These Illustrations are based on John 11:1-45
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Sermon Opener - It's Time To Get Up - John 11:1-45
We could all use good news right now and I have Good News for you: God has a resurrection for you! He wants to bring you out into the light again. He wants to bring you out of that tomb of oppression and give you a new start. And listen! He has the power to do it. He can bring you back to life.
This powerful story in John 11 speaks to this. Remember it with me. Mary and Martha who live in Bethany are some of Jesus’ closest friends… They send word to him that their brother, whose name is Lazarus, is desperately ill. “Please come. We need your help. Hurry. He is sinking fast.” But by the time Jesus gets there, Lazarus has died… and has been in his grave for four days. Mary and Martha come out to meet Jesus and they express their grief: “He’s gone. We’ve lost him. O Lord, if only you have been here, our brother would not have died.”
The family and friends have gathered and in their deep sorrow, they begin to weep over the loss of their loved one, Lazarus. The heart of Jesus goes out to them… and Jesus weeps with them. He loved Lazarus, too… and he loves them… and he shares their pain. Jesus goes out to the cave-like tomb and he says to them: “Roll back the stone!” Martha, always the realist and ever ready to speak out, protests: “But Lord, we can’t do that. He has been in the grave for 4 days. By now there will be a terrible odor.” Jesus says to her: “Martha, only believe and you will see the power of God.”
So they roll the stone away… and Jesus cries out in a loud voice: “Lazarus, come forth!” And incredibly, miraculously, amazingly, before their very eyes… Lazarus is resurrected! He comes out of the tomb. He still has on his grave clothes. His head and feet are still wrapped with mummy-like bandages. Jesus then turns to the friends and family and says to them, “Unbind him and let him go. Unwrap him and set him free.”
In this graphic and dramatic story, three awesome lessons jump out at us. Three great truths emerge which can be so helpful to us today. Let me list them for us: Jesus wept with those he loved and he still does. Jesus raised people up and he still does. Jesus included others in the healing process… and he still does…
1. First, Jesus wept with those he loved...and He still does.
2. Second, Jesus raised people up... and He still does.
3. Third, He included others in the healing process...and He still does.
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Sermon Opener - Rise Up - Ezekiel 37:1-14
November 2019, the virus we know as the “Coronavirus” or “COVID-19” appeared in Wuhan, China. Today, nearly five months later, that same virus is affecting people around the world. At nearly 400,000 cases worldwide, COVID-19 is on a trajectory that will continue to infect people in 150 countries for months to come –their health, their finances, and their weary spirits.
This event, next to Sept 11, 2001, may be the most devastating world event of the 21st century and is already being compared to two monumental events of the 20th century: the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic that infected 500 million people around the globe, killing about 50 million, and the October 1929 US stock market crash and the following great depression that reverberated around the world through the 1930s.
The Spanish flu was a three-year epidemic. The great depression lasted a good 10 years through the 1930s.The changes and devastation of COVID-19 is still in its infancy. But these kinds of devastating events don’t just impact our wallets and our health. They severely impact our emotional, mental, and spiritual health. 1918 ended the bloodiest war (WWI) in history with huge losses of life but was followed by more loss with the Spanish Flu. Both devastated the young, killing primarily those from 18-40. In 1929, the suicide rate jumped to 18.9% after stocks plummeted 13% on Black Monday (October 28) and another 12% on Black Tuesday (October 29). The economy would take years to recover.
And yet the human spirit, aided by the Holy Spirit, continues to strive, to hope, and to love.
Every time we face death, destruction, despair, and devastation, we call upon the Holy Spirit to renew us, refresh us, and set us on our feet again. Just as faith surged in the past after global changes and difficulties such as the industrial revolution, the revolutionary, civil, and world wars, the Spanish flu, and the great depression, we live in a time when faith is needed now more than ever.
