He Called My Name – Lazarus Page 1 of 8 Rev

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He Called My Name – Lazarus Page 1 of 8 Rev. Jan Brittain, Lent—March 4, 2018 Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church

He Called My Name – Lazarus John 11:1 -38

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES What’s in a name? Shakespeare asked as he pondered a rose. But seems to me, smell or no smell, names are important. When someone calls us by name we feel recognized, important, noticed. In ancient days, the knowledge of a name was believed to bring with it power over another individual. Knowing their name enabled a cursing or controlling of the other person. I don’t much buy into that but I do believe that knowing someone’s name brings with it a power – the power to bless. Hearing our name spoken with love, in encouragement, as support is always a blessing. And in my experience, when someone who loves us, who wants good for us, speaks our name, well, we tend to listen. I was playing on a Junior Varsity Basketball Team. The game was close. We were seconds away from the final buzzer, one point down. The noise in the small gym was deafening. Everyone in the stands and on the benches was hollering. All I could hear was a large roar. As I dribbled the ball around the top of the key, I suddenly heard one lone voice sounding out as though there was only one other person in the gym. Shoot Jan, shoot. It was my brother Tommy’s voice. He knew me and he knew my abilities on the basketball court better than anyone in the world. He would only want my good. I did not hesitate. I did not even consider not shooting. I shot the ball; it went through the net, the buzzer sounded, we won. When someone who loves us and cares about our welfare speaks our name, well, we tend to listen.

INTRO TO SERMON And that is true when Jesus calls a person by name too. Last week we joined Jesus at the table with Mary and Martha. Jesus called Martha to turn away from her distractions and turn back to Him. Martha, Martha. Today, we turn to the Gospel of John where we hear Jesus call the name of her brother, Lazarus. Here’s how the story begins.

John 11:1-6 1Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,[a] “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 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

______Unpublished work ©2018 Julianne Brittain He Called My Name – Lazarus Page 2 of 8 Rev. Jan Brittain, Lent—March 4, 2018 Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church it.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus[b] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Jesus delays, which is a bit difficult to understand but eventually Jesus heads back to his friends. Now Lazarus is the one whose name is called, but this story belongs to all three of the siblings --- Mary, Martha and Lazarus. When Jesus arrives, the story continues:

John 11: 17-37 17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus[d] had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles[e] away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[f] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,[g] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Let’s pause there and spend a little time with the two sisters.

MARY We begin with the younger sister Mary. Now just a little later in this gospel, in chapter 12, we will see Mary spring into action. But for now, Mary is so overwhelmed by her grief, by her loss, by her own sense of defeat that all she can do is cry at the feet of

Jesus. If you had been here, Lord, he would not have died. Implied in that comment is so much more – But you were not here. You did not come to save him and now the battle’s over. We’ve lost. Satan has won. Now friends, I don’t have to tell you that there are lots of Christians in our world who are singing the same sad song. Things are so bad in our world. There is so much evil. There’s just nothing we can do anymore. Satan has won. Oh yes. Too many Christians – self-proclaimed Christians, that is, for there is no such thing as a defeated Christian – too many of us are like Mary, throwing our hands up in defeat, just crying at the feet of Jesus. Why is that? Well, I think the answer is found there in verse 37 when those all around ask the question: Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? Now, consider this with me. Jesus has already gone to look for the grave. Jesus is ready for action, ready to go to battle. But – Mary and those around her are focused only on what Jesus has not yet done. In their despair, they are unable to focus on what God can yet do, will do and is doing even now. They remind me of that wonderful Old Testament story about Elisha and his servant. We used it a couple of months ago during Advent. It’s found in 2 Kings 6. Do you remember? The King of Syria has sent a great army, horses and chariots to Dothan to capture the prophet Elisha. Now Elisha’s servant is understandably frightened by the sight and he comes crying to the prophet. We are in trouble, really big trouble. Then Elisha responds with what every prayer warrior has the confidence to say when facing what the world thinks are impossible odds: Don’t worry. Those who are with us are greater than those who are with them. What in the world are you talking about? There’s absolutely no one with us – it’s only you and me. And then the text says, Elisha prayed. “Lord I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” The Lord did open the eyes of the young man, and he did see. And behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire. Don’t you see, friends? We all have the same problem. The frightened servant, the weeping Mary and far too many of us. We think of ourselves as already defeated. And listen to me now – the prayers of the defeated are prayers of fear and grief. The prayers of the victorious are prayers of hope and confidence. Those who are assured of the victory pray the promise, not the problem. What kind of prayers are you praying? The way we pray reveals a great deal about our attitude toward God. Is our God able to stand victorious against what any foe this world and Satan have to offer? Able to stand against the media, the political institutions and the materialistic sirens in our world? Or is our God already the loser with nothing to offer His people except consolation in defeat. Oh Beloved, Lazarus may have been caught in a tomb of stone, but sister Mary is caught in a tomb of despair and defeat. And far too many of us are standing there with her. Still, we should not be too critical of Mary. After all, when her brother dies, there has not yet been the cross and the empty tomb to proclaim God’s power at work in

Jesus. But for Christians today who stand powerless behind the stone of despair – seems to me that we have no excuses. For we know the rest of the story. We know that the battle is over and the victory has already been won. We need to come out of our tombs of despair.

