JOHN 11:17-27 | RAISED UP FOR WHAT? / EASTER SUNDAY

RAISED UP FOR WHAT?

JOHN 11:17-27

APRIL 16, 2017

IT MAY SEEM STRANGE THAT THIS MORNING’S SERMON IS NOT BASED UPON ONE OF THE “EYE-WITNESS” ACCOUNTS OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION, OF WHICH, OF COURSE, THERE AREN’T ANY.

NO, ALL OF THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION ARE AFTER-THE-FACT; AND ARE, FOR THE MOST PART, BASED UPON THE ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE, I.E. – THE TOMB IS EMPTY!

IT’S WHAT’S NOT THERE, THAT COUNTS!

FOR THIS REASON, AND FOR SO MANY OTHERS, THE RESURRECTION IS A MATTER OF FAITH, OF BELIEVING.  BUT ISN’T THAT TRUE OF EVERYTHING CHRISTIAN?  OF ALL RELIGIONS?  IT’S ALL A MATTER OF FAITH!

SO, THIS MORNING, I’VE GONE BACK TO WHAT WE MIGHT CALL EASTER 1.0.

THE FIRST EASTER; EASTER – THE PREQUEL; TO ANOTHER RESURRECTION INVOLVING JESUS; BUT NOT HIS OWN; RATHER, THAT OF ONE OF JESUS’ BEST FRIENDS, LAZARUS.

I’LL NOT RETELL THE STORY THIS MORNING, BECAUSE, FOR ONE THING, MOST OF US KNOW IT; AND FOR ANOTHER THING, TODAY IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT JESUS’ RESURRECTION.

AND, FOR YET ANOTHER THING, BECAUSE IT’S NOT SO MUCH JESUS RAISING LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD THAT HAS MEANING FOR US TODAY, BUT WHAT JESUS SAYS TO LAZARUS’ SISTER, MARTHA, ANOTHER OF JESUS’ BEST FRIENDS.

WHAT DOES HE SAY?

“JESUS SAID TO HER, ‘I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.  THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN ME THOUGH THEY DIE, WILL LIVE, AND EVERYONE WHO LIVES AND BELIEVES IN ME WILL NEVER DIE.’”  THAT’S WHAT JESUS SAYS TO HER.

AND THIS: “DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?”

AND WHAT DOES SHE SAY?  “YES, LORD, I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE MESSIAH; THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, THE ONE COMING INTO THE WORLD.”

AND MIND YOU – THIS WAS ALL BEFORE JESUS RAISED HER BROTHER FROM THE DEAD!

BECAUSE WE HAVE GONE BACK TO WHEN, AND WHERE, JESUS CALLS HIMSELF THE “RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” IT DOES SEVERAL THINGS:

FIRST, IT IDENTIFIES “RESURRECTION AND LIFE” WITH THE PERSON OF JESUS; HE IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!

IT’S NOT ABOUT ANY EVENT – NOT ABOUT JESUS’ RESURRECTION, NOT HIS RAISING UP LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD; IT IS NOT AN ACTION, NOT AN EVENT; IT IS THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST WHO IS “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.”

SECONDLY, THIS MEANS THAT “RESURRECTION AND LIFE” IS NOT TO BE ASSOCIATED ONLY WITH DEATH – LAZARUS’ DEATH; JESUS’ DEATH; OUR DEATH, OR THAT OF A LOVED ONE;

“RESURRECTION AND LIFE” IS NOT SOMETHING THAT ONLY HAPPENS IN DEATH, AT THE END OF LIFE;

INSTEAD, AND PRECISELY BECAUSE JESUS HIMSELF IS THE “RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” IT IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS IN HIM; IN BELIEVING IN HIM; SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS NOW!

IF “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” IS NOTHING MORE THAN A CARROT DANGLED BEFORE US AS A REWARD FOR A GOOD LIFE;

AND THE THREAT OF HELL, THE ETERNAL STICK WITH WHICH GOD THREATENS US INTO BEHAVING;

THAT WOULD BE A HELLUVA FAITH!

BUT IF JESUS IS “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE,” IF THAT IS WHAT WE BELIEVE, HOW WE LIVE, WHY WE TREAT OTHERS THE WAY WE DO, THEN SUCH FAITH IS TRULY HEAVEN SENT.

JESUS AS “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” COMES NOT JUST AT THE TIME OF DEATH, HIS OWN, OR OURS, IT IS NOW!

IT IS “THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED.”

WHAT IT MEANS FOR JESUS TO BE “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” IS THAT HE HAS THE POWER, HE IS THE POWER, TO RESURRECT OUR LIVES – YES, FROM DEATH, BUT FROM SO MUCH MORE.

