Sidney UMC - 5th Sunday in Lent - 03/29/20 - Sermon - “New Life: Literally!” ("The New Life of Easter" - Series - Part 2 of 4)

Sunday 03/29/20 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:            “New Life: Literally!”

                    (“The New Life of Easter” Series: Part 2 of 4)

Old Testament Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

                                           

New Testament Scripture: Romans 8:6-11

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 11:1-45

          My friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome once again on this our Fifth Sunday in this the holy season of Lent. These 40-days, where we are called to give up, to give away, to sacrifice, to pray, to fast, to love each other, and to grow closer to Jesus Christ.

          I as said last Sunday, quoting someone else, I have never given up this much for Lent before. Many of us have given up things to observe this holy season of Lent this year and in previous years, yet I have never given up this much. This year during this season of Lent we are not able to do many of the things that we normally do. Whether we like it or not then, our Lenten disciplines and experiences, have now been broadened. We are forced to give up more, for a little anyway. We’re not completely choosing what we give up or give away, as some of these decisions have been for us. I never thought that I would have give up this much for Lent.

          With this said, some of us might be working from home right now, some of us might be quarantined at home right now, we can’t go to eat at a table in restaurant, and we are asked to have no unneeded travel. The summer Olympics in Japan has been postponed, and many things have been canceled. So, on and so forth. Talk about giving up a lot for Lent! Many of us find ourselves in this sort of “Limbo,” where we are stuck and waiting for this Coronavirus to run its course. Yet this too shall come to pass, and when it does, we will be stronger, more united, and have deeper faith because of it!

          Last Sunday, I began a new sermon series, called “The New Life of Easter” sermon series. In the first part of this sermon series from last week, I talked about how Jesus is, “The Light of the World.” In our gospel lesson from last week, Jesus said in John 9:5:

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn. 9:5, NRSV).

          Through the darkness and the struggles that we are facing with this Global Coronavirus Pandemic and in general, Jesus is “The Light of the World.” This light that is in us through Jesus Christ, is light that we can share freely with each other. We can’t share it physically face to face right now, but we can call, we can send letters, we can text, we can video chat, and in many other ways we can still share the light and the love of Jesus Christ. We are not powerless right now. We are indeed still the church right now, but for the time being we must function differently. Make no mistake though, we are still functioning!

          This morning is my second instalment of this “The New Life of Easter” sermon series, my sermon for this morning is called “New Life: Literally!” This morning in our very lengthy Gospel of John reading, we once again have the miracle of Jesus bringing his friend Lazarus back from the dead (Jn. 11:1-45, NRSV). Meaning, that Lazarus was dead, entombed, and Jesus physically brought him back to life.

          Our scripture readings for this morning, as they always do, are thematically interconnected. Today these thematic interconnections center around death and new life. So, there is death, despair, fear, brokenness, and then there is hope, love, newness, and new life. Jesus is not only “the light of the world,” but Jesus came to give us new life, and give us this new life abundantly.

          Before jumping into the gospel of John lesson more central this morning however, I want to talk briefly about our scriptures from Ezekiel and Romans for this morning.

In Ezekiel we hear about dry and dead bones, being made flesh and alive. Aren’t we going through nationally, and worldwide a valley of dry bones right now? Some feel anxious, worried, troubled, and have little hope, but friends, Jesus came to give us new life and give it abundantly.

          In looking more closely at our scripture reading from the Book of Ezekiel for this morning it says:

“The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord” (Ez. 37:1-6, NRSV).

          This reality of dry bones, of death, and of no life, might be striking a chord within us right now during this Global Coronavirus Pandemic. Ezekiel once again is asked by God to prophesy, and he was a prophet. God asks Ezekiel to prophesy that the dry bones and death in this valley, would become new life. Ezekiel the does prophesy, and as he does, the dead bones assembled, and sinews and flesh covered them (Ez. 37:7-8, NRSV). Ezekiel then prophesied that these newly assemble bodies would have breath and life, and then they did (Ez. 37:9-10, NRSV).

          God then tells Ezekiel that these bones that have just assembled and were made alive again, was all of Israel (Ez. 37:11-12, NRSV). God then tells Ezekiel that he will raise the dead from there graves, give them new life, and that God’s Spirit would be in them.

          This beautiful scripture for this morning from the Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel is maybe not, as I said, all that different from how some people, or maybe you are feeling during this Coronavirus Pandemic. For some us, we might feel like we in are in that valley of lifeless dried bones right now. Maybe we are quarantined, our lives have been disrupted, trips have been canceled, and so on and so forth. Yet, this will end, and we will have “New Life: Literally!” New life, in that what we are experiencing right now, is temporary, and at some point, soon when this threat of the Coronavirus ends, we will all gather here for worship, and what a day that will be!

           In our reading once again for this morning, we have the same thematic distinction of death and new life, of despair struggle and hope. Once again, the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:6-11 this:

“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you (Rom. 8:6-11, NRSV).

          The example of life and death, despair and hope that the Apostle Paul gives here, is comparing our flesh and our souls. If we are focused on our flesh and our sin, we will turn from God, but if we seek him, we will find life and peace.

