Ephesians 1:4-14
John 11:17-45, 16:4b-16
May 29, 2016
Pastor Lori Broschat
MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor’s office. “Is it true,” she wanted to know, “that the
medication you prescribed has to be taken for the rest of my life?” “Yes, I’m afraid so,” the doctor
told her. There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied, “I’m wondering, then, just
how serious is my condition, because this prescription is marked ‘NO REFILLS.’”
Ah yes, we often develop a strong fear of death or a reluctance toward anything that even feels like
death, such a change. We tend to mourn many small deaths in our lifetimes; not those of the people
in our world, but the decline of our own agility or strength, the inevitable march of time written on
our faces.
We are mortal beings. We are creatures of time. Everyone, that is, except Jesus. Jesus was not
simply a creature of time.1 As such, when the news came to Him that His good friend Lazarus was
ill, He delayed His trip to the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. When the sisters sent the message,
Lazarus still had a chance, but by the time the word got to Jesus, Lazarus would have already died.
Is this why Jesus reacted the way He did to the news? Yes, Jesus delayed His return to Bethany, but
not because there was nothing He could offer to Mary and Martha or even to Lazarus. He delayed
for a very powerful reason; to increase the faith of those who would witness what happened when
He did arrive. So this mysterious verse that tells us that Jesus waited two days to go to the aid of
the family because He loved them is not such a mystery. He waited because He loved them enough
to help them overcome their fear and to trust in Him even greater.
Though the waiting seems cruel, the results would be spectacular, and no doubt would create a
memory in the minds of everyone present. When Jesus arrived He was met by Martha, the practical
sister, while Mary remained in the house. Martha and Mary were grieving over the loss of their
brother, who was probably also the breadwinner for the household. Martha greeted Jesus with
these words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
What was she really saying in that statement? That only Jesus could have saved her brother’s life?
If so, then that was a great deal of pressure to place on a friend. If we don’t think of it as an
accusation, but merely as grief expressed as regret, then it does not seem as harsh. Quite likely
Marth realized that Lazarus would have died anyway. What Martha soon learned was that although
she would have wanted Lazarus to be healed, instead he would be revealed and Christ’s greatest
power would also be revealed.
We shouldn’t imagine for a moment that our pain, our tears, and our grief has no effect on God.
Jesus had the same range of emotions that we possess, so He can empathize with us. But beyond
empathy, Jesus also possessed power, the power to change a situation. So Martha was in the right
frame of mind when she told Jesus that despite the death of Lazarus, she knew that God would give
1
1
Ephesians 1:4-14
John 11:17-45, 16:4b-16
May 29, 2016
Pastor Lori Broschat
Him whatever He requested. Still, her confidence did not seem complete at that moment, for when
Jesus spoke of resurrection, she pictured in her mind the resurrection of all the dead at the last day.
When Jesus told her Lazarus would rise again, she didn’t understand that the last day had come;
the last day for Lazarus to remain in the grave. The Resurrection and the Life was standing there
with her. If she believed she would see how the dead would live, even though they died. Did she
believe? Oh yes, she believed, right up to the point of removing the stone that sealed her brother’s
tomb.
There her faith failed her. Her human limitations flew in the face of Jesus’ command to remove the
stone. She couldn’t conceive of what He was asking. The certainty she had felt four days before
when she sent word to Jesus for help suddenly lost its edge. She had faith – but not FAITH!
“He that lives and believes in Me shall never die.” That is the great Christian declaration. We have
hardly grasped its significance. The death is a fact so far as you see, but he is alive. When our Lord
recalled Lazarus He talked to him as though he could hear Him. He muttered no incantations over
him. He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” He expected to be heard, and He was heard. Lazarus was not
dead.2
I enjoy watching nature documentaries, mainly for the cinematography, but also for the fascinating
details of the environment and its inhabitants. Recently I learned of the resurrection plant, of which
there are many varieties, but this particular plant was in the driest place on earth, the Sahara Desert.
The plant takes moisture from the air and can remain dry and seemingly dead for years, blown along
like tumbleweed by the desert wind. When exposed to even a trace of water they unfurl taking on
color and growth. Their seeds are revealed and scattered, encouraging new growth until once again
the process continues and they sleep in dormant expectation.
It puts me in mind of a statement in the liturgy I use for a funeral service. “In the presence of death,
Christ offers us sure ground for hope and confidence and even for joy, because he shared our
human life and death, was raised again triumphant and lives for evermore. In him his people find
eternal life.”
With knowledge of Christ, the rest of the story is a happy ending. We cry at funerals even when we
know the destination of the deceased. Maybe we are crying more for ourselves because we are left
with grief and loneliness, bound to earth and all its trials. We will be where Lazarus was some day.
We all know it’s inevitable. However, we also can be in the place where Lazarus was; listening to
the voice of Jesus calling us to come out and enjoy life.
