March 19, 2000 John 11
¡§Death stinks!¡¨
INTRODUCTION
How many of you in this room have ever had to deal with the death of someone who was close to you? Go ahead and raise your hands. I became acquainted with death at a very young age. I don¡¦t remember very much about my childhood, but I remember the day that my mom came into the house crying. I had never seen her crying before, at least not like that. She was weeping. I was told later that my dad had died while in the hospital. I was 5 years old. A few years later, my mom called my sister, my brother and me into the living room, sat us down on the couch and told us that my granddad would probably not be coming home from the hospital. He died when I was about 12 years old. About a year after Tammy and I got married, she became pregnant for the first time. We were both so happy about the idea that we would soon have a child of our own. But not far into the pregnancy, Tammy had a miscarriage. Death is a hard thing to have to deal with.
When Tammy and I lived in SC, there was a graveyard in our backyard. Every morning, when I would walk to my office at the church, I would pass by those grave stones or pass through them. There were stones that marked the graves of persons who had died in the Civil War. There were husbands and wives who were buried side by side. One grave that always caught my attention and saddened me was a small plot. The birth date and the death date were the same. Regardless of how long you live, the death of someone who means the world to you and eventually your own death are coming. Death is a hard thing to deal with, but it is something that you can not get away from.
Whether or not you have ever experienced the death of someone who was close to you, I would suggest that everyone here has experienced death. Maybe it was the death of a dream, or the death of a plan, or the death of hope. This morning, as we look at another encounter between Jesus and hurting people, I want you to understand this: no matter how impossible or desperate the situation that you may be facing, Jesus is able to bring life to the death that is in your life right now.
Turn with me to John 11.
1. Jesus calls us to walk through the valley of death with Him. (John 11:1-16)
„« Lazarus and his family (vs. 1-6)
God¡¦s refusal to act in your way and on your timetable does not contradict the overwhelming evidence that He loves you. God¡¦s love caused Him to give us what we need not necessarily what we want. The love between Jesus and this family was never in question. It should never be in question in our lives.
Having a relationship with Jesus, even a strong relationship, does not shield you from suffering.
„« Jesus¡¦ disciples (vs. 7- 16)
„« Us
(Mat 10:37-39 NIV) "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
(Gal 2:20 NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
NOTE: Anyone who refuses to walk through the valley of death with Jesus will miss out on the display of His glory. It is more important that God receive glory than it is that we receive comfort. But that does not mean that He doesn¡¦t offer us comfort.
2. Jesus calls us to accept His comfort when it looks like life is over. (John 11:17-37)
„« From our faith (vs. 17-27)
Power of Jesus¡¦ prayer
The resurrection at the last day - the life that Jesus offers is not just for somewhere in the future. It is for today.
Jesus is the Savior
„« From His presence in our pain (vs. 28-37) It was Jesus¡¦ presence that M & M doubted. But in reality, Jesus was right there with them all the time. Jesus knew that He was about to raise Lazarus, so why did Jesus cry?
He hurt because someone He loved hurt ¡V parent hurts with a child who has a skinned knee even though they know that the pain will quickly subside
He hurt because of the presence of pain in the perfect world He created ¡V just like an artist who has painted a masterpiece would hurt if a child came along and started painting on his painting with fingerpaints
He hurt because of the refusal of people to understand and accept His mission and His message ¡V when the people there focused only on His physical healing ministry rather than the power that He had to change their lives and forgive their sins, it hurt Him.
He hurt because He saw the suffering which was to come because of their refusal of Him
He hurt because he saw the price that He was going to have to pay for their release from their sin
3. Jesus calls us to expose everything to Him so that He can give us life. (John 11:38-44)
„« Jesus¡¦ command (vs. 38-39a) ¡§Open it up!¡¨ ¡V what are you holding onto with clenched fist. ¡§You can¡¦t have this Jesus. It¡¦s too important to me. I won¡¦t give it up.¡¨ Jesus says, ¡§Open up your fist, and let it die.¡¨
„« Martha¡¦s reasoning (vs. 39b-40)
¡§It¡¦s impossible!¡¨ ¡V 4 days
¡§It stinks!¡¨ ¡V Sometimes, we bury our past with its guilt, shame and pain rather than allow Jesus to deal with it. We don¡¦t want to ¡§raise a stink¡¨, so we put up barriers to keep everything contained and managed. When we come to church, the last thing that we want people to see is all the those rotting bones in our closets. We have on our nice clothes and our pretend smile. Jesus tells us to take the lid off. The smell doesn¡¦t bother Him. You have to expose pain in order to deal with it.
„« Lazarus¡¦ resurrection (vs. 41-44)
4. Jesus calls us to respond to His offer of life. (John 11:45-57)
Raising someone from the dead was overwhelming evidence that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be. But even with the evidence, there were still two totally opposite reactions to the same event.
„« Acceptance (vs. 45)
„« Refusal (vs. 46-57 esp. vs. 53)
CONCLUSION
I would ask that everyone bow your head and close your eyes and that the music begin to play. I want to close this morning by asking you four sets of questions.
1. Are you willing to follow Jesus anywhere, regardless of what He calls you to endure even if it means the death of your dreams or the death of your control over your life? Or are you only willing to follow Him when the road is smooth and when He does everything your way and on your timetable?
2. Have you allowed your faith in Jesus to slip because of some circumstance that you have or are facing? Are you angry at God for some injustice that you think He has allowed in your life? He hurts right along with you, and He is the only one who can heal your heart. But you have to come to Him.
3. Are you willing to expose everything to Him? ¡V all the dirt, all the pain, all the past, all of those things that you¡¦ve buried from everyone else¡¦s sight. Are you willing to bring them to Jesus and accept that He can do the impossible?
4. How are you going to respond to Jesus¡¦ offer of life? Are you going to accept His control over your life and enjoy the life that He brings, or are you, in pride, going to walk away, refuse the evidence of His authority and His love, and continue to exist as a dead person?
The song that is playing right now is ¡§Just as I am¡¨. You don¡¦t have to have it all together in order to come to Jesus. Regardless of how much you think you stink, Jesus wants a relationship with you, and He alone can make you live.
