ENCOUNTERS // Jesus Encounters Lazarus

Welcome to the Lookout Weekly Podcast.

Church of the Lookout is in Boulder, Colorado, and our vision is Jesus abiding in his presence, growing in his family, and living on his mission to transform the world with awe-inspiring love.

Visit us online at the lookout.church.

Alright, are you guys ready to jump into the scriptures today?

Let's go.

Yeah, so it's been a little several weeks since I've been up here.

Some of you guys know we've been in this encounter series.

I just want to say how thankful I am for all of our uh the whole team of teachers over the last several weeks.

Um yeah, come on, give it up for these guys.

Um it's been a lot of fun.

Um they're all friends, and we've been studying just the art of preaching and teaching uh together, so that's why you've heard so many different voices.

And uh over this year in particular, we've been weaving in and out of this larger theme called for the sake of others.

Um, because this is what Jesus did.

He lived for the sake of others.

Yes, he lived first and foremost for the glory of God the Father, but he knew that his mission from the Father was to seek and save the lost.

And he lived every day with this awareness of uh who is with him, who was around him.

And it's really interesting.

We've been in this encounter series looking at these little vignettes of Jesus encountering one person at a time.

Almost none of them were planned.

You guys, you guys see that?

Can have you recognized that?

Um they didn't have to sign up for a calendar appointment, you know, online to book a time with Jesus.

It almost looks as if every particular encounter we read was actually what we would call an interruption.

It was on the way to do something else, and then somebody comes with a need.

Somebody was sick, somebody ran out of food, a storm shows up out of nowhere while they're on the Sea of Galilee, and uh, and then there's Jesus ready to say what needs to be said in the moment that's present to him.

How many of you love that Jesus is just always fully present with whoever's with him, whether they were supposed to be there or not.

And that's what I love about Jesus.

And so that's why you know it's so important when we when we talk about living a life of consequence, living a life that actually impacts the world.

We we shouldn't look, have to look any further than beholding and saying fascinated with Jesus.

Because he shows us the path forward.

And and the same is true for the encounter that we're gonna talk about today.

And if you have your Bibles, you can open up to John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

John chapter 11 is where we're gonna be at today.

John 11 · chapter mention

And this is gonna be the last within this series uh of encounters.

And uh, in this particular passage, it's unique because there's this family that was dearly loved by Jesus.

And this family has multiple cameos throughout the gospel.

Two sisters, Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus.

And uh and they're family friends, it seems.

And uh they show up every so often.

And in this particular scene, it turns out that Lazarus had fallen ill to the point of death.

And one of his sisters went to find Jesus.

And I'm gonna give you a little bit of context as we're not gonna read all of this this morning.

It's all in John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

And they went and found Jesus.

Where Jesus, where are you?

They went and found Jesus, who's you know, a day's journey away or so.

And they said, Our brother Lazarus has died, and and he essentially said, I'll be right there, and then he wasn't right there.

He took a couple extra days.

And in that time, that little window of time, Lazarus dies.

And so by the time Jesus arrives to the scene, it's understandably a very emotional scene, right?

It's marked by guttural disappointment.

You can feel it as you read.

I mean, it's a hard chapter to read because you feel your inside squirming a little bit.

Even if you know the end of the story, uh, this is a very real human experience that these sisters are walking through.

Knowing that the only person that could make a difference decided to show up in their mind a little bit late, a little too late.

And so Jesus, knowing the Father had something else in store, though, he he has his own timetable and he takes the story a different direction.

So I just want to read this starting in verse 38, John 11, verse 38.

John 11:38

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.

It was a cave and a stone lay against it.

Jesus said, Take away the stone.

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.

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

So they took away the stone, and Jesus lifted his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus! Come out.

The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth.

And Jesus said to him, Unbind him and let him go.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let's say it together.

Thanks be to God.

How many of you are grateful for the resurrection and the life in the person of Jesus this morning?

And he would say that whoever believes in me will not die, will never die, but will live.

How many of you guys believe that this morning?

Whoever turns to Jesus, whoever believes in him, you will not die, but you will only live.

