5th Sunday in Lent 4/10/11 Text: John11:21-22
5th Sunday in Lent
4/10/11
Text: John 11:21,22
Timing is Everything!
Today marks the fifth Sunday in Lent. We are just two weeks away from Easter. In today’s world timing is everything. In the time that Jesus was walking this earth timing was everything also. We see that in verse 21 of our Gospel reading when Martha greets Jesus. Listen to what she is saying. “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” In others words you are too late to help me.
I am sure that the wait had been agonizing, for Martha and Mary as they wondered when the Lord would get there. Then their brother died and it was too late. Martha’s fussed at Jesus. Lord where were you when I needed you? I had a need and you did not take care of it. What kind of friend are you? I thought you loved Lazarus? I thought you loved me?
But then she added those wonderful words of faith, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha said what she honestly thought, but it was tempered by her statement of faith, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
Have you ever felt that way? “Where were you, Lord? You came too late. Where were you when my loved one died? Where were you when my marriage dissolved? Where were you when my parents divorced? Where were you when my father became an alcoholic? Where were you when I was cheated out of my promotion? Where were you when my child went astray?” the list goes on and on, for our lives are filled with tragedy.
If you have fussed at God for not doing something on your timetable, and who hasn’t? Please notice that the Lord did not reprove Martha for her words! That is a valuable lesson for us to learn. It is not sinful to tell God how you feel. That may sound like heresy in the light of some things you have been taught, but it is not a sin.
You owe your life, your present life and eternal life to him, but that does not mean you are not allowed to express your feelings of pain or disappointment to him. Goodness gracious, if you cannot share them with God who can you share them with? God wants you to be honest with him. He can take it. Let him know your true feelings, for only then can you be helped by God.
The problem is that we believe that “good Christians” never express their true inner feelings toward God. To question God’s timetable in our lives is unthinkable. Do not fear that God might consider you less of a Christian, for God is more patient and accepting than anyone you know, for after all he is God.
King David cried out to God. Elijah cried out to God. Samuel cried out to God. The Bible is full of people crying out to God. Why even the great man of God Peter cried out to God. Jesus cried out to God that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. All of them showed their struggle in following God’s timetable. God never told them to shut up or quit their whining. He never turned his back on them. He loved them and gave them what they needed to carry on.
I use to think that good strong Christians never cried; that is until my mother died. What a lesson in humility. I set there on the front row of the funeral home and cried like a baby. While I had grieved when my dad died I had no concept of level of the grief that came over me that day, for my mother had died a needless death.
I cried out to God that day and the days following. I asked God some hard questions and I imagine, no, I know, that that will be times when I will cry out to God again questioning his timing when it does not match my timing. I will do that, for just as I knew that day when my mom died and at her funeral I will not be sinning by questioning his timing in answering my prayers.
God wants us to pour our hearts out to him. That is what he wanted from Samuel. That is what he wanted from Elijah and King David. That is our loving understanding God, for when you cry out in faith as they and Martha did in today’s reading God will respond in love.
Notice Jesus’ response and Martha’s confession in verse 23 and 24. Jesus said to her, ‘”Your brother will rise again”. Martha replied “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” but there is no doubt that she was thinking, “I know, of course, but, Lord, what about the present? I’m hurting! Where were you?”
Jesus knew she was hurting and so he told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus statement says much more than the English translation allows, for in the language of the day Jesus said, “I am the I AM. In other words I am not just Jesus Son of God, I am God. This is the sixth great “I am” statement recorded in the book of John.
Martha responded, “Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Martha had tasted grief and loss, yet she came through the trials of that time, as gold refined in the fire. Her confession was as great as Peter’s!
This great believer, a remarkable woman of faith even in her confession was not happy with Jesus’ timing. We have to face the fact that even the most spiritual suffer difficulties in understanding the delays of God’s love. They ask the hard questions. But God welcomes them and comforts them.
Notice how our Lord entered into the sisters’ grief. And after Martha had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Sound familiar? It should for those are the same words that Martha had said to Jesus. Jesus wept, not for Lazarus, for he was going to raise him from the dead, but for those that were there that day. He felt their sorrow. That shows me that we don’t have an impersonal God. We have a God who cares about our lives on this earth.
As a baptized Christian God has entered your life and you have become one with him in his death and resurrection. He knows what it is like to live your life, for we are told in the first chapter of John that since Jesus knows our pain, God the Father knows our pain also, for we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
Therefore, seek him rather than the restoration of what you have lost. He will fill that void left by what you have lost. That is why Jesus doesn't talk to Martha about Lazarus. He talks about Jesus. "Jesus said to her, '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?'" I pray that you do, for God’s timing is everything. Amen.