MARTHA And then, there is Martha. Not surprisingly, Martha’s grief is very different from that of sister Mary. She is active in her grief. She is distressed by Jesus’ delay but she rushes to meet Him and then engages Him in a deep and meaningful theological discussion. Martha declares her belief and she does believe – to a degree. But, Martha does not yet understand. She accepts Jesus as the Messiah but she still places a limit on His power. I fear many of us do the same thing. And so, when Jesus calls for the stone to be rolled away, Martha objects. Let’s pick up the story there.

John 11:38-40 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

Bless her heart (isn’t that what we Southerners say when we are criticizing someone?). Limited in her vision of what God through Jesus can do, Martha actually gets in the way. Oh, she doesn’t mean to but her partial belief is actually a hindrance to Jesus. Friends, that is a scary thought. You see, Martha’s problem is that she is afraid of the stench. Are we? Are we afraid of the stench of failure, the stench of ridicule, the stench of embarrassment? Are we so afraid of what others will think or say that we too have become cautious in our witness, taking fewer and fewer risks. Are we too self-conscious to join hands and pray in a restaurant? Too careful about what we say in the pulpit? Are we so careful that we actually hold back – never quite giving everything to God trusting what He can do? After all, if we don’t try, we won’t fail. We won’t be embarrassed. And yet, my friends, the truth is (and we all know it) – it is only those Christians and those Churches that take risks, that make mistakes, that dare to roll away the stone despite the stench. They are the only ones who achieve great things for Jesus. Throughout the Scriptures, the ones who are healed, who have their needs met, who win battles with human and demon are the people who took risks. Blind Bartimaeus refused to be silent. The bleeding woman broke the law in order to touch the hem of His garment. The Gentile woman begged for crumbs that her daughter might be healed. All of them could

______Unpublished work ©2018 Julianne Brittain He Called My Name – Lazarus Page 5 of 8 Rev. Jan Brittain, Lent—March 4, 2018 Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church have stayed behind the stone that trapped Martha but instead, they stepped out in faith. They saw the miracle coming, took a chance, and claimed the miracle as their own. Lazarus may have been caught in a tomb of stone, Mary in a tomb of despair, but Martha was caught in a tomb of caution because of her limited faith. What about you? When have you taken a big risk for God? It’s time for us to come out of our tombs of caution.

LAZARUS Which brings us to Lazarus. Let’s finish the story. Which brings us to Lazarus. Let’s finish the story.

John 11:41-44 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

In the tomb we wait – with Lazarus. We wait in the cold, in the damp darkness of the grave. Lazarus is dead. Until Jesus calls his name. You know, folks, I think we miss one of the greatest lessons from this story of Lazarus if we focus only on the promise it brings of eternal life, victory over death on the other side of the grave. Because you see, Jesus came to give us life on both sides of the grave. Psychologist William Marston surveyed three thousand people with a simple question: What have you to live for? He was shocked to discover that 94% were simply enduring the present while they waited for the future – waited for something to happen – waited for next year – waited for better times – waited for someone to die – waited for tomorrow. And I don’t know for sure but I’ll bet some of that 94% would have called themselves Christians. But if they are Christians, then they are Christians who have yet to discover the abundant life that Jesus offers His people on this side of the grave. Friends, I’m afraid that there are a whole lot of people sitting on church pews and a few standing in pulpits who are counting on life on that side of the grave but have not yet accepted the life Jesus calls us to on this side of the grave. I fear we have become so comfortable in our tombs that we have forgotten there is a better place. Listen, please. If you hear nothing else I say today, hear this: When life is hard, when we are disappointed and feel beaten down – we do not have to stay in the cold and damp. No matter how difficult life may be, we do not have to hide out in the tombs of this world.

Oh no, Beloved, we have another place to turn – a place that Satan cannot even touch. Jesus calls us there. Come to me, he says, all ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Lazarus … Lazarus, come forth.

TOMBS Truth be told, Jesus had a thing about tombs. In fact, Jesus had a thing about funerals. As a young man, the great preacher D.L. Moody was called unexpectedly to preach a funeral sermon. He hunted through the Gospels thinking he would base his meditation on something Jesus said at a funeral. But he searched in vain. Moody discovered that Jesus broke up every funeral he ever attended. You see, death could not exist in the presence of Jesus. When the dead heard His voice, they sprang to life. And friend, they still do. So, what about you? What tomb threatens to hold you? To prevent you from the happy, effective, and faithful life that God wants you to have? Are you caught in a tomb? Well good news. Jesus Christ won’t leave you there either. As He called to His friend, Lazarus, Lazarus come forth, so He calls to you. Listen to me friend. I don’t care what label your tomb bears – fear, grief, regret, failure, shame, guilt, pain, anger – I am here to tell you that Jesus is calling your name too, calling you out. Come forth! In fact, calling is not really the right word. The word in the text would be better translated as shouting. Jesus is shouting your name. No soft-spoken, polite little call will do. Oh no, because Jesus is absolutely determined to be heard.

