St. John 11:17-27, 38-53
I think it is always a good idea that we challenge ourselves. It is good for us to ask ourselves questions about our faith--why we do what we do. Why are things ordered the way they are? Why are we Lutheran? Why are we sacramental? Why do we go to church? Why is corporate worship a part of our week? Perhaps some of the answers to these questions may be answers such as, “This is the way we were taught when we were children,” or “We do it to give our children the proper upbringing.” The World War II generation saw church to be, in part, a sense of community, gathering together, working together, something they had to do to survive the war. They had to come together, work together and function as a cohesive unit. We are living in an age where church, liturgy, worship, etc. are things no longer understood. Today, church is frowned upon by many. People tend to see Christianity as very much tied to one’s political vantage point. The culture today thinks that Christianity is a set of morals and clean living. This is why, then, that they are quick to call Christians “hypocrites” if they see anything that goes against what they perceive to be a “religion of morals.” You may notice from these thoughts that there seems to be something missing, both, from within church and without. What is missing is the real meat of Christianity. True Christianity does have the Ten Commandments and the doctrine of holy living that the Scriptures prescribe for us, but Christianity has a fundamental proclamation that is often missed--God encountering human beings and bringing them to life and making them holy. The lectionary for today brings this reality into our scope in magnified form. Lazarus dies. His family is upset and justifiably so. Jesus, when told Lazarus was sick, remained where He was for two more days. This seems to be an odd thing to do, but Jesus does it to show the real meat of Christianity--the point of God in the flesh. But as I point out in the what and the why of church, culturally speaking, we miss the point of Jesus. Jesus went to the town after Lazarus had died. To Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, Jesus had come too late. They knew Jesus had come from God, but they found a certain finality in death. Our culture finds the same thing. There is a reason that death sells so well in movies and news. We are drawn to the most gruesome and blunt images of death in the news. We cannot help but look. There is a reason. When those of us who are alive see images of death, we think of our own end. Culturally speaking, our society doesn’t take death very well. What is more, the world cannot help but discuss what is on the other end of death. Mary’s question to Jesus discloses this reality: falling down at Christ’s feet, Mary says, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died”(vs. 32). To her, Jesus is too late. This leads to the question: what is she worshipping? Who is Jesus for her? Perhaps someone to follow in this world; some religious worship or experience to bide her time while on this earth? It is impossible to know precisely what Mary was thinking. In her grief, perhaps her thoughts were jumbled as often happens during grief. But we must come to understand why we come to Divine Service, why we pray, why we confess the way we do. We must understand these things, otherwise Christianity becomes for us something that fills our time here but has no substantial meaning. The Lutheran liturgy, the baptizing, the kneeling, the confessing, the singing, the praying, the preaching, the vestments (robes), and the eating and drinking all contain the central tenet of Christianity: that God comes to a tomb full of dead and lifeless bodies and brings them to life. You and I were dead in this world. Jesus came to us and brought us to life through the waters of holy baptism. St. Paul says this very thing in Romans 5:6, 8: “For when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”.... “but God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” On one level, the account of Lazarus is about you and me. Jesus tells the disciples as He prepared to journey to the town where Lazarus was that it was for their sakes that He was doing raise Lazarus from the dead--with the intent that they may believe in Him! This account is situated in John’s gospel as a high point. There are several miracles done by Jesus throughout the gospel leading up to this. Prior to this Jesus heals on the Sabbath, He feeds a great multitude of people in a miraculous manner with only a few loaves of bread and a few fish. Jesus gives sight to the blind on a few occasions, and all the while the Pharisees who do not understand God and how He works, stand to the side taking notes and plotting. The same thing happens today when people do not understand the way the Lord comes to people in the liturgy. Chapter 11 is a high point. All the other miracles are minor in comparison to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This is the last straw. The Pharisees have seen enough and the high priest prophesies the death of Christ. The raising of Lazarus is the last miracle that Jesus performs in the gospel--until the greatest miracle of all takes place with Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection. The raising of Lazarus, ultimately, points to Christ’s power over the grave which He, Himself, shall demonstrate on the day of His own resurrection. Christianity, as the church catholic understands it, is centered on God coming to those who are dead and bringing them to life. Our life as the body of Christ, the church, then, is concerned with God coming to us and saving us from the pit that threatens to swallow us. Our sins continually threaten us. They threaten to pull us away from Christ and heaven, and cast us into the black hole of death that has no bottom nor way of escape. Further and further we would sink in our own demise, were it not for our gracious Lord who saves us. This is what Christianity really is. The Divine Service is so named because God comes to us and is located in Word and Sacrament where He reaches out for us. As we gather and kneel before the Lord, we are acknowledging His presence among us in Word and Sacrament. This is not fancy language in an attempt to make more of what we are doing. Christ truly comes to us cloaked in the word and preaching. Christ truly comes cloaked in, with and under bread and wine to impart to us His life-giving grace. The Divine liturgy is the foretaste of heaven. This is why we sing, chant, vest(robe), kneel, pray, confess, listen and receive........because the eternal Lord sees fit to come to us from heaven in order to pull us out of the grave, grave clothes and all and resting in the arms of Jesus. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
