We Shall Meet In the Morning!

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SCRIPTURE


All Saints Day
John 11:32-44 (NRSV)

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."


SERMON

Today we have gathered together on this All Saints Day to remember and celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have passed from this life to glory over the last year. For some of us their deaths were expected. They were older or perhaps ailing for an extended period of time. For others of us the death of the one whom we hold in our hearts today was unexpected—s/he was young or vibrant. S/he had plans and dreams and suddenly their light was snuffed out all too soon.

Whether expected--or sudden--the death of a beloved son or daughter, mother or father, elder or child can set us as humans to reeling. We feel a despair, mourning, and/or anxiety that sometimes feels too heavy for us to carry.

We may feel that we are the only ones who have ever experienced such excruciating pain or such unmitigated shock. Sometimes in the midnight hour of our lives we find it difficult to articulate a prayer that will convey to our God exactly how we feel.

It is in times like these that we need to be assured that our God is real, loves and cares for us, and has a good plan for our lives, not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope.

As we meditate on these things, we would do well to remember that when Jesus walked upon the earth he, too, tasted pain. He, too, knew sorrow.

In today’s scripture we find that Jesus has received the news that his dear and beloved friend Lazarus is sick unto death. Upon hearing the news Jesus decides to remain where he is doing what he is doing, rather than rushing to Bethany.

When he is ready, he leaves for the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. And when he arrives he bears witness to what he had already disclosed to his disciples, “Lazarus is dead.” Not only is Lazarus dead, but also much of Jerusalem has come out to the homestead to comfort Mary and Martha. Their family has come. The weepers and wailers are assembled. Mary and Martha are grief stricken, confused, and even a bit angry with him and all about him folks are in a state of despair and grief.

When Jesus sees all of this the scripture says that he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled.

Indignation means, “being angry about something that seems unjust to you.” Jesus was angry that death had visited the house of his friend. He was angry at the sinfulness of humanity that caused us to be cast out of paradise and to taste the death that we continue to experience today.

Jesus was troubled because Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were his dear friends. He was sad because the people around him were sad and herein is the first of many lessons in this story.

Scripture teaches us that when Jesus saw and felt the pain, confusion, and sorrow of his friends, “Jesus wept.”

Can you imagine? The king of glory wept because his servant fell. The Incarnate Word became speechless because of the sorrow of his friends. The Lily of the Valley bowed low in the valley of the shadow of death.

Now, there was no need for Jesus to cry; he knew that he had the power to do what he had come to do. But, he allowed himself to feel as the people felt. He sympathized with them and shared in their pain.

And do you know what? Jesus shares our pain today. The pain that you are feeling is real. The tears that you shed are justified. How do I know? Jesus shed those same tears. He felt that same pain. He knew the piercing of the heart that comes with losing a loved one.

So take heart! The pain that we feel is part of our process. That heaviness and gloom about us is only temporary.

How do I know? I know because when we are in Christ, we are always in the light. Saint John of the cross wrote an entire treatise on The Dark Night of the Soul that Christians sometimes encounter.

But, be encouraged. The darkness is never dark to God. Sometimes, we as Christians, are blinded—not by the darkness—but by the bright light of God’s glory!

Did you catch that? We feel lost. We feel despair. We think that we can’t find our way because it is too dark. But, when we are in Christ, we are always held in the light of God’s love and in the light of God’s glory. We can’t always see…but we can trust the one who can.

Have you ever tried to look into the sun? You can’t do it without being blinded. Jesus is the light of our lives. That light will illuminate the right path. It will lead us to a place of comfort, rest, and peace. That light loves us so much, that he will weep with us, even though he already knows about our joy to come.

But, you may say to me, "Pastor, God let this happen. God let me down. Why did my loved one have to leave me? They had such potential. They had so many gifts. They died in such a violent way. They died such a horrendous illness."

And I say unto you a lesson I learned long ago at the knee of an elder in my church. She used to say, "God may not come when you want him, but he's always right on time!"

See Jesus learned that Lazarus was dying in time to come and save him. He was asked to come two days earlier and if he had come when beckoned, Lazarus would not have died.

Jesus, however, did not come when beckoned by man. He came when he was ready and when the time was right. When he sought to explain to his disciples why he wasn’t moving with more expediency he said, “Lazarus’s’ sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God.”

