Sermon Title: When Loss Comes To Our Lives
Sermon Text: John 11:17-44 [ESV]
Sermon Series: Recognizing and Responding to God’s Word
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. was dedicated in 1982. During the first 15 years, 54,000 items were left at the Wall.
Today it still takes almost an hour every night, [and much longer on Memorial Day,] to collect all the mementos -a teddy bear, a photo of a soldier's grandchild, a letter from a daughter who never knew her dad.
Every item is labeled and taken to a warehouse. No one knows quite how to deal with it all. "No one ever expected this to happen," a park ranger says. "It's so personal."
If you have lived life for any length of time, we all know that loss comes to us all! So often we carry our grief for many years. We struggle with emotions, we look for comfort, we seek for a place where we can leave our sorrows and find healing for the wounds of life…
Today I want to share with you that when loss comes our way we can do several things, some bad, some ok… but one is the best!
1. Turn to Fraudulent Facts v.21, 32
Criticize God v.21, 32
21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Blame others Gen 3:12-13
Adam: 12 The man said, "THE WOMAN whom you gave to be with me, SHE GAVE me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Let me point out that the Implication here as well is that Adam is also blaming GOD for his failure, after all it was God who gave him the woman…right?
Eve: 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "THE SERPENT deceived me, and I ate."
Adam and Eve both knew immediately that they had lost something special because of their actions, but they were not willing to take responsibility for their choices, so they struck out at those around them.
Now when loss comes our way, it doesn’t have to be our fault for us to strike out…sometimes the hardest loss to deal with for us as humans is the loss where there is no explanation… but we still strike out because we are hurting inside and we think that this ‘hurt’ will be lessened if we can lay blame somewhere. How many times have you found yourself striking out at others…or even shaking your fist at God when you experienced loss?
What we have to realize, that as believers… striking out at those around us, trying to play the blame game… does not alleviate the pain of our loss… It does not lessen our grief or hurt… when we face lost we don’t need to turn to the Fraudulent Facts…
But this morning I want to tell you about another place we can turn when loss comes our way! This is a better place that the blame game and turning against everyone around us… it is actually just the opposite! This is turning to those friendly faces around us!
2. Turn to Friendly Faces v.19, 31
19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Now this is something we see on a daily basis in our lives, and we have all experienced it. God has created us to be social and community beings, where we are there for one another!
In our passage this morning we can see where Mary and Martha were able to turn to several friendly faces as both v.19 and v.31 give an account of friends consoling and comforting them during this great time of loss for them!
Mary and Martha had a great human support system, and many of us here have a great support system in our times of loss and need as well… and that is a great ministry for us… a great benefit for those who experience that friendship love being poured out on them…
I know from experience that when dealing with the pain of a loss, regardless of what sort of loss it is… a friendly face is a wonderful thing to turn to.
For many of us, those friendly faces are there when we experience loss! When a loved one dies the friends and church family come to our aid and minister to our needs.
However, there is a problem with this particular source of comfort in a loss… it is NOT permanent! No matter how good of a friend you have… no matter how dedicated they say they are to you… they will not be there all the time!
People have to go back to work, they have their own families to take care of, they have their own responsibilities that they have to get back to…
And ultimately, ALL of our friends will succumb to the ravages of old age and their body will break down and die! We know that our friends want to be there for us all the time, but we also know that human support, no matter how sincere or intimate… will always eventually fail us!
So when we are facing a loss, and our friends shower us with love… there is going to come a time when they won’t be there… a time when they are with their own family… a time when loss and tragedy shakes their world!
There will be a time when they are NOT able to comfort you…not able to minster to you! We will eventually have to face this loss on our own, with no friends around!
When loss comes our way, and when hurt and disappointment saturate our lives, we are going to hurt! We are going to strike out and we are going to turn to any friendly face we can find! But when we place our hope in the comfort of our fellow man it is ultimately going to let us down…
That is why I want to tell you this morning that when you are facing loss in your life, there is NO better place to turn than to…
3. Turn to Jesus v. 25-26, 33b-35 [read passages]
Jesus is the ONLY one with true hope v. 25 “…Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…”
We have to come to the understanding that it is ONLY in Jesus that we can find a hope that transcends this world and what this world has to offer us! This world can offer us nothing more than death and disappointment and loss, but Jesus offers us life…
Jesus can take a life that has been BURIED with loss and disappointment and pain… and Jesus can resurrect that life… Jesus can change the direction of a life!
Jesus is the ONLY one who can still your restless heart (Phil 4:6-7) “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When loss comes our way, our hearts and minds are filled with questions and anxieties, but Jesus tells us to take all to Him in prayer… spill your heart to God and God promises that in that time of loss, confusion, grief and pain, Jesus will be there for you… guarding your heart and mind with His righteousness… with His strength… with His peace!
The ONLY one who can restore your soul Psalm 23:1-3 “…The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Jesus has promised that He will never leave us… and UNLIKE those friendly faces that we turn to so often with our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus… this friendly face will NOT go away! He will not have to go back to work! He will NOT have to focus on responsibilities in life… He will NOT leave!
But not only is Jesus there for us but we can see thru the pen of the psalmist when he tells us in v.3 “He restores my soul…” No matter how out of kilter you get… no matter how crazy things get… no matter how deep the loss is… Jesus is there to restore your heart, your mind and your soul. Jesus is there to deliver!
Today you need to call out to Him, but you have to understand something, when we turn to Jesus we must turn to Him in faith and accept how He is going to handle the situation. We have to learn to turn to Jesus and turn in a trusting manner to our Lord!
So this morning if you want true peace in your life in the midst of the inevitable loss and grief of this life, you must turn to Jesus! Turn to Him and trust in Him, and He will be there for you and deliver you from your loss… or He will be there with you thru your loss to comfort, console and restore you!
4. Turn to Trusting Jesus v. 39-44
Now when we turn to Jesus, we have to understand that it is on HIS terms… it is letting go of ourselves and placing our faith and trust totally in Him!
When you do this, you must be ready because He is going to take you out of your comfort zone
v. 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
He'll make you wait on His timing, things won’t be in your time frame or on your schedule… this is where faith and trust come into play, we have to rely on Him and know He has our best at heart!
But not only will we have to adjust to God’s timing, we also must understand that God is going to call us to do things we don’t think we CAN do or SHOULD do…
v.39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."
Martha could not believe Jesus was asking this to be done… she could just imagine the smell and how ‘ugly’ and hard this would be on her and Mary! Jesus please don’t do this… don’t ask me to do this Jesus! Jesus you don’t understand…
But what we can find is that when we place our faith and trust in Him, and we are obedient to His commandments, even when we don’t understand them or think we should… God is faithful and God will deliver on His promises… in fact He will blow your mind at what He can do
v.44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Conclusion
People, the question is not what you're gonna do when you experience loss... We do some really crazy things, and we turn in some really crazy directions… it’s not WHAT you are going to do that matters…
What really matters is that when loss comes your way WHO are you going to turn to... Today, I call on you to turn to Jesus! Jesus will deliver, Jesus will never leave nor forsake you and Jesus will comfort, console and restore you in your time of loss and grief. He is the One who has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... and only He has the answers you need, so
As Bro Steven comes I call on you to step out today and turn your life over to Jesus… the Lord of all seasons… the God for all men! Jesus Christ is Savior… turn to Him today… step out today as we begin to sing.