Even if your earthly body dies, the promise to you is that death will not be the final word.

You will live.

So this is Jesus, the resurrection and the life, and he's showing up on the scene in this excruciating story really of grief, disappointment, but also it's a deeply hopeful story.

And I just want to make a few observations here and then really focus on really one key point that's not just about what happened, but how it happened.

Okay?

So just um let's just walk through a couple things together.

I just I love how when Jesus shows up on the scene, the scriptures, the the writer John here, the way he captures the story, makes sure to emphasize that Jesus was deeply moved when he came to the tomb, it says in verse 38.

It says, then Jesus was deeply moved again when he came to the tomb.

How many of you guys know that Jesus was not emotionally numb?

He was not frozen.

He was subject to human pain and anguish.

Yes, he's 100% God, but he's a 100% human.

He's fully God and fully man.

Which means that he feels what we feel.

And this is the wild part about this particular story that that's captured about Jesus, that's not as well captured in other in other stories about Jesus, is that somehow that even though he knew this moment would lead to resurrection because he is resurrection, he was still affected by the heart condition of his friends.

How wild is that?

That somehow the maker and creator of heaven and earth, even though he knows where the story is going, he knew it before he got there.

He knew he knows what the Father is setting up, he knows where this is going, he knows where the ultimate plan of history is going, that God will make new all things, and yet that doesn't prevent him from showing up with his friends and entering into the moment, deeply moved with them.

And I think it's worth pausing to acknowledge that about Jesus.

He's not just trying to convince you of something else.

He meets us exactly where we are.

He meets you exactly where you are.

And sometimes, sometimes in church world, and I don't know what your experience is like, but sometimes because we know what the scriptures say, we know where the story's ending.

It's easy just to say, oh, God's got it, he's in control.

Just cheer up, turn that frown upside down.

It's okay.

You don't need to be sad because everything is going to be okay.

But yet in this scene, Jesus is sad.

He's sad with his friends.

And sadness is actually one, it's a gift from God.

Not that not that sadness will ever needs to be lasting for eternity, but sadness in its momentary state is always a sign that things are not supposed to be this way.

And it's a gift to say, you're sad because something inside of you knows things are not supposed to be this way.

Some of you are sad this morning because you're going through something and you just know it wasn't supposed to be like this.

And so the gift of actually honoring that is also tied into the scriptures later on where it says there's coming a day when we meet Jesus face to face, and guess what he's gonna do?

He's gonna wipe away every tear from our eyes.

And he's gonna make all things new.

But at the moment, there's some times they're just plain sad.

It doesn't mean the story's over, it just means it's not finished.

Come on, somebody speak to me this morning.

So Jesus is deeply moved.

He knows where this is going, but it's not preventing him from being compassionate with his friends.

And so, what does he do, Jesus, in this moment?

He's always looking for Father, what are you doing?

He never, there's not a cookie-cutter approach to Jesus.

There's no formula for how he shows up in every scene.

He's saying, Father, what are you doing?

And so we so we see that he turns his attention to heaven.

Verse 41 says this.

So they took away the stone, and Jesus lifted his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me, and I know you always hear me.

So Jesus, in this moment of deep sadness, he doesn't look at the grave, he turns his attention to the Father.

He doesn't look at what everybody else is looking at, he looks up to the Father.

He postures his heart to look not at the grave and the circumstance, but to turn his eyes to heaven.

And he says, I know you hear me, and you always hear me.

And when we face impossible situations, where do we turn our eyes?

It's so easy to keep our eyes focused on what we think needs to change.

And yet, Jesus, he takes his eyes off of what needs to change, and he turns it to Father, who has the power to make the change.

And it's all rooted in this deep belief that Jesus knows, Father, you hear me.

You're the one who hears me.

My circumstance might not hear me, but I know you hear me.

And you always hear me.

So I'm gonna look at you because you're the only one here that's gonna hear me.

That's a word for some of you in this room.

You're spending so much time obsessing over what's right in front of you and the impossible situation in front of you.

I just want to invite you.

Jesus would invite us, turn your attention to the Father.

