IF ONLY!
John 11
1A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2This is the Mary who poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, "Lord, the one you love is very sick." 4But when Jesus heard about it he said, "Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this." 5Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6he stayed where he was for the next two days and did not go to them. 7Finally after two days, he said to his disciples, "Let’s go to Judea again." 8But his disciples objected. "Teacher," they said, "only a few days ago the Jewish leaders in Judea were trying to kill you. Are you going there again?" 9Jesus replied, "There are twelve hours of daylight every day. As long as it is light, people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10Only at night is there danger of stumbling because there is no light." 11Then he said, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up." 12The disciples said, "Lord, if he is sleeping, that means he is getting better!" 13They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was having a good night’s rest, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14Then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15And for your sake, I am glad I wasn’t there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let’s go see him." 16Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let’s go, too--and die with Jesus." 17When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18Bethany was only a few miles* down the road from Jerusalem, 19and many of the people* had come to pay their respects and console Martha and Mary on their loss. 20When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask." 23Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again." 24"Yes," Martha said, "when everyone else rises, on resurrection day." 25Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life.* Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. 26They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?" 27"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." 28Then she left him and returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, "The Teacher is here and wants to see you." 29So Mary immediately went to him. 30Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31When the people who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. 34"Where have you put him?" he asked them. They told him, "Lord, come and see." 35Then Jesus wept. 36The people who were standing nearby said, "See how much he loved him." 37But some said, "This man healed a blind man. Why couldn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?"
Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead
38And again Jesus was deeply troubled. Then they came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39"Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them.But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, "Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days." 40Jesus responded, "Didn’t I tell you that you will see God’s glory if you believe?" 41So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, thank you for hearing me. 42You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me." 43Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" 44And Lazarus came out, bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him go!"
I A Serious Condition 1-2
II A Frantic Call For Jesus v3
III The Master Delays 4-6
IV The Master Decides to Respond a few Days Later v7-16
1. The disciples argue over the risk
2. Jesus tells them Lazarus had died
3. But that he is going back to raise him
V The Master is Too Late v17
- Lazarus in the tomb 4 days
A.. Martha plays the blame game v21
B. Mary plays the blame game v32
If only keeps us blaming and focusing on the past we can’t change, and keeps us from focusing on the future we can change. We can’t move forward until we drop the “IF ONLY’S from our lives.
Many of life’s stories end at v32 -Frozen by “IF ONLY”S.
by David Sisler
"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’" Those famous words written by John Greenleaf Whittier, have a fascinating appeal for most of us. Somewhere in each of our lives is an "if only."
My most unusual rejection notice was from an editor who simply said, "If only I’d received this article last week. It would have been perfect in the issue I just sent to press."
Arguably, one of the most important inventions in history was the telephone. In 1875, while experimenting with the idea of transmitting speech by electrical means, Alexander Graham Bell discovered the basic principle that made the telephone possible. The next year, on March 7, 1876, Elisha Gray of Oberlin, Ohio, applied for a patent for a telephone – two hours after Bell patented his invention! If only.
Jeffrey Hunter was an accomplished actor who was only 41-years-old when he died. He played Jesus Christ in the 1961 movie, "King of Kings." He appeared in the first episode of TV’s "The FBI." He also played a starship captain in a pilot for a proposed series which NBC turned down on first viewing. The character of Christopher Pike would later be changed to James T. Kirk and William Shatner would then gain world wide fame as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
When NBC did not like the first pilot, "The Cage," and therefore did not buy Star Trek, Hunter went on to other roles. In early 1969 he was filming on location in Spain when an accidental explosion on the set caused head injuries. Dizzy spells followed and Hunter returned home. A few days later he was found unconscious at the foot of a stairway in his home. He had apparently suffered another dizzy spell, stumbled, and fell all the way down. Emergency brain surgery was unsuccessful and Jeffrey Hunter died.
As every "Trekker" knows, Star Trek was purchased after a second pilot was produced and then ran for three years. The final episode aired after Jeffrey Hunter died. Had he remained with Star Trek for the three years it ran, he would not have been in Spain making a movie in early 1969. If only.
If only insurance executive Walter Kaye had not arranged for a White House internship for a young woman named Monica Lewinsky.
If only skipper Joseph Hazelwood had been paying attention when his tanker, the Exxon Valdez, entered Prince William Sound.