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Joy Unbounded, Glory Fulfilled
Pastor/Bishop Kenneth Ulmer (Inglewood, California) envisions the animating, life-fulfilling power of the Holy Spirit as like the transformation that comes over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon figures as they're inflated. Without any air these huge balloons lay flat on the floor, limp, and featureless figures. But when the wind starts whipping up inside those balloons, they begin to rise, stand up, and stand tall. They become individuals, people and creatures that we recognize and love. Once on the parade route, these balloons take on even more life, for they are animated not just by the air within them, but by the winds that buffet and bolster them down the street.
In today's gospel text, Jesus doesn't appear before Martha and Mary – who are in agony over the death of their brother Lazarus – just to bring them a casserole. Jesus doesn't cluck his tongue and concede that Lazarus' death is a tragedy.
Jesus goes to his best friend's tomb and calls out, "Lazarus, come forth!" As experienced by Ezekiel and the psalmist, once again the animating spirit of God moves with power and precision, and brings a dead man walking right out of his tomb! This is what God settles for. Miracle, rebirth, deliverance from the pit, and eternal redemption. God doesn't define winning as not losing. God doesn't settle for anything less than joy unbounded, and glory filled dreams fulfilled.
Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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Humor: "Look, He's Moving"
Three friends were discussing death and one of them asked: "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?"
The first of the friends said: I would like them to say, he was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community.
The second said: He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow," said another.
The third friend said, I would like them to say, "Look, he’s moving!!"
Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com
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The Way Out
Most everyone has worked one of those mazes where you follow the right path to find your way out. As you move your pencil through the maze you keep running into dead ends until you find the one path that sets you free.
Life is a lot like living in a maze. We continue to take wrong turns which lead nowhere and often retrace our steps until we can find our way. It can be very frustrating. Sometimes we never do find our way out. Those are the times we are stuck and feel like a prisoner with no escape.
Today I want to help set you free. I believe that no matter how difficult the maze you live in may seem, there is always a way out. Not even death can stand in the way of your life’s journey.
Keith Wagner, Only One Way Out
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The Third Day
It was a popular belief that soul and body were finally separated after 3 days -- with no hope of resuscitation. Lazarus' resurrection thus points to Jesus' resurrection. The event forces decision on belief or disbelief in Jesus; his enemies understand that the die is cast. It is this decisiveness for faith, in a miracle that surpasses any possibility of rational explanation, that gives the incident its primary dramatic tension.
Massey H. Shepherd, Jr., Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary: John, p. 720
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Out of the Tomb
Unfortunately, a lot of people are like mummies, all wrapped up in themselves. And they don't want to become unwrapped. All they do is come unwound at the thought of coming out of their safe tomb or stepping out in faith. But Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free and calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment, obedience and service.
On the old Merv Griffin Show. There was a time when he was interviewing some body builders. As he was standing there looking at these guys with all these muscles, he asked a powerful question: "What do you use these muscles for?"
One guy answered by flexing his muscles in one of those body builder stances. But Merv said, "No, you don't understand. What do you USE all those muscles for?" The guy said, "I'll show you." And he flexed again in another stance.
Again Merv said, "No. You still don't understand my question. Read my lips. What do you USE them FOR?" The guy posed again.
Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free and calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment, obedience and service. When we just come to Church and sometimes read our Bibles and just enjoy the fellowship but nothing else, then we're like those body building guests. We're like mummies, still wrapped up in ourselves. Jesus calls us to move beyond self to a life of faith and committed service.
Billy D. Strayhorn, Resurrection Living
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I Will Be More Alive
One of my favorite quotations, one I have used over and over again at funerals, comes from that great evangelist of the last century, Dwight L. Moody. Moody said, "One day you will read in the newspaper that D. L. Moody of East Northfield, Massachusetts is dead. Well, don't believe a word of it. I will have gone up higher, that's all. Out of this old clay tenement into a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And at that moment, I will be more alive than I have ever been."
David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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Belief
For many, belief is stuck out in eternity somewhere, and has no dynamic effect on the now. We want belief when we pass from this life, like Martha agreeing with Jesus about the resurrection in the last days. But for now, I'll just have to get by.
