An Encounter With Jesus

Morning. Let me just pray quickly. Lord Jesus, we invite you now to come pour out your spirit upon us to draw close to us. And we thank you. Amen.

It's a cheery note that this morning's gospel reading ends on. I'm going to speak to the whole chapter. I don't want anybody to be left hanging that this is the punchline for the sermon.

Let's go follow Jesus and die with him. There's more to this chapter. This message this morning is a great passage. John is a great storyteller. He's a master of literary devices.

When I was in seminary, I kind of decided John was my favorite gospel because of this, because he is such a good storyteller.

And anytime a writer of a gospel slows down the narrative, it's a signal for us that we should slow down too and pay close attention.

That's what's happening in John 11.

So Tommy preached a message on John 11 at a service of a lament a few weeks ago. If it was recorded, I'd go give it a listen. It was great.

This morning's message is about how Jesus was encountered by Martha and Mary, Lazarus, his disciples, and even by his critics.

It's also a passage that's highly relevant to healing prayer, a new ministry offering here at Advent.

And I say this because healing prayer is always about encountering Jesus.

And I tell people that the goal of healing prayer, whether it's inner or emotional healing or physical healing, is that people walk away feeling loved.

And today's passage has three acts like all good dramas.

Absence, presence, and resurrection.

So, act one, absence.

This drama opens by setting the scene.

Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, is sick with a deadly illness.

And Lazarus' sisters, who are also close friends of Jesus, ask him to come help.

And in this first act, there are two groups of people who experience Jesus.

Mary and Martha and Jesus' disciples.

I want to talk about Mary and Martha first.

They're not explicitly mentioned.

They don't show up in this first part, but they're there.

And their experience of Jesus is as silent and absent.

It's one of the hardest moments of their lives.

Their brother died.

He's sick, and he's on the verge of death.

And they call upon Jesus.

They send him a message asking him for help.

In effect, they pray to Jesus, come help.

While John doesn't say one way or another for sure, Jesus doesn't seem to answer them.

He doesn't send a message back to them or in any way even acknowledge their message.

He's silent in response to their cries for help.

And equally hard, Jesus doesn't answer their prayer in substance.

Martha and Mary ask Jesus to come heal their brother, and he doesn't.

What's already a painful and grief-filled moment for Martha and Mary is made worse by Jesus' silence and absence.

The reason they sent a message to Jesus in the first place is because they knew him.

They knew what he was like and what he could do.

They knew he eagerly wants to heal and that he can heal anything.

And so to send a message in faith and confidence that their friend would come and heal their brother like they knew he would,

and then for Jesus not to come would have been very difficult.

I tried to imagine what they were telling Lazarus during this moment while he was ill.

They were probably telling him things like, don't worry, we sent for Jesus.

It's going to be okay.

Hold tight.

And then as they watched Lazarus get more and more sick and decline,

as Lazarus got worse, there was no word from Jesus.

He wasn't showing up.

This was devastating.

Devastating to watch their brother for sure, but also as they struggled to know what to say,

what answer to give him when he said, is he here yet?

What hope to give?

And then he died.

It would be hard to quantify the depth and severity of pain that Martha and Mary felt at that moment.

When deep suffering sets upon us, and suffering is a thing that does befall us,

everything gets thrown into question.

We thought Jesus was our friend, that he cared about us.

So why didn't he respond?

We thought Jesus was the most loving and kind person we've ever met, maybe ever.

And that limitless power works through him for good.

So what happened?

Is he not that kind or good?

Was this too much for him and his power?

What if Jesus isn't who he said he is?

And if that's true, maybe God isn't either.

For any of us who have suffered deeply, even traumatically,

we even question whether anything is good,

whether life, the universe, or reality.

Suffering in the silence and absence of God is what Fleming Rutledge calls godless.

The silence and absence of God in suffering carries with it the sense that we're over here,

in our pain, apart from God, and that God is over here,

with all who he says he is, and everything he made,

and everything he's supposed to be about.

