Signs of Faithfulness

Message Transcription

Amen. If you have your Bible with you, invite you to turn over to Jon Levin will be there today where Cameron started us out just a couple of minutes ago. We're in the midst of our series called Signs. It's going to culminate next week on Easter Sunday. And we're excited about Easter coming. We invite you to invite your friends if you are coming, invite you to come ready to receive new folks, maybe folks who hadn't been here in a while. It's an opportunity for us to get to know our community even better. But our hope is certainly to raise up Jesus to show how the signs that John has been pointing to lead us to the life that is truly life in Jesus Christ. This morning we're going to look at a story in John 11. But before we get there, we've been thinking together about the different signs that John has been pointing us to and and as a way of preparing us for that, we've been looking at some of the road signs and and signs along our lives and our culture. I was thinking of a couple of these this week. I got them from my friend David, who sent he was working in a school. And so maybe our students recognize a couple of these signs. First one, excuse me. You turn in homework, you get good, better grades. That's a sign. A little wisdom there. Maybe you've come across this one.

Warning due dates are closer than they appear. Right. Important signs to keep you mindful of, of what's happening, what's going on in life. But then there are these signs that are kind of trying to prepare us to remind us that by following the signs, it actually can lead us to a better life. Maybe you've seen this one on the road as you're trying to cross the street, push the button. And what? And wait. Push the button and wait for the signal. And I don't know if you're like me, but I don't like that sign very much because I want to push the button and cross. I just want in fact, I don't even want to push the button. I just want to be able to cross. I'm going to be able to go when and where and however I choose. And yet this sign it's there to protect us isn't to say, wait, there's some danger ahead. You may not know it, but we'll create a circumstance in which you can cross safely. Sometimes it's hard for us to heed those signs, isn't it? Or maybe you've seen this one. Keep right. Keep to the right. You know, on the roads, there's an order we're supposed to keep at a certain pathway going in a certain direction to keep the flow of traffic going that everybody can arrive at the destination they want to go to. But maybe you've traveled in other countries where folks don't quite often follow these types of signs, where stop signs or stop signals are more of a suggestion.

And perhaps maybe if you feel like it, maybe some of you have have driven that way here in this country. But again, these signs that are trying to to teach us something, to prepare us to slow us down, not because they're trying to impede our way, but rather trying to help open up a secure, a safe pathway forward. I think that's what John is pointing us to this week in in his gospel, as we look at the story of Lazarus. Now, there's so much in the story that I wish I could go through. If you haven't read the story in a while, I invite you to to sit in it this week as we begin Holy Week. Today is Palm Sunday. It's the day traditionally we celebrate Jesus coming in to Jerusalem that very last time on the back of a donkey, with those gathered around crying out, Hosanna to our king, Hosanna! Praise him. Only a week later to find him hung on a cross. But this week, as we think about what is the sign pointing us to, I want us to to think together about the impact of this story and all that it points us to not only in the story of Lazarus, but in Jesus. Look back again at verse six. Here we find Jesus and His disciples have received word, or actually Jesus has received word from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus is sick.

In fact, they say the one you love is sick. Jesus. So in verse six, when he heard that Lazarus was sick. He stayed where he was. Two more days. Think about that for a minute. Jesus hears that his friend is sick. In fact, we're told that he loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and instead of going to him, he stays. It's kind of an odd deal, you know. Maybe you remember the encounter in and John chapter four where the the official from Capernaum finds out that Jesus is close by and so he goes to Jesus and he begs him, would you come to my town and heal my son? And Jesus says, Go. Your son will live. He doesn't even have to show up in the place. He can just say the word and the man is healed. And yet here we're told Jesus doesn't do that. That's not how he responds to this situation. Instead it says he waited two days. Why doesn't he do the same thing? Especially for a close friend? I wonder what Mary and Martha were thinking during those two days as they were waiting for Jesus to arrive. We'd sent word. We know that He cares about us. Why isn't he coming? He doesn't tell his disciples anything. He doesn't say, Hey, this is what we're going to do.