          Through this time of this Global Coronavirus Pandemic, some of us have worries about our flesh, our bodies. We have taken multiple precautions and are being safe. We are praying for each other, but I hope dear friends, that we are not questioning God’s love, nor our salvation through Jesus Christ. Our worries in this situation have hopefully only been around our flesh, not our faith. God is with us, let us continue to be safe, and Lord willing we will arrive at the end of this together. Let us be safe, make good choices, but let us also seek the hope of Jesus Christ through this pandemic.

          This scriptural theme of death and lifelessness to life and hope, from despair and sorrow, to joy and peace, leads me this morning to our Gospel of John reading. Again, this is the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. It’s a long scripture, so once again, let’s dive right in!

          This is once again how our Gospel of John reading begins for this morning, as it says:

“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (Jn. 11:1-6, NRSV).

          So, Lazarus is gravely ill, and Jesus gets a message to this effect from Mary and Martha. Yet, instead of going to heal Lazarus immediately, Jesus stays where he is for another two days. I wonder how many more says it will take until this Global Coronavirus Pandemic is over? I mean we’re worried now, and some are sick now. Why can’t this Global Coronavirus Pandemic just end now?

          Jesus then heads to Judea after these two additional days, even though his disciples encourage him for his safety not to go there (Jn. 11:7-10, NRSV). Jesus then tells his disciples that their friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and that they were going to wake him up. Jesus however, meant Lazarus had died, and then he told his disciples this (Jn. 11:11-14, NRSV). Jesus allows Lazarus to die, so that in raising him to new life, that we will believe in Jesus. Today Jesus offers us “New Life: Literally!”

          When Jesus arrives in Bethany, near Jerusalem, Lazarus had been dead for four days at this point (Jn. 11:17, NRSV). Mary and Martha are very upset about the death of there brother Lazarus, as many came to console them (Jn. 11:18-19, NRSV). Martha then heard that Jesus was near, and she went to him, as Mary stayed at home (Jn. 11:20, NRSV). Martha tells Jesus that if he had been there, then Lazarus would not have died, and then Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will be alive again (Jn. 11:21-23, NRSV). Martha thinks that Jesus is referring to the resurrection of the dead in end days, and Jesus explains that through him all have can new life (Jn. 11:24-27, NRSV).

        At this point, Martha goes to get her sister Mary, and Mary comes to see Jesus (Jn. 11:28-31, NRSV). Some people followed Mary thinking that she was going to weep at Lazarus’ tomb. Instead, Mary arrives to Jesus, she falls at his feet weeping. Mary told Jesus that he had been there, then Lazarus would not have died. Moved by Mary’s emotion, Jesus ask’s Mary where Lazarus tomb is, so that he might go to it.

          We then have the shortest, or one of the shortest verses in scripture, which is John 11:35. This verse is:

“Jesus began to weep” (Jn. 11:35, NRSV).

          In John 11:35 in the New Revised Standard Version of the bible ,John 11:35 is four words, but in some bible translations, this verse is simply “Jesus wept.”

          Jesus our Lord and our savior was crying since Mary and others were so upset over Lazarus. In fact, the onlookers commented on how much Jesus loved Lazarus, and they wondered why Jesus didn’t heal Lazarus (Jn. 11:36-37, NRSV).

          Jesus then gets to Lazarus’ tomb, and tells the people to remove the stone from Lazarus’ tomb (Jn. 11:38-39, NRSV). Martha warns Jesus that it will smell bad as Lazarus has been dead for four days, Jesus insists, and the stone is moved (Jn. 11:38-40, NRSV).

          Jesus then prays to the Heavenly Father that he might raise Lazarus from the dead, so that all may believe that he is truly the Son of God (Jn. 11:41-42, NRSV). After this prayer, Jesus shouts for Lazarus to come out the tomb, and Lazarus physically gets up and walks out of the tomb. Jesus then tells the on lookers to remove Lazarus’s burial cloths and other bindings, and to let him go (Jn. 11:43-44, NRSV).

          This very lengthy gospel of John reading then ends with 11:45, that says:

^“Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him” (Jn. 11:45, NRSV).

          The Gospel of John then continues beyond this morning, to say that some people then conspired to kill Jesus. The people were flocking to Jesus, he spoke truth, he performed miracles, and as a result, some saw him as a grave threat to their own power and authority.

          I don’t think that it is a coincidence that we have this gospel of John reading for this morning, on the death and resurrection of Lazarus. Further, the resurrection and the healing of Lazarus did not come when it was desired or even expected. Yet Jesus offered Lazarus and us “New Life: Literally!” In a similar way, we do not know when this Global Coronavirus Pandemic will end, but we know it will. Even though it might not seem like it now, and even though Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to come and heal Lazarus earlier, Jesus arrived. The end of this Global Coronavirus Pandemic is coming, and when it does, we will have a joyous service of worship physically together!

Until that day, and until we are allowed to physically gather for church once again, and as soon I know this, you will know this, I ask this friends, stay safe, make good choices, continue to boldly love each other, and know that I and the church remain here for you. Friends, this will end eventually, and when it does may rejoice that we have “New Life: Literally!” Amen.