Lent 6 + John 11:17-27, 38-53 + Rev. Charles Lehmann In the Eastern churches, even the Lutheran ones, many Christians love to call their Savior by the name, "Lover of Mankind." They love to sing and to pray, "You, O Master are good, and the Lover of Mankind." This is no small thing that they are saying. In the midst of their ungodly ways, even though they know God hates evil, and even when they recognize that their God could in full justice be a dread Lord who rains down death, destruction, and ruin on them for their sin, these Christians say, "You, O Master are good, and the Lover of Mankind."
You, people loved by God, know your Lord's will to you. He has manifested it on the cross. He who has the power to destroy the heavens and the earth at a word was pleased to be crushed for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities. The chastisement that is upon Him has brought you peace, and by His wounds you are healed. That is the kind of God you have. That He is the Judge before whom you must one day stand. And even though He is the Holy One before whom no one can stand, that is no cause of fear for you. You know what sort of God He is. You know what sort of Savior you have. When the Eastern Christians call their Lord "the Lover of Mankind," I can't help but wonder: Are they thinking of today's Gospel lesson? Are they thinking of the one who weeps at His friend's tomb? Are they thinking of the one who comforts Mary and Martha even though He knows what's coming next? The raising of Lazarus isn't the only story that reveals who God truly is. All of the Scriptures extol the tenderness of our Savior. But it's hard to beat a God who cries at funerals. We have heard the words of comfort that Jesus spoke to Martha. "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live, and he that lives and believes in me will never die." The Lord promises to Martha that her brother will rise again. He will personally empty the graves of all His beloved. And it is while Jesus gives this comfort that Mary comes to her Lord and says to Him the very same words that Martha had already spoken. She says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." God sees Mary's pain. We have no hint of husbands for Mary and Martha, and for them their only means of support in this world is gone. Not only have they lost their beloved brother, but they have lost their support, their breadwinner, their source for daily bread. Death shatters the world of those who survive. A raw gaping hole is torn that only the resurrection will completely heal. Though Mary and Martha hope in the resurrection at the last day, that doesn't help them so much now. Now is the pain. Now is the grief. Now is their brother rotting in the tomb. Now they have to bear all the consequences that the enemy death has wrought on them. Jesus sees this. Jesus feels it. His guts are turned inside out. He gasps for breath. His beloved children are grieving. Their brother, our Lord's friend, is dead. The Lord's compassion is fueled by his love for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and His implacable hatred of death and hell. Our Lord will not let this stand. Lazarus will live now, and then he will live forever in the resurrection at the last day. When Mary says to Jesus, "See where they laid him," it's all over. There is no manly strength with Jesus. He will not, like a stoic, keep emotion from marring His holy face. He weeps. He sobs quietly. He allows the pain to flow from his eyes and his throat. The Jews who see it recognize exactly what's going on. They say, "See how He loved him!" God cries at funerals. He cries because He loves His children. He cries because of His deep compassion for those who are left behind. He cries because the greatest evil, has the appearance of victory in the decay of the tomb. But the Lord's tears will yield to His words. The Lord cries because God is a man. The Lord speaks because this man is God. Death is being a little proud. But it shouldn't be. Life Incarnate now stands before Lazarus' tomb. The words that John Donne penned centuries later are easy to imagine on the Saviour's lips: "Death be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadfull. For, thou art not so! For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow, die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me. [Thou] dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, and poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well. One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally. And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die." The grave is going to be robbed today. At the word of the Lord death flees and life comes. "Lazarus! Come forth!" Gone is decay. Gone is death. Empty is the tomb where they laid him. The Lord speaks with the words of Hosea, "Oh death, I am thy plagues. Oh grave, I am thy destruction." Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Lazarus, even though he has died, has come forth from the tomb. He has heard His Savior's voice, because when life beckons even the dead can hear it. The Jews say, "See how He loved him!" And they will. Lazarus will. Mary will. Martha will. They will all see how Jesus has loved them. Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. Even as He gives comfort to Mary and Martha and gives Lazarus back to them, the Lord will not be satisfied until He has destroyed death forever. And so Jesus goes to the cross. He carries with him the sins of Lazarus, Mary, Martha, you, and me. He suffers all of the pangs of hell. He delivers Himself into the grave so that He might destroy death forever. Lazarus' body is awake from the sleep of death for a time, but he will die again. The sin that brought him to the grave the first time will eventually win again. This is not acceptable to Jesus. This is not the way He created the world to be. The Lord created you for immortal joy. His intent for you from the very foundation of the world has been that you would live with Him in your body forever. I'm sometimes told that death isn't that bad. It's the liberation of the soul from the flesh. And really, our human flesh is a bad thing. It limits us. When we get rid of the body, then we'll be truly free. Then we'll be at peace. We'll be at one with the universe and never have to suffer any of the body's pains or joys. These are lies, dear Christian. They are lies told by Satan to try to make you forget what you were created for. You were created for life. Your very eyes will behold your Savior's face forever and ever. Your very lips will sing His praises. If the flesh were so evil... if our destiny was to be delivered from our body, then I suppose we could have had a spiritual Savior. We could have had some sort of apparition who would appear and teach us how we should live so that eventually we could shed our mortal coil. A pastor in the early church, Peter Chrysologus extolled our Savior's love for life when he preached, "Brothers, how wrong those have been who have tried to write about the good of death. And what is so surprising about that? In this case the worldly-wise think that they are great and remarkable if they convince simple folks that the thing that is the greatest evil is the greatest good…. But these things, brothers, truth dispels, the Law banishes, faith attacks, the Apostle censures, and Christ blots out, who, while restoring the good that life is, discloses, condemns, and banishes the evil of death." If our goal was to get rid of the body, I suppose that death could be seen as good. Your Savior is the Lamb who was slain, but He is not dead. Your Savior is the firstborn from the dead, and He lives and reigns forever. He is the source of your life, and even though your body will sleep for a time, death cannot kill you. Death is the enemy. It is the ultimate evil. But because of your Savior it is weak. Jesus will not leave you or your loved ones to the grave. On the day of your Lord's return, every grave will be empty, and all his saints will go with Him, body and soul, into paradise forever. That, dear Christian, is the way of the God who cries at funerals. He loves you. He desires you. He wants you to live with Him forever. And He will have His way with you. He, your Master, is good, and the Lover of Mankind. Every funeral He attends ends with a resurrection. In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Rev. Charles R. Lehmann Assistant Pastor, Youth and Education Peace with Christ Lutheran Church Fort Collins, CO http://wickedbutforgiven.blogspot.com/ http://believeloveprayfight.blogspot.com/ ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe? 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