He doesn't send a servant back to say, Tell Mary and Martha. Don't worry, I'm on my way. Just. Just hold on. Instead, he stays. Meanwhile, Mary and Martha watch their brother die. What's going on? Have you ever felt like your cries to Jesus? You're you're pleading for him to come and do for you. What you can't do for yourself just goes unanswered. Have you ever found yourself in a situation or a circumstance, maybe in the midst of a relationship with someone that you care about deeply and you're crying out that the Lord would do something in that circumstance or in that situation or in that relationship or inside you and that and that health challenge you're facing only to feel like your prayers go unanswered. I'm sure Mary and Martha must have felt the pain and the disappointment that Jesus didn't show up. He didn't come when we were hoping he would come. You know, one thing John has been trying to show us all throughout his gospel is that Jesus is working on his own timeline. Remember even the language in and John chapter two when his mother tells him to that they're out of wine at the wedding and Jesus says, Well, my time hasn't come yet at this this hint that Jesus is operating by a different timeline, some different circumstances. He doesn't just act based on what the people around him want.

But not only has John pointed us to that timeline, he's also pointed us to the person of Jesus that that he cares, that he is trustworthy, that he takes compassion on those who are hurting, who are sick, who are lost. He's about bringing life and hope, especially to those who are in circumstances. It feels like hope has been long gone, so there must be more to the story than of why Jesus would receive this word that a friend that he loves is sick, and yet he stays away for two more days. That Jesus must have been working some plan. And verse seven we finally realized that Jesus says, It's time to go. It's time to head back. He tells his disciples, They're going to Judea. And disciples don't know yet about Lazarus or that situation. And so they're curious. In fact, they're a little concerned, if you would, because the last time that Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, it did not go very well. In fact, he was threatened, almost killed, they say. Rabbi, just a short time ago, the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you're going to go back. Why are we going back there? Jesus says, are there not 12 hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see the world see by this world's light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble.

For they have no light. Kind of an odd response. Jesus. Are you sure you want to go back there? Didn't they just try to kill you? And Jesus says, Aren't there 12 hours and a day? Jesus proceeds to tell them they're going to see Lazarus who's fallen asleep. The disciples put two and two together and they realize, Oh, Lazarus is sick, and they respond to Jesus the way that we often do. When we find out someone is sick and they're sleeping, let them sleep. Might. Our body heals itself while you're sleeping. Jesus, why don't we let him sleep? What? Are you going to go wake him up for? Lord. If he sleeps, he'll get better. But Jesus had been speaking of his death. But his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sake, I am glad I was not there. So that you may believe. But let us go to him. But again, this question just keeps haunting me, chasing me around. Why did Jesus wait two days to go? I've wondered about that. And this week, in my time of study, I learned something and I think helps at least explain it a little more to me. Is he just as Jesus is about to call Lazarus forth from the tomb? And we'll get there in just a minute. He thanks God for hearing his prayer. This is how he prays before he calls Lazarus.

Fourth, he says, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Father. Thank you that you have heard me. Not that you're hearing me, not that you're going to hear me, but that you heard me. When did he hear? Now Interact suggests, and I tend to believe that he's correct. He says it was during those two days of waiting. That those weren't two just wasted days, just sitting around twiddling your thumbs, just walking from place to place, just killing time. But that Jesus was in the wilderness, praying. He was praying for Lazarus. He was praying for wisdom as his story, as his ministry, as his life was unfolding, for strength and guidance, for direction on where he should go and when he should go. Praying about that, somehow the story of Lazarus and Jesus own story were were tied up together. You see, what Jesus does for Lazarus will become the principal reason that the religious leaders are going to try to kill him and take him out. But it's also the sign of what Jesus purpose was and coming to earth. You see, those two days of prayer and waiting weren't just wasted. They were vital to Jesus wrestling with and discovering more, hearing more from God about His will, seeking the wisdom and the guidance that He would need in the days to come. You see, it's only then that after spending that time would he act not according to someone else's plan or someone else's idea about when's the best time to act? But but in a way that's much deeper and more powerful even than Mary and Martha could have imagined.