RAGS And Lazarus does hear and does come forth – but – the story does not end there. Lazarus has been given life, but he comes out stumbling. Lazarus is still caught in the rags of the tomb. The linen cloth still covers his eyes. Oh folks, I’m afraid that is true of so many Christians today. We have heard the call of Christ and we have responded but we are still weakly stumbling around, hampered and hindered by the rags that bind us. Are there rags binding you today? Just like the stones that try to block us and the tombs that try to hold us, the names of our rags are endless too. Some of us are bound by our past. In the movie Forest Gump, the heroine Jenny leads a very troubled life. The reason for her turmoil is revealed in one of the movie’s most troubling and compelling scenes. Forrest watches Jenny throw stones at the already weather-beaten house of her childhood – a house that holds memories of abuse at the hands of her father. When Jenny finally stops throwing stones and begins to weep, Forest says: Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks. Some of the rags that bind us today may have been put on us by others in our past. Well, if that is true for you, today is the day. Cast off those rags, Lazarus.

Some of us are bound by rags that we have carried so long we can’t even remember where they came from. Anger is like that. It feeds itself until it can finally live apart from its cause. Maybe your rags are like that – so old that their names have worn off. Well good news! You don’t have to stumble in them any more. Today is the day. Cast off those rags, Lazarus. And you know, some of what binds us and trips us up is merely habit. Years ago, the Denver Zoo had a difficult decision to make. They were offered the gift of a beautiful polar bear, but they had no room for the bear. They decided to raise money for a brand new habitat for the magnificent creature. But in the mean time, the bear was put in a small cage. The space was so small that the bear could only take three steps in one direction, turn around and take three steps back. Finally, the habitat was finished; the polar bear was put in his grand new home complete with waterfalls, caves, and lots of space. The bear entered his new home, looked around, took three steps, turned around and took three steps back and turned around and took… Well, you get the idea. Old habits are hard to break. Are old habits tripping you up? Well good news. Today is the day. Cast off those rags, Lazarus. And the really hard truth to face is that even good things can bind us and hold us. The things we love in life – our material possessions – meant to be tools often become idols. Even the people God gives us to love can trap us and trip us when we make them more important than God. We would do well to learn from Corrie Ten Boom, that saintly lady who endured such brutality from the Nazis. She said she learned to hold everything loosely in her hand for she discovered that when she grasped things too tightly, it would hurt when the Lord pried her fingers loose. Disciples hold all things loosely. At times, even the good rags have to be cast aside IF we are going to walk the way that leads to new life. Today is the day. Cast off those rags, Lazarus.

CHURCHES Seems to me that this listening for our name, coming out of the tomb and casting off our rags, is not just a matter for individual Christians. No, the sad truth is that the Body of Christ in this world – The Church itself – is too often trapped or stumbling too. We, The Church, struggle with the rags of bitterness, racism, prejudice, materialism, prestige, busyness and irrelevancy. If we are going to be doing the things that the Body of Christ needs to do, is called to do, and was created to do, then we are going to have to come out and cast off the rags that bind us as The Church – and soon.

CONCLUSION And we can do it but it all begins with taking off our own rags. I want to give you a chance to do that this very day, a chance to come out of the tomb and cast off the rags

______Unpublished work ©2018 Julianne Brittain He Called My Name – Lazarus Page 8 of 8 Rev. Jan Brittain, Lent—March 4, 2018 Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church that bind you. In other words, I’m hoping you will listen, listen very carefully so that you might hear the sound of Jesus calling your name … I’m hoping you will bring your rags to the altar. So that you might leave this holy place free at last to step into the abundant life Jesus offers us all.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Life Application Questions: 1. Are you in danger of being like Mary – believing that Satan has won in our world? What makes you feel that way? How might God at work in those circumstances? How might God act in the future in those situations?

2. Would you, like Mary and Martha, have been distressed by Jesus’ delay in coming? Have you ever wondered where Jesus was in times of difficulty? Can you look back to such times and see that Jesus showed up right on time?

3. Are you a Martha? Have you ever gotten in God’s way because you were afraid of the possible stench (embarrassment, failure)? What risks are you taking for Jesus?

4. Are you a Lazarus? Are you caught in a tomb unable to embrace the abundant life Jesus longs to give you? What is the name of your tomb? What do you need to do to come out of that tomb? What rags will you need to cast off?