Henry Blackaby suggests we have a crisis of belief everyday. It comes down to the question at heart to even in the smallest of the details of our lives, "Do you believe?"
Robert AuBuchon, Do You Believe There Is a God?
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Run the Film in Reverse
When I was a child I used to love walking into Miss Hammond's 4th grade classroom to discover the shades drawn and a 16 mm projector set up facing the pull-down screen. This was more than the joy of knowing I wouldn't be asked to answer questions, read aloud, or work out problems on the black-board. For when there was time following the movie, rather than rewind the film, Miss Hammond would show the picture in reverse. We laughed hysterically at the antics produced on the screen: things which had disintegrated, suddenly were reconstituted, buildings shaken to pieces by earthquakes took previous shape before our eyes, people who had been knocked to the ground suddenly sprang back to life. That is what these lessons are about today -- God's power to run the film in reverse, to reverse the initiatives of infinitude, to overcome the gravity of life, to address a problem in life which you and I cannot solve.
Fred Anderson, A Problem You Cannot Solve
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ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS NOT IN OUR EMAIL
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Sermon Opener – Outpouring and Indwelling - Romans 8:6-11
Springtime is the season of uncontained optimism.
As the days grow longer, and the sun grows stronger, it feels time to do something outrageous. We dig into the earth, carefully plow and pulverize hard clods into fine loam. We remove the weeds and grasses. We add extra nutrients to enrich the prepared soil. Then into that lush, fertile mixture we gently deposit . . . dried up, shriveled, little (sometimes downright tiny), seemingly completely dead bits of matter. We call them “seeds.”
Nothing looks less “lively” than a seed. The tiniest ones--lettuces, carrots, radishes--are so minuscule that planting them is like putting into the soil grains of coarse black pepper. Corn and beans “look” like corn kernels and soup beans. Well, they look like corn kernels and beans that have been lost on the floor of your pantry for six months or so, rejected even by the mice. Definitely NOT “good eats.” And yet we joyfully plunge these desiccated crumbs into the soil we have sweated over, completely confident that something will come out of our efforts.
Springtime is the season of belief. Every spring we believe in the power of the life that lives within those apparently dead seed husks. We believe that just a few handfuls of seeds can produce a glorious new crop to nourish our lives and feed our families.
Of course, bringing that potential crop to full fruition takes a lot more than simply dropping seeds into the ground and walking away. As every backyard gardener or full-time farmer knows, once you put those babies into the soil you are in a relationship with that garden, with those fields, with the weather. Seeds require constant nurturing — watering, weeding, protection from predators, large and small. New life comes from within the seed. But ensuring the continuation of that potential new life comes from an ongoing relationship with that life, our commitment to doing all we can to ensure that every single seed becomes part of yet another new harvest.
This week’s epistle text is Paul’s springtime seed catalog…
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Sermon Opener - Set Free for Life - John 11:1-45
When the famous agnostic, Robert Ingersoll, died, the printed funeral program left this solemn instruction. It read: "There will be no singing." For without faith, few feel like singing in the face of death. Running, perhaps. Crying, certainly. But not singing. Not in the face of death. For without faith, death steals our reason to sing. Death takes the song off our lips and leaves in its place stilled tongues and tear-stained cheeks.
We know that is true, not only because we have experienced it, but also because we saw it happening in the gospel reading today. There was no singing at the funeral Jesus attended in Bethany, only mourning and weeping. Only wailing and crying, but no singing. The home of Mary and Martha was more like a prison than a home. People shuffled about aimlessly, their faces downcast, their eyes dulled by death. On their lips was no music or laughter, only the grief that reminded them of their loss. Another prisoner of sickness had been visited by the jailer of death. Another person caught in death's icy grip had been taken from them. Lazarus had died. Another was gone.
Shokoi Yokoi spent 28 years in a prison. Not a prison of walls, but a prison of fear. When the tide in World War II began to turn, Shokoi was a Japanese soldier on the island of Guam. Fearing that defeat meant certain capture and death at the hands of the American forces, Shokoi ran into the jungle and hid in a cave. He later learned that the war was over by reading one of the thousands of leaflets that were dropped into the jungle by American planes. But he still feared being taken prisoner, so he remained in his cave.
