CMLC 2026-03-22 Sermon

Howdy. There's a moment when something might

seem wrong, but you're not ready to say it yet.

So you check, you look at your phone again, and

you wait a little bit longer for them to respond.

You tell yourself, you know, they're probably

just busy, but the longer the silence stretches,

the louder your imagination gets. I remember

a time in my life when if I did not answer my

phone, my mom did not assume that I was busy.

She assumed I was dead in a ditch somewhere.

Always, always, every moment. And one night when

I didn't respond to her phone call at the age

of 21 at 11 p .m. on a weeknight, she called

the police because in her mind there was no other

explanation whatsoever. but that I was dead.

Now, I tried to explain that there could always

be possibilities when someone is not replying.

I might be working late, or maybe I didn't hear

my phone, or, you know, I might actually have

friends and be out with people. Yeah, my mom

didn't believe that. But, and all the mamas in

the congregation are like, you just don't know.

You just don't know. But, you know, once that

fear sets in, it's hard to shake it. Because

when you don't know, your mind fills in the gaps.

We all do it. When we don't have answers, we

create the explanations. And sometimes we assume

the worst. Sometimes we try to convince ourselves,

well, it's either the worst or maybe it's not

that bad. But either way, we keep trying to make

sense of what feels uncertain. And that works

until the uncertainty disappears. until maybe

there's just no more maybe. Until something or

someone is no longer possibly gone, but definitely

gone. And that's exactly the tension that we

see in the story of Lazarus. At the beginning,

you see, there's still hope. You know, talking

with his disciples, you know, he's sick, you

know, and someone could get better. You know,

that's not the same as Lazarus being dead. It's

a very different feel. I feel bad, I'm hurting,

but at the same time, being sick, that's okay.

And we've seen what Jesus can do. We've seen

how Jesus can heal. And you know, there's still

time, there's still possibility, there's still

the sense that maybe things will turn around.

We were on the boat, everything was rocking,

all the waves were tossing, we were supposed

to trust him. Walking on the water, you're supposed

to trust him. But you see, time passes, and Jesus

delays, but not by accident. He does it deliberately.

It's almost as if he's trying to tempt fate,

as if he's pushing what might happen. You know,

we see what's going on here with Lazarus, but

Jesus seems to be pretty confident. I'm sure

it'll turn out okay, right? But then the message

comes, Lord, He's dead. And everything shifts

at a moment like that. You see, that moment,

whenever you know that you were expecting something,

and then you realize that what you're expecting

is no longer even on the table, you know, those

things where you hadn't really thought about

it, but it was in the back of your mind, and

then it's taken away, and you realize what you've

lost. See, this is no longer a situation that

needs healing. It's a situation that is final.

And yet, even then, there's still a part of us

that resists the finality. There's a part of

us that holds back from believing what it is

that we have heard. You've felt that before,

I'm sure. Stages of denial, anger, bargaining,

depression. Finally, though, acceptance. When

something happens that just doesn't seem possible

Your first instinct is not to accept it. It's

oftentimes to question it. There's got to be

a mistake You misunderstood that cannot be right

there has to be another explanation You see God's

people have always wrestled with that tension

the tension between what we see and what we trust

Because fear and faith between the grave that

seems final and the promise that is absolute

See, even in our doubt, God calls us to stand

before the tomb and to hear His Word. It's like

hearing something so unlikely that your mind

refuses to process it. It's as if someone were

to come in and tell you that Chuck Norris passed

away. And you would not immediately accept it,

would you? You'd think, no, there's got to be

a misunderstanding. See, this is the guy who

never did a push -up in his life. because he

always pushed the earth down. The man who was

bitten by a king cobra, and after four very difficult

days, the king cobra died. The man who gave death,

as we had once heard, a near Chuck Norris experience.

See, a man whose Christian faith has been known

for a long time, and for which, at a moment like

this, we are truly grateful. But you see, that

instinct... That resistance, that reaction. This

cannot be true. Where you keep trying to confirm

it. You see, that's exactly the kind of tension

around the tomb of Lazarus. What would it have

been like to be walking there, on the way to

this place, to be one of the disciples wondering,

maybe, maybe Jesus knows something that we don't.

Right? Maybe he's not actually dead. Maybe it

is that as we're getting there, Jesus is going

to reveal that everyone was wrong and Lazarus

was just sick and everything is really okay.

