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"Wanted: Dead or Alive"
December 14, 2003 The Rev. Dr. Christopher Carlson
While I was sitting watching the kids sing, I was trying to debate with myself, did y'all come to see the new pastor or did you come to see the kids? And I know the answer to that!
It is wonderful to be here. I feel honored to have been chosen by the Pastor Nominating Committee to be the candidate for Senior Pastor here. Presbyterians are representative in their form of government, so what happens in that process is the congregation chooses their representatives, the Pastor Nominating Committee, and they go out and choose someone, then you never see anybody until somebody shows up at your door. And here I am! And I just want to say to you that regardless of the vote, your Pastor Nominating Committee has done a good job. They're good people. And they are what attracted me to you. A lot of times, you know, you go to a different place and you have a lot of different things going on (. . . like the weather . . .). And everybody I told I was going to Minnesota said, "You know, it's cold up there!" And I heard that at least a hundred times. And I'm kind of going, "Well, so?" But . . . (yes, it is) . . .but what makes a place a place is its people. And you have wonderful people here and I really feel great about being here.
So I am learning a little bit of the language. I am a southern person. I've lost a little of my accent along the way in school, but you'll hear it. And so I'm trying to learn to say "Minnesota" [pronounced as a Minnesotan would say it] not Minnesota [southern pronunciation]. And I'm trying to say instead of, "You know, that's right. We should do that." I'm trying to learn how to say, "You bettcha!" You know, things like that. But we'll get used to one another as we go along.
One of the things I like to do in my preaching is I like to preach through series of things, kind of to get us in the mood. And I've been preaching a series in my last church (my current church? whatever it may be--I'm not sure!). A series on the great "I am"s in John. In John, Jesus says, "I am [this and that]." That refers back to Exodus where Moses asks God what His name is and God, of course, says, "I am that I am." And Jesus, John records, says, "I am the Good Shepherd." "I am the Gate." And today I want to talk about the Resurrection and the Life. It is a series through Advent, so it does connect. And I want to read to you a passage--and it really will skip around just a little bit because the passage is long--from John 11. One of the most wonderful stories in the Bible, the story of the resurrection, of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. So let us look at John 11. And before we do, let's pray together.
Father, I ask that you would be with me as I bring your Word. I want to be a channel of your love and your thoughts. And be with your people as they listen and as they hear what you have to say. May the things that you say through me apply to their lives and help them lead ones pleasing to you and help them in their daily lives. I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to him, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you're going back there?" "Are there not 12 hours of daylight?" Jesus said. "A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that stumbles, for he has no light." After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I'm going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so you may believe. But let us go to him." Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again, in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "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?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." After she said this, she also went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here. He is asking for you." When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was moved deeply and asked them, "Where have you laid him?"
This ends the reading of God's holy Word. Amen.
I'll never forget that day. I went into his room, and when I saw him laying in the bed, his jaw was a little bit askance because of the respirator that had been there. His skin was yellowing already, and white, stiffening. Hair unkempt. This was my father after he had died. He had gone into surgery and he didn't make it through. He had a heart attack and had been on a respirator for a long time and finally had passed away. I remember very clearly that night and what I learned. See, I had been a pastor even then about seven or eight years and I had done many funerals--had had the privilege of ministering to people in their greatest time of need many times. And yet I learned that night that death hurts. You see, when you don't have it happen to you, you don't really know that. But it did. And I think in many ways because of that experience and others, I became a better minister that night. My father passed away, and I learned what it meant to hurt through that.
I learned that it makes the passage I read to you even more curious to me. I've always loved the story of Mary, and Martha and Lazarus. But how curious it is that when Jesus hears that one of His best friends is sick, He doesn't go! He stays where He is. And He lets Lazarus die. Even His disciples are curious at this. His friends--of course, they don't really want to go anyway. They think if they go near Jerusalem, somebody's going to pick them up and kill them. But they're curious why Jesus is acting the way He acts. Then He waits and says, "Well, let's go to him." And He talks in this language like, "Well, he's asleep." But, no, he's not asleep. He's actually dead. And then He says, "I'm glad that I waited, that I wasn't there, because you would learn something."