He's the one who hears you, and he has the power to do the impossible in your life.

You can obsess over what's broken, what's wrong, what's lacking, but there's only one who can hear you, and he always hears you.

He hears your prayers, even if they feel unanswered.

So Jesus, he refocuses his attention.

And he knows that everybody else is leaning into you, everybody else is listening to what he has to say, and that's part of that's kind of part of why he's doing this, right?

Because he knows, all right, this is this is a public display of the power of God.

And so, verse 43, it continues, it says, This when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

I just want to point out a couple things here.

Jesus didn't whisper, he didn't say it gently, he said it loudly.

And in this instance, he chose to heal Lazarus by calling his name.

He healed Lazarus by calling his name.

So it's really interesting because there's a lot of ways that healing takes place in Scripture.

Sometimes it's with a touch, sometimes it's with this simple word of be healed.

Sometimes it's go and obey what I say, and you'll be healed on the way.

Sometimes it's a little saliva mixed with mud on the eyes.

Never saw that one coming.

Um, sometimes it's others reaching out to him and touching his clothes.

It's not even him doing anything, it's somebody else touching him.

Sometimes it's him just looking at the storm and saying, Peace be still.

And so there's not a one-size-fits-all for Jesus, but in this particular circumstance, he decided to use Lazarus' name, to call him out by name, and to call him out from the tomb with the sound of his voice.

And the reason that's important is because out of all the ways that Jesus heals, there's something that happens uniquely when you hear the voice of God call you by name.

When you're called by name, we know a few things.

Number one, it wasn't impersonal.

Lazarus was not just a sermon illustration for Jesus.

It wasn't just a little spectacle on the side, hey, watch what I do for this random guy over here.

No, no, come over here.

No, this was Lazarus.

This is like friend, my friend Lazarus, Jesus' friend Lazarus.

And he used his name because he knew him, he knows our names.

He didn't call everyone to come out.

He said, Lazarus, come out.

If he had just said, come out, how many, how many bodies would have woken up from the dead?

Like, oh gosh, 40 of you.

Didn't expect that.

He said in this moment, Lazarus, I want you.

I'm calling you out by name.

Names show that we're known, show that we're not numbers to God, that he knows us from the inside out.

But names also have this fascinating way of getting our attention.

Do they not?

Names get our attention.

Have you ever been in like a grocery store and somebody shouts out a name from behind you?

And it's clearly not your name, but you turn around anyways to ask to find out who's shouting this name.

And yeah, my name's not Tracy, but now I'm really curious because I'm hopeful that they don't think my name is Tracy.

So you turn anyways, even though it's not your name.

And so now you're you're kind of invested in this situation because now it's like I'm not Tracy, but you're looking for Tracy.

And so now I'm looking for Tracy in the room.

Who's Tracy?

This person, apparently Tracy's very important right now, because this person's yelling from behind me.

So I don't know who Tracy is or why they're needed, but now I'm looking for Tracy.

I don't even know who I'm looking for.

I I don't even know who Tracy is, but I'm looking for Tracy now.

Right?

Names have this funny way of like waking us up when people are shouting names and using names.

It gets our attention.

And somehow, even for Lazarus, even for a dead guy, his name got his attention.

How wild is that?

Names are so powerful that even when you're dead, your spirit can wake up.

Even when you are stuck, your spirit is attentive.

You know your name.

Even when you're in a place you're not supposed to be, you can hear your name called by your maker, and something of destiny wakes up inside of you.

So when your name is used, there's something about it that it's a deep calls unto deep moment.

It says of Jesus saying, Listen, I know who you are, I know who I made you to be.

The Father has a different plan, so I am calling you out by name, not to stay where you are, but to step into what is new.

It's the voice of the Maker that has the potential to awaken your destiny.

It's the voice of your maker.

When Jesus calls your name, something wakes up on the inside.

That's how we are made, and it's what we live for, it's what we live from.

We are made to share the voice of God.

There's a story I heard years ago by somebody I met.