He knows more than any of us do, right? By the

time Jesus arrives at Lazarus' tomb with those

disciples, there is no uncertainty left. Lazarus

is gone. So then why did Jesus still come? He

doesn't avoid the religious leaders that everyone

knows is trying to arrest him, and apparently

we have found out that they do have plans for

him to die. He doesn't hesitate because of Thomas

or the others wondering if this is when they

too will lose their lives. See, Lazarus had been

in the tomb for four days. Not hours. Not recently.

Four days. You see, by Jewish belief, a spirit

hovered over the body for three days. Maybe even

possibly could be revived or restored. But beyond

that, though, death was final and by day four

decomposition had begun. The tomb smelled. The

friends, they'd all lost hope. Mary and Martha,

they were grieving deeply. But what happens?

Jesus says, take away the stone. And the response

is immediately, Lord, Don't. Just don't. You

see, they've already accepted what is happening.

This is Martha speaking. The same Martha who

had just confessed, I believe that you are the

Christ, the Son of God. And yet, here she is

standing at the tomb saying, please don't open

it. Because if we're honest, faith and fear,

they sit right next to each other. You see, It

happens with us all the time. See, she believes

in Jesus, but she also knows what's inside of

that tomb. She knows what four days means. She

knows what four days smell like. Mary, she had

been at His feet earlier weeping. She could hear

it in her voice, Lord, if You had been here,

my brother would not have died. See, we can hear

the anger, the accusation. but it's actually

grief wrapped in a faith that doesn't understand

what's supposed to be happening next. This is

not how the story goes. Jesus, we saw how it

went for so many others, but Jesus doesn't correct

them. He doesn't rebuke them. He weeps. Not because

He doesn't know what He is about to do. Not because

He doesn't think that everything is under control,

but because this is not... what God created people

for. This is not what the original plan had been.

And he also knows what his friend had just been

through. And standing there between faith and

fear, Jesus still says, take away the stone.

Because by now, The reality, it seems undeniable.

There's no life left. There's nothing to check.

There's no pulse. There's no breath. And if we're

honest, that's the part that we try to avoid

too. You see, we as people, we don't mind dealing

with things that are struggling. We don't mind

fixing things that are broken. Whenever something

is just having a difficult day, whenever something

just needs a little oil, a little grease, whenever

someone just needs an encouraging word or just...

Just a moment. Maybe if someone just needs an

extra can or an extra box of food, if someone

just needs an opportunity to have a smile put

on their face, we don't mind dealing with those

struggles. But when something feels completely

dead, like all people are without Christ Jesus,

we don't want to face that. Because as long as

that tomb stays closed, there's a little space

for denial. Maybe beyond that denial, we could

finally just let go of the hope. But you see,

even Lazarus is not the furthest point of hostlessness

in our story today. Because at least with Lazarus,

there's still a body. There's still a place to

go. There's a tomb. There's a name. There's a

memory. Whatever they were struggling, there

was still somewhere they could come to. But we

see in Ezekiel, we don't even have a body. The

prophet is brought to a valley of dry bones.

These are not recently dead. They're not freshly

buried, dry, scattered, disconnected. There are

no bodies. There are no faces, just the remains

of what used to be. There's not even a person

anymore. See, Israel had been conquered. They'd

been exiled. They'd been removed from the land.

Years had passed. God's promises felt lost. These

were not the bodies of people that they had known

individually, but this image was meant to communicate

what Israel had gone through. In that imagery

of Ezekiel, the exposed dry bones, they mattered

even more than we might realize. These bones

were not abandoned just by themselves. They were

also dishonored because burial had been denied,

dignity had been denied, identity had been denied.

We don't even know who they are. They don't even

have names because bones, they weren't supposed

to be left out like that. Even after battle,

you're still supposed to be buried. Because burial

means dignity. It meant you belonged to a people.

It meant that your story mattered. But these

bones, they're just left out there. They're exposed.

They're forgotten. This isn't just about death.

This is what it looks like when people believe

that even God's promises don't come through for

them. When not only life is gone, but whenever

people think that meaning feels like it's gone

as well. I'm sure none of us have ever struggled

with the feeling that maybe we've been exposed

or vulnerable. I'm sure none of us have ever

felt forgotten or none of us have ever felt like

we've had no meaning. I'm sure we've all got

it figured out, right? But you see, God brings

Ezekiel into that valley and asks the most absurd

question, can these bones live? What? Okay, the

honest answer is no. No, God, there's not a chance

that these can live. They're bones. What do you

expect? Not after this long. Not in this condition.

Not with nothing left to work with. Not after

this long in our lives. Not when we are in this

condition. Not when we have nothing left to work

with. But you see, God tells Ezekiel to speak

bone to bone. Structure where there was none.