God often delays blessing for us. He delays when we're ill or sick sometimes. Why does He do that? I'm not suggesting that everything that happens in our life has some huge meaning, but sometimes it does. Why does God often delay blessing or help? Well, first of all, what I want to say before we talk about that--something very important--is that God is not indifferent to our suffering.
I heard a story about a man in the twenties in Massachusetts who was walking along a pier and he tripped over some rope and fell into the cold, icy waters. He couldn't swim, and so as he was kind of struggling to get up out of the water, he screamed out and people heard him from a long distance, yet no one could get to him in time. But there happened to be a man who was up on the pier sunbathing. And he also happened to be a very good swimmer. And yet he heard the man crying, looked over to him, and was indifferent. He didn't do anything about it. Now at that time there were no laws about having to go help. I think there are some communities that have passed those kinds of laws now that you have to go help if you hear someone calling for help. But at that time they didn't. And the relatives of the man who drowned sued the sunbather. Unfortunately, at the time, the court ruled that they couldn't do anything about it.
But I want to tell you that God is not indifferent to your situation. Every one of us has problems. Sometimes we're going along, and things are going great, and suddenly we get a bad report at the hospital. Or we get a phonecall in the middle of the night. I've got three daughters in college (or one has actually graduated) and I really hate getting a call at one a.m. Sometimes it's OK: "Hey, dad! I want to hear you." "Do you know what time it is?" "I just got up."
It's not that bad, but at one o'clock to hear a phone ring, I don't even want to pick it up. But God's not indifferent. God knows what you're going through. But sometimes He chooses to allow us to go through it or wait. But He's not indifferent. He's not like human beings so often are. He knows you, and loves you, and is involved in your life. Why does He make us wait? Why does He delay? Well, for the disciples He wanted to teach them a lesson. And their lesson was kind of like one of those seeds you get planted in your heart. You don't really know why it's there and then suddenly it blooms and you go, "Oh! I know!" Have you ever had that happen to you, where you don't really know why you're going through something, and then maybe six months later you look back and go, "Oh. I see." Or maybe it's ten years. Or whenever it is, you can go back and look and say, "I see why God did that."
That's what it was for the disciples. You know, they just didn't get it. That's why I love the Bible, actually. It's so real. Who would write about themselves in such a bad light? I mean, the disciples were just kind of idiots for a long time. And they just don't get it. And they get it finally after Jesus is raised from the dead, and the Holy Spirit has come, and they're power-filled and all that, and "Oh, wow! This really makes a difference!" But while they are going on, they just don't get it. They see Him do miracles, they see Him do this, they see Him do that. But it doesn't happen. And even now, they don't even want to go help Lazarus. "If we go to Jerusalem, we're gonna get killed." And then they finally say, "Well, if he's gonna go, we might as well go and die with him." They just don't get it. But this is the kind of event that Jesus puts in their lives so that later on they'll go, "Oh! I see what He meant." Jesus wanted them to see Him raise Lazarus from the dead. And even then they didn't quite get it until afterwards.
But even more, Jesus wanted to teach His own friends, Mary and Martha. Jesus had stayed with them many times. Lazarus was one of His best friends. And you can imagine what Mary and Martha are going through. They kind of know where Jesus is. They kind of know how long a message is going to take to get to Him and how long before He's going to get back. They send the message and they're counting the days. And Jesus doesn't show up. And their brother dies.
So when they're sitting at home grieving, they hear that Jesus finally shows up. And when you read the Bible, you have to get the emotion of it sometimes. You know, we read it so often that we just read it and, you know, it doesn't mean much. But if you just get the passion of the moment, it means a lot more. So here they are--wondering why Jesus has let them down. We all know that feeling when our friend lets us down. So being the impetuous one, Martha hears Jesus is coming. She's the take-charge type. She gets up, goes to Jesus. Mary stays behind. You have to hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice: "Lord, if you had been here . . . my brother would not have died." "If you had been here." And implied is the question, "Why didn't you show up? Where were you?" And then comes the discussion about, "Do you believe that your brother's going to rise from the dead?" What's Jesus trying to teach Martha?
