All Saints Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015
Sermon based on John 11:32-44
By Rev. Dr. Terri Driver-Bishop
I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where
there are lots of caves: Endless Caverns, Shenandoah
Caverns, Luray Caverns, and so on. Taking a tour of a cave
is an interesting experience. You learn that a cave is always
the same temperature (caves in Virginia are about 54
degrees). And it is dark. It is so dark that when they turn off
all the lights, you can’t see your finger in front of your nose.
It is an eerie feeling like you no longer exist.
We may feel like we are in a dark cave when we
experience overwhelming troubles or deep sorrow from grief.
Your world turns very dark and cold. You may even feel
numb, like you no longer exist.
Today’s gospel brings a message of hope to those who
feel this way.
We did not read the whole story from John, chapter 11
but the story begins as Lazarus is dying. His sisters Martha
and Mary send for Jesus to come. They have faith in his
power to heal. But Jesus does not come and Lazarus dies.
They wrap him in burial cloth and place him in a cave. They
roll a stone over the entrance and return to their home to
mourn.
When Jesus finally arrives, he speaks with both Martha
and Mary who go to him separately. Both Martha and Mary
say to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would
not have died.” Jesus says to Martha, “Your brother will rise
again.” Martha says, “I know that he will rise in the
resurrection on the last day.” Jesus replies, “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.”
When Martha and Mary take Jesus to the cave where
Lazarus is buried, Jesus begins to weep. He weeps
because his friend died. He weeps for Martha and Mary who
mourn. Perhaps he is weeping for all people who
experience the loss of a loved one. Finally, Jesus tells the
people to “Take away the stone.” Martha reminds Jesus that
Lazarus will stink because it has been four days since he
was buried. The Jews believed that your soul hovers over
the body for three days and then departs. On the fourth day,
death is final. All hope is gone.
But Jesus speaks to the dead man in the darkness of the
cave. He says, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus comes
out to live again. Jesus is always calling to those who are
hopeless ‘come out and I will give you life.’
In life today, we know that Jesus does not always save
us from darkness and death, when WE think He ought to
save us. Many times we wonder, “Lord, where were you?
Why did you allow this to happen?” And the answer is not to
be found. The mystery will not be explained until we meet
our Maker in heaven.
Today is a difficult day for many of us here who have lost
our loved ones. It’s OK to cry. I’m sure I will. Three
months ago, I lost my grandson Camden who died at his
birth and my good friend Elizabeth. They died on the same
day. Since then, my family and I have been walking in
darkness and holding on to the hand of Christ.
I am learning that Christ can teach you many things in
the darkness. Christ can bless you in suffering and sorrow.
Christ can help you be more: more appreciative of life and
other people, more patient, more understanding, more
loving, more forgiving, more compassionate, and more
gentle with yourself and others.
We may not be able to see in the darkness, but we can
hear the voice of Jesus. He knows our name. He calls to us
and walks beside us through the darkness until we begin to
see His light shining in our lives again. In the darkness, you
learn to wait for the Lord to lead you to new life. In faith, you
believe that new life will come, no matter how slow the
process may be, because Christ is with you.
Christ always brings resurrection and new life. It is His
nature. It is who He is and what He does. When Jesus gets
the summons to go to Bethany because Lazarus is ill, he
knows he is risking his life to return to the area. He has just
been to the festival of the Dedication in Jerusalem where the
temple leaders him, “Are you the Messiah?” In so many
words, Jesus says “Yes.” They pick up stones to stone him
to death for presuming to be God. But Jesus is able to walk
away.
Jesus knows that if he returns to Bethany and frees
Lazarus from the cave, he will soon take the place of
Lazarus in the cave of death. But Jesus does this willingly –
for Lazarus and for you and me. He takes on the suffering
and death of us all. He walks through all our pain and
sorrow and into the nothingness of death with us. In the
mystery of darkness and death, Jesus changes everything.
He creates new life.
Lazarus’ death prefigures Jesus’ death. In both stories,
there is suffering and death, there is a burial cave, there is
weeping at the grave, there is cloth left behind, and there is
resurrection. . Death is overcome. Sorrow and weeping
cease. Rejoicing begins. Hope is restored. Jesus wants us
to know and believe that he has the power to restore our
hope when all hope is gone and to give us new life, eternal
life.
My friend Elizabeth Marsh Cupino was not a pastor, she
was a writer. But she was a very spiritual person who was
asked to preach on occasion. Once she couldn’t think of any
words to say, so she prayed about it and God gave her
words to write. I would like to share a part of the message
that God gave to Elizabeth to bring you comfort and hope
today.
God said: Tell them that I love them.
Tell them that they don’t need to act like holy saints or angels or
pretend to be something they are not. I know them through and
through. I love them... just that way.
Tell them that my love is unconditional, as a good parent for his child...
even (or especially) when they are lost or misbehaving...
Broken or foolish,
Busy,
Ignorant,
Wayward,
Belligerent
Angry (even really angry at me, the Lord their God),
Poured out in wrong pursuits... wasted time, worthless ventures.
God wanted me to tell you this:
Even when you put me last, I put you first.
I hold you tenderly.
When you cannot understand... why
Oh why me, Lord—
When you cry out in bitterness and frustration,
When you argue and compete with those you love, or shut yourself off
from one another
When you see the world, and my creation, as hopeless,
When your heart is ragged-edged and broken into shards like glass,
When you hold a grudge and cannot see through the fog of your own
disappointment,
I love you.
He said, when your faith is shrunken and shaken and shattered,
And tested to its limits,
I have faith in you.
I am the one who is faithful...
Not you... but I AM.
I simply AM. I AM.
That’s my name, don’t wear it out.
But try, he said. You really can’t anyway—wear out my name, that is,
but go ahead—give it your best shot,
And call my holy name.
Call on me.
I’m here 24/7…….
God said, for me to tell you—
He said, tell them I love them.
Tell them it’s all right.
It’s all going to be all right.
Because whatever you are going through,
Whatever you are thinking,
Seeing,
Feeling,
Doing,
Giving or receiving,
Unfolding, good or bad, into the world,
I love you.
Tell them I said:
Be with me.
Spend a moment, just breathing, in my presence...
Or even, maybe, an hour.
Invite me in.
Just be.
Just be with me.
Right now. Because I’m here.
I AM. I really, really AM.