"To Life" Text: John 11:1-44
Elpis Christian Church
April 10, 2011
Eileen Guder, in a book with the intriguing title God, But I’m Bored, has this to say:
“You can live life on bland food so as to avoid an ulcer, drink no tea or coffee or other stimulants in the name of health, go to bed early and stay away from night life, avoid all controversial subjects so as to never give offense, mind your own business and avoid involvement in other people’s problems, spend money only on necessities and save all you can. (And) you can still break your neck in the bathtub (and die). And, she adds, “it will serve you right.”
That may seem a bit harsh – but she has a point. Life is to be LIVED – lived to the fullest – and not just endured. I’ve always loved the Jewish expression one hears at their various gatherings and celebrations, especially weddings: “L’Chayim” meaning literally, “to life.” On the one hand, it’s a simple toast, offered before wine or other alcoholic beverages. But it seems to me – it’s really something much more. Coming from this people who have suffered so much for so many years, and who have survived near extermination time and again – it is a bold, faithful declaration. “To life!” as if to say, “Live it to the fullest – and never take it for granted.” How easy it to slip into taking life for granted. And how much is lost when that happens.
I put that before us today as a backdrop for our consideration of this amazing story of the raising of Lazarus. We come to it as we wind our way with Jesus and His disciples to Jerusalem. We come to it as we note the tension that is rising – how the powers that be in Jesus’ day are all conspiring to do Him in – as the hand of Satan himself guides them. If you look back in the chapters leading to this passage in John, you will quickly see that there is a back and forth shifting between bold declarations of who Jesus is as the long awaited Messiah and Savior and equally bold assertions of how He must be eliminated since, they say, he is obviously only a blasphemer and troublemaker.
This is the tension that hovers near the path we walk from Bethany to Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, Golgotha, and the tomb that would hold Jesus’ body very soon. And in the midst of it all – in the midst of all this threat of death – we find this story of resurrection - in this case, not Jesus’ but that of one of his closest friends, Lazarus.
It’s such a familiar story to us, in a way I think it has lost much of its impact. But it is one we should re-visit often, not just during Lent, but all through our lives. Because it is one of the clearest reminders we have of who Jesus was and what he was all about. In this world of constant, inevitable, relentless death and decay – Jesus is LIFE. We may call him a great teacher; a compassionate healer; a formidable prophetic voice for justice; a wise sage and a thousand other names. But what we as Christians affirm most of all is that he is “the resurrection and the life.” And the question he asks of young Martha, as she wipes her red eyes and bows her head in sorrow – is the question He asks of every single man and woman on the face of this planet. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?
That’s what it all comes down to. You can take or leave church membership; you can decide to be a part of what’s happening here or not; you can live every day reading your Bible and trying to live by its precepts or you can set it aside and follow a thousand other ways. But it all comes down to this. DO you believe Jesus is who He says He is – or not? And the answer makes all the difference in the world.
It makes a difference in the long run – in regard to, as the evangelists are fond of saying – “where we will spend eternity.” More sermons than could ever be remembered have used this very text to challenge, frighten, guide, and inspire listeners into making confessions of faith so as to avoid being sent to a fiery death.
But I think the answer to Jesus’ question also makes all the difference in the world as to the kind of life we will live in the here and now. It’s not all about avoiding hellfire and damnation. It’s about finding life and living life to its fullest NOW.
I believe Jesus has the power to unwrap the burial clothes which bind us so tightly not just when our physical bodies are dead and decaying in the tomb but when our day to day living has grown stagnant as well. I believe Jesus is the way in which we find ourselves freed of the depression, the discouragement, the meaninglessness, and the sheer boredom which sometimes threatens to do us in – long before our physical bodies have died. Put it still another way – to follow Jesus is to find not just life eternal but life in the here and now.
Somehow, sadly, there are lots and lots of people who have missed that message. And I have a sneaking suspicion the Church, as an institution, must bear a large part of the blame for that. Ask a lot people for a honest response to how they feel about Church and the faith and they will tell you they’d just as soon have to a go the dentist and have a root canal as be forced to dress up and come to church and sit through one more boring sermon or sing one more glum hymn. We’ve lost our passion – our enthusiasm – our conviction to say loud and clear “To Life!” And a lot of people know it. So they seek life elsewhere, rarely finding it. We’ve got to do better than that. The stakes are too high. And it’s time we re-discover for ourselves the joys of living a real life of faith.
So, says the cynic, how? Prove it? What does Jesus offer that is so “life-giving”? Well, truth is, I can’t answer that in a hundred sermons, much less just one. It’s something you have to experience for yourself to really come to believe it. But, lest I be accused of just taking the easy way out on that let me make one suggestion – and it takes us back to our scripture passage today.
Go back to that little encounter between Jesus and Martha. He asks Martha if she believes in this concept of resurrection – and whether or not Jesus has the power to raise Lazarus. And like any good, careful, Sunday School student, she answers the good rabbi “I know he will rise again the resurrection of the last day.”
Do you see? He asks the question and she answers with a nice, reasonable, theologically correct response. Even in her sorrow, she engages her brain and finds the appropriate intellectual belief and spits it out as if she is being graded on some final exam.
But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He doesn’t just pat her on the head, give her a gold star, and say, “Very good, little girl, you just keep believing that, and one day, hopefully, it will prove to be true. And – by the way – I’m sorry for your loss. Now go fix us something to eat.”
No – Jesus presses on. He presses on past what she believes in her mind to what she believes in her heart. Again he asks, “I am the resurrection and the life….Do you believe this?” And it’s as if the light bulb goes on. You can almost see here expression change; her eyes brighten as she realizes in her gut what he is promising do right then and right now. And she says “Yes, Lord! Yes! I BELIEVE YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, WHO WAS TO COME INTO THE WORLD.” She might just as easily said, and maybe she did, “Yes Lord! I understand! I believe you can make my brother live again, right here, right now. I believe you can give us all our lives back again!”
And when she made that leap of faith, not just with her mind, but with her heart, Jesus prayed and then brought her brother back to her and her sister.
In other words you can’t find life in Jesus just by believing certain things about Him. That’s good, as far as it goes. But what you really have to do is believe not just things ABOUT him – you have to believe IN HIM – and in his power to be a real, live, active, powerful, life-giving force in your life right now.
It’s so much more than just creeds and doctrine. It’s being willing to every day go to him, talk to him, listen to him, and follow him. And then and only then will the veil of death begin to part and real life begin.
Today there are some among us who are willing to do that. They are willing to step forward and boldly declare that they don’t just believe some things about Jesus in some, vague, intellectual way. They are willing to walk down this aisle today and say publicly that they know Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that following Him day in and day out is going to change their lives radically and permanently. They are willing to say “To Life!” with all their hearts, minds, and souls. I hope and pray we can join in their affirmation and add our own, enthusiastic affirmation as well.
Chuck Swindoll says in his book Grace Awakening:
If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Savior!
Being a Christian isn’t just about believing in a certain set of principles, or following a certain set of laws, or engaging in a certain number of ethical actions – though it encompasses all of those things. And it certainly isn’t just about attending a certain number of church services before you die. Being a Christian is about choosing life by choosing Jesus as Lord and Savior in every single aspect of your life, day in, day out, every single day. Do that, and everything else will fall into place.
“L’Chayim! To LIFE!”
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