Scripture: John 5:21-29; John 11
Theme: Lessons learned from a Graveyard
There are some important lessons we can learn from Lazarus’ death and resurrection (resuscitation) – a. The Heart of the Church b. The Ministry of the Church and c. The Future of the Church
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
I think that cemeteries are rather interesting places. My home church was located next to our town’s cemetery so going to church and walking around the cemetery was something that quite normal.
If you were waiting for the service to start or for some meeting to be over, one of the things we did as children and as teens was walk around the cemetery. We would read the head stones and look at the flowers that had been left behind. I grew up never thinking that it was creepy to walk around that cemetery whether it was at high noon or on a moonless night.
For many of us, it was just the cemetery that was beside our church. Many of the names that were on the headstones were either former members of our church, our community or our family. I guess that was some of the reasons why it all didn’t seem scary.
You can learn a lot from a cemetery. And that is what I want us to look at this morning – lessons we can learn from a certain cemetery. A cemetery that was located in the ancient city of Bethany. It was a cemetery that had just recently added a new member; a man by the name of Lazarus.
We find the whole story in the 11th chapter of St. John. For expediency sake let me just say that I believe that this is an actual story. I do not believe that is merely a myth, a parable or a compilation of different stories that the Apostle John weaved together to one to promote a certain theological idea or position.
+I believe that Lazarus was a real man.
+I believe that Lazarus got sick.
+ I believe that Lazarus died from that sickness and his lifeless body was placed in a tomb.
+I believe that Jesus came and raised him from the dead.
+I believe that all of this was a sign for the Church and a warm up for what was about to happen.
Okay. Now that all of that is done, I what I want to talk to you this morning is about some of the lessons the Church can learn from John chapter 11. There are some lessons here that deal with:
I. The Heart of the Church
II. The Ministry of the Church
III. The Future of the Church.
I. The Heart of the Church – v. 25-27
“Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him. ‘I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.’” ( John 11:25-27 NLT)
At times, Martha gets a lot of flak from that time she messed up. St. Luke writes about in Luke 10:38-42. If you remember, Martha was more worried about making the biscuits and the meal than sitting and learning at the feet of Jesus. At the time, she had her priorities miscued.
But here in these verses (John 11:25-27) Martha’s words are spot on. She reveals what is supposed to be the true heart of the Church. Her words are words of faith. Her words proclaim absolute truth. Her words need to adhered to today by those both inside and outside the Church.
We live in a day when a growing number of people no longer believe in any type of everlasting or absolute truth. Nothing is seen as absolute or concrete. Everything is personal, fluid and relative.
For example, today there are churches that doubt or out and out deny the existence of the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, Jesus Christ being the Only Son of God, Jesus’ Resurrection and miracles in general. There are churches that no longer believe in the validity of the Scriptures. There are churches that no longer believe in Sin, Satan or even the existence of Heaven or Hell.
All of this has caused massive confusion. Many of those outside the Church wonder what we inside the Church really believe.
+If the Bible is not real then why read it? Is the Word of God or just a collection of myths, poems and moral stories?
+If Jesus is not the Son of God then why follow Him?
+ If miracles are not real then why even pray for them?
+If Heaven and Hell does not exist then what does exist and does it even matter?
The reason for all this confusion is that there is way too much reliance on the flesh than listening to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to bring us the truth. The Holy Spirit is not confused.
The one who is sowing the confusion of course is the Devil. This is what he does. The Devil and his demons distort, they cast doubt and out and out lie. They want the Church to be confused and constantly at odds with one another.
Let’s go back to Martha’s words.
Martha’s words were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Martha’s words lead us to the truth. Martha’s words bring about clarity. Martha’s words remind us what is to be at the center of the heart of the Church teaching and mindset.
A. Jesus is the Messiah – He is the Anointed One – He is the One who has come to set things right – to bring man back into a right relationship with God.
B. Jesus is the Son of God – plain and simple. There is no other.
C. Jesus is the One Who has come from God the Father to rescue, redeem and restore mankind.
Added to Martha’s words are the words that Jesus shared about Himself. The words that pertain to Jesus being the I AM – I AM THE RESURRECTION and I AM THE LIFE.
When you hear those words, you are immediately drawn back to Exodus chapter 3 (three) when the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY spoke to Moses and declared Himself the “I AM”. Jesus here gives us some glimpses into what “I AM” means. Jesus is the I AM – HE is God. As the “I AM” - He is the Resurrection and He is the Life.
Now, of course there is much more that we could add to this from other passages. But there is enough here for us to be able to lean into what is suppose to be the truth heart of the Church.
+We are to be a people who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. We believe that He is the Anointed One who came to rescue, redeem and restore mankind.
+We are a people who believe that Jesus is the Only Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Only Way to the Father. Period. End of Sentence. We say Amen and Amen.
+We believe in Jesus there is the Resurrection which of course means that there is everlasting Life.
