I have a good friend
that I met back in college that I have a special relationship with. I say this
because one of the things that most people try to avoid, we do quite regularly,
that is we argue. It doesn’t matter what it is about it can be who we think
will win the World Series, our stance on the Affordable Care Act,
denominational differences, or even whether something is truly bar-b-q if it is
not pulled pork. In all honesty, it doesn’t take very much to get us arguing.
Funny thing is even though we enjoy arguing with one another, these arguments
can get quite heated. I’ll get so frustrated and say I don’t think you are
listening to what I say. I get frustrated and sometimes quit, because he’s not
listening to me, to only later on realize it was I that wasn’t listening. It is
very easy to feel as though someone’s not listening simply because the response
you get back is not the one you wanted to hear.
In our scripture for today, we find the sisters Martha
and Mary trapped in this very snare. Their brother Lazarus has become quite
sick and so they sent word to Jesus asking for him to come and heal their
brother, but Jesus does not come right
away. Instead Jesus waits two days and
then heads out on his journey, knowing that Lazarus has already died. As he approaches the house Martha runs out to
meet Jesus. Angry at Jesus yet still trusting in him she cries out, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In other words Martha is upset because
Jesus did not respond immediately as she had asked for and now her brother is
dead. Jesus however tells Martha that
her brother will rise again, and yet Martha doesn’t really hear it. In her mind her brother is dead, and so Jesus
is just telling her that Lazarus will rise again on the day of resurrection. But Jesus clarifies himself, he says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me,
even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will
never die. Do you believe this? Jesus says, I am that resurrection, as who
believe in me will. Jesus even asks Martha, do you believe this and Martha
still gets it wrong. “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are
the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." Martha just doesn’t get it, she professes
Jesus as Lord, but she sees things as she wants to see them, and fails to
recognize the good news that Jesus is really telling her.
To be fair it’s not just Martha who fails to listen. As
Jesus comes to the house Mary accompanied by some of the Jews who were mourning
with her came out and blamed Jesus just as her sister Martha had done before. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died.” Once
again angry that Jesus didn’t respond
the way she wanted him, thinking that Jesus wasn’t listening or didn’t care,
she accuses him of failing the family.
We are told that Jesus was greatly disturbed and wept. So often we over
sentimentalize this verse, where in reality Jesus’ being disturbed is
translated much closer to anger than to sympathy. Jesus is upset that these
people he’s loves are berating him, he weeps because after all he has done for
them they think he doesn’t care.
Finally we to the end of the story and Mary, Martha,
Jesus, and some of the Jews are there at the gravesite, having been led there
at Jesus’s request. When they got there
it had already been four days since Lazarus was dead, and a large boulder had been put in front of
the grave. Seeing this Jesus commands
some of the men there to remove the stone, but Martha objects. At that time the Jewish people did not
embalm the dead, but rather simply wrapped them in cloth and in perfume. Martha
knows that the perfume had worn off and that the stench of the body would be
strong. It becomes clear that Martha did not listen when Jesus told her that
Lazarus would be raised, Jesus even exclaims out of frustration, “Did I not tell you
that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? The men roll away the stone, Jesus says a
prayer to God the Father and then command Lazarus to come out. Lo and behold
out came Lazarus just as Jesus had told them.
Throughout this whole
story Martha and Mary had felt as though Jesus had not listened to them. Faith
was not an issue for the sisters, they knew that Jesus could heal Lazarus. The
issue was that Jesus did not come when they asked, Jesus seemingly had ignored
them and now their brother was dead.
Jesus didn’t ignore them. Sure he waited 2 days after he got word that
Lazarus was sick, but he heard their cries, he knew their fears, but he waited.
He waited, and that is the real crux of it, he did not respond like the sisters
wanted, even though as he told his disciples he would use this situation for
the glory of God, it was too late. The sisters had made up their mind, and even
when Jesus tells them that Lazarus would rise again, they did not listen.
There are many times in our lives where we are going
through something so difficult, or we feel such a void in our hearts that it
seems as though there is a gaping chasm between ourselves and the Lord. That we
cry out to God for help but God isn’t listening. What we fail to see, is that it is we that
aren’t listening. All throughout the Bible from the Israelites in captivity in Egypt
to Martha and Mary weeping for their dying brother, God has listened. It is we
who have failed to listen. We have in our hearts the way we want things to go,
the way that we think things should go, and when things go according to our
plan then all honor and glory to God, but when things don’t then God has failed
us, God has forgotten us. That just not
how it works. We don’t tell God what to do, we listen. And sometimes if we just
stop to listen, instead of being blinded by our desires, instead of getting
caught up in the heat of the moment like we often do when we argue, if we just
stopped and listened, we would realize that God has not abandoned us, that God
has not forgotten us, that God listens.
Now, this doesn’t mean everything will be as we want, death and pain
will still be a part of our day to day lives, but when we stop and listen we
know that God is there. That Christ weeps for us and with us. That we may find
ways even in the midst of our darkest hours in which God’s glory is being
revealed. As we conclude our sermon series, we acknowledge that we acknowledge
that we are broken and live in a nature of sin. We acknowledge how quickly we
seems to forget God’s goodness or how easily we miss the work of God performed
right in front of us. As we prepare for that feast of Easter that is ever so
close, today we simply listen, listen for how God’s glory is being revealed for
us today.
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