It carries with it the sense that our pain and suffering is actually what's most real.

In this first act, we see Martha and Mary.

We hear about them.

We know what's going on with them.

But we also see Jesus as disciples and their experience with him.

In this first act, we hear, we learn some things about what's happening on Jesus' side

from what John says and what Jesus says.

One thing John tells us is that although Jesus loved the sisters and Lazarus,

he chose to stay put.

It's kind of interesting.

It's an interesting phrase.

It's one of the few times when John explicitly says about Jesus that he loves someone.

In most of his gospel,

he shows Jesus' love by what he says to people and how he interacts with them.

Jesus staying put in those circumstances was significant enough for John

that he had to go out of his way to underscore,

despite how it looks, Jesus did love his friends.

And he underscored this not just by stating this explicitly,

but by naming each of these friends individually when he said so.

John wanted us to see this and have this in mind.

Jesus also tells his disciples a few things.

When the news of Lazarus' illness arrives,

he says it won't lead to death,

but will bring glory to God and to the Son of God.

And then later he says he's going to go wake up Lazarus,

a euphemism referring to Lazarus' death.

Despite all that,

despite even how Jesus comes out and says explicitly,

Lazarus died,

the disciples just aren't tracking with him.

John tells us as his readers that Jesus loved his friends,

even though he stayed put,

which was confusing.

And that creates this disconnect between us and the disciples.

What we are told,

the disciples don't seem to understand.

And worse,

they're not focusing on what Jesus is trying to focus on,

about Lazarus' illness and going to wake him up.

What they do focus on is what Jesus said,

which was eventually,

let's go to Judea.

So he can wake up Lazarus,

but the disciples only hear,

let's go to Judea.

And they have a freak out moment.

Their immediate response is,

why are you doing that?

Why would you go there?

There are people there trying to kill you.

And when they decide as a group,

it is time to go,

Thomas says,

the verse we ended the passage on,

let's go too so we can die with him.

So I always like to imagine the disciples in these little moments,

somebody should have looked at Thomas and kind of said to him,

enough with the good ideas today,

Thomas.

I kind of liked you better when you were doubting,

Thomas,

you're quieter.

The thing that the disciples missed was that Jesus said Lazarus' illness

would bring glory to God and the Son of God.

We should pause on this for a sec.

What's Jesus saying?

What does he mean?

Why would he even say this?

It's probably good to say maybe what Jesus isn't saying.

He isn't saying that Lazarus' death isn't a big deal,

and therefore it's okay.

He isn't saying that it's okay that Lazarus dies

because it's for a good cause.

He isn't saying that the illness and eventual death of Lazarus

now all make sense and is therefore okay.

Jesus doesn't minimize, trivialize, or dismiss Lazarus' suffering

or that of Martha and Mary.

And he doesn't offer a clear why that makes it all less painful.

So what is he saying?

When Jesus speaks of God being glorified and the Son of God being glorified,

he's speaking of contrasting proportions.

When Jesus points to what he's pointing to,

when he says the glory of God would be revealed,

is he saying that the love and goodness and beauty and life

that is who God is would show forth.

The suffering of Lazarus, what's happening to him,

and what's happening to Mary and Martha is great.

Jesus doesn't dismiss it.

He's just saying that the glory of God is something entirely other

and proportionally greater.

Paul kind of gets at this when he writes to the Romans in chapter 8.

He says,

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Paul is not dismissing anybody's sufferings.

He's just speaking proportionately.

So we don't get an answer about why this is all happening in Jesus' statement

or when or even how this is going to happen.

How will God be glorified?

We only get the assurance that Jesus will show forth his love

and goodness and beauty and life

in the midst of and even through and despite

what's going on with Lazarus and Mary and Martha.

And yes, it will make a difference,

even if we don't know how yet.

Martha and Mary don't benefit from what Jesus is saying to his disciples

and his disciples who do hear all this

aren't really getting it either.