4/10/11
Text: John 11:21,22
Timing is Everything!
Today marks the fifth Sunday in Lent. We are just two weeks away from Easter. In today’s world timing is everything. In the time that Jesus was walking this earth timing was everything also. We see that in verse 21 of our Gospel reading when Martha greets Jesus. Listen to what she is saying. “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” In others words you are too late to help me.
I am sure that the wait had been agonizing, for Martha and Mary as they wondered when the Lord would get there. Then their brother died and it was too late. Martha’s fussed at Jesus. Lord where were you when I needed you? I had a need and you did not take care of it. What kind of friend are you? I thought you loved Lazarus? I thought you loved me?
But then she added those wonderful words of faith, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha said what she honestly thought, but it was tempered by her statement of faith, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
Have you ever felt that way? “Where were you, Lord? You came too late. Where were you when my loved one died? Where were you when my marriage dissolved? Where were you when my parents divorced? Where were you when my father became an alcoholic? Where were you when I was cheated out of my promotion? Where were you when my child went astray?” the list goes on and on, for our lives are filled with tragedy.
If you have fussed at God for not doing something on your timetable, and who hasn’t? Please notice that the Lord did not reprove Martha for her words! That is a valuable lesson for us to learn. It is not sinful to tell God how you feel. That may sound like heresy in the light of some things you have been taught, but it is not a sin.
You owe your life, your present life and eternal life to him, but that does not mean you are not allowed to express your feelings of pain or disappointment to him. Goodness gracious, if you cannot share them with God who can you share them with? God wants you to be honest with him. He can take it. Let him know your true feelings, for only then can you be helped by God.
The problem is that we believe that “good Christians” never express their true inner feelings toward God. To question God’s timetable in our lives is unthinkable. Do not fear that God might consider you less of a Christian, for God is more patient and accepting than anyone you know, for after all he is God.
King David cried out to God. Elijah cried out to God. Samuel cried out to God. The Bible is full of people crying out to God. Why even the great man of God Peter cried out to God. Jesus cried out to God that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. All of them showed their struggle in following God’s timetable. God never told them to shut up or quit their whining. He never turned his back on them. He loved them and gave them what they needed to carry on.
I use to think that good strong Christians never cried; that is until my mother died. What a lesson in humility. I set there on the front row of the funeral home and cried like a baby. While I had grieved when my dad died I had no concept of level of the grief that came over me that day, for my mother had died a needless death.
I cried out to God that day and the days following. I asked God some hard questions and I imagine, no, I know, that that will be times when I will cry out to God again questioning his timing when it does not match my timing. I will do that, for just as I knew that day when my mom died and at her funeral I will not be sinning by questioning his timing in answering my prayers.
God wants us to pour our hearts out to him. That is what he wanted from Samuel. That is what he wanted from Elijah and King David. That is our loving understanding God, for when you cry out in faith as they and Martha did in today’s reading God will respond in love.
Notice Jesus’ response and Martha’s confession in verse 23 and 24. Jesus said to her, ‘”Your brother will rise again”. Martha replied “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” but there is no doubt that she was thinking, “I know, of course, but, Lord, what about the present? I’m hurting! Where were you?”
Jesus knew she was hurting and so he told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus statement says much more than the English translation allows, for in the language of the day Jesus said, “I am the I AM. In other words I am not just Jesus Son of God, I am God. This is the sixth great “I am” statement recorded in the book of John.
Martha responded, “Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Martha had tasted grief and loss, yet she came through the trials of that time, as gold refined in the fire. Her confession was as great as Peter’s!
This great believer, a remarkable woman of faith even in her confession was not happy with Jesus’ timing. We have to face the fact that even the most spiritual suffer difficulties in understanding the delays of God’s love. They ask the hard questions. But God welcomes them and comforts them.
Notice how our Lord entered into the sisters’ grief. And after Martha had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Sound familiar? It should for those are the same words that Martha had said to Jesus. Jesus wept, not for Lazarus, for he was going to raise him from the dead, but for those that were there that day. He felt their sorrow. That shows me that we don’t have an impersonal God. We have a God who cares about our lives on this earth.
As a baptized Christian God has entered your life and you have become one with him in his death and resurrection. He knows what it is like to live your life, for we are told in the first chapter of John that since Jesus knows our pain, God the Father knows our pain also, for we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
Therefore, seek him rather than the restoration of what you have lost. He will fill that void left by what you have lost. That is why Jesus doesn't talk to Martha about Lazarus. He talks about Jesus. "Jesus said to her, '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?'" I pray that you do, for God’s timing is everything. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:33 PM
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