For over a quarter century, he came out only at night. He existed on frogs, rats, roaches, and mangoes. A few years back, some hunters discovered him and it was only after they sent to Japan for his aged commander to come and talk with him that they were able to convince him that it was safe to come out and return home.
Twenty-eight years of living in a cave because he was afraid. Twenty-eight years lost because of fear. What a shame. How could a person be so foolish? How could a person be so imprisoned by fear? A life wasted because he was afraid to come out. A life lost. And it is all too common…
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God Moves Slowly
When Jesus heard of the death of his good friend Lazarus, it saddened him but he did not go immediately to Bethany to restore his friend to life. Rather, he "stayed where he was for the next two days and made no move to go." How often we get impatient with one another, which is not good. But far worse still is to get impatient with God, as though he were at our beck and call. We cannot expect immediate answers to prayer. God takes his time. The world was millions of years in creation. The old axiom states that "the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine." God often moves slowly in stark contrast to the feverish activity of little mortals. Perhaps he delays an answer to our prayer to test us, to see whether we really desire what we are requesting, or whether we have sufficient confidence that he hears. We want what we want when we want it. But a wise man has said that life is "a song of degrees"; it is a ladder, up which we must climb step by step. When we try to force things we often lose them. So Jesus first completed his work where he was, and then went to raise Lazarus. The important thing is that in the right time he did respond. We must measure life not only by our watch, but by God’s great time clock.
Jon L. Joyce, His Hands, CSS Publishing
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Sunday's A Comin'
Tony Campolo tells the story of a black Baptist preacher in the inner city of Philadelphia who preached a sermon Tony says he'll never forget. Tony preached first. He was "hot," so "hot" he says, that he even stopped and listened to himself. He sat down and said to his pastor: "Now see if you can top that one!"
"Son," said the black pastor, "you ain't seen nothin' yet." For an hour and a half the pastor repeated these words over and over again: "It's Friday, but Sunday's a comin'."
"I've never heard anything like it," Tony said. "He just kept saying it. The congregation was spellbound by the power of it."
"It's Friday. Mary, Jesus' mother is crying her eyes out. That's her son up there on the cross. He's dying the agonizing death of crucifixion as a criminal. But it's only Friday," the preacher said. "Sunday's a comin'.
"The apostles were really down and out. Jesus, their leader, was being killed by evil men. But it was only Friday. Sunday is a comin'.
"The Devil thought he had won. 'You thought you could outwit me,' he said, 'but I've got you now.' But it was only Friday. Sunday is a comin'."
"He went on like that for 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour. Each time he said, 'It's Friday,' the crowd began to respond, 'but Sunday's comin'. An hour and 15 minutes.
"It's Friday and evil has triumphed over good. Jesus is dying up there on the cross. The world is turned upside down. This shouldn't happen. But it's only Friday. Sunday's a comin'.
"It's Friday. But Sunday is comin'. Mary Magdalene was out of her mind with grief. Her Lord was being killed. Jesus had turned her life from sin to grace. Now he was dead. But it's only Friday. Sunday is a comin'."
The place was rocking. For an hour and a half. "Friday! But Sunday is a comin'. Friday. But Sunday is a comin'.
"The sisters and the brothers are suffering. It just isn't fair...all they have to go through, but it's only Friday. Sunday is comin'."
"I was exhausted," Tony said. "It was the best sermon I've ever heard. The old preacher was saying it and the people were with him. 'It's Friday, but Sunday is a comin'. It was powerful," Tony said. "It was personal."
Ronald J. Lavin, I Am the Resurrection and the Life, www.Sermons.com
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Daylight Lasts Longer
There is a couple in Arkansas who have given their six-year-old son strict instructions to come home from playing every afternoon no later than 5 p.m. He is allowed to play with his friends, but his parents are quite serious about his curfew. If he is not home by 5 p.m., they begin to worry and call around the neighborhood to find out where he is. The boy knows this, though, and is careful to arrive every day on time.
