If You Had Been Here
(John 11: 32-44)
It was last year in December that my younger brother passed away suddenly. He had mentioned to my mother that he wasn’t feeling well and noticed blood in his urine. She urged him to see a doctor, but he declined reasoning that it was probably just a side effect of the cold medicine he was taking. Shortly after that conversation an aneurism in his stomach ruptured causing him to lose a lot of blood. He survived the emergency surgery but did not survive the recovery. The loss of blood was too great. It was a shock to the family as it didn’t have to be that way. If he had gone to see a doctor, they could have caught it and repaired the aneurism with a relatively simple operation. He was retired and was living with his daughter and son-in-law helping out with the mortgage by paying rent. He died leaving behind two daughters, teenage granddaughters, and twin grandsons who would soon turn ten. A sudden death, one in which surviving family members have no time to prepare, process, or say goodbye is especially difficult and I knew they would be in shock as they began the grieving process. So, I flew to Syracuse to be with my mother, sister, and the rest of the family to do what I could.
When asked if I could do my brother’s celebration of life service I readily agreed and had actually brought my United Methodist condensed Book of Worship, Pastor’s Pocket Edition anticipating that I might be asked to preside over a service if there was one. In preparing for a service like this I’ve learned, the hard way, that you have to know who your audience is, and I knew in Jeff’s case it would be a mixed audience of family, friends, coworkers, and friends of my mother and sister. But more importantly, there were his grandchildren to consider and how they would process the sudden death of their live-in grandfather, especially when listening to a great-uncle they never met talking about life after death. Why didn’t this God I was talking about step in and do something? Why did this God let their grandfather die? Where was this God when my grandfather needed him? He doesn’t sound like the kind of God I want to believe in.
I prepared my remarks with the boys in mind first telling them and the rest of those in attendance that we are born into an imperfect world with imperfect bodies. That we have the gift of free will to live the kind of lifestyle we choose and sometimes we make bad decisions that have consequences. Sometimes we get sick and die. Losing someone close hurts and we question God, and that’s okay. God understands and He feels our pain, and He is right there with us helping us to process our sorrow and to remind us that there is a life in eternity for those who believe. I didn’t want my young audience hating God before they even had a chance to know him.
And that’s what Martha and Mary were undoubtably asking themselves when their brother Lazarus took sick and died suddenly. If Jesus had been there Lazarus wouldn’t have died. Why did he not come when they sent word to him? Did the Lord not care?
Many of us know this story but we have to understand our audience. There may be a few of us who need a refresher on how this all came about and there may be some here or listening online who haven’t heard this story and need to understand the importance and significance of how it happened and ended. So let me give you some of the back story. Not only did Jesus have disciples but he also had family and friends. And, in his humanness, he had some very close friends just like you and me who loved him has as a friend and a savior. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were such friends who lived in the village of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. In fact, we are told that Mary was the one who anointed Jesus with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair. When Lazarus unexpectedly became deathly ill the sisters sent word to Jesus saying: Lord, the one whom you love is ill. When Jesus received the message, he said: This illness isn’t fatal. It’s for the glory of God so that God’s Son can be glorified through it. Now this sounds a little cryptic and I’m sure one or two of the disciples are wondering to themselves that if this sickness isn’t a big deal how is it going to glorify the Son of God? In any event, after two days Jesus told his disciples they were returning to Judea to which the disciples replied: Rabbi, the Jewish opposition wants to stone you, but you want to go back? Jesus essentially tells them they have work to do, that their friend Lazarus is sleeping, and that Jesus is going to go and wake him up. This must have been pretty confusing to the disciples who figured that if Lazarus was merely sleeping, he would be okay and there was no need to return to Judea where they definitely weren’t wanted. Jesus tells them plainly: Lazarus has died. For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there so that you can believe. Let’s go to him.
So off they went and when Martha learned Jesus was on his way, she went out to meet him while Mary remained at the house grieving. She greeted Jesus and said: Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you. This is a testament to her faith and Jesus told her that her brother will rise again, to which she responded that she knew he would in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? And Martha replied: Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world. That’s pretty powerful considering her grief but by her statement she acknowledged that her brother would, one day, rise again in the resurrection. At this point Martha returned home and told Mary that Jesus was there and wanted to see her. Mary got up and quickly went out to meet Jesus who was still on the outskirts of Bethany. When the Jews who were there comforting Mary saw her get up and abruptly leave, they assumed she was going to the tomb to grieve so they got up and followed her. When Mary got to Jesus she fell at his feet and said: Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. John tells us that when Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled asking where they had laid Lazarus. They told Jesus to come and see and at hearing that Jesus began to cry. The Jews said: See how much he loved him! But some of them remarked: He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?
We’re told that when Jesus got to the tomb where Lazarus was buried, he was deeply disturbed and told them to remove the stone. Martha said: Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days. Jesus replied: Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory? They removed the stone, Jesus looked up and said: Father, thank you for hearing me. I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me. Jesus knows that this will be a turning point for his ministry and will get the attention of some very powerful people who will feel threatened by his power. It’s one thing to heal a leper and restore someone’s sight, but to raise an obviously dead person from the grave is quite another thing. At this point Jesus shouted in a loud voice for Lazarus to come out and when Lazarus emerged, he was still wrapped in his burial clothes with his face covered with a cloth. Jesus instructed them to untie him and let him go. John tells us that many of the Jews who came with Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The plot thickens.
Jesus has just connected the dots. The reality of his humanity and the depth of his love are revealed. His prayer was a public testimony to his dependence on the Father and to the truth that he does the works of God. In his gospel John stresses that we have a God who cares. This is in stark contrast with the Greek concept of a God with no emotions and no messy involvement with humans. When Jesus saw the weeping and wailing, he too wept openly. He showed that he cares enough for us to weep with us in our sorrow, even when we are confused or angry in our grief. He understands that such is a natural human reaction to loss. And here we see many of Jesus’ emotions—compassion, indignation, sorrow, and even frustration. So, as he often expressed deep emotions, we must never be afraid to reveal our true feelings to him. He understands them, for he experienced them.
When it is all said and done, only what God has accomplished through us will really matter. We will take little credit. As Jesus worked in and around Lazarus, he does the same with our lives. We have Christ’s invitation to participate in his work, but we must not forget that he will do much more than we will ever know. We may think that what we do in service to God goes unnoticed or unappreciated, that it really isn’t making a difference, but it does. Meanwhile, we can delight in what Christ does with the little we have to offer him, not wondering if he will come, but that he is already here.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving Father, we praise you for all the saints who’ve shone your love in how they live and where they move, for mindful women, caring men, accept our gratitude again. Yes Lord, we praise you for placing the many good and faithful servants in our lives who have helped us, guided us, and shown us what it means to be a Follower of the Way of Jesus Christ. And we praise you for always being there to share in our joy, our victories, our shame, our grief, and our losses. We praise you for lifting us up and using us even in our brokenness. So, move us to be there for others just as you continue to be there for us. This we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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As He often expressed deep emotions, we must never be afraid to reveal our true feelings to Him.
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