Easter Now!
Sermon
A Fine Gospel for Preaching
Cycle B Gospel Text Sermons for Pentecost Last Third
In the cartoon Winnie the Pooh, someone asks Pooh Bear, "What's your favorite season?" "I like them all," Pooh responds. "When it's winter, I like spring. When it's spring, I like summer. And in summer, I like fall." Isn't that just like us? Isn't it our nature to always escape from the now to some other time and place? In the text, Martha is doing this. Follow closely and see what happens!
The Past
Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus is sick. Jesus is called but he doesn't come right away. Instead he delays two days. It seems God doesn't always come when you whistle.
Finally the Lord does make his way to Bethany and Lazarus' home. But, alas! Poor Lazarus has died and been in the grave four days. Martha, hearing that Jesus is coming, goes out to meet him. Seeing him, Martha complains, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21 NIV). Do you see her confidence in what God might have done in the past?
Some people's faith is like that, you know. God was mighty then. "He stood by Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and David." "He certainly healed then." "Yes, of course the Holy Spirit did that then." But what of God's power now?
A father was reading Bible stories to his children. For many nights the little people heard the thrilling tales of Noah's Ark, Moses at the Red Sea, Joshua and Jericho, David and Goliath, and Christ and Calvary. The kids reveled in the tales of yesteryear. One night as the father was about to begin another story, his youngest said, "Dad, don't tell us an old story tonight. Tell us what God's been doing lately." If our Christianity is to do any good it must be a today faith. It must draw us out of the past. It must be a here-and-now confidence and resource for living.
To hear some talk you'd think God has walked off the job. He's thrown his arm away. The Lord is now in semi-retirement, a sort of cosmic has-been running a two-bit enterprise we call the church.
Doesn't God do anything anymore? Are we left only with nostalgia? Left only with talk about the good old days? Is all we've got memories? Is the church's job to walk people through its dusty spiritual archives and thrill them with what God did?
Don't get me wrong. A knowledge of the past is vital. Without memory we'd suffer from amnesia, an agonizing loss of roots. Francis Schaeffer said that if we live in the past it's like being blind in one eye. But if we don't know the past it's like being blind in both eyes.
A healthy faith takes account of the past to be sure. But it also takes account of the present. As in the text, Christ draws us to the here and now. He will not let Martha wallow in what God might have done back then. He makes her deal with what God will do now! "Your brother will rise again," Jesus assures her (John 11:23 NIV).
The Future
How does Martha respond to Christ's present statement? She leaps from the past to the future, from what God might have done in the past to what God will do in the future. She claims, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24 NIV).
Aren't we like Martha? We're just not sure God could do all those miracles way back then; we're quite certain he'll do them again in the future. And, oh! Don't we love to sing about it! "In the Sweet By and By!" "Oh, That Will Be Glory for Me!"
Again, don't get me wrong! The God of the future is important. Hope, or confidence in what God will do later, is a vital part of our faith. It is healthy to look forward.
A model New England village was told that its 1,500 citizens would have to relocate because a new dam would cause their city to be underwater. In just a few months this picturesque town began to run down with peeling paint and unkempt lawns. Crime shot up. There was a flurry of divorces. Even the school principal reported increased discipline problems. You see, the people had lost their future. They had lost hope. Feeling that there is a future is a real need. Martha expresses it in the text. "I know my brother will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." But again Jesus would not allow Martha to slip away from the present situation and the very present God.
Just this week I heard a college student say to another, "You've got a lot to look forward to!" "Look forward to?" the fellow replied, "I'm right in the middle of it now!"
Isn't it that way with Martha in the text? She's like Winnie the Pooh. When it's today she likes what God would have done then or what he will do later. Jesus stops her and affirms that she's right in the middle of it now. "I am," Christ says confidently. "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live." Then he turns and looks deeply into Martha's face and asks, "Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26 RSV). "Yes," Martha responds from her troubled, grieving heart. "Yes!" and together they walk toward the dead man's tomb.