They shared the story in South Africa, how they in 1979 in Pretoria, South Africa, there was a local zoo preparing to release a black eagle that had been kept in captivity for 10 years.

It was a big event, and so crowds had gathered around, and they went out to this mountaintop location, the edge of a cliff, and they were gonna do the great unveiling of this eagle that had been that had been in captivity for 10 years.

And what happened is they came out huge crowds around.

It was gonna be this amazing event.

And so they come and they bring the cage to the edge of this cliff, and they they did the at the right time, they opened the cage.

They're like, all right, it's open.

Go fly.

And the and the bird did nothing, it just sat there.

And and so, you know, they're like, come on, fly, fly, you know, they should you're trying to nudge it along.

What can we do to help nudge this bird along, right?

It should know what to do.

It's not in the cage anymore.

And so they're nudging it, they're encouraging it, trying to spook the eagle into flying, whatever you have to do, right?

And hours pass.

And the crowds are gathering around, like, wow, that was that was anticlimactic.

Uh hours pass, this bird was paralyzed.

Um it was free, it was not in the cage, it was fully equipped with the wings it needed, it was healthy, but it didn't know how to fly.

So after hours, everyone was discouraged.

They didn't know what to do because apparently there's the bird was released from the cage, but the cage wasn't released from the bird.

And so they're there wondering what to do all at once.

Across the valley, another eagle flies across the horizon, and its voice calls out, Gah.

And then this bird looks up and it sees the eagle.

It looks up as if, hey, I know that sound.

And this bird comes by again, and again it flies by and it releases another huge, an eagle cry over the valley.

Then all at once, this eagle, everything inside of it, it's almost like something came unlocked.

And this eagle all at once heard the sound of what it was made for, and all at once the wings flew, and then he just descended into the valley.

And then the eagles caught up mid-air and started to fly together and started to spiral up together, all the way up into the heavens.

And and it was a it was a it was a spectacle for everybody watching, like, oh, what it takes.

What does it take for the eagle to be free?

It's not knowing the right things, it's not being equipped with all the right tools, it's being unlocked by the voice of one who knows what it was made for.

And that's it's it's a perfect picture of what we're made for when we hear the voice of Jesus, when we hear the voice of the one calling us, who knows us by name, there's something that awakens inside of us.

And this is the way it was always meant to be.

Isaiah 41, verse 1.

Isaiah 41:1

The prophet says this, but now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not.

I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.

I have called you by name, you are mine, and it continues, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you, and when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

This is God, and this is who he is for you.

Fear not, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, and you are mine.

There's something inside of us when God encounters us, there's something that happens when we hear him call us by name from one place to another.

Are you guys with me?

A few weeks ago we had a really um special opportunity to see this.

Play out in a very unique way.

So several fathers here from the church and and and beyond.

About 15 of us went up the mountain for a father-son backpacking trip.

I will point out Sangre de Cristo is the blood of Christ wilderness.

And uh and we went out for three nights, and it was a father-son backpacking trip because we wanted to create an environment to be able to call our sons and and uh call them into an environment where there was gonna be challenge.

There's gonna be a physical challenge, an emotional challenge, a spiritual challenge, a mental challenge.

And we wanted to use it as a time to be able to say, we know who you are, we know you, we know what you're made for, and we're we're calling you into the next phase of your journey.

And uh and it was an awesome trip.

A lot of fishing, a lot of fun, a lot of hiking, waterfalls, all the beautiful stuff uh up in the high country.

Uh the second night was really special because some of the some of the sons actually did a solo night, it was part of their challenge.

They went and set up a tent and they slept by themselves at night.

We sent them out after dinner.

They were all alone, each of them on separate spots, and we loaded them up.

The fathers loaded them up with letters that they had written to their sons, and so the sons went off to their tent with nothing more than a Bible, a journal, a flashlight, and uh and letters that were written to them by their fathers and other loved ones in their life to meditate on at night.

No screens, no Wi-Fi, no no Nintendo Switch.

It was just solitude and the stars, man.

Come on.

And uh and and they I I'm glad to report they all lived through the night.

Okay.

Every one of them came back, all right?

