Delivered March 9, 2008
by Pastor Marilyn Henderson
Olympic gold medalist Darrel Pace was to give an archery exhibition in New York City's Central Park, and the event received coverage by all the news stations. Shooting steel- tipped hunting arrows, Pace punctured bull's-eyes without a miss. Then he called for a volunteer. "All you have to do," said Pace, "Is hold this apple in your hand, waist-high." ABC correspondent Josh Howell took a bold step forward. He stood there, a small apple in his hand, a larger one in his throat. Pace took aim from 30 yards away as we all held our breath. Then THWACK-a clean hit that exploded the apple before striking the target behind. Everybody applauded Howell, who was all smiles--until his cameraman approached with a hangdog look. "I'm sorry, Josh," he said. "I didn't get it. Had a problem with my viewfinder. Could you do it again?" (Internet source: www.sermonillustrations.com: Bob Teague, Live and Off-Color: News Biz.)
His relief at having come through the archery exhibition unscathed evaporated, Josh Howell faced a dilemma. Darrel Pace, Olympic gold medalist, was incredibly consistent and accurate. Did Josh believe that Darrel Pace would continue to shoot his arrows accurately? Would he believe enough to hold another apple for Pace to shoot out of his hand?
The Greek word translated "believe" in the story of Lazarus, according to Eric's big book, means "to adhere to, to trust, to rely on." To stick very closely to, to believe completely, to depend on - Marilyn's paraphrase. Perhaps we can also think of it as "to live by." If Josh Howell believed in Pace's superior archery ability, he would "live it by" holding another apple. Josh Howell faced a bit of a personal crisis.
In the story of Lazarus, Mary and Martha - all three siblings had significant challenges facing them. It is obvious from the text that they were all on good terms with Jesus, probably fairly intimate friends. Jesus visited their home at least once before as recorded by Luke. Scholars guess that He was welcomed there fairly often. Barclay suggests that the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus was a haven for Jesus in his itinerant and exhausting ministry. It was a place where Jesus could rest and relax, where He could "let his hair down," so to speak.
So when Lazarus became seriously ill, the sisters sent for Jesus. Their message was brief, for they had complete confidence that their dear friend would come to heal Lazarus of his terminal illness. They may have forgotten all about the enmity of the religious Jews of Jerusalem toward Jesus in their distress. Or perhaps they were cognizant of the situation but asked Jesus to come anyway because of the gravity of the situation.
"Lord, he whom you love is ill."
The statement is confident - Jesus will come because his dear friend is sick. Jesus came - but He didn't arrive until after Lazarus had been buried for four days.
Not only had the sisters' beloved brother died, they probably also lost their sole means of financial support. It must have been hard to believe that Jesus would bring life to Lazarus. It may have been hard to believe that Jesus could show them how they would make ends meet in the future.
About 2 years ago this congregation and some individuals in it had the shattering experience of broken relationships and a difficult conflict. There seemed to be no way out of the darkness. One family left. The pastor and his family eventually left for another pastorate. Calls to the conference office for help seemed to go unheeded. Those in various leadership roles did all they could think to do to bring healing and reconciliation to this broken and agonizing situation. At times, it must have hard to believe that Jesus would bring life to broken and bruised people and relationships as well as the congregation.
My good friend and yours, Eva Morton, says, "Marilyn, it's Lent! What else can you expect?" This year during Lent I've been asking God to show me what I need to know about myself in order to grow spiritually. And you know, He has. And it hasn't been a pretty picture.
It rarely is a pretty picture. In order to grow spiritually, there are things in my life that need to be gotten rid of, that can't be there if I want God's life there. There are things that need to die so that Jesus can replace them with His life.
Perhaps you have experienced a similar life-changing loss when you felt alone and it was difficult to believe in God's love and power. A parent died, a spouse died, a sibling died. Perhaps you have gone through a financial failure or lost a much-needed job. Some here have had significant health problems. All of us have had times when we felt broken, lost, alone or afraid. Maybe it was hard to believe that God wanted to give you His Life.
When Lazarus died, the last thing Jesus was doing was trying to do was inflict pain on his good friends. Jesus loved all three of them. But Jesus knew that, above all, He needed to obey His Father and fulfill His mission of building a bridge of reconciliation between God and people. The death of Lazarus was painful for everyone. John says that Jesus was troubled and disturbed.
But through the death of Lazarus, as painful as it was for everyone, Jesus revealed himself as the resurrection and the life. Jesus brought Lazarus to new life in a powerful, unmistakeable way. Jesus demonstrated God's life by giving Lazarus new life so that others would also receive new life through believing Jesus.
Jesus is life. When we are followers of Jesus, we are followers of Life. The only reason Life - Jesus - had anything to do with death was because of us and our sin. Jesus is all about resurrection. Jesus is all about new life.
When I think about my inner life, a helpful image is to think of it as a house with rooms and cupboards and closets. All areas of my spirit - my personality, how I think about things, how I feel about people and experiences for example - are housed in at least one room and usually more. During Lent I've been asking God to show me what I need to know in order to be a more faithful follower of Jesus - and God has answered my prayer! It's as if my eyes are opened to a new reality.
And God has been showing me a number of rooms in my house that need to be cleaned out so God can fully occupy that room. The three I will mention today are relationships - my relationship to food, my relationship to my husband and my relationship to my sermons.
Regarding food and sermons, I spend too much time thinking about them and working on them. Regarding my husband - and don't worry here, I am referring only to what is normal relationship care - I need to work at communicating with Eric. These are not new things, but they are part of what God has been showing me.
Am I willing to let my old ways of relating to these things die and allow Jesus to replace them with new life? I want to be, but I need God's help.
Petitcodiac Mennonite Church is in a different place from what it was 2 years ago. You have done hard work in talking things out, studying conflict transformation, writing letters of confession and forgiveness and love as a group. There has been healing, there has been new understanding of self and of others. This group is letting the grave clothes drop and beginning to embrace God's new life.
Perhaps you want to embrace God's new life but there is a room or rooms that desperately need cleaning before you can do that. Sometimes it's tempting to think that God is about putting to death, but the truth is that the only reason God deals with death is because of us. God IS LIFE! GOD IS LIFE! And God is ready for each of us to invite Him to help us clean out a room, if we need His help, in order to make room for Him and the life He abundantly gives.
Petitcodiac Mennonite Church