Of course this didn’t make any sense to the disciples who knew how deeply Jesus loved Lazarus. And when the news came that Lazarus had in fact died, Jesus simply looked at his disciples and stated, “For your sake I am glad that I wasn’t there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me.”

To believe in me…To believe in me… I will receive glory from this IF you will believe.

See, I learned something very profound from a woman who works as a nurse in hospice care. She said, death is a birthing process in reverse.

A person must labor out of one existence and into another. This is from a woman who has had the privilege to be at the bedsides of many people as they were translated into eternity.

She said that death is a form of birth. And as Christians we know that this is absolutely true. We are birthed into the eternal and unseen world. The great physician—assists in our transition from the womb of life on Earth into the eternal world of God’s kingdom.

So don’t you worry when—or if—you’ve seen a loved one laboring. Don’t you despair as you watch them birthed out of our world and into the next. These who we celebrate and remember today knew the Living Christ. And so they have gone ahead of us to a far, far better place. And they were received in that place by the One who loves them far more than we do. And they will be awaiting us, when it is our turn to journey out of this womb and into the real world.

When John Owen, the great Puritan, lay on his deathbed his secretary wrote (in his name), “I am still in the land of the living. “ “Stop,” said Own. “Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living.”

Oh, I can hear our Savior saying, “O Mary don’t you weep, O Martha don’t you moan.” Oh daughters, don’t you weep, O sons don’t you moan today!

The scriptures rightly say, “Blessed are those that mourn for they shall be comforted.”

See, this scripture is a word of prophecy. “Shall be” speaks to the future. Right now I know that many of us are in denial, angry, bargaining with God, and/or in mourning. We are all certainly missing our loved ones. But, be encouraged! We have a promise from the First Promise Keeper. He says, we shall be comforted.

I hear Job baring witness to this truth. In the midst of his despair, grief, anguish, illness, and total loss he said, “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes.

When Jesus showed up in Martha's hometown, he said, “Do you believe that your brother will rise again?”

Martha answered, “Yes, when everyone else rises, on resurrection day.” But, Jesus told her in response, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish."

Do you believe this Martha? Do you believe this pastors? Do you believe this laity? Do you believe this mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, church family?

Do you believe this?

See Resurrection is the central tenet of our faith. A wise soul once said, “Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”

Dr. F. B. Meyer—a few days before his death—wrote a very dear friend these words: “I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace. Don’t trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning.”

We shall meet in the morning. On the third day after their brother’s death, Mary, Martha, their family, and their whole community of Bethany found that this promise is true.

Jesus wept when he saw their pain. It made him feel sad, indignant, and troubled. But, he did not stop there.

He asked to be taken to Lazarus’ tomb. He instructed the people to roll the stone away. And then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

And we know this story. The Bible says that when Lazarus heard Jesus’ voice, he came out. When he heard his master’s voice, he woke up. When he was summoned by his redeemer, he shook off death. He shook off the grave and he came out! He was bound in grave clothes, but he came out. His face was wrapped in a head cloth—but he came out. He had the stink of decay on him—but he came out.

He came out because his master called him. He came out because there is One greater than death. Greater than the grave. Greater than our yesterdays. Savior of our tomorrows.

It was JESUS…

Can’t you just hear our Savior calling our loved ones home? Can’t you see the master beckoning those whose names we called today?

They are not dead…they have simply taken flight...

I hear the Apostle Paul whispering to us from generations long ago…

Let me tell you a wonderful secret…Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blow…When this happens-when our earthly bodies are transformed in to heavenly bodies—then at last the Scriptures will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting? How we thank God who gives us victory over sin, death, and the grave through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Hallelujah!


INVITATION

If you would like to put all of your hope and faith in Jesus who is the Resurrection and The Life, please pray with me:

Holy God, thank you that your Love gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Thank you that Jesus did not stay dead, but was resurrected on the third day, just as he promised. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit. I dearly want to share this good news with everyone I know! Please enable and equip me to do the same. I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.


SPECIAL NOTE

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!

Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!

I would be honored if you would take a moment to click “YES” in the upper-right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, “Did God save you today?”

Thank you for reading good news as you are able and sharing good news as you are led. Go in peace, serve the Lord! (Thanks be to God!)