No casualties on the strip.

In case you're wondering, it's possible to do a solo night in the mountains.

Um, and and it was a really uh a beautiful time.

Um and we emphasize to them, you just along the way, just teaching them principles of of what it means to grow into godly masculinity.

How many of you guys know that in our culture there's not a lot of people talking about godly masculinity?

They're just saying, don't be a toxic, don't be a toxic male, but nobody's talking about how to be a wholly godly male.

So, where else are you gonna learn this stuff?

And so we had this group of men who are just very eager, like we want to create the conditions for our sons to be invited into something new.

And so they did this challenge on that night.

We reminded them, hey, listen, just because you stay in a tent for a night doesn't make you a man all of a sudden.

It's a process of what God's doing in your life, it's a journey that you're being invited into.

But good job.

That's a milestone on the journey.

So we had three nights together, and the the last night, though, was probably the most special because on the last night we had a chance to gather with our sons and do something a little bit different to mark the whole weekend and to say this is a special time, and this is a time that's different than other times.

And and one of the things that we did after dinner on the third night, we had all of the fathers around one fire.

We sent all the sons down, probably about a hundred yards away, and they were at another fire making s'mores.

And while the sons were down there, all the fathers together, we said, Hey, listen, we want together we have a chance to do something and to mark this moment for our sons.

And so here's what we're gonna do we're gonna call their names, call them each by name, and invite them to join us over at the fire, to leave where they're at and to come to somewhere new.

So we prayed together that as we did this, that God would be present with us.

And so what happened was I came out first, and the boys are down there.

They didn't necessarily see this coming, even though they know we were planning something on this last night.

So I stepped out from the fire and I yelled through the woods with as much passion and depth with a loud cry, the loudest I could do on my own.

And what I yelled at was this I said, Noah Humbrecht, I'm calling you out by name.

Come take a step into your manhood, and then he emerges from among the boys and he starts walking over to the fire, and in the midst of it, I was able just to embrace him and say, Son, I love you, I'm proud of you.

Welcome over.

Then one by one, there's all the fathers behind me, and as he came through, it was like a receiving line.

He came through, and each one would take him and wrap their arms around him and say, Noah, hey, I'm proud of you, dude, and I'm with you on this journey.

You're not alone, I'm with you on this journey.

The next one, hey Noah, dude, good job.

Listen, I want you to know that you're not alone, I'm with you on this journey.

And one by one, all these men say, I'm proud of what I see in you.

I see you, and I'm proud of you.

Why don't you come on over and join the men?

So he comes over and he joins the receiving line, and the next father steps up and does the same thing.

They call out the name of their son and they say, Hey, come forth.

Leave where you're at and come over here.

I'm calling you by name.

Something new is happening.

And each of these young men left where they're at to come and be embraced and the same thing.

Every one of them embraced, and then we end the night one by one, all around a fire together.

All of these young men, different ages in their teenage years, and we're all around a fire.

Then all the men had a chance to just one by one, we all of the sons, we blessed them, we prayed over them, we called out what we see in them, and we marked the moment and said, You have been called out.

Who you are becoming is different than who you were, and yes, it is a process, but we know you, and the father knows you.

You're not alone, and God is calling you into your destiny.

Let this be a sign and seal that God is doing something new in your life.

And each of the, and you could tell you could feel the palpable sense of the father's heart.

We had our fathers with tears streaming down their faces.

We had our sons even feeling called out.

And it was one of those moments where it was almost like a deep call unto deep, where when you heard the father call out the name of his son, you could hear the father himself almost the craving of his own heart, knowing that he was longing to be called out as well.

Because the truth is this every one of us, every single one of us, was made to be called out of one place, to be called by name, and to be called from one place into a new place in the Lord.

Are you guys with me?

Every one of us has a longing in our heart.

We want to know, God, that you know my name and that you're not gonna leave me where I'm at, and that you have something prepared for me ahead.

What's really interesting in the story of Lazarus, Jesus uses the word come out.

That's not the only time he used the word come out.

In the Gospels, he would speak to unclean spirits and he'd say, Come out.