One April Monday, however, the day after Daylight Saving Time went into effect, the boy was late coming home. When he finally arrived, a few minutes before 6 p.m., his mother scolded him for being late. "You know you are to be home by five," she said, "and here it is nearly six."
Puzzled, the little boy pointed out the window. "But the light," he protested, "the light; it's the light that tells me when to come home."
Realizing what had happened, his mother smiled and gently explained that the day before the time had been changed, that everyone had reset their clocks and, now, the daylight lasted longer. The boy's eyes narrowed. "Does God know about this?" he asked suspiciously.
In a childlike way, this little boy shared John's theological vision. Martha Jesus wants you to know that with God daylight last longer than death.
Adapted from Thomas G. Long, "When Jesus Arrives Late," Whispering the Lyrics, CSS Publishing Company
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Still in Tune and Still in Step
The Call to Worship had just been pronounced starting Easter Sunday Morning service in an East Texas church. The choir started its processional, singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" as they marched in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church. The last lady was wearing shoes with very slender heels. Without a thought for her fancy heels, she marched toward the grating that covered that hot air register in the middle of the aisle.
Suddenly the heel of one shoe sank into the hole in the register grate. In a flash she realized her predicament. Not wishing to hold up the whole processional, without missing a step, she slipped her foot out of her shoe and continued marching down the aisle. There wasn’t a hitch. The processional moved with clock-like precision. The first man after her spotted the situation and without losing a step, reached down and pulled up her shoe, but the entire grate came with it! Surprised, but still singing, the man kept on going down the aisle, holding in his hand the grate with the shoe attached. Everything still moved like clockwork. Still in tune and still in step, the next man in line stepped into the open register and disappeared from sight. The service took on a special meaning that Sunday, for just as the choir ended with "Alleluia! Christ arose!" a voice was heard under the church shouting..."I hope all of you are out of the way ’cause I’m coming out now!" The little girl closest to the aisle shouted down the register, "Come on, Jesus! We’ll stay out of the way."
Traditional Humor, www.Sermons.com
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Mr. Hooper Is Dead
In the summer of 1981, Will Lee, the actor who played an adult character named Mr. Hooper on the children's television show SESAME STREET, died. This posed a difficult set of issues for The Children's Television Workshop, producers of the show. Should they deal at all with the subject of death? If so, how would they explain it to their 10 million viewers, most of whom are under the age of six? A staff writer describes it this way: “We asked ourselves: What do we want the kids to know? What can they absorb? What might open up things we can't answer? We try to create boundaries around what we can safely teach without doing any damage.”
Child-development experts who specialize in loss and separation provided some specific don'ts for dealing with death on the show: Don't say Mr. Hooper got sick and died, because you don't always die when you get sick. Don't say he was old, because children think their parents are old. Don't say he went to the hospital and died, because people go to the hospital all the time. The staff also decided to avoid religious issues, such as saying that Mr. Hooper had gone to heaven. What about the do's? Early on they decided they were going to say a few basic things. He's gone--acknowledge the reality. He won't be back. He'll be missed.
They also wanted the cast to express how they felt about Will. And they wanted the kids to know that death stimulates a full range of emotions. You're sad, you're angry, you're frustrated--all at the same time. The show that resulted aired on Thanksgiving so that parents could watch with their children.
In one segment, Big Bird walks on camera and says to the cast: “I just drew pictures of all my grown-up friends on Sesame Street and I'm going to give them to you.” He passes out sketches and the cast members ooh and ahh over the likenesses. He's left with Mr. Hooper's picture. “I can't wait till he sees it,” says Big Bird. “Say, where is he? I want to give it to him.”
One cast member explains: “Big Bird, don't you remember? We told you . . . Mr. Hooper died. He's dead.”
Big Bird says, “Oh yeah, I remember. Well . . . I'll give it to him when he comes back.” Another cast member gets up from her chair and touches Big Bird saying, “Big Bird, Mr. Hooper's not coming back.”
