sick people who need help. After that, a Bible study group with them.
They looked at me as I was an invader from another planet! They were so scared that the communists will close the church that they never ever dare to go out and do something. The church was not closed by the communist police but by ourselves. We closed its door from inside… No reason for it to exists if we cannot reach people from around…
With Jesus, even the dead can stand up, even the dead can come forth, with God all – things – are – possible!!! Amen!
And why then are we discouraged and complaining walking around?
- “What we are gone do?
- Nobody is paying attention to the message!...
- They are all dead!...”
As the tough leaders from my hometown church: “can’t be done, nobody will come to the meetings, it’s dangerous, some will be offended, let’s see what the Union President will state …don’t do it.
We did it without them immediately after the fall of the communist regime.
You see, the evangelism is not an intellectual discussion about our ability to preach fast and clear something that you have it or you haven’t with you at some point. It is the gift of grace and as all gifts, come from above, from God. Not your capability but your availability… Yes?
Again, resurrection is deaths only hope. And no family has not been touched by death so this story is for everyone. And no one here have not some families or friends dead spiritually. So again, this story is for everyone.
In reading this story I discovered two thinks about working for the lost.
1. Resurrection of the spiritual deaths is the work of God alone. You can’t orchestrate it up, you can’t push it up, it’s God’s alone.
2. Removing the bandages, yes, that is the character of the church. And that is the work of the church
You see at the scene in Bethany everyone was ready to do something for this unlucky guy, to bring life to Lazarus, Is than not true? I mean Lazarus could not help himself: “I’m dying! Lord where are You?”
It is not amazing how much more you pray when you told you dying?... Notice that? Everybody become a prayer warrior the moment they here they are dying.
For a dead it’s is nothing he could do to raise himself from dead. A dead is a dead, we know this as SDA… No buhhhh, vapors of spirit floating around… Dead is dead. Finish. End road. There is nothing a priest could do. The priest could do anything. With his reach phylactery, long liturgy, all this hocus-pocus, … couldn’t help.
.
- The priest and the church couldn’t help the dead.
- Man couldn’t not help,
- The church board could not stand around the table saying: “Hey how we can solve this problem? – Let’s name three committee’s members to investigate the problem and to come with some recommendations”…
- Send some money down there? No…
- The educational board couldn’t help.
- The evangelist explaining the dead some doctrines couldn’t help.
- The law couldn’t help.
- The standards couldn’t help.
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They are some things that God alone can do! Can you say amen?!
A drug addict cannot help himself for himself, the alcoholic cannot help himself, adulterous cannot help him/herselves. A person with an attitude problem… They are dead and trespass. They need Christ. God alone can help them. Amen? I mean that’s the focus.
Lazarus was raised up and now Jesus turns to the stunned crowd and says: (Now Lazarus is on his feet now) – TAKE OFF THE BANDAGES!
A problem with the church – you want here clean people only. You want healthy people. You want them to eat like you, and only like you. Dress like you, act like you, and then you are comfortable with this “you”…
But God doesn’t work that way. Churches are not built that way. Churches are lakes and sees, and oceans not aquarium for exotic fish!... (Come on now, give some amens here so I can preach it!). And I am talking with you, in this church for 20, 30, 50 years…
Lazarus rise from the bondage of death, but he still not totally free. Do you understand that? He still has bandages… God free him from the grave; others will free him from bandages. That’s the way it is my friends.
Go and see big cities, New York, LA, Chicago… Go in poor countries also. Meet Jimmy. HIV, born from a prostitute and drug addict… Tell him about the struggle of some churches to come with a “perfect” nominating committee… Tell him about your frustration because your preacher did not stop at 12:00 even and delayed your Sabbath lunch with several minutes… Tell Jimmy about this and see what he will say about you and your religion.
Talk with Esmeralda the poorest girl from the poorest neighborhood form the poorest city of Guatemala. Who walk 4 hours trought the jungle to attend the church. No car with air condition, bare feet, 4 hours and returning back another 4 hours. She was a sex slave for five years, sold in by her own parents. He got sick and send back. And on the way back God called her: come out from the death!... Miracle. She is now alive but you can see the bandages who kept her tight in the grave… And we dare to judge her, her past, her present imperfections? Our job is to take the bandages out and to pour some ointment on her wounds… The bondage of poverty is the worst kind of bondage: keep millions tight up.
The church received a command from Jesus Christ and the command is: “lose the man!” you got to take out those stinky bandages.
An embarrassing problem in Christian churches is that inside people are so bounded themselves with all kinds of problems and we can lose anyone else. We are so bound up in our own bitterness, our own failure, our own compulsive behavior, that we are helpless to help. How can we effectively remove other’s bandages when we are tide up ourselves? Hey, did you talk with Jesus lately about your bandages? Do it… Because now you have to remove others bandages and it’s your responsibility, you will be held responsible before God for this…
It takes time, and energy and love to lose those dirty, filthy bandages. The old emotions, unhealthy habits, unreliable relationships, former friends, relatives, bandages all around.