Well, I think Martha had what might be called a "Sunday School faith." And there's nothing wrong with that. But, you know, in Sunday School we learn the doctrines and learn what we're supposed to know. And Martha had learned all this. She had learned that in the end of time, God is going to raise His people from the dead and she believed that. But she couldn't see the idea of Jesus doing it now. You see, she had what people have called a "small-g" god. They believed in "god" and saw Jesus do many miracles, but not death. He's not going to be able to overcome death. And she did not believe that.
You know, at our time we believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, as a child--that God Himself became a human being. But I've been asked many times (especially in the Presbyterian Church), "Do you have to believe in the virgin birth to be a Christian?" Well, technically, no, not really. But, you know, it says a whole lot, though, about what kind of God you believe in if you don't believe in a virgin birth. Because what it's saying is you don't believe God really acts in history--that God really is up there somewhere and He either has no power to do anything or He chooses not to do anything about the natural order of things. And so you have a "small-g" god, not a "big-G" God. And we need a "big-G" faith--that God is at work in our lives, is powerful in our lives. And sometimes we know it seems like He's not.
You know: "Where is Saddam Hussein? Why can't we find him? Why doesn't God do something about those people?" But God delays. Or He uses human instruments to take care of His will, and that certainly brings delay. But God works His plan out. And I want to say in your life that God is big. That all of us need to grow in that "big-G" faith. All of us fall into the "little-g" from time to time. When things begin to happen, especially things that are challenges, we tend to shrink God's power. And so often we decide, "Well, I've got to do it myself. I've got to take care of this. Nobody else will." Sometimes we just need to sit back and let God work. And believe me, I'm as bad about that as anybody. It's a lesson I have to learn time and time again, that God is a lot bigger than me and can take care of it.
But the other thing that Martha didn't have also, what I'm kind of getting at, is a personal faith in God. What I mean by that is so many Christians believe that God can do big things, but not really for them. It's as though God doesn't really--I've had people say to me so many times, "You know, I just don't want to bother God with those prayer requests. God doesn't need to hear from me--I mean, this is little stuff. I don't need to pray about that. You know, God doesn't need to hear it."
God wants to hear it! God wants to do it for you. God loves you--personally. And Martha was kind of like that. She believed in the resurrection, but she didn't believe in the resurrection right then, for her brother. And God wanted her, and Jesus wanted her, to know that it was for her. Mary is the same way: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died." And Jesus wanted to show them that, yes, this blessing is for you.
There is a play out there called Lazarus Laughed. I've forgotten the author's name, but part of the play is it's about Lazarus and it's about after the time that Jesus raised him from the dead. And he goes around laughing all the time, because he's "been there and done that" (and got the T-shirt!). Death no longer has the fear for him. And that's kind of the attitude we ought to have.
There was a little boy who was trying to learn John 3:16 and got it a little bit wrong. He said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not panic, but have everlasting life." Well, that's right. The real word is "perish," but because we're not going to perish, we don't have to panic.
That doesn't mean life isn't tough. Life is tough. But we don't have to panic because we're not going to perish. Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead, and He's been raised from the dead, and we will be raised from the dead. And in the end, that's a part of what Christmas is all about. Our faith is that God was born into the world. Joy to the world! Because God was born into the world. But not just to sit around and just be here. He has conquered, is conquering, will conquer all the enemies that we have in His time--including the great enemy of death.
That's what we celebrate. We celebrate that God so loved the world that He came to be one of us, and among us, and to show us a face--that He's not just up there somewhere kind of watching how things happen, but He's intimately involved. Because here He is with us and loves us more than we can ever, ever know. That's the message of Christmas and that's my message to you: God loves you, is with you, is intimately involved in your life. And you don't have to panic, because you will not perish, but you will be--and are, now, even now--raised from the dead.
In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Father, thank you for Jesus, our Lord. We pray that you could help us in our lives. Because as we go through life, and the busyness, and the pains, and the suffering that we go through, we forget just how much you love us and how you are involved. And we pray that in this time we might be reminded of that as we sing the great songs of Christmas, as we celebrate your coming into the world. And that we may draw strength for our lives for the coming year. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Christopher Carlson Pastor Elect Faith Presbyterian Church Minnetonka, Minnesota
[Transcribed from an audiotape of the worship service on December 14, 2003.] |
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