JESUS HAS THE POWER, IS THE POWER, TO RAISE US UP FROM SIN; FROM BAD DECISIONS; BAD CHOICES; BAD RELATIONSHIPS; BAD UPBRINGINGS; BAD FAMILIES; BAD MARRIAGES;

JESUS HAS THE POWER, IS THE POWER, TO RAISE US UP OUT OF ILL HEALTH, INJURY, AND TRAGEDY;

FROM ABUSE; THE LOSS OF OUR JOB; OUT OF POVERTY;

FROM OVER-INDULGENCE; FROM ADDICTION; OUT OF DEPRESSION;

AWAY FROM SELFISHNESS, PREJUDICE, AND HATRED;

OUT OF WAR, AND INTO PEACE.

YOU NAME IT! – TAKE ANY BAD PLACE, ANY BAD SPOT WE’VE GOTTEN OURSELVES INTO, ANY BAD SITUATION, BAD WHATEVER, WHEREVER, AND JESUS CHRIST HAS THE POWER, IS THE POWER, TO RAISE US UP!

SO OFTEN, IN BAD SITUATIONS, WHEN THINGS AREN’T GOING WELL, WHEN THE WORLD’S A MESS, IN THE MIDST OF ITS LATEST CRISIS, PEOPLE WILL ASK: “WHERE’S GOD IN ALL OF THIS?  WHY DOESN’T GOD DO SOMETHING?”

BY THE WAY, I BELIEVE GOD ASKS US THE SAME QUESTION; THOSE OF US WHO BELIEVE; WHO CALL OURSELVES CHRISTIANS.

AMID SUFFERING AND SORROW, AMID TRIAL AND TRIBULATION, I BELIEVE GOD ASKS: WHERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN ME?  WHY DON’T THEY DO SOMETHING?!  WHY DON’T THEY DO WHAT I’VE TOLD THEM TO DO?  WHY DON’T THEY DO WHAT I’VE SHOWN THEM HOW TO DO?!

BUT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE GOD IS WHEN THINGS GO BAD?  GOD IS RIGHT IN THE THICK OF THINGS!  IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL!  GOD IS WITH US!

AND YOU KNOW HOW WE KNOW THAT?  THE CROSS IS PROOF OF WHERE GOD IS DURING SUFFERING; OR SACRIFICE; DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.

AND YOU KNOW HOW WE KNOW THAT CHRIST HAS THE POWER, IS THE POWER TO RAISE US UP IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES?  THE EMPTY TOMB IS OUR PROOF!

CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!

RAISED UP FOR WHAT?  FOR NEW LIFE!

AGAIN, IT’S NOT JUST JESUS WHO IS RAISED UP; NOT JUST LAZARUS; OR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US INTO GOD’S ETERNAL KINGDOM; IT’S WE WHO ARE RAISED UP, AND NOT JUST IN DEATH, BUT IN LIFE!

AND YOU KNOW HOW WE KNOW THAT?

BECAUSE JESUS DID IT REPEATEDLY, THROUGHOUT HIS MINISTRY.

HE RAISED PEOPLE UP OUT OF THEIR SINFULNESS (MATTHEW, PETER, ZACCHAEUS, THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY, MARY MAGDALENE, AND THE REST).  HE RAISED THEM UP OUT OF SIN AND INTO NEW LIFE.

IT’S THE SAME IN HIS PARABLES – ALL THOSE NEEDING RAISED UP FROM THEIR SITUATIONS (THE PRODIGAL SON, THE LOST SHEEP, THE LOST COIN, THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD, THE RICH MAN AND THE OTHER LAZARUS), ALL OF THEM IN NEED OF NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.

IT HAPPENED FOR NICODEMUS, FOR JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, FOR SAUL WHO BECAME PAUL ON THAT ROAD TO DAMASCUS;

IT HAPPENED FOR THOSE WHOM JESUS HEALED: PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY, ETHICALLY, AND SPIRITUALLY.

IT’S NOT JUST EASTER THAT IS ABOUT “RESURRECTION AND LIFE” IT IS THE ENTIRETY OF JESUS’ LIFE, MISSION, AND MINISTRY.

IT IS HIS WHOLE LIFE, HIS ENTIRE MINISTRY, EVERY TEACHING, EVERY SERMON, EVERY PRAYER, EVERY ACT OF HEALING, EVERY STORY HE TOLD;

EVERY COMMANDMENT, COMMISSIONING, AND COMMENDATION – ALL OF IT IS MEANT TO RAISE US UP TO NEW LIFE!

IT WAS KIND OF CUTE – LAST SUNDAY AS A VISITING FAMILY WAS LEAVING AFTER WORSHIP;

THE FATHER ASKED ME IF I KNEW THE STORY OF FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND (YOU KNOW, WHERE THE TWO SETS OF FOOTPRINTS BECOME ONE, NOT BECAUSE JESUS HAS ABANDONED US, BUT BECAUSE THESE ARE THE TIMES JESUS CARRIES US…);

BUT BEFORE I COULD RESPOND, HIS WIFE CHIMED IN, “OF COURSE HE KNOWS FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND – EVERYBODY KNOWS FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND!”