“Lose the man”, said Jesus. You, yes you from this church. It’s your job. I resurrected him, Jesus says, now it’s your turn to do something… But so often, the church doesn’t know how to do it. And so often the church doesn’t want to do it… You see, my friends, takes time, and energy and love, to do this job. “Lose the man”!...
..."We don’t do that in this church!"... Wait a minute, the church is a hospital. And if the church is a hospital you have to take care of the terminal cases, metastases of cancer… We want to deal with appendicitis only. We do not want to deal with the dying… We don’t have time and energy to take care of the dying… hopeless cases…
And those who came out of the death hearing Jesus command “come fort”, are like Lazarus, just half way trough freedom. You see, those who come to life from the death of the sin are just half way trough. It is the church job to take care of the rest of the way.
So many times we failed to do it. Christian churches spend so many time and energy to speak to themselves than anyone else. Administrators, ministers, evangelists, Bible teachers, elders, deacons, members “in good stand”… and despite this, the filthy bandages still there. Who will take care of the bandages if we don’t?
- Resurrection is Jesus’ work.
- Restoration is church work. Is this clear enough?
It takes God only a moment to bring a man or a woman to life, but it takes a lifetime to unwrap his/her bandages and that it’s all about my friends. After the resurrection new challenges – remember where you came out from the dead? Do you still remember when you come from the tomb, problems: tests, rewards and entanglements? In the same manner He who begun this good work will finished.
Remember this: the greater your injury, the longer the recovery… Are you scared my dear member of this church? Are you afraid of those with bandages around you? They don’t look like you… so what? They need to be saved!
Sometimes we are like the car salesman. Bit and switch. We will be from now on a Christian. All your problems will be solved… everything will be goooood for you and the blessings will overwhelm you… And OK they are in and thet are bombarded with ll kinds of problems, and bitted, the devil hates them and push them, and they are crying: “what is this?” You can not stop them by being attacked and hurt but you can do one thing – be there for them. Weep with them and for them, let them share the burden with you…
If the church is a hospital, then wee have to have an emergency room, a delivery room, this is where all babies are brought to life… The evangelists are obstetricians but you and you are the pediatricians…
Talking about the babies when are born: they stink… Come on, you change them, you change them ten times a day, tomorrow also, and every day, need for diapers… You put them over you shoulders and tap… and sometimes they throw up all over you… And you are not angry… babies, it’s normal… You love them… This is the feeling toward sinners also: you have to love them even they throw up on you, when they disappoint you…
Take the bandages of, let them be free – Jesus said…
What are we doing? Keep going on our business, on our own problems, planning to be here on Sabbath but we are doing so little in taking off the bandages…
Many Christians are living in beautiful homes, are driving nice cars, good living standards, but deep inside they are not happy, they live in bitterness and angriness. They hurt emotionally. But they don’t want to admit it. And the biggest challenge for a doctor is the patient who think is OK. No medicine needed for is good. Oh, others: yeas… And they turn around and point the finger to the obvious bandages around babies… they stink! Not my, they…
Religion is not pain killer swallowed by Christians, it is the power of God to transform us, to change us in order for us to reach others, and others to reach others… and so and so… Little religion swallowed by the Christian churches as painkiller it only numbs the pain. But hides the real cause of sickness. The evangelical world, the one who worship Sunday, who preach about hell and don’t care about modesty and moral standards is tied up in bandages of self-sufficiency. But how about the Adventist Church? We are free from those pagan tradition but are we ready to take care of the souls who seek deliverance?
It is a distinction between religion and deliverance. The church needs to know deliverance! We rejoice in the conversion and resurrection of the dead but we can’t stand the stink. And that’s so few soul winners in Christian churches.
Lose him… Unwrap the bandages… I am not tell you that. Jesus tells you and tells me…It is the believers duty to do that.
Now they are free from the grave but trapped. Trapped in their compulsive behavior; did you ever see them before? They are the ones who cannot say NO. Did you meet people like that? I meet them everywhere. Can’t say NO to their peers, can’t say NO to drugs, I mean they are trapped in stinky bandages. Trapped behind that macho image of a tough guy, or trapped behind that image of sexy woman myth… Just outward show, facade… Powerless to release themselves.
And again, that’s what the church is here for… Look, we don’t have scheduled a fellowship lunch today. What we will gonna do? Everybody go home after worship and that’s it?... Not a rebuke but we need to be aware… A slice of bread shared with love is more than ten worship services for our friends and visitors…
Working with the lost, easier than working with saints. Because the lost don’t have self-image to protect, mumy or daddy to please; only God to praise. I watch them on the graveyards, I smelled the smoke of hell… but they are alive and that’s all that matters…And now be sure that is no bandage to tied, no tragedy to overwhelmed that cannot be overcame.
Let’s the world know that we are here to unbind... The poor, the sick, the hopeless, the notorious sinner and the low profile sinner… The sick and the poor, the homeless still realy on our agenda?
But sometimes we don’t want to mess… Sometimes we fight bigotry only speaking nice words but seldom action. I think is time for this church to come out of the closed and let the world know that we are here to remove bandages not to preach to the choir…
Prayer: Lord, teach us the bandage removing action For us and for all around us…
PS. Thank you, Ron Halvorsen!