Sinu, flesh, skin, bodies coming back together.

It feels like a horror movie at first. Strange,

unsettling, kind of unnatural. Because they look

like bodies, but they're still not alive. How

often is it that we feel like a body and the

breath just is not inside of us until God says

breathe. And the breath enters them and they

live. but we need to go back to that tomb. Because

in that moment, Jesus doesn't just stand there

in front of death and observe it. He doesn't

just accept it and what's happened as if nothing

can change it. He speaks into it. And not abstractly,

not some general epithet. He speaks by name.

Lazarus, come out! And the man who is dead walks

out. He's still wrapped, He's still marked by

death, but He is undeniably alive. And that's

when everything begins to come into focus because

somewhere in that moment the person who said,

Lord, just don't, is now standing face to face

with what Jesus can do because... While we're

seeing this moment, this is not some personal

improvement. This is not some recovery. This

is not things just getting a little bit better

in life. This is not about taking something that

is just weak and making it strong. It's taking

something dead and making it alive. That's where

this becomes something more than just a dream

or a vision, because let's just be honest. Most

of us don't think of ourselves or of our lives

that way. I'm just here to do a little bit better.

I've got a few things I need to work on, so I'm

just going to get the encouragement from the

pastor. Wish he'd get over all this resurrection

stuff so we can get the good stuff right. I'm

not exactly where I think I should be. You know,

the scripture doesn't describe, though, any of

our conditions that way. It doesn't say we're

struggling. It says we're dead. We're dead in

our sins. We're dead in our ability to fix ourselves.

We're dead in our capacity to create life where

there is none You cannot improve something that's

dead You cannot coach bones into making themselves

into a body And you cannot encourage a corpse

to wake itself up Life has to come from outside

all of our power, and it's even more so with

what we see in Jesus, because with Lazarus, Jesus

interrupts death from the outside, and then in

his own resurrection, he breaks death from the

inside. See, the people when they saw Jesus,

they didn't wonder on that cross if maybe he

had avoided death. They didn't think he just

got a little sick. They saw the crucifixion.

It was finished. He was done. So when He rose,

it wasn't a question of whether He might have

avoided death in the first place. This was a

declaration. Death does not get the final word.

That changes everything. Because now the question

is no longer can God do something with what's

left over in our lives. The question is when

there is nothing left and He still calls it to

life. And that's where this becomes personal.

Because every one of us has those places in our

lives that feel like the valley. Places where

something has dried up. Where hope has seemed

thin. Where it's been gone. Places where it doesn't

just feel broken. It feels over. Sometimes it's

not just painful. Sometimes it feels like something

was missed. Like something that was supposed

to happen and it didn't. Like maybe we stepped

outside of what God was going to do and there's

nothing left. And now we're just left with nothing.

Because maybe there was never anything in the

first place Maybe we also think about that with

the people in our lives Sometimes for those who

don't know Christ we just assume that maybe we

just need to leave dead alone They don't know

Christ just leave it be But the promise of the

gospel is not I will help you fix what's broken

it is I will bring life where there is None.

The same voice that called Lazarus calls you.

The same breath that filled the dry bones is

given to you. And it isn't about becoming a better

version of yourself. It is about being made new.

It is about the old is gone. And good riddance.

Because that new life is not something that we're

just waiting for some day is begun now. the faith

that you have, the life in you, the trust in

Christ. That is not self -generated. That is

resurrection at work right now. And that is the

same resurrection, not just for your life, not

to get rid of the old, to move into the new.

That is for every person that you know in Christ

as well. Because even the ones that you think

have no hope of ever coming to trust Him, it's

supposed to be for them too, because that's what

the Word of God does. It brings dead people and

makes them living people. And as much as we love

to joke about it, it's exactly what we're hoping

for with everyone. See, people love to joke about

Chuck Norris. We talk about all the amazing ways

in which he defied all logic and he counted to

infinity twice, caused the man to check his closet

every night, and destroyed the periodic table

because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

But you see Chuck Norris is in Christ. And he

will stand with us in that resurrection too.

And that's what we care about. Because not because

of strength, not because of reputation, but because

the same voice that calls the dead to life, calls

all who belong to Him by faith. So the question

for you today is not, is there still a little

life left to get up and get going again? The

question is, do you hear his voice? Because he

is calling. He is speaking. He is bringing life

out of death for you and for everyone in this

world. So one day, that voice will call again,

and the graves will open, and what feels final

now will never be final again. Because death

does not win. Christ does. And in Him, so do

you. Amen?