“I TELL IT TO MY SONS EVERY DAY,” THE MAN TOLD ME, “SO THAT THEY’LL REMEMBER JESUS WILL CARRY THEM IN THE TOUGHEST TIMES OF THEIR LIVES.”

RAISED UP FOR WHAT?  FOR THAT!

RAISED UP FOR WHAT?  NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.  NEW LIFE IN THE ONE WHO IS “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.”

THEREFORE, EVERY SUNDAY IS EASTER.  EVERY DAY – A POTENTIAL EASTER.

THE CROSS IS THAT LINE OF DEMARCATION BETWEEN THE EARTHLY LIFE AND MINISTRY OF JESUS, AND THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

BUT RATHER THAN MARKING SOME SORT OF CHANGE; SOME SORT OF BEFORE/AFTER PICTURE; THIS/THAT; THEN/NOW;

THE CROSS – CHRIST’S LOVING SACRIFICE IS BUT A CONTINUATION, A COMPLETION, A FULFILLMENT, OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS GONE BEFORE;

AND EVERYTHING THAT WILL COME AFTER; AND EVERYTHING THAT COMES FOREVER AFTER THAT!

THE TOMB IS EMPTY – NOT JUST AS A PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION – BUT BECAUSE CHRIST IS ALREADY ON TO THE NEXT THING.  CHRIST IS ALIVE AND AT LARGE IN THE WORLD!  CHRIST IS LOOSE IN THE WORLD.

APPEARING TO MARY MAGDALENE AND THE OTHER WOMEN; APPEARING TO PETER AND JOHN, AND THE OTHER DISCIPLES; TO THE TWO ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS; TO THOMAS AND THE REST; TO 500 OR MORE BELIEVERS IN GALILEE.

THE RISEN CHRIST IS ALREADY ON HIS WAY – ESTABLISHING HIS CHURCH ON EARTH; AND HIS RULE AND HIS REIGN NOT ONLY IN HEAVEN, BUT IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM…

THE TOMB IS EMPTY BECAUSE CHRIST IS ON THE MOVE… BRINGING RESURRECTION AND LIFE TO THE NEXT PERSON, AND THE NEXT ONE, AND THE NEXT ONE!  TO ALL!  TO THE WORLD!

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THOSE OF US WHO “FIRST BELIEVED” IS THAT WE TOO HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED, COMMANDED, COMMISSIONED, COMMENDED TO GO INTO ALL THE WORLD BRINGING “THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” TO OTHERS, AND TO THE WORLD AS WELL.

WE ARE TO MAKE DISCIPLES; TO BAPTIZE; TO TEACH; AND ALL WITH THE PROMISE OF THE RISEN CHRIST:

“AND LO, I WILL BE WITH YOU ALWAYS…”

(IN ALL PLACES, AND AT ALL TIMES; IN THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF IT; IN THE HAPPY AND THE SAD OF IT; WHEN WE ARE UP AND WHEN WE ARE DOWN; WHENEVER, WHEREVER, HOWEVER WE NEED HIM).

AND YOU KNOW HOW WE KNOW THAT?

LOOK FOR THE FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND – WHEN THERE ARE TWO SETS, AND ESPECIALLY, WHEN THERE IS ONE!

MCKENZIE (EVEN HER NAME SCREAMS “PRECOCIOUSNESS”) WASN’T TRYING TO START A THEOLOGICAL DEBATE; SHE JUST WANTED TO MAKE A POINT ABOUT JESUS’ RESURRECTION.

HER SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER HAD TRIED TO ENCOURAGE HER CLASS WITH THE ASSURANCE THAT JESUS IS EVERYWHERE.

BUT FOR MCKENZIE, THAT DIDN’T SOUND QUITE RIGHT.  SO, SHE SAID, “I KNOW A PLACE WHERE JESUS ISN’T.”

THE TEACHER CURIOUSLY REPLIED, “OH, REALLY? AND WHERE IS THAT?”

THE BRIGHT LITTLE GIRL DECLARED, “HE’S NOT IN THE GRAVE!”

THE TOMB IS EMPTY!  THE RISEN CHRIST IS ON THE MOVE!

CHRIST IS LOOSE!  HE’S ALIVE AND AT LARGE IN THE WORLD!  HE’S ASKING: “OKAY, WHAT’S NEXT?”

HE HAS THE POWER, HE IS THE POWER, TO RAISE UP LIFE!

AND THE RISEN CHRIST IS ALIVE IN US – EMPOWERING, ENCOURAGING, INSPIRING US TO DO THE SAME!

“I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE…” JESUS SAYS. “DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?”

“YES, LORD, I BELIEVE YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, THE SON OF GOD, THE ONE COMING (AND GOING) INTO THE WORLD.”