+We believe in Jesus there is New Life. That is to say, we can not only be Born Again but that we can live the Abundant Life; the Life of being infilled, led and guided by the Holy Spirit.
It is not hard to understand all of this or that hard to believe all of that if we are open to God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies to the truth of this passage. It doestakes faith but it is not faith without a witness. It is faith that has as its witness the Word, the testimony of the saints and more importantly the Holy Spirit Himself.
If we open our hearts, our minds and our souls and allow those words of Jesus being the Son of God, the Messiah, the Resurrection and the Life to be heard then deep inside of us we will receive this revelation. Our spirit will come into agreement with God’s Holy Spirit.
It is not that we turn off our rational minds or our scientific methods. It is that we tune into who we are as flesh and spirit. When we allow God’s Holy Spirit to share the truth with our spirit we see the truth. It is then that we realize just what Martha said is absolute truth. Jesus is Messiah, Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life Giver.
II. Secondly, we see the Ministry of the Church – verses 33 – 38; 43-44
John 11:33-38 (New Living Translation)
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[a] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.
John 11:43-44 (New Living Translation)
43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
There are three main things real quickly I would like for us to see here in these passages that share with us the Ministry of the Church:
A. Jesus is Angry with Sin
Jesus is not angry with Lazarus for dying. He is not upset with either Mary or Martha. But Jesus is angry with what sin has done. Sin caused Lazarus to get sick. Sin caused Lazarus to die. It was Sin that caused this family and friends to be so heartbroken.
None of this was supposed to happen. The Trinity did not create the world for it to be filled with sin. God did not create the world for mankind to have to deal with disease, chaos, destruction and death.
Jesus is angry at what has happened to mankind and all of creation because of the works of the devil. Jesus is angry with the power and presence of evil in the world.
We too need to be angry with sin and what sin has done and is doing in our world. We don’t need to just believe that our world has to be this way and that there is nothing we can do about it. Jesus shows us that there is something we can do. We can confront sin and we can stop sin in the power of the Holy Spirit.
B. Jesus joins in their sorrow
Jesus could have just told everyone to be quiet and get a hold of themselves. He could have railed on them about their lack of faith and their hard hearts. He could have told them just to wait about 10 minutes and everything would be radically different.
But that is not what Jesus does nor is it what we should do. Jesus sits down and weeps with them. He sits between Mary and Martha, puts his arms around them and shares in their sorrow. He knows that their hearts are broken and that right now they need his love, his mercy and his compassion.
One of the greatest ministries in the Church is the ministry of grief. Whether someone has lost a loved one, a job, a marriage, a dream or whatever, we need people who can just sit with someone and weep with them, be broken with them and be understanding. We don’t need a lot of talking. We don’t need a lot of telling them right then that everything will be okay or that what happened is really for the best. We need people who have learned how to just sit and grieve with someone. We need people who know how to be Jesus to others in times of their sorrow and grief.
C. Jesus puts the Church to work
Jesus first of all tells them to begin to remove the barriers that are holding Lazarus down. First it is removing the stone and then it is removing the grave clothes.
Even alive, Lazarus would not be able to push the stone out of the way. Even alive, Lazarus was going to be bound by all these strips of cloths that they used to tie down his legs, his arms and covered his face. Lazarus needed some help being ready to come alive and live a new life.
Today, we need people in the Church that can move stones and take off grave clothes. We need people who will help people be able to live a life past the stone and the grave clothes that once held them down.
Now, what do I mean?
+People who can help others leave their past behind.
This is what the Early Church did for the Saul who later became the Apostle Paul. They helped him remove that big stone of a past in which he had persecuted the Church. The Early Church helped Paul by forgiving his past and putting it behind them.
+People who can help others grow past their misadventures, their mistakes and their shortcomings even after they come to faith.
This is what the Holy Spirit did for the Apostle Peter. The Bible records many of Peter’s mistakes. Simon Peter failed time and time again. He even found himself betraying Jesus just minutes after claiming that he would never abandon or reject Jesus.
But the Holy Spirit removed the stone and took off the grave clothes of Peter’s failures, mistakes and misadventures. The Holy Spirit infilled and promoted Peter to be the one who preached the sermon on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit helped Peter rise above his misadventures, his mistakes and his short comings.
We need people in the Church who see this as their mission. Not to judge, not to point a finger at but who can come alongside a person who struggles in their faith and helps lift them up and promote them. We need people who help people after they have struggled and fallen down. We need people who find joy in the ministry of search and rescue, who find joy in the ministry of applying spiritual band aids and excel in spiritual rehabilitation.
+People who can reach out and help others when they seem to be bound, enslaved or restricted in their spiritual journey.
None of us come to faith perfect. None of us rise from an altar or from saying the prayer of salvation and suddenly everything in our lives is perfect.
We still have to deal the flesh. Which means many times we still have to deal with things like addictions, hang ups, personality quirks and impulses and appetites that may and can cause us trouble.