I particularly like the description of death by one of my favorite clergy authors. “Resurrection is not
a concept- it’s a person. The death we die in repentance is a sharing of Jesus’ death, and the life we
live in faith (not yet, of course, in sight) is life with him in heaven. Being risen with Christ, we are to
seek the things that are above. Life does not suddenly become free of problems, but in the
2
Morgan, G. Campbell, The Gospel According to John, pg. 193-194
2
Ephesians 1:4-14
John 11:17-45, 16:4b-16
May 29, 2016
Pastor Lori Broschat
company of the living Christ we may be able to look at them with humility and faith, to cope with
them with renewed strength and purpose, and to live our whole lives with holiness and with hope.” 3
The meaning of resurrection and life in relationship together is that temporal death is not abolished
but when we die we believe we will be restored to life. This life is abundant beyond anything we
could ever expect. So what is Jesus’ relationship to life and to death? Why does His death alone
figure so prominently in the core of our faith but His life we tend to look upon as something we can
ignore?
Please understand I say we because I include myself along in that statement. I truly think the death
of Christ may overshadow the life that He wants to give us. After all, when given a gift of eternal
life isn’t it appropriate for us to begin enjoying and using that gift right now? Jesus is the gateway
between life and death; the only one who stood with one foot in each existence and returned to
give us a chance at life forever.
Christ made sacrifices on our behalf, but beyond that He made arrangements for us to be in
relationship with a new source of life. Before His death Jesus had given the disciples the promise
of the other Comforter, whom the Father would send in His name. But He made clear that the work
of the Spirit was to begin when His own work had come to an end. The two cannot exist together.
For this reason, it is good that He should go away, because, if He does not, the Comforter cannot
come; “but if I go away, I will send him to you.” When the Comforter comes, His primary work will
be to bear witness to Jesus, to bring to the minds of the disciples all that He had said to them. The
work of Jesus had been limited in time and space, to a small corner of the word, to a brief period of
time. The work of the Spirit will not be so limited.4
Truthfully, I don’t think we give the Spirit enough credit or enough space in our lives or in our
spirituality. He has a mission. He has a role; several, in fact. We cannot dismiss the presence of the
Spirit in our lives, and we cannot view the Spirit as simply a Pentecost miracle. The Spirit is one third
of who God is. He is a gift of God who brings gifts of His own, gifts meant to help us grow and
mature and become better people.
We are to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. If we are not, then the Spirit cannot do the rest of His
job. We can be instrumental to the work of the Spirit in the world. Doesn’t that make you feel
privileged? But how can the Spirit work through us if He cannot get to us? So often we do not want
to be filled with anything other than ourselves, our own wants and desires. We don’t feel there is
room enough for the Spirit’s presence because that means we have to consent to His will.
The Old Testament talks about the beauty of holiness. This is what God wants to see within each of
us, in a way that will also be visible to the world. It is the righteousness of God that we are called
to model for others, and just as Peter was often convinced of his unworthiness before Jesus at
times, so the world will become convinced of the need for repentance.
3
4
Wright, N.T., Small Faith, Big God, pg. 155-156
Neill, Stephen, Christian Holiness, pg. 82
3
Ephesians 1:4-14
John 11:17-45, 16:4b-16
May 29, 2016
Pastor Lori Broschat
It may seem appealing to know that our job is to aid in this mission of the Holy Spirit. It is tempting
to think we have the right to point out the sins of others and convince them that Christ is righteous
and they are under God’s judgment. Our role, however, is never to condemn, but to witness. The
Spirit does the convicting. His mission is one of mercy because of God’s great love for the world.
Jesus spoke these things to His disciples, as they would be the first to receive the Holy Spirit, to
carry out the work of the ministry and to create the church. So what does the Spirit have for the
rest of us? Paul said imperatively we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit as opposed to being filled
with anything else. When you see yourself as a place where holiness dwells, it changes everything.
When you view everything as a spiritual matter, nothing is accidental, coincidental, meaningless or
superficial.
As one theologian said, “The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal
life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to
apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious
and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey
Him.”5
To quote yet another more contemporary theologian, “The indwelling Spirit of God is never a
source of trouble and scruple, but a stabilizing power, a constant. The friendship of God is like that,
and God asks the same faithfulness of us in return. It takes a brae and loving soul to understand
and respond to this sturdy faithfulness of God, for there is nothing sentimental about it.”6
Are you up for the challenge of the gift of life even if it means surrendering your life and your death
to God? Jesus has given us both life and second life, and the ability to remain in relationship with
Him through the Holy Spirit. His promise given is a promise kept.
5Chambers,
6Job,
Oswald, My Utmost for His Highest, April 8 entry
Rueben P. and Shawchuck, Norman, A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God, pg. 222-22
4