If only John F. Parker, the bodyguard assigned to Abraham Lincoln during a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford’s Theater had stayed at his post instead of slipping out to a saloon and leaving the president unprotected.
At age 76, Henry Fonda made this observation about himself: "I’ve been married five times and I’m ashamed of myself. My life has been peppered with suicides – (two of his former wives) – and I don’t like to look back at them. I don’t like myself. I never have. People mix me up with the roles I play."
If only.
Go from that assessment of one man’s life, by himself, to that of another man. You’re familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba – how Israel’s king committed adultery and then murder. Because of David’s failure, the name of God was blasphemed throughout Israel.
"If only" was probably high on the list of things David said to himself: "If only I’d have been with my troops where the king should have been. If only I’d have stopped with the first look and not progressed to lust. If only I hadn’t sent the order to kill Bathsheba’s husband."
Having sunk that low, David could have spent the rest of his life moaning his condition. He could have gathered crowd after crowd and told them, "You should have seen me when. Oh, the man I could have been." Instead he cried out to God, "If you wanted burnt offerings and sacrifices, I would have given them to you. But that was not what you required. What you want is a willing spirit. You will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for its sin."
In our Church softball game on Monday night, if we would have got a different call we would have won.
If only my Home Life -Up bringing was different
-If only I had a dad, If only a good dad
-If only my mother wasn’t a drug addict
-If only my parents hadn’t divorced, died
-If only I hadn’t been abused as a child
-If only we had been rich instead of poor
If only I had not been in the wrong crowd - wrong place
If only my friends hadn’t stabbed me in the back, and turned me in
If only I had a better lawyer
If only I had a different judge.
If only the jury wasn’t biased , prejudiced
If only I had been sent to a different prison
If only my wife and family hadn’t left me. (Child or wife hadn’t died
If only I had married a different woman she wouldn’t have left me while I’m in here.
If only my boss hadn’t fired me, or laid me off.
If only keeps us tied to the past that we can’t change
If only keeps us from learning from the past
If only keeps us from moving on to a productive future.
If only is fantasy thinking that only makes us miserable, and makes nothing better.
If only thinking keeps us blaming things we have no control over, and keeps us from taking the blame for things we are responsible for. (How I respond to what happened)
If only is worshipping the idol of the me that might have been, and never discovering the me that can still be in Jesus. (Dr Richard Dobbins)
The story of Joseph in the Bible tells of a man who could have allowed if only’s to bury him. If only my bothers hadn’t sold me. If only Potipher’s wife had lied, and he hadn’t believed her. If only the cup bearer hadn’t forgotten me.... But the reason he was there to save his family many years later is that he believed God was greater than the "If only’s" of his life.
VI The Master can resurrect our Futures if we will bury our past v33
1. Martha gives us a hint in v22 that she is not completely frozen and chained to her IF ONLY
2. She didn’t know what to expect, but she trusted Jesus with it.
3. More resistance to the future by thinking focused on past v39
As a young boy I wanted to do something, and my mom said why don’t you play with Greg across the street. I said I don’t want to play with Greg, and I didn’t.
Later that day he drowned while swimming with some friends. If only I had played with him he wouldn’t have drowned - I replayed in my head over and over. At an altar in revival I laid it down at the foot of the cross and left it.
Pardon Not Accepted
Back in 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the United States Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. “A pardon is a slip of paper,” wrote Marshall, “the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.”
For some, the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted.
Prokope, Vol. 11, #5
If’s of Life
Famed pianist Artur Rubinstein, celebrating his 84th birthday, said:
“As long as we have what we have inside, the capacity to love, to work, to hear music, to see a flower, to look at the world as it is, nothing can stop us from being happy...but one thing you must take seriously. You must get rid of the ifs of life. Many people tell you, ‘I would be happy—if I had a certain job, or if I were better looking, or if a certain person would marry me.’ There isn’t any such thing. You must live your life unconditionally, without the ifs.”
Bits & Pieces, April 30, 1992
Conclusion: If you will admit your sins and turn away from them, and quit blaming others God will forgive you because Jesus died for that very reason.
Tonight if you will surrender your “IF Only’s” to God and bury them, God will resurrect a new life full of possibilities. Do you believe?
Seed thought from David Seamends Book "IF ONLY"