But in this case, he spoke to his friend and he said, Come out.

Sometimes Jesus says, Come out to things that have taken a hold of us.

Other times he says, Come out, because we've settled into something that is no longer meant for us.

And so the voice of Jesus in our lives, there's times where he calls us my name and says, I want you to come away with me.

I want you to come from where you're at and to where I'm going.

Sometimes he delivers us from what's gotten into us, and other times he delivers us from what we've gotten into.

Come on, somebody.

Some of you gotten into some stuff.

He knows.

He knows.

But my prayer this morning is that every single one of us would hear the depth, the cry of the heart of Jesus, the heart of the Father, the Holy Spirit to us today that says, I know you.

I'm calling you out by name.

Come where I am.

You don't have to stay where you are.

So what I want to do this morning is just hold open this place to listen to the voice of the Father together.

It's one of the most important parts of the Christian life.

The life of following Jesus is staying attuned to his very voice.

There's nothing more important.

There's nothing more nourishing and satisfying to us than the voice of our Maker.

Maybe it's been a while for you.

And just in this room, just where you're at, just close your eyes with me this morning.

I just want you to tune in to yourself here for a second.

Maybe it's been a while since you've sensed the voice of the Father calling you out.

And I just, my prayer is this morning that you feel the longing of the Father for you.

You're not a number, you are a name, and you matter.

You might feel so far.

Even for Lazarus, I bet he felt very far.

I mean, there's really not much further than death.

And yet it still wasn't far enough to be outside of the range of the voice of the Father.

He knows your name.

You feel like you're in an impossible situation.

And I believe the Lord just wants to say to you, hey, just follow my voice.

Follow my voice.

You're looking at what's happening right in front of you, but I don't want you to look at what's in front of you.

I want you to lift your eyes, and I want you to follow my voice.

Do you hear my voice calling you forth?

In this moment, I I want you to I want to invite you to imagine Jesus standing in front of you.

Maybe even at a distance, and him calling your name.

Imagine yourself where you're at, sitting up.

You hear your name, it has your attention, you sit up, and your choice now is what do I do?

Don't you imagine yourself just taking a step and then another step towards him?

What's the expression on his face?

What does he look like?

And what is he calling you up from?

Maybe it's calling up from disappointment or just betrayal.

He's calling you up from loneliness.

The feeling of being a failure.

And I believe the voice of the Father for each one of us in this room wants to say, I'm calling you by name, but what you're walking through is not the end.

And you don't have to stay where you are.

You're made for more than this.

You're made for more than this.

So here's what we're gonna do.

I'm gonna I want to invite you just with me across the room.

Let's just stand across the room.

We're gonna sing this song.

This might be a new song for some of you, but it just really puts beautifully into words a prayer and a declaration for us today of how we respond to the God who knows us and knows us by name.

And during this song, if you feel a sense the Father is calling me this morning, I want to invite you to even step out of where you are and come into a new spot.

You can even come up front just as a response, Jesus.

I want to follow your voice, okay?

Let's sing this together.

Come on.

Come on, somebody turned to the person next to you who said you were made for more.

Come on, say it loud, you were made for more.

Come on! He knows your name! He knows your name! Maybe this is the first time.

Maybe you've never actually responded to that before.

If you have never responded to an invitation to know Jesus, today is your day.

I wanna invite you before you leave, come talk to us.

I wanna talk to you about a relationship with Jesus.

Looks like salvation is yours as a free gift of heaven.

You don't have to clean up your act.

It's a free gift from heaven.

That is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

So don't leave this place until you encounter Jesus.

But listen as we go! We're not going anonymous! We're going as well by God.

So I want to bless you as we go today.

I want to bless you as you go.

And listen, if you're a gas here today, you can beat us in the back.

I want to pray a blessing over you.

Jesus, I thank you this morning that we are your people.

You've called us for where we are, and you lead us into the life that you have for us.

I thank you that we are not stuck, and we are not left alone, that you know us by name, and we're made for more.

So I bless this community as we go and your peace and your strength, and it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Come on, let's go.