It's NOT a Dream

Sermon John 11 March 29, 2020 5^th Sunday in Lent. Covid19 Livestream worship.

It's NOT a Dream

When bad things happen we sometimes deal with it by asking someone to pinch us. We look to them and ask them. “Was that a dream; did this really happen?”

When we feel the pinch which can really hurt-we realize it was NOT a dream!

Martha and Mary are living their worst nightmare.

Their precious brother Lazarus is ill to the point of death. They do what anyone would do and they call on their best friend to come and help them to save their brother.

What do we do when we are faced with a tragedy, a trauma; we call out to our dearest ones. We call to them to come back to us and help us. We want them to help us through our fear and to solve and fix our problems for us. 

We trust them with our life and we have some pretty high expectations of them. 

Most of the time we get pretty mad at the people we have preset assumptions of what they can and should do for us.

Especially when we are in a crisis.

And when we are suffering from grief.

To make this story even more interesting is that we too get mad at Jesus as we read how stalls showing up for his friends.

It’s not that he is showing up for some acquaintances-no! These are his best friends ever! When Jesus heard the news he should have dropped everything and gone running to be the hero and save the day.

So, along with Martha we’re really upset with Jesus!

We ask him too, “Where were you?! You could have done something to fix this, to save Lazarus.”

I imagine many people have been in Martha’s shoes this week.

And Mary’s too.

“Where were you Jesus when this virus took over the world?”

“Why didn’t you stop it yet?”

“How could you have hung out in other places and not put us on the top of your list of favorite people to come running to?”

We can be encouraged to know that Martha and Mary are not afraid of Jesus to let him have it.

They are not afraid to let him know the truth of how they feel.

They are not afraid to let him know what they expected of him and how disappointed they are in him for not coming to save their brother.

Perhaps, we too need the assurance that we can let Jesus have it

and let him know our feelings of disappointment and anger too.

These three were Jesus closest friends ever.

Jesus doesn’t react to their feelings. He doesn’t scold them. Jesus just loves them.

He recognizes in them the power of their faith.

Lament and expression of frustration and grief is as much a part of faith as any other expression.

Our feelings of grief and pain, hurt and sorrow are holy.

They are not unbelief but the truth of the power of faith.

Why?

Because when we believe God could have done something, we believe in the power of God of death and life.

And that’s when Jesus lets us know who he is in the heart of our faith.

He IS the resurrection and the life!

Jesus asks the women if they believe and they let him know-yes!

But, then Jesus heads to the tomb and asks the stone to be rolled away and the reality of the death within the tomb hits hard.

It hits home.

And they yell, “no don’t do it! He stinks!

It’s been four days!”

Don’t open the tomb.

Don’t open the reality of death. Don’t open the truth.

From the confession of faith in Jesus to the stark reality of the un-denying dead as a doornail Lazarus-the women are no longer dreaming!

We too have hit the hard reality of the death in the tomb.

And it stinks!

We are stuck in a pandemic and it stinks.

It really, really smells.

And it is NOT a dream!

It has hit home to us.

We have someone we know who has been infected by this virus. We have someone we know who has lost a loved to this virus. We have someone we know who has had negligent medical care because the focus has only been on this virus. And beyond that our daily life is totally turned upside down.

Hopes and dreams of retirement are now in limbo. Our young people are without career opportunities as all job interviews are on hold. Graduations, weddings, birthdays, funerals all are cancelled until further notice. Parents are scrambling to figure out how to work and teach. Teachers are scrambling to figure out how to teach without touch, toys, or tutors. Yes. We are all together standing at the tomb with Martha and telling Jesus don’t roll away the stone of the reality of how all of this really, really, stinks!

We are fearful the truth will escape in a wretched odor.

The power for us as individuals and as the church, as the community of faith and community of people everywhere, is that Jesus IS the resurrection and the Life!

He is the truth of who he has claimed and God has anointed from the beginning.

When Jesus says even though they die, they live-that’s exactly what we believe!

We say it in all our confessions.

All who live will never die.

Death is but a transition from this life to the next without any interruption of life with Christ.

The future hope is in today!

Abundance of life is now in any circumstance.

There is no fear about rolling away the stone of reality.

God is with us.

God is calling the stone to be rolled away and for new life to emerge!

God loves the world so much he has given the world Jesus for salvation.

Life is promised from the first breath of faith and the fullness of God is there, present never leaving us.

Abundance of God’s presence is what the gospel of John promises.

Over the top wonder of God working new life in those who seek him.

So when Jesus calls Lazarus to come out,

he is calling all new life to emerge.

New beginnings will emerge from the death of reality.

As we face our fears and do not let them keep us apart from God or from one another, we discover the power of God to work the abundance of opportunity in us.

Hold on to hope!

It is true that this is NOT a dream.

But, we can trust that Jesus is there calling us

to come back to him with all our heart.

Jesus is waiting for us to allow new life to emerge from the tomb.

Jesus is waiting and longing for us to come to him.

To believe in him.

To say yes when he asks us if we believe.

Friends, it’s NOT a dream.

Jesus is here right now, fully present,

all powerful,

filling us with the breath of life.

Believe his love for you today.

Amen.

Resources: NIB Gospel John Gail O'Day; Encounters with Jesus by Francis Taylor Gench,