“Why not?” Big Bird asks innocently.
“Big Bird,” explains the cast member, “when people die, they don't come back.”
No they don’t. That is the sad reality Big Bird that you and I learn as we grow older. But hidden under the dirt of the grave is a story, told in the death of Mary and Martha’s brother, told in the death of Jesus their friend, told in the death of everyone of you brothers and sisters of Jesus. Resurrection! It is the greatest unfinished story of our times. Its author is penning the finish even as we speak. It is His story. He knows the conclusion. The curtain will soon fall. And then shall begin the end that shall not end. Resurrection! It’s almost Easter, Big Bird…and Easter tells me they do come back. Amen.
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com. Adapted from Robert H. Waterman, Jr., The Renewal Factor, New York: Bantam Books, 1987, pp. 100-101.
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Make a Decision
Ed Young, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, tells of one event in his call to the ministry.
While I attended the University of Alabama, I got away from Bible study and away from the church. I had a friend name Walter Carroll, who was an atheist. He was a good guy, though. One Sunday afternoon he looked at me and said, "Eddie, do you believe there's a God??" I said, "Sure, Walter, I believe there is a God." He said, "You don't live like it." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "You live just like I do. I'm an atheist. I don't believe there's a God, and I live like there's no God. We're buddies. You do everything I do. You say there is a God, and yet you don't live like there's a God. Don't you know that, if there is a God, if you can get to know Him and live the way He wants you to live, that's the most important thing in life?"
Ed Young goes on to say, "That was the greatest sermon I have ever heard. God used the mouth of an atheist. I’ll never forget it. I couldn't answer. I went to my room, dropped on my knees and said, Lord, I know you’re there. I believe Jesus is Your Son. I’ve gotten away from that? Just lead me. I’m yours."
Do you believe there's a God? The most natural response is "of course!" Our lives, the way we live - do they support our belief of God? Many of us have wavered between belief and unbelief in both thought and action. It's time to make a decision.
Robert AuBuchon, Do You Believe There Is a God?
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The Man Who Died For Me
A mother living in a tenement house went shopping for groceries. While she was in the store, a fire engine raced by. She wondered, "Is the fire engine going to my home?" She had left her baby asleep at home. Forgetting about the groceries, she ran toward home. Her building had fire hoses aimed at it. It was burning like a matchbox. Rushing to the chief, she cried out, "My baby is up there." He shouted back to her, "It would be suicide for anyone to go up there now; it's too late."
A young fireman standing by volunteered, "Chief, I have a little baby at home, and if my house were on fire, I'd want someone to go up to save my baby. I'll go." The young fireman climbed the stairs; he got the baby, threw her into the rescue net, and just as he did, the house collapsed and he was burned to death.
The scene is 20 years later at a graveside. A 20-year-old woman is sobbing softly. Before her, at the head of this grave, is the statue of a fireman. A man stopping by asks respectfully, "Was that your father?" She replies, "No." "Was that your brother?" "No," she says. "That's the man who died for me."
Ronald J. Lavin, I Am the Resurrection and the Life, www.Sermons.com
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Tears in Heaven
A few years ago, four-year-old Conor Clapton fell to his death in New York City. After the tragedy his father, rock guitarist Eric Clapton, said, "I turned to stone. Then I went off the edge of the world for a while." In time, Clapton put his tortured feelings in a song:
Time can bring you down,
time can bend your knees.
Time can break your heart,
have you begging please.
Beyond the door
there's peace I'm sure,
And I know there'll be
no more tears in heaven.
(Song: "Tears in Heaven," by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings)
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Undeniably, Reliably Dead!
In the musical, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s house is swept up by a monstrous tornado. When her house finally sets down, we discover it has landed on the wicked witch of the west who has been terrorizing the residents of Munchkin City. The witch looks dead, but before the celebration of their good fortune can begin, death must be verified beyond any shadow of doubt. The mayor of the city says to Dorothy, “As the mayor of Munchkin City, in the county of the land of Oz, I welcome you most regally. But we’ve got to verify it legally, to see if she is morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, absolutely, positively, undeniably, and reliably dead!”