The Present
Jesus would not allow Martha to slip out of the present situation to wallow in the past or just to revel in the future.
"Now! Here! Today! This very instant! I am the resurrection and the life. Believe now!" Jesus persists.
Pointing to the tomb Christ orders, "Take away the stone!" Again Martha is unsure of what God can do now. "But Master," she argues, "he's been dead four days. By now he will stink!" Christ draws her back again to the now. "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" (John 11:38-40 RSV).
Martha, Martha, you are so like us! We understand you! Our faith in God is secure. We believe in what God did or will do. But now? Right here? No, our faith stinks! It has an odor of doubt about it. Leave the stone over the tomb. We'll all just go home with you, Martha, and finish grieving.
Several years ago I visited Lazarus' tomb in Bethany, Israel. I and about a half dozen tourists entered the tomb by descending a flight of narrow steps. We edged through a narrow door into the actual burial chamber itself. I'll never forget a portly fellow named Sammy who went in with us. "I'll get stuck," he protested. "Go ahead," we encouraged. Sure enough he got stuck. Now get the picture: six large, sweating people in a four-by-four underground burial chamber. The tiny door is jammed by a plump and wiggling body. One of us gets claustrophobic and begins to panic. There is pushing and shoving and a cry of anguish. Sammy is crying out for help from above. Our Arab bus driver is standing at the mouth of the tomb yelling, "Lazarus, come forth!" ("Why not? It worked once, didn't it?" he later defended himself.)
Such is our human condition. We struggle with death. We wrestle with the tomb. Right now we work hard like Martha to come forth from the past and future to face life and God now!
Did you hear about the pastor's confirmation class? They studied all God had done and would do and then they prayed together. One nine-year-old boy bowed his head and said, "Lord, thank you for all you've done. And keep up the good work!" And Jesus in the text proved God was still on the job. "Lazarus, come forth!" he shouted and the dead man lived.
What God has done in the past he continues to be able to do. What God will do in the future he can most certainly do right now if he so chooses. He is still on the job. He is now as able as he ever has been!
And you? You, Martha? Are you fleeing to the pious past or escaping to the fabulous future, struggling out of present faith in God and the now situation? What about now? What needs do you have now? Do you need to be reborn? Do you need to make that commitment to walk in the Holy Spirit, to understand, serve, and minister now? What do you need to deal with a troubled teenager, a difficult marriage, or a major illness?
Since God can raise the dead, he most assuredly can raise you to faithfulness now. Christ stands before you in all your fear and decay and sin, yes, even your spiritual death, and he cries out your name with resurrection power. "Come forth! Come forth from the past, from nostalgia, and your musty spiritual archives, from past defeat and grief and evil habits. Come forth from religious escapism to the future, from running and pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by religion. Come forth to Easter, to today, to resurrection power here and now, today, this very instant, to divine power throbbing, able, and for every need of yours! Lazarus, come forth!"
Today's People
Years ago in a television movie, Bill Cosby played a distraught father who learned that his son had sickle cell anemia. At the movie's conclusion, Cosby and the son take a walk to talk things over. "I want to talk to you about people," the dad begins, "There are three kinds of people: yesterday people, today people, and tomorrow people. Now, your grandfather is a yesterday person. He's always telling you how good things used to be. I'm a tomorrow person, telling you how good things are going to be. From now on you and I are going to be today people. We'll just fill each day with happy times. We're not going to live in the past or in the future. We're going to live today."
Think about you and your relationship with the Lord. Is yours a yesterday faith or a tomorrow faith? Or are you a today Christian?
Christ is never an escape from the here and now, a flight to the pious past, or a blind date with a glorious future. Some religion is like that but not the faith of the crucified, risen, and ascended Christ. Genuine Christianity is always for today. "Now is the day of salvation." Jesus Christ is the way now, the truth now, and the life now. It is the secular world that is looking for escape. It is the secular world that refuses to face the real questions: Who am I now? What is man now? What can I believe now? What shall I do now?
