Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - All Saint's Sunday/Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost - 11/01/15 Sermon - “He raised the dead!"

Sunday 11/01/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “He raised the dead!”

                            

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 24

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Revelation 21:1-6a

Gospel Lesson: John 11:32-44

          Friends, brothers and sisters, I want to welcome you once again, on this the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, and this All Saint’s Sunday.

          This morning we are Twenty-Three Sundays after the day of Pentecost. Pentecost, the day where the Holy Spirit moved like a mighty fire, like a mighty wind, and the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. These Apostles, these saints then went forth preaching, teaching, healing, and changing the world in the name of Jesus Christ. This morning, we remember these first Apostles or saints. This morning, we remember all those saints from throughout the history of Christian Church. This morning, we remember those saints who passed on to glory this past year, or longer ago. This morning, we also we give thanks that God has called us all to be saints. While we are all a combination of saint and sinner, we are all called by God to be saints.

          Since we are honoring all saints, both past and present, on this All Saint’s Sunday, I think that it is good for me, to begin with a good definition of just what a saint is. In looking at www.dictionary.com, I found four definitions of what a saint is. Here are these definitions:                                                                                             1. any of certain persons of exceptional holiness of life, formally recognized as such by the Christian Church, especially by canonization; 2. a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence; 3. a founder, sponsor, or patron, as of a movement or organization; 4. (in certain religious groups) a designation applied by the members to themselves (www.dictionary.com).

          When looking at all of these definitions then, I really think that they can help us to put this All Saint’s Sunday into perspective. On one level on this All Saint’s Sunday, we acknowledge those people both past and present that have lived or are living with an “exceptional holiness of life” (www.dictionary.com). These people include the first Apostles of Jesus Christ, and many great saints throughout history, like Saint Francis of Assisi, and Saint Augustine. These people also includes saints that have been more recent, people like Ralph Maricle, and Dick Blackman. We also have such people in our churches today presently, which are nothing short of saints. Today then, is a day to honor those people who have aspired or aspire to have an “exceptional holiness of life,” whether they are with the Lord, or are still with us today (www.dictionary.com). The second definition of a saint, once again is “a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence” (www.dictionary.com). Examples of this, would be Mother Theresa, John Wesley, Kenneth Brong, Kenneth Smith, Shirley Haeussler, and Marian Davie, just to name a few. I would invite us all, to be thinking of saints both past and present today, that were or are people “of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence” (www.dictionary.com). The third definition of a saint speaks of once again, “a founder, sponsor, or patron, as of a movement or organization” (www.dictionary.com). When we think of Christian organizations, organizations that help the poor, and etc., many of their founders were or are nothing short of being saints. To me these include people like the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth.

          The last definition of a saint, once again, says, “(in certain religious groups) a designation applied by the members to themselves” (www.dictionary.com). To me therefore, we are all called to be saints. Yet we still have sin and brokenness that is in all of us. As the great protestant reformer Martin Luther said, “The true Christian, the regenerate man, is at once a saint and a sinner” (ontra-gentes.blogspot.com/2007/03/saint-and-sinner-luthers-quote.html). This means that until the day we die and go to be with the Lord, we are as this morning’s Call to Worship said, “a strange mixture of saint and sinner” (Duck and Tirabassi, Touch Holiness).

          It is as if we have two dogs living inside of our souls. One dog is a sinner and the other dog is a saint. The dog that grows is the dog that we feed. Our goal on this All Saint’s Sunday then, is to become more saint-like, as we honor all saints, both past and present.

          With this said, I want to look at our Gospel of John reading for this morning. In this reading, we have the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44). Now to be specific, this person, this saint, Lazarus, or “Saint Lazarus of Bethany,” had been dead for four entire days. As many of us know, when someone dies, there body begins to decay. I can imagine that four days after his death that Lazarus’s body would have had a lot of decay. It is also very hot in this area of the world, and that doesn’t help things when someone dies.

          To begin this story of raising Lazarus from the dead, I think that it is good to start in John 11:1 that says, “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha” (John 11:1, NRSV). So in the beginning of the Gospel of John 11, Jesus is told that Lazarus is sick. In response it says in John 11:6 speaking of Jesus, “after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:6, NRSV).

          A very good question to ask here then, is why would Jesus, knowing that Lazarus, a saint, was ill, wait “two days longer in the place where he was,” instead of going to him (John 11:6b, NRSV). I mean, if one of your good friends of family members was very sick, and you were told about this, would you wait two additional days to go and see them? Why would Jesus do this?

          The answer brothers and sisters, I believe, is that Jesus was concerned more about people having faith than the actual miracle of raising Saint Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. For Lazarus had faith, and his salvation and eternity, I believe was already secured. In fact, when Christ raised him, I personally believe that Lazarus came back from heaven, after four days of being dead on earth. Given this, I believe that Christ wanted to know if Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha would trust him, and if we all would trust him. Would we all seek our own spiritual resurrections in Jesus Christ? For death is a hard thing, but do we trust Christ in the midst of it? Do we have faith no matter what?