It is here we need people that will come beside someone who is dealing with an addiction, a generational sin or a brokenness and will be their intercessor and/or spiritual life coach.
We need people who will do the work that Paul did for the likes of Timothy, Titus and Silas. Each of those young men had something that wasn’t quite right in their lives. The Apostle Paul works with them helping them remove their “past grave clothes” that have held them bound.
Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb but ask for others to remove the stone and the grave clothes. Only Jesus can rescue us, redeem us and restore us. But, afterwards Jesus has asked us as the Church (His Body) to help people remove the barriers (the stones) and the grave clothes (those things that trip us up and bind us). If we do that then we will enable others and ourselves the opportunity to live a free and abundant life.
III. We See the The Future of the Church – verse 44
“LET HIM GO”
Lazarus was raised from the dead not to just sit around or to just wait for the death to return again.
Lazarus’ resurrection was more properly a resuscitation in the aspect that he was not given his glorified body. But what he was given was the ability to be a sign of what was to come – a spiritual and physical resurrection.
Lazarus was given a new mission. He was given the mission of being an example of what Jesus was going to do for humanity.
Lazarus was a living testimony of the power of God in a person’s life. Jesus had just said that “I am the Resurrection and the Life”. And in a matter of minutes no one could doubt it.
What had been dead was now alive.
Where there was no hope, hope was walking around and talking.
Where there was doubt, there was now renewed faith.
Where there was sorrow, now the air was filled with joy!
It reminds us that our God still does miracles today.
Just recently, I heard Travis Greene give his testimony.
Listen how Kriza Jo Tanduyan writes about it in an article on godtv.com
“Travis Greene is an American Gospel musician who is known for his very intimate songs about God. Behind his beautiful songs and his amazing life is a mind-blowing life testimony that proves that God is powerful and can do impossible things.
When Travis was 4-years-old, he had an accident that changed his life. He fell from a 4-storey building, and the doctors pronounced him dead on the spot. They had already covered him in a white cloth, but his mom was “crazy” enough to believe that God was able to do anything. She picked up her lifeless son and boldly said, “The blood of Jesus.”
After that, a miracle happened, God brought Travis to life. A few days after the incident, Travis told his mom that he was falling from the window, but he never actually hit the ground. Right before he hit the ground, a big hand caught him.
“I couldn’t see His face because it was so bright.” Travis said.
Then the man who caught Travis said, “Do you want to go home with your Mom?” Travis said yes. Then He told him that he could go home this time.
That incredible encounter changed Travis’s life. It’s no wonder Jesus let him live. Jesus knew that Travis would grow up glorifying His name.” (https://godtv.com/this-gospel-singer-was-pronounced-dead-at-4-years-old-and-jesus-brought-him-back-to-life/)
Like Travis, Lazarus went out and lived an amazing life. We don’t know all of his story but we do know what tradition shares with us. Tradition tells us that after this, Lazarus was appointed as a missionary and church leader by the Apostle Paul and Barnabas. He spent the rest of his life sharing the Gospel and being one of the leaders in the Early Church.
Lazarus was given New Life and he did not waste it.
That is exactly what we are called to do as well. We are called to live a New Life.
Now, in order to live a new life, we are called to let some things die. We are called to let some things that have died stay behind in the tomb. We are called to let some things just fade away and not be concerned about them anymore.
Today, if you have allowed Jesus to forgive you of your sins then you have been rescued and redeemed. You are infilled with His Holy Spirit. It is time that you come out of your spiritual tomb. It is time to remove the grave clothes of sin that have held you down. The Bible says once you were dead in your sins but now you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Focus on that – You are a New Creation. You are no longer the same person you were before faith. You are no longer a sinner enslaved by sin. You are no longer Hell bound. You are now a Child of the Most High God. You are redeemed. You are filled with His Holy Spirit.
Now, isn’t time we all lean into that reality? Isn’t it time we take a new look at ourselves and others. We are not to go around in our past sin grave clothes. We are not to allow others in the faith walk around in their grave clothes. We are to challenge them and ourselves to live up to the New Life in Christ Jesus.
You know, cemeteries can teach us a great deal. This one in Bethany did.
This morning, do you know Jesus as Savior and LORD?
Do you know what it means to call Jesus – Messiah, Savior, King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Do you know what it means to be filled with His Holy Spirit?
Do you know what it means to live in His Holy Spirit?
Are you actively involved in doing His ministry and living the Life He has made possible for you?
Let me challenge you today to call upon the name of the Lord. Let me invite you to come and repent of your sins and be filled with His Holy Spirit. Let me invite you to live out a whole New Life – a life of being redeemed, a life that that smells like, looks like and feels like Jesus. A life that moves stones and takes off grave clothes. A life that brings newness and redemption into our world.
Let me challenge you today to live a life of holiness, of grace and mercy. It will be the most exciting life you could ever live.
Open Altar/Invitation/Prayer/Blessing