They seem to be thinking from a different frame of mind.

They miss what Jesus is saying.

Jesus is listening to and following his father's leading

and it seems beyond his disciples at the moment.

In this first act of John,

there's plenty of mystery

and plenty of the disciples being still on their own journey with Jesus.

Act 2 of this chapter,

Jesus does decide to finally go.

He arrives in Bethany

and he's found out that the situation is,

if possible,

is even worse.

Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days now.

I don't mean to be indelicate,

but a body was in the tomb for four days

and it's not good.

It's starting to break down.

And according to popular Jewish belief,

a person's soul was thought to linger for three days after death

and then depart,

which means in everybody's minds,

Lazarus is dead beyond hope.

Martha hears Jesus arrived

and she goes straight to Jesus

and frankly gets straight to the point.

If you'd been here,

my brother would not have died.

Her words carry grief and anger.

Mary comes later.

She falls at Jesus' feet

and says the same thing,

but her words come with a little less anger,

maybe more grief in it.

In this act,

Jesus is present.

He's present to Martha and Mary.

There's a couple things that this means.

First of all,

it means that he's just simply there.

He's with them,

simply put.

But it also means that he receives.

He receives Martha and Mary

and their words,

and their grief,

their confessions of pain,

their confusion,

their anger,

even their accusations,

their lament.

He receives them in everything they bring,

without condition,

without reservation or restriction.

Nothing is not allowed.

Martha and Jesus

have a bit more

of an extended conversation

than Jesus and Mary.

For me,

incredibly,

in the midst of her pain,

she still believes

that God will give Jesus

whatever he asks.

And then Jesus offers something else

that comes with his presence,

words.

Jesus responds to her

like he did to his disciples earlier,

probably for the simple fact

that like the twelve,

Martha is his disciple too.

And he takes her as a person

and as his follower seriously,

and he takes her suffering seriously too.

Like he did earlier with the disciples,

he invites Martha

to a deeper place in himself,

a deeper place of knowing

who he is

and what he's like for her

in the midst of her deepest pain.

Jesus says,

Lazarus will live again.

But Martha doesn't quite catch

what Jesus means.

She thinks that he means

Lazarus will rise

and the general resurrection

in the afterlife.

But Jesus presses her

to believe something more

about himself

right here and right now.

That believing in Jesus

means overcoming death.

And when he asks Martha,

do you believe this?

She makes a confession

about him

that actually exceeds

Peter's best confession

anywhere in the Gospels.

Martha's an amazing person.

And Jesus draws out

of Martha's hurting heart

during this time

of deepest suffering

a new level of faith

in himself.

But even so,

as readers,

we hear Jesus' words

to Martha

about him being

the resurrection

and the life,

and we know

there's more to it

than what Martha

is confessing

in that moment.

And there's one more thing

Jesus brings

when he brings his presence.

He brings his feelings,

his emotions.

We have to know

when reading about

Jesus' emotions

during this chapter

how invested he is

in Martha and Mary

and their experience.

We have to understand

that he's not just

with Martha and Mary,

he is going through it

with them.

The emotion Jesus feels

when he sees Mary weeping

and the Jews

who came from Jerusalem

to weep with Mary

is deeply moved in spirit

and greatly troubled

it's a little sanitized.

The Greek word

is

abrimameo mai.

It describes

a deep,

from the gut

exhalation

of raw grief

and anger.

It's not a word

that's spoken,

it's like an exhalation

of deepest

raw emotion.

And then that exhalation

turns into weeping.

Jesus being present

means he is,

means knowing

how he feels

about us

and our pain.

And so what was

Jesus crying for?

What were his emotions

about?

Frankly,

everything.

That Lazarus

had to experience

sickness

and then die,

that this ripped up

Mary and Martha,

that this impacted

a whole community

with grief,

that sickness

and death

even existed,

that people suffered

like this at all,

and because when God

made everything

through his son,

none of this

was supposed to happen,

none of this

was supposed to be.