When Martha goes out to meet Jesus, there is no doubt. Lazarus is morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, absolutely, positively, undeniably, and reliably dead.
Jef Olson, Resurrection Rehearsal: The Lazarus Story
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Notice that Jesus speaks of himself as the resurrection, before he is crucified and raised in the scriptural accounts. Rather than predicting a future event in his life, I believe that he is speaking to the fact that he is currently at that time the resurrection. He is already raising people out of death, to new life. He is already transforming people, so that their lives become like nothing they could recognize before. That is resurrection, isn't it?
Beth Quick, Coming Into the World
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Take Off the Grave Clothes
Her name was Carol. She was the organist at her church. She was an outstanding musician, but she did something no organist should ever do. She overslept on Easter morning and missed the sunrise service. She was so embarrassed. Of course, the minister and the church forgave her. They teased her about it a little, but it was done lovingly and in good fun.
However, the next Easter, her phone rang at 5:00 in the morning. Jolted awake by the loud ringing, she scrambled to answer it. It was the minister, and he said, “Carol, its Easter morning The Lord is risen!
. . .And I suggest you do the same!”
The message is clear: We too can be resurrected. Christ shares his resurrection with us. He rises, and so can we. We too can have new life. We too can make a new start. We too can rise out of those tombs that try to imprison us!
James W. Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not To Be True, Dimensions, p. 74
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I Walked a Mile with Pleasure
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me known the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When sorrow walked with me.
Robert Browning Hamilton
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Noticed That You Passed Away
A few years ago, a letter appeared in the national news that was sent to a deceased person by the Indiana Department of Social Services. It read as follows:
"Your food stamps will be stopped in March because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."
Unless your name is Lazarus, there haven’t been too many who have seen a change in those circumstances!
Traditional
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Turn Loose, Untied
Robert McAfee Brown was a chaplain in World War II. He was on a troop ship with 1,500 Marines on their way home after having served in Japan. To his surprise, he was approached by a group of Marines asking him to lead a Bible study during the voyage.
One day, after the group had studied the passage about the raising of Lazarus, a Marine came to Dr. Brown saying, “The story is about me!” The young man had gotten into a lot of trouble before going into the service. He could not stand the thought of facing his family. The story of Lazarus gave him hope and courage to face the consequences back home. He had been “turned loose, untied.” Christ rolled away the stone of his life.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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Humor: You Scared the Living Daylights Out of Me
There was a guy riding in a cab one day. He was new to the city and was looking for a good place to eat, so he leaned forward, tapped the cabby on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Buddy." The driver let out a blood curdling scream and lost control of the cab. He nearly hit a bus, jumped the curb and stopped just inches from going through a huge plate-glass window and into a crowded restaurant.
For a few minutes, there was dead silence in the cab. All you could hear was two hearts beating like bass drums pounding out a quick march. The driver finally turned around and said, "Man, you scared the living daylights out of me."
The passenger, who was white as a sheet and whose eyes were as big as dinner plates, said, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize tapping you on the shoulder would scare you so badly."
The cabby said, "Well, it's not your fault. This is my first day driving a cab. But for the last 25 years, I drove a hearse."
Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Company
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At the Heart of the Universe Is a God Who Loves Us
The raising of Lazarus is a reminder that there will come a time when there will be no more pain or sorrow; there will come a time when there will be no more tears. Why? Because at the heart of the universe is a God who loves us.
That is the testimony of John in the Revelation. He writes, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Two images ought to stick in our minds forever. Jesus standing beside a friend’s tomb weeping. And even more striking, the eternal God of all creation wiping the tears from His children’s eyes. Cold, impersonal universe? I don’t think so.
