Sermons from St Faith's
Going back to Bethany
Revd Denise McDougall, Sunday, April 6th,
2014
As we move towards the climax of Lent and closer to the cross
today’s rather long readings all point us in the direction of
resurrection. Ezekiel has a vision of dead bones brought back to
life, Paul declares that the Holy Spirit gives new life and John’s
Gospel points to the resurrection of Jesus when he brings Lazarus
back to life.
It is this Gospel reading which I plan to focus on this morning.
Having said that I had trouble knowing where begin because there are
so many themes that could be lifted from today’s long passage,
friendship, life, death, mercy, love, faith, resurrection, grief and
so on. I have to confess that when I was struggling slightly
about how to approach today’s sermon I read in one book that any
preacher who needed help with John 11 was in bad shape … I sincerely
hope that isn’t true! For me this unfolding drama clearly
demonstrates the effective power of prayer and God’s love and mercy
which conquers death and offers the hope and joy of resurrection to
all Christian believers.
We have probably all been in the position of the two sisters, panic
stricken and desperate to do something about a loved one’s illness.
You must get help, you must let others know, you want your loved one
better, there is an urgency about the situation. In the story of
Lazarus we come face to face with death in all its horror and
emotion and can empathise with Mary and Martha.
They send a message to Jesus saying ‘Lord the one you love is ill.’
Interestingly they don’t mention Lazarus by name nor did they ask
Jesus to go to them, quite possibly because they had so much faith
in Jesus they knew he would come. Yet knowing how much he loved the
three of them we may question why he didn’t respond immediately and
rush back to Bethany. The sisters may have felt disappointment or
possibly let down by Jesus who even waits a further couple of
days before going by which time Lazarus has died and been buried.
But there is reason for Jesus’ delay and it is certainly not through
lack of compassion, he is praying to his Father as he so frequently
did, praying for Lazarus and also himself; Jesus will be aware that
by returning to Bethany he is walking towards his own death and will
need wisdom and guidance for his plans and movements. And through
prayer Jesus is also preparing himself for the miracle he is going
to perform which will reveal the glory of God. Jesus will reveal the
will of his Father. God not only desires to dwell among us but to
lift us up – he really means, in Ezekiel’s words, ‘to raise us from
our graves’.
So Jesus returns to Bethany, a small town on the eastern slopes of
the Mount of Olives and not far from Jerusalem, to reunite the
family he loves but at the same time knowing that this journey will
cost him his life.
However when they arrived Lazarus had already been in the tomb for 4
days. Martha and then Mary along with the Judaeans who were
consoling them go to meet Jesus. Jesus who as the prophet Isaiah
says, ‘has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.’
The scene shows Jesus as profoundly vulnerable, human and loving. We
feel his emotional pain, and His great sense of compassion. He sheds
tears, he hurts to see others hurt. His emotions were pushed to the
limit by witnessing the sorrow of Mary. I have to say I never fail
to be moved when at funerals I recite the words ‘I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they
die will live and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’.
He is talking about having real life in Christ, the life which he
was sent into the world to share with those who believe and trust in
him.
So in answer to Jesus’ prayers Lazarus was able to come out from the
grave and re-enter ordinary human life for a while longer. Only the
one true God could have performed such an awesome and breath-taking
miracle, and through this miracle the Father and the Son were
glorified. What a heart stopping moment, there in full view of the
crowds Jesus brings the disciples and many others to believe in his
divinity but those opposing Jesus go off to report to the Pharisees
what has happened and by doing so bring the crucifixion a step
closer.
Yet resurrection is not necessarily a future event, it can take
place within the messiness and brokenness of our lives here and now.
The resurrection and the life are there for all who are in union
with Christ; we are invited along with Mary and Martha to truly
believe Jesus is the Messiah, the one who was sent to into our world
of pain, sorrow and death to bring us new life and the key to new
life is the same now as it was then; faith. Can we really
agree with Martha who says, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe you are the
Messiah, the Son of God.’?
When I was Chaplain at the Academy of St. Francis of Assisi we had
an incredibly powerful talk by an ex-gangster, John Pridmore who
came to believe. His story highlighted both the joy and hope of
earthly resurrection. John was a significant character in London’s
East End in the early 1990’s. He was a bouncer in the clubs and his
jackets were specially tailored (presumably by other gangsters!) to
hold his machete and knuckle dusters. He stole large amounts of
money and later he cashed in thousands of pounds from drug dealing;
the money bought him flash cars, a penthouse, he lavishly wined and
dined as many women as he wanted. His life was violent, cruel and
isolating and it snowballed out of control. Then one night he almost
killed a man. John ended up in prison, he suffered illness,
contemplated suicide and his life seemed meaningless. Then very
slowly things began to change, by talking to people of faith he
started to see the world through different eyes, he opened his ears
to what people were saying to him, and miraculously the huge
boulders blocking his path were slowly moved aside. In a life where
he knew only despair he started to gain trust and hope, he learnt to
pray and God’s real presence entered into his life to stay. He
told many inspiring stories about resurrection in people’s lives
today.
We may all have our own bit of John Pridmore and in fact Lazarus in
us, friends loved by Christ but needing to be raised.
There will be parts in each of us that are dead or perhaps should be
dead and we need to let them go in order to experience new life.
Today’s Gospel spells it out clearly that God not only came to live
among us but to lift us up and because of the sacrifice Jesus
knowingly made by going back to Bethany our new life is there for
the taking.
We are given that great gift at our baptism when God calls us from
the darkness into his marvellous light, it continues throughout our
lives providing we have prayer, trust, and faith in our hearts. To
follow Christ means dying to sin and with his help rising to new
life.
In a few moments we will affirm our faith by saying the words of the
Nicene Creed together. Can we like Martha say with confidence that
Christ is the Messiah and yes we really do believe in the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come? Amen.
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