You see, Jesus was faithful in prayer. Have you ever thought about that? We think a lot about Jesus doing these amazing things. Do we think much about Jesus was faithful and prayer? But he took those two days and he was praying for his friend. So we find this actually throughout Jesus ministry. I just have have been looking over. I just assumed that it happened. I didn't think about why in the significance of it happening, maybe you remember the story of The Last Supper back in Luke 22, when the disciples are gathered around the table and an argument breaks out amongst them about who is the greatest, and Jesus jumps in and says, Guys, that's not how greatness is measured and the kingdom greatness is measured in service. Then he turns to Peter and he says this. Simon. Simon. Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I've prayed for you. Simon. I've been praying for you. That your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, that you'd strengthen your brothers. Peter. I've been praying for you. That in this moment that's coming that you would not fail, that faith would not fail, or maybe a little further down in John's own gospel, his telling of the same story, we see Jesus once again praying, praying for his disciples.

He says, Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name. He prays several things through John 17 of this amazing prayer that Jesus offers. He prays also excuse me, so that they may be one as we are one. Sorry, verse 32, but I have prayed for you. Simon. Now I'm all over the map here. Excuse me. He prays. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name. The name you gave me so that they may be one as we are one. My prayer is not that you would take them out of the world, but that you would protect them from the evil one. He continues on and on, praying over the different aspects and areas of their life and his life and how those are now intermingled and God what you do for them. All that you've been doing in me. Jesus was praying for His disciples, but not just those present with Him in that moment. But we'll see. He's even praying for those who are yet to come. My prayer is not for them, his disciples alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message that all of them may be one father. Just as you are in me and I am in, you may also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

See, Jesus was praying for you, friends. He was praying for me. He was praying for us in that moment. You see, Jesus is faithful in prayer. God, would you continue to do the work that only you can do? Would you continue to manifest your life in their life that they may be one, as you and I are one? So that as the timetable unfolds, that even in the midst of doubt and darkness and hard circumstances, they would know that you're still at work. You're still moving Jesus faithful and prayer for Lazarus, for his disciples and for us, which I think is also the point of of his comments about walking about in the daylight. I believe what he's saying is. Here's the one way to know where you're going is to follow the light, to walk in the light, which is Christ if you try to steal your own course. If you try to manage every circumstance that you come up and try to sort out every reason and every why, he says, it's like walking around in darkness. You're just going to stumble. You're going to fall. Jesus is the one who knows the time. He knows the place. He is the one with the plan. And so he invites us to follow him, even in those moments of darkness and doubt, those circumstances, those relationships that just aren't going the way we hope they would, whether it's just for a few hours or a few days or some of us know a few years.

When we're wondering where God is. And why hasn't shown up yet. It was, stay close to Jesus, keep following. Jesus will come out at the right place. See, Jesus is faithful to keep guiding us. To make our own path through would be like stumbling around in the dark. So Jesus and his disciples finally arrive at Bethany, and Martha comes out to greet him. And she says what many of us have said in our own lives. Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. But what if only you had been here once? The last time you asked? If only. And if only I had just not said that. If only I had just not gone there or done that, or if only I had. You see, Martha's words resonate with me. They resonate with us. Jesus is funny. He'd been here. Things would have gone so different. And Jesus responds with your brother will rise again. Okay. Martha said to him. I know. I know he'll rise again on the resurrection and the resurrection on the last day. I know. Jesus. I know. And even that resonates with us. Hey, just be faithful in following Jesus. And we all go. I know. I know one day it'll make sense, but it just doesn't right now.