Let me close with an interesting story. A woman named Ella Wilcox once witnessed a woman sitting quietly by herself sobbing very noticeably in the middle of a train car. At first, Ella was a little bothered by the persistent weeping, but then she noticed another passenger in the car an older gentlemen who was sitting near the rear of the car. He was telling funny stories to the passengers sitting around him. Everybody smiled and chuckled along with the old man. After a while, some of the other passengers in the car started moving. They were getting up from their seats in the front, near the crying woman, and gravitating toward the back near the man telling the funny stories. Out of this experience, Ella Wilcox wrote these well-known words: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.”
When you are weeping, you may feel alone, terribly alone, but you are not. There is One who weeps with you. There is One who will one day wipe away every tear from your eyes. This One has power over life and death. This One is Jesus Christ and he has the power to call you forth from your tomb of tears and give you life once again.
King Duncan, ChristianGlobe Illustrations
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Carpe Diem
In the movie, Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays the role of John Keating, a transformational teacher in a rigid, regimented private school. On the first day of Literature class, Keating takes his students down to the school lobby where trophy cases display the photos of earlier graduating classes. "Look at these pictures, boys," says Keating. "The young men you behold had the same fire in their eyes that you do. They planned to take the world by storm and make something magnificent of their lives. That was over 70 years ago. Now they are all fertilizing daisies. If you will listen, they have a message for you." As the students gazed at the class photographs, Keating begins whispering, "Carpe Diem, Carpe Diem, seize the day, seize the day." Life is a gift here and now. Enjoy.
J. Howard Olds, Faith Breaks, www.Sermons.com
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Do You Know Jesus?
Mark Tabb, in his book, Greater Than Unconventional Thoughts on the Infinite God, tells a heartbreaking story that poses that question in a stark way. It is about a young boy in a rural area of Kentucky named Cody. Cody wanted to be a preacher when he grew up, just like his dad who was a pastor. Once or twice a week Cody would climb on top of a chair in the kitchen, pull out a Bible, and give his best sermon on John 3:16. He always used the same Bible verse. It was his favorite. “For God so loved the world,” the verse begins, “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Cody believed this promise, and he wanted to make sure other people had an opportunity to believe it as well. Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store with his mom or dad, he would ask the clerk, “Do you know Jesus?” He asked his teachers and the other kids on the playground the same question. That’s what preachers do, Cody believed, and Cody wanted to be a preacher, just like his dad.
Mark Tabb attended Cody’s funeral one snowy January afternoon several years ago. Cody was eight. Four days earlier, Cody died in a tragic accident. There lay Cody in a casket. His right hand clutched a rope. Cody loved tying knots. His favorite stuffed animal lay beside him, along with his Bible and a picture of his brother.
Mark Tabb reports that over two thousand people came through the funeral home in southern Kentucky the night before Cody’s funeral. They all heard the same story of how Cody wanted to be a preacher, just like his dad. And they all heard the same question that Cody had asked friends and strangers alike: “Do you know Jesus?”
Tabb says he wishes he could report that a miracle occurred at that funeral and that Cody was raised from the dead just like Lazarus and given back to his parents whole. But it didn’t happen. Still Tabb says he believes a miracle did occur that day. Cody’s accident shook the entire community. As a result, everyone in town heard his story, and everyone in town heard his favorite question: “Do you know Jesus?”
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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How Great Is Your Faith?
When Christ came to Bethany, following the death of Lazarus, the body had been in the tomb long enough for decay to set in. For Christ to be expected to restore the body to life now took even more faith than it would if he had been present immediately after Lazarus’ death. But still Mary’s faith in Christ was unwavering. She told Christ that she knew that "even now" he could perform the miracle of restoring her brother from death.
We tend to limit our faith. We think that some things can be accomplished by prayer, or through Christ, but how much? We fail to comprehend how great God is, or to realize the limitless height and depth and width of Christ’s love. Your God Is Too Small is the catching title of a book. It could well be paraphrased to read, "Your Faith Is Too Small." It is never too late to expect miracles of Jesus. In old age as well as youth, no matter how late in the game, the addiction to dope or liquor or some mortal sin, "even now" Christ can come to the rescue if we put our faith in him.
Jon L. Joyce, His Hands, CSS Publishing