          So when Jesus then arrives after waiting two more days, John 11:32 says, “When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feel and said, “Lord, if you have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died” (John 11:32, NRSV). Well I don’t know about you, but it sounds like to me, that Mary has some trust issues with Jesus. Does she not believe in what Jesus can do, in telling the “Lord, if you have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died” (John 11:32, CEB). To me, Mary is saying, “Jesus, you are too late now.” Yet Jesus, had a plan. Jesus, brothers and sisters, is never too late, he is always just on time.

          In John 11:33 it says, “When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled” (John 11:33, CEB). One of the reasons that this verse is so powerful for me, is that when Jesus saw Mary and others grieving, the scripture says, “he was deeply disturbed and troubled” (John 11:33b, CEB). For Christ, for God, suffers when we suffer. The God of the Universe suffers with us, when we suffer.

In the next verse of John 11, Jesus says, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” (John 11:34, CEB). Then in what is an amazing verse of scripture, it says in John 11:35, “Jesus began to cry.” (John 11:35, CEB). Jesus the Lord, the Savior, the King of Kings, the Messiah, is crying. I wonder what it must have been like to watch Jesus Christ, the savior, crying?

The gospel reading then says, “The Jews said, “See how much he loved him! But some of them said, “He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” (John 11:36-37, CEB). They are challenging Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Next in this story from the Gospel of John, it says, “Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance.” (John 11:38, CEB).

Jesus then ordered the stone to be removed, but the gospel then says, “Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful. He’s been dead four days.” (John 11:39, CEB). So Martha doesn’t trust Jesus in this moment, as she questions him. In fact, Jesus then says to Martha, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you see God’s glory?” (John 11:40, CEB).

The stone was then removed from the front of Lazarus’ tomb, and then the gospel says that, “Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe you sent me.” (John 11:41-43a, CEB). So the primary reason that Jesus brings Lazarus back to life, I believe, is so that the people would have faith and believe. You see, I don’t think that Jesus was worried about where Lazarus went when we died. I believe that Jesus knew that Lazarus was in paradise, and bringing him back then, was so that others who did not believe like him, could then believe the way Lazarus believed. Do we as people called to be saints on this All Saint’s Sunday, love people and show them what it means to have spiritual resurrection in Jesus Christ?

           The climax of this story is in John 11:43b-44, where out gospel reading concludes with saying, “Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus come out!” The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” (John 11:43b-44, CEB).

A claim then brothers and sisters, is that we serve a savior that “raised the dead.” We serve a savior that tells death, that life will prevail. A savior that says, life will defeat death. I don’t know about you, but that is something to celebrate I think. Something to celebrate so much on this All Saint’s Sunday, that we can allow the love of Christ to fill us all. To fill us, so that we can love and fill others. That on all this All Saint’s Sunday, that we as the followers of Jesus Christ, along with all of the saints of the past and present, believe in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. That Jesus can change our hearts, our minds, and our souls. That for many of us, we cannot expect a literal resurrection of the dead until Christ returns, but today, in this moment, we can be spiritually resurrected.

I wonder how many sinners were turned into saints in this church, as the power of Jesus Christ spiritually resurrected them, the way Jesus physically resurrected Lazarus on this day? How many saints both past and present, loved others here, and lead these people to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ?

          Further, when people come into this church that desperately need to spiritually resurrected, do we continue to lead them to such a spiritual resurrection? Do we help them to take the stones away from the tombs of their own spiritual deadness? Or do we not do that?

          You see, I believe brothers and sisters that many of us are here today, because of the saints that went before us. These men and women who poured God’s abundant love into us, helping us to find Jesus Christ, to then have our own spiritual resurrections. Today though, there are still untold numbers of people who need spiritual resurrections. As the saints of the present then, Jesus Christ is counting on us to be his hands and feet. To help people to find a spiritual resurrection, and newness of life in him.

          I would like to share a story with you about what God calls saints to do. This story is called, “The Name of the Cleaner,” as reported in “Heart At Work” Editor: Jack Canfield and Jacqueline. I may have told this story before, but I felt that it fit really good today with All Saint’s Sunday and this morning’s gospel reading. Here is how it goes: “During her second month of nursing school, the professor gave the students a quiz. The last question stumped most people in the class. It read “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

“All the students had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would any of them know her name? Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward their grade.”

“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello”.”

“The students never forgotten that lesson. They also learned her name was Dorothy.”
          Saints, brothers and sisters often see the value of all persons. That no one is better or worse. Saints often seek to bring people to God, so that the spiritual resurrections that they experience, can be experienced by many. So that people may be made new in Jesus Christ.

On this All Saint’s Sunday then, let us remember the saints of the past, let us remember the saints of the present, as we all aspire to be saints. So that all can have a spiritual resurrection through Jesus Christ. Amen.