I feel the weight of those comments. We can understand the darkness and the doubt and the and the struggle to believe. God, I believe, helped my unbelief in that moment for Martha. Jesus says your brother is going to rise again. I know. I know. I know. I'm supposed to believe that. I know I'm supposed to build my life on that rock. I know it, but. I know. Jesus said. I am the resurrection. And the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? But this question I think John wants to echo not only through the chapter, but but into our lives do we believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. Again. Jesus question is one that resonates all through John's gospel. Do you believe? Do you believe? His question to Martha is one that hangs in the air for us. Do we believe it? Are we willing to exchange our if onlys to if Jesus if Jesus really is who he said he is? If Jesus really is the Messiah, the promised one, the one we've been hoping for, if Jesus really is God's own son, the one in whom God is present and through whom is at work in the world, bringing about new life.

If Jesus is the resurrection. Not just some doctrinal statement that we believe, but an actual person, flesh and blood. I am the resurrection. Do you believe this? Then perhaps new life is possible, even in places and circumstances. Where death already seems to have won the day. Church. Where is your. If only. These days. What part of your life? Are you tempted to sit back and say, if only Jesus were here and would you be willing, like Martha, to to take it to Jesus? See Martha runs back to get her sister, who comes out as well with her. Only with her own, if only scenario. Jesus. If you'd been here. You see this amazing scene unfold that Jesus is deeply moved by the grief he sees not only in Mary and Martha, but all those who have come out. And he asked this question where they've laid him. And then one of the most striking verses in all of scripture, John 1135, the shortest one in Scripture. And Jesus wept. Now, if you're like me, grew up in the church, that's it's easy to kind of pass right over those words. And Jesus wept and we move on. But John doesn't let us, because the very next verse illustrates just how deep that grief was. See how he loved him. And then some of them said could not hear you open the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying.

Again. This the same guy who just said a word and John Ford and the man from Capernaum and he'll the son. It's another question again that speaks to the different expectations and timelines that Jesus was working on. But even though his actions and his words will shortly make clear what he's about to do, the life that he's going to bring. His actions here show that he understands grief and sorrow. And he's not just going to skip over it and pretend like it's not real. He's not going to act like those two days of waiting in the wilderness for Mary and Martha, longing, for asking, for pleading with Jesus to come and him not showing up. That's not just a blip. That's not just what you lack faith. Jesus enters into this experience, into the grief. Do you ever notice when you're around someone who is grieving that it often evokes grief in you? It resonates with us because we understand loss and pain. We could stop and wonder some. Why was Jesus weeping? Maybe it kind of unlocked something in him. Maybe he understood the story and the road he was about to travel. Maybe he understood the weight of the world that was going to be placed on his shoulders at Gethsemani at the cross. It's another question I think we could wrestle some with. But here Jesus doesn't trivialize their grief.

He doesn't say, Knock it off. He's just sleeping. Instead, he enters in to that grief. He's acquainted with our sorrows. He's not afraid. He's not unwilling. The question of the onlookers points us ahead to those that will be asked at Jesus own crucifixion. Isn't this the guy who healed and saved so many? Can he not save himself? Why doesn't he just come off that cross and show us who he really is? See. John's inviting us to consider the answer. The answer is no, he couldn't. Not if he wanted to provide life and hope for us. You see, it's only through Jesus death that by sharing in that common fate of humanity that He'll be able to rescue humanity from darkness. You see, his death brings life. And here in Bethany, we see Lazarus death and then subsequent resurrection is calling forth a life that had once been lost to think of Jesus. I remember those prayers I was talking about before, those prayers of Jesus in the wilderness and those two days of waiting. Listen to Jesus prayer now. Father. I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. Father, thank you for listening to me. You always listen. You always listen. Church. Jesus always listens to your prayers. Even the ones that you can't bear to to speak with words.