Won't you stand with Christ now and face life today?
Suggested Prayer
Lord, please bring my faith up to date, for Christ's sake. Amen.
The Past
Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus is sick. Jesus is called but he doesn't come right away. Instead he delays two days. It seems God doesn't always come when you whistle.
Finally the Lord does make his way to Bethany and Lazarus' home. But, alas! Poor Lazarus has died and been in the grave four days. Martha, hearing that Jesus is coming, goes out to meet him. Seeing him, Martha complains, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21 NIV). Do you see her confidence in what God might have done in the past?
Some people's faith is like that, you know. God was mighty then. "He stood by Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and David." "He certainly healed then." "Yes, of course the Holy Spirit did that then." But what of God's power now?
A father was reading Bible stories to his children. For many nights the little people heard the thrilling tales of Noah's Ark, Moses at the Red Sea, Joshua and Jericho, David and Goliath, and Christ and Calvary. The kids reveled in the tales of yesteryear. One night as the father was about to begin another story, his youngest said, "Dad, don't tell us an old story tonight. Tell us what God's been doing lately." If our Christianity is to do any good it must be a today faith. It must draw us out of the past. It must be a here-and-now confidence and resource for living.
To hear some talk you'd think God has walked off the job. He's thrown his arm away. The Lord is now in semi-retirement, a sort of cosmic has-been running a two-bit enterprise we call the church.
Doesn't God do anything anymore? Are we left only with nostalgia? Left only with talk about the good old days? Is all we've got memories? Is the church's job to walk people through its dusty spiritual archives and thrill them with what God did?
Don't get me wrong. A knowledge of the past is vital. Without memory we'd suffer from amnesia, an agonizing loss of roots. Francis Schaeffer said that if we live in the past it's like being blind in one eye. But if we don't know the past it's like being blind in both eyes.
A healthy faith takes account of the past to be sure. But it also takes account of the present. As in the text, Christ draws us to the here and now. He will not let Martha wallow in what God might have done back then. He makes her deal with what God will do now! "Your brother will rise again," Jesus assures her (John 11:23 NIV).
The Future
How does Martha respond to Christ's present statement? She leaps from the past to the future, from what God might have done in the past to what God will do in the future. She claims, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24 NIV).
Aren't we like Martha? We're just not sure God could do all those miracles way back then; we're quite certain he'll do them again in the future. And, oh! Don't we love to sing about it! "In the Sweet By and By!" "Oh, That Will Be Glory for Me!"
Again, don't get me wrong! The God of the future is important. Hope, or confidence in what God will do later, is a vital part of our faith. It is healthy to look forward.
A model New England village was told that its 1,500 citizens would have to relocate because a new dam would cause their city to be underwater. In just a few months this picturesque town began to run down with peeling paint and unkempt lawns. Crime shot up. There was a flurry of divorces. Even the school principal reported increased discipline problems. You see, the people had lost their future. They had lost hope. Feeling that there is a future is a real need. Martha expresses it in the text. "I know my brother will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." But again Jesus would not allow Martha to slip away from the present situation and the very present God.
Just this week I heard a college student say to another, "You've got a lot to look forward to!" "Look forward to?" the fellow replied, "I'm right in the middle of it now!"
Isn't it that way with Martha in the text? She's like Winnie the Pooh. When it's today she likes what God would have done then or what he will do later. Jesus stops her and affirms that she's right in the middle of it now. "I am," Christ says confidently. "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live." Then he turns and looks deeply into Martha's face and asks, "Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26 RSV). "Yes," Martha responds from her troubled, grieving heart. "Yes!" and together they walk toward the dead man's tomb.
The Present
Jesus would not allow Martha to slip out of the present situation to wallow in the past or just to revel in the future.
"Now! Here! Today! This very instant! I am the resurrection and the life. Believe now!" Jesus persists.
