Sorrow and Loss (Isaiah 25:6-9, Revelation 21:1-6a, John 11:32-44)
Listen.November 1st, 2009
Rev. Dr. Craig A. Wagner
Introduction
My heart is filled with a sorrow that comes in waves each morning as I listen to the news broadcasts report the many acts of random violence in and around Chicago; young people shooting other young people; gangs beating a young man to death while videos are taken and on the violence goes. Children are killed by stray bullets as they sit and watch television. Heart-wrenching suffering and death is all around us and my heart is grieved.
Violence against children, abuse, kidnapping, and murder is splashed on our television screen, even a child’s body found in a dump! I think: “What kinds of people do these atrocious acts?”
If it is not horrible enough that people kill others without conscience, my heart continues to grieve for the fact that we are killing ourselves. The Atlantic Monthly contained an article about what they call the New World Syndrome. In the article they related research that shows when western lifestyles and patterns of eating invade countries that have not been influenced by the west and they adopt our habits, they see an increase in diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Our patterns of eating and our lifestyle choices are killing us. How sad is that?
Not only are we killing ourselves with our diets and lack of activity, we are killing ourselves spiritually, too. We can see this as our country becomes increasingly centered on the individualistic consumer-oriented culture. The philosophy is one where everything is about me; the world evolves around me and me desires and my wants. This approach invades our faith, too. I want my songs, I want my choice of worship, I want God to do things my way. If I’m not satisfied, I will search new avenues, new religious experiences, new mystical ideas and if none of that makes me feel good, then I can just worship at the altar of the 50 yard line. We are killing ourselves!
Membership in churches is declining yet people are searching for spiritual things that will fill their life – and they are missing the truth of the gospel; we are killing ourselves on so many fronts that my heart is sad.
Sorrow and loss: Lazarus’ story
Our story from the gospel today speaks to this issue. The story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is the last and greatest miracle of Jesus in this gospel. Jesus’ friend Lazarus had become ill. The sisters, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that he should come to Bethany to cure Lazarus of this deadly disease. Jesus delays his return and Lazarus dies. Some commentators suggest that Lazarus was probably dead by the time the message reached Jesus; but the delay only serves to alert the listeners to the story that Lazarus would have been dead some time before Jesus finally arrives in the city.
By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus had been dead 4 days (in the tomb three days). Upon discovering that Lazarus was dead, Jesus begins to weep. He feels deeply the loss and the pain that the death of a friend brings.
Even as he is caught up in the emotion of losing a friend, there were some complainers who wondered aloud why he could cure a blind man and not keep his friend from dying. (You can’t please everyone!)
Jesus then requested Martha to take away the stone from the front of the burial cave and she objects saying that the stench would be too great. He had been dead four days and decomposition would have begun. It would not be pleasant. The Jews did not embalm their dead as did the Egyptians and so decay would start very quickly. With this added detail, the power of Jesus over death would be shown – it was not simply a resurrection of someone who had been in a coma for a short time, but a person who was not only dead but in the beginning process of decomposition!
Jesus prayed a prayer of thanksgiving: Notice there was no request that God raise Lazarus, but rather a thanksgiving that this would happen so that people would know and believe. Although we realize that even this greatest of all miracles would not assure that the witnesses would remain faithful to Jesus for long.
Then all of a sudden it happened, Lazarus comes out of the tomb in response to Jesus’ call. He comes floating out of the burial cave. We note that he was still bound in the burial cloths; hands and feet. Others had to untie, unwrap him. Once they realized he was alive, their sorrow, weeping and sense of loss evaporated and was replaced by joy and celebration.
Lazarus experience new life in Christ from that moment on. Don’t you wonder how Lazarus would have viewed life from then on? He certainly would have lived with a different perspective; a perspective of eternity. The outcome of this wonderful event was that the Pharisees and scribes became more active in their plotting to kill Jesus!
Sorrow and loss: our story
We can identify with this story, especially with Martha and Mary on the loss of their brother. We know people who have died; perhaps a dear friend or close relative. The space that the death of a loved one leaves is never filled. Loss is real and so is our sorrow and our weeping; Jesus knew that very real and human emotion when mourning Lazarus’ death.
Death is inevitable, yet it hurts us deeply. Many of us here have been touched by the death of a loved one: today is All Saints’ Day and we remember in our prayers those of our loved ones who died during the past year. Even as we remember, there is that twinge of grief and sorrow, there is the reality of loss that rises up in our soul….
There is sorrow and loss in our world, too. There is violence everywhere we look; people killing one another without regard for the sanctity of human life. There are wars in various parts of the globe, terrorists are in many places ready to strike at a moments notice; there is no regard for life and no concern about the losses inflicted. There are governments and religious groups that abuse people and wield tremendous power over individuals and entire countries – and often the most violent and suppressive countries claim to be acting under God! Evil is rampant in the world; killing and death is all around and God’s name is exploited in support of this inhumanity; amazing, isn’t it.
In the church there is loss and sorrow… people dying spiritually because of the tendency to follow selfish pursuits toward some sort of enlightenment. The evil one is great at tempting people to run after false gods and empty promises of fulfillment. People fall for it, don’t they? Just recently we heard about these people following a self-proclaimed prophet and cleansing themselves in a sweat lodge… people died following the ranting of someone who held out empty promises of fulfillment for gullible people!
Of course there are some individuals who experience abuse or serious issues in churches who search to find fulfillment, for there are churches that are not always following Christ or scripture. Sorrow and loss is all around us…and my heart is heavy.
Joy and hope
In the midst of sorrow, sadness, loss and grief, comes our gospel reading for this morning. We find that when Jesus is present, the sorrow and mourning, the grief and sadness turns into joy and hope. Jesus brings life. The reality is that true life – eternal life- is found only in Christ Jesus. How many people miss this fact because they view life from a narrow perspective? They view life as an attempt to fulfill themselves through pleasure, successful living, earning a great fortune and so on. Some even relate spiritual enlightenment as something that they can achieve through the right meditation or following the right motivational speaker…and through it all these people lose. They lose out on the life that is filled with meaning and purpose and that goes far beyond anything trivial.
Jesus has the power to bring new life into a broken and hurting world. Jesus has the power to bring resurrection into our lives. This is true not only in the resurrection to the fullness of the kingdom of heaven, but is true even now. We can be renewed, resurrected in our lives today.
Giving our lives to Jesus, ridding ourselves of self-centered approaches to living, being conformed by scripture, our lives are lived with a different perspective from those who worship at other altars. I pray they see the difference!
The center of our text is not necessarily the resurrection of Lazarus, but rather the center is about belief and trust in Jesus. Martha believed, Mary believed, they knew that Jesus could do something; they believed in him. And they were not disappointed. What wonderful and great things happen when we place our trust, our faith in Jesus. Jesus brings life into the darkness and decay of death today and forever.
Conclusion
When I served a congregation in Central Illinois, I was riding in a hearse on the way to a rural cemetery. The funeral director and I were discussing various topics and soon he began telling me about his childhood and the house he lived in. In fact, we went past that house, he pointed it out to me and then began to talk more about the significant landmarks in the area. All of a sudden, he looked at me and said, “We just missed the turn to the cemetery!” And so, with the procession winding its way for at least a mile, we journeyed farther into the country, around several sections of land and finally came to the cemetery. Everyone was smiling when we got out of the cars because they all knew what had happened.
Missing the cemetery was one thing, but we really don’t want to miss the one who brings true life. We don’t want to be so wrapped up in our own life, or so overwhelmed with sorrow and loss that we miss the joy of life in Christ and in this community of faith. Amen.