Even the ones that maybe there aren't words to communicate them. God always hears them. And he meets us in the midst of that grief, even though he has a time and he has a plan and he knows what's coming, he's not going to skip over it and pretend like it doesn't matter and said he's going to enter into it because he understands. So he always hears he is faithful. Our God is not a God who stands far off, unacquainted with grief and sorrow, someone that we have to appease or get punished. Like many of the ancient gods, people believed that I had to live a certain way or God was going to punish me. Jesus is showing a very different perspective. He shows us a God who was willing to enter into our experience. He has a plan and a path. And if we're willing to stay close to him, to walk in the light, to keep following, even in the midst of doubt and questions and struggling, there is life to be found. That one day, too, he would say to us what he says to Lazarus, and verse 43, Lazarus, come out. And the dead man came out. His hands and his feet were wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face. And Jesus said, Take off the grave clothes and let them go. And that's our hope that one day Jesus will say the same to us.

Take off that bondage and let them go. Take off those things that are blinding you and let them go. Take off those wrapping that's keeping you held in place, that's keeping you in check and let them go. Let you go. That you might find life in his name. You see, Jesus is faithful to his promise. Father God, many of us are facing situations and circumstances that feel much like this scenario that Lazarus has been through. For some of us, it's a health crisis. For others, it's a relational or work or school crisis. It's some circumstance or situation that's overwhelming. That just seems to be running on a course of its own. And we feel out of control. And we've been crying out to you and hoping and believing that you would show up and got it feels like you're just staying away, that our prayers are not being answered. They just echo back off the ceiling. Oh, God. Would you remind us today that you are with us? That you hear us? You always hear us. That our hurt and our pain and our grief. It's not lost on you. And you're not going to tell us to suck it up. I just deal with it. But it said you're going to enter in. And we right alongside us. Not because you don't know how it's going to turn out, not because you don't already have a plan in place, but God, because you want to be in relationship with us.

They got. You know what we know. You have felt it. You've experienced it. And we are precious to you. Oh, God. Would you meet us in the midst of those challenges, those hard circumstances once again? Again as we enter into this week that we reflect on you coming into Jerusalem. You spending the last moments of your life teaching and pleading and reaching out to the lost. Trying to open the eyes of the blind. Only, only to be repaid with a cruel and evil cross. Hearing the jeering of the crowds. You saved others. Why can't you save yourself? Even the words of Caiaphas and verse 50 of John 11 who says, Don't you guys understand? It's better that one person die than the whole nation perish. He even he had no idea how true those words were. That's only because you were willing to die. And the rest of us would not perish. So. God, would you help us to see your faithfulness in our lives? As we, even since the people sitting next to us and around us, their presence, their encouragement, their love, the relationship we share with them is this reminder that as we got a chance to bless our little babies in these sweet families in front of us this morning, this reminder, you're faithful. That you're continuing to work even in the midst of really hard circumstances.

And we don't understand it. This side of heaven, we may not ever understand it all we can do. Fathers keep following you. Keep walking in your light as best we can, the Lord, it's going to take your strength, your power, Holy Spirit, your presence in our lives for us to do that. So God would you do in and through and with us? What? What we can't do for ourselves. Would you strengthen our feeble arms and our weakness? Would you meet us in the midst of our grief? Would you help us to meet one another there with you? Not to trivialize it or to diminish it. But act like it doesn't matter. But instead father to to grieve right alongside them. And as Paul reminds us, a grief that's not like the grief of the world. A grief that's still bitter. It is still challenging and sometimes feels overwhelming, but it's a grief. A grief that is anchored in hope. And hope that Tim reminded us around the table that that Easter's coming. At Sun is coming. And things will not always be this way. That one thing. One day all things will be set right. Made new. Gap between that day and this. We promised to just keep as close to you as we can. So, Father, help us. We pray. Help us to stay in your light. That we might experience your faithfulness once again. God. We pray all this. And the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.