Pointing to the tomb Christ orders, "Take away the stone!" Again Martha is unsure of what God can do now. "But Master," she argues, "he's been dead four days. By now he will stink!" Christ draws her back again to the now. "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" (John 11:38-40 RSV).
Martha, Martha, you are so like us! We understand you! Our faith in God is secure. We believe in what God did or will do. But now? Right here? No, our faith stinks! It has an odor of doubt about it. Leave the stone over the tomb. We'll all just go home with you, Martha, and finish grieving.
Several years ago I visited Lazarus' tomb in Bethany, Israel. I and about a half dozen tourists entered the tomb by descending a flight of narrow steps. We edged through a narrow door into the actual burial chamber itself. I'll never forget a portly fellow named Sammy who went in with us. "I'll get stuck," he protested. "Go ahead," we encouraged. Sure enough he got stuck. Now get the picture: six large, sweating people in a four-by-four underground burial chamber. The tiny door is jammed by a plump and wiggling body. One of us gets claustrophobic and begins to panic. There is pushing and shoving and a cry of anguish. Sammy is crying out for help from above. Our Arab bus driver is standing at the mouth of the tomb yelling, "Lazarus, come forth!" ("Why not? It worked once, didn't it?" he later defended himself.)
Such is our human condition. We struggle with death. We wrestle with the tomb. Right now we work hard like Martha to come forth from the past and future to face life and God now!
Did you hear about the pastor's confirmation class? They studied all God had done and would do and then they prayed together. One nine-year-old boy bowed his head and said, "Lord, thank you for all you've done. And keep up the good work!" And Jesus in the text proved God was still on the job. "Lazarus, come forth!" he shouted and the dead man lived.
What God has done in the past he continues to be able to do. What God will do in the future he can most certainly do right now if he so chooses. He is still on the job. He is now as able as he ever has been!
And you? You, Martha? Are you fleeing to the pious past or escaping to the fabulous future, struggling out of present faith in God and the now situation? What about now? What needs do you have now? Do you need to be reborn? Do you need to make that commitment to walk in the Holy Spirit, to understand, serve, and minister now? What do you need to deal with a troubled teenager, a difficult marriage, or a major illness?
Since God can raise the dead, he most assuredly can raise you to faithfulness now. Christ stands before you in all your fear and decay and sin, yes, even your spiritual death, and he cries out your name with resurrection power. "Come forth! Come forth from the past, from nostalgia, and your musty spiritual archives, from past defeat and grief and evil habits. Come forth from religious escapism to the future, from running and pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by religion. Come forth to Easter, to today, to resurrection power here and now, today, this very instant, to divine power throbbing, able, and for every need of yours! Lazarus, come forth!"
Today's People
Years ago in a television movie, Bill Cosby played a distraught father who learned that his son had sickle cell anemia. At the movie's conclusion, Cosby and the son take a walk to talk things over. "I want to talk to you about people," the dad begins, "There are three kinds of people: yesterday people, today people, and tomorrow people. Now, your grandfather is a yesterday person. He's always telling you how good things used to be. I'm a tomorrow person, telling you how good things are going to be. From now on you and I are going to be today people. We'll just fill each day with happy times. We're not going to live in the past or in the future. We're going to live today."
Think about you and your relationship with the Lord. Is yours a yesterday faith or a tomorrow faith? Or are you a today Christian?
Christ is never an escape from the here and now, a flight to the pious past, or a blind date with a glorious future. Some religion is like that but not the faith of the crucified, risen, and ascended Christ. Genuine Christianity is always for today. "Now is the day of salvation." Jesus Christ is the way now, the truth now, and the life now. It is the secular world that is looking for escape. It is the secular world that refuses to face the real questions: Who am I now? What is man now? What can I believe now? What shall I do now?
Won't you stand with Christ now and face life today?
Suggested Prayer
Lord, please bring my faith up to date, for Christ's sake. Amen.
