5 Lent A - Lazarus
John 11:1-44
3/24/96
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
By Rev. Valerie Hart
As I read the gospel for today, the line that jumped
out to me was “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died.” If only you had been here.
How often in our lives we say or feel that. If only God had provided a miracle
and my mother had not died. If only I had been offered a better job. If only my
spouse had not divorced me. If only I had a little more money. If only I had a
little more time. If only I had children. If only I didn’t have small children
to care for. If only God would heal me of my physical, emotional, or spiritual
suffering.
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died.” We can’t really blame Mary and Martha for feeling this way. After all,
they had seen Jesus heal people who were a lot sicker that Lazarus. He had told
the lame to walk and the blind to see. Why didn’t he heal their brother, who
was his friend, not just a stranger on the street. They had sent for him to
come, but he had delayed. If he really cared he would have come immediately. Or
he could have easily healed him from a distance. Yet Jesus let Mary and
Martha’s brother, his beloved friend, Lazarus, die. He had let him die without
even trying to heal him.
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died.”
Sometimes we too feel that Jesus has abandoned us. If
he really loves me the way the Bible and church tell us me does, why am I
suffering? Why do I sometimes feel alone, abandoned? Why doesn’t he respond to
my fervent prayers? If he loves me he would heal me. If he loves me he would
take away this pain. If he loves me he would change the heart of my husband or
wife. If he loved me my loved one would not have died.
After all, where was Jesus, this lover of souls, this
lover of little children, when that insane incarnation of evil entered a
classroom in Scotland and started shooting?
“Lord, if only you had been there they would not have
died.” must be the agonizing feelings of the parents who mourn.
What kind of callous person does not come immediately
when a friend is ill? What kind of person delays for days for no clear reason?
What kind of God let’s there be so much senseless suffering in the world?
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died.”
Yet Jesus weeps. He feels the pain and suffering of
Mary and Martha, he grieves for the death of Lazarus, he weeps for the very
human sorrow. Just as Jesus weeps with us in our pain, grieves with us in our
grief, fears with us in our fears, and knows the anguish of feeling abandoned.
God could change all this. The all mighty creator
could get rid of all suffering and pain. Jesus could have kept Lazarus alive.
But that is not what happened. God leaves suffering and sin in the world. Jesus
let Lazarus die. Why?
When hearing of Lazarus’ illness Jesus says that the
illness is for God’s glory. He also says that he is glad he was not there “so
that you may believe.”
“Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have
died.” mourns Mary and Martha. Jesus’ response is that without the death of
Lazarus, they and the disciples would not fully believe, would not know the
true power of God and would not fully understand who Jesus is. It was necessary
for Lazarus to die, painful as that was, for God’s glory to be fully known.
Jesus could have chosen not to submit to the cross. He
could have chosen a different path. He could have avoided the pain and
suffering involved. He could have easily justified to himself reasons to not
die. He asked God to remove the cup he was about to have to drink from. Perhaps
he prayed to his Father “If only I don’t have to die this way then.....” But
the suffering of Christ was necessary for us, each of us, to come to know how
much we are loved. There was no other way. It was necessary for Lazarus to die
for Jesus to glorify God through bringing him back to life. It was necessary
for Christ to die in order to demonstrate the power of God’s love through the
resurrection.
Sometimes we must go through periods of intense pain,
in order to know God at a deeper level.
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died.” but her belief would be weaker, and she would not have known the full
power of God.
When we go through painful periods in our life,
whether the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, extended illness,
loss of job, bouts of depression, the reason it is so painful is that a part of
us is dying. A part of our egos, of who we thought we were, is dying. Perhaps
the good daughter, or the perfect wife, or the ultimate provider - those images
of who we think we are - is dying. And it hurts, it hurts a great deal to have
part of our self identity die, part of who we think we are. Yet without death,
there can be no resurrection. Without Good Friday, there can be no Easter.
Without the pain of loss we are not able to realize how deeply we need God’s
grace, how much we long for Jesus to be part of our lives, how deeply we are
loved.
Have you ever noticed that it seems to be the times
when we are most devastated, feeling worst about who we are and what is
happening in our lives, that if we can open up to another person and share our
pain we discover that we are loved more deeply than we would ever acknowledge
before?
Have you ever noticed that it is when we have reached
bottom, when our suffering is greatest, that we most realize our need for God?
It is when we are humbled by life’s difficulties that we are able to
acknowledge our need for grace and to receive it abundantly. It is after a time
in which we have died to who we thought we were that we come to a greater
realization of who we really are - Beloved children of God.
Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died.
Lord, if you had been here, I would not have had to
die a little inside.
Lord, if you had been here, I would not have had this
opportunity to see the glory of God.
Lord, if you had been here, I would not have seen you
weep and know that you weep with all those who grieve.
Lord, if you had been there, we would not know of your
power.
Lord, if you yourself had not died, we would not know
of your resurrection.
Let us pray
Jesus we thank you for the difficult periods in our
lives that have led to a deeper knowledge of you and a greater capacity to love
and be loved. We thank you for the assurance that you weep with us and walk
with us. And we thank you for your sacrifice on the cross that tells us that
out of every death, every loss, you have the power to bring resurrection, for
you are the resurrection and the life. AMEN
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