The Master’s Love / Based on John 11:1-45 / undelivered due to COVID-19 March 29, 2020

The Master’s Love / Based on John 11:1-45 / undelivered due to COVID-19 March 29, 2020

Hymns: Make Me a Servant, ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, What Wondrous Love Is This

John 11:1-45

11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

11:2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.

11:3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."

11:4 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 it."

11:5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,

11:6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

11:7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."

11:8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?"

11:9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.

11:10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them."

11:11 After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."

11:12 The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right."

11:13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.

11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.

11:15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

11:16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

11:17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

11:18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,

11:19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.

11:20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.

11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

11:22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him."

11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

11:24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,

11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

11:27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

11:28 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."

11:29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.

11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

11:31 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.

11:32 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."

11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

11:34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."

11:35 Jesus began to weep.

11:36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

11:37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

11:38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

11:39 Jesus 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."

11:40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

11:41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me.

11:42 I 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."

11:43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

11:44 The 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."

11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

We are living in stressful times.  Christian Community Home is in lockdown, as are all senior living locations, because of the risk of COVID-19 infection.  I decided to meditate on the scripture anyway and a message began forming.  Maybe at some future point I’ll share it, but for now it will be a blog post.

The scripture assigned for today is longer than normal, but worth the read.  The topics I’m pulling out of this reading are:

To be used or to be a servant

Trusting in Jesus

Experiencing Love

To be used or to be a servant

11:4 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 it."

11:5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,

11:6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.

11:15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

When I first thought about this part of the scripture, I felt a little angry.  It felt like Jesus is using a man’s illness and death for his own purposes.  He could have saved him from his illness but instead Jesus hung around until he knew Lazarus had died.  It doesn’t sound loving or fair at all.  They were friends!  How could he use him in that way?

Then the Wesley Covenant Prayer came to mind.

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;

put me to doing, put me to suffering;

let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,

exalted for you, or brought low for you;

let me be full,

let me be empty,

let me have all things,

let me have nothing:

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things

to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

you are mine and I am yours. So be it.

And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

(Contemporary version from Methodist.org.UK)

That is our call as we honor our relationship to God.  We are called to be servants.  That is a different condition than being “used”.  Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were close friends and followers of Jesus.  No doubt they had entered a similar covenant relationship.  Lazarus was not being “used”.  Lazarus was being a servant.

Trusting in Jesus

11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

11:22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him."

11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

11:24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,

11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

11:27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

After my meditation on the first topic I no longer see verse 21 as complaining.  She wasn’t saying, “Why did it take you so long!”  She was stating her belief.  She also trusted in Jesus ability to still act.

Jesus gives us another beautiful “I Am” statement.  It’s not just that there will be a resurrection.  Jesus IS the resurrection and the life for those who believe.

11:39 Jesus 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."

11:40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

11:41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me.

11:42 I 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."

11:43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

11:44 The 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."

They trusted in Jesus and result was Lazarus was blessed to be a blessing.

11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Experiencing Love

As I think of the difference between feeling used by someone and choosing to serve someone, one difference that comes to mind is feeling loved.

11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

11:34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."

11:35 Jesus began to weep.

11:36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

Jesus cared.  This wasn’t a man he was using to further his own aims without thought to the man or his family.  Jesus was moved by their sorrow.  He shared their sorrow.  He loved them.

Jesus was pursuing a different result.  His actions caused more to believe that he was sent from God.  This meant more could be saved.  Without knowing it, Lazarus had become an evangelist and brought many to follow Jesus.  In death and in life he served Christ.

Jesus had a dual role.  He was a loving leader to those who followed him, and he was also a loving follower of God’s direction.  He was both a master and a servant.

This scripture points towards Jesus upcoming death.  He was not “used” by God as he ended his earthly ministry on a cross.  He gave his life obediently in service to God.  That act of service brings life and hope to all of us. 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

To pray the Covenant Prayer I spoke of toward the beginning, we must trust that we are devoting ourselves to a being that is acting out of love.  Love so wondrous that we are willing to give our lives in service.

When Jesus asks, "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?"  I pray our answer can be a solid, “Yes I believe!”

We are seven days away from holy week.  We cannot gather physically in worship, but I pray you can find online resources to mark these special days.  We need to remember them.  They remind us that we serve a master that loves us without bounds.  I pray we remain faithful in our service as we trust in that love.

Amen