Jesus wept

because this was

all wrong.

Jesus being present

means he takes

our pain

and grief

and trauma seriously.

There's no waving

of a magic wand.

Act 3

is a resurrection.

This actual,

this part of the story,

the actual raising

of Lazarus

from the dead

is surprisingly brief.

Jesus tells people

there to roll away

the stone.

Martha objects.

Jesus reminds her

if she believes,

she'll see the glory

of God.

And so people roll back

the stone covering

the tomb.

Jesus' longest speech

part is a prayer

to his father.

He doesn't ask God

to do anything

in this prayer.

In fact,

it seems that Jesus

was already praying

before this moment

because he says,

thank you for hearing me.

And I don't know

when he was praying,

maybe when he was waiting

before coming,

maybe on his way

walking to Bethany,

maybe while he was

talking to Mary or Martha,

maybe when he was weeping.

But he had been praying

and he now thanks God

for hearing him

and acknowledges

that people are watching.

And he prays

that this would make people

believe that his father

sent him.

And then comes

the miracle.

His words are simple,

three words,

Lazarus,

come out.

So we don't know

what happens spiritually

in this moment.

We don't know

what happened

once Jesus spoke

out loud like that.

It was on the surface

ordinary speech

at an outside gathering

in front of a tomb.

It was audacious.

It was a high risk

thing to say,

something that spoke

against the grain

and flow

and way of too much

of how things are

in the world and life.

It was too much

for his disciples

and Martha

to get their heads

around in advance.

I came across

a quote.

I'm going to pull it up

and I'm going to read it

because there's something

of the mystery

of what I'm talking

about in this.

I'm quoting

the great theologian

Matthew Perry,

the actor who played

Chandler

on Friends.

So he wrote a new book.

It's not an endorsement

of his book.

We all love Friends.

The book's probably good

but this is Matthew

talking about his life

and as I think

a lot of us know,

he struggled deeply

with addiction

for a long time.

So,

I'm pulling out

a couple passages.

It's worth reading it

in its entirety.

We're going to pull out

a couple parts.

At one point,

Matthew says,

God, please help me.

He whispers,

God, please help me.

Show me that you are here.

God, please help me.

And he describes

a change coming over him

and then he says,

I started to cry.

I mean,

I really started to cry.

That shoulder-shaking

kind of uncontrollable

weeping.

I wasn't crying

because I was sad.

I was crying because

for the first time

in my life,

I felt okay.

I felt safe,

taken care of.

Decades of struggling

with God

and wrestling with life

and sadness

all was being washed away

like a river of pain

gone into oblivion.

I'd been in the presence

of God.

Picture Chandler

saying this.

I'd been in the presence

of God.

I was certain of it

and this time

I had prayed

for the right thing,

help.

Eventually,

the weeping subsided

but everything

was different now.

I stayed sober

for two years

based solely

on that moment.

God had shown me

a sliver

of what life could be.

He'd saved me that day

and for all days,

no matter what,

he had turned me

into a seeker,

not only of sobriety

and truth

but also of him.

He doesn't know

what happened to him.

He just knows

that he encountered Jesus.

Whatever happened spiritually

in this moment

in John 11,

Jesus' voice went out

in the hearing

of everyone watching.

It went into that tomb,

into the stench

and darkness

and it went down

into death

and it gave a command

that could not be resisted

by anything

and Lazarus

walked out of the tomb

alive again.

It just happened

and we don't know how.

Incredibly to me,

John doesn't describe

anyone's reaction.

He only says

that many there

believed in Jesus

and some,

for some,

it accelerated

their plan to kill him.

It's just grievous to me.

How is that possible?

They knew a miracle

had happened

and their response was,

wow, that was amazing.

We should hurry up

our plans to kill him.

John never mentions

Martha or Mary

or even Lazarus' reaction

or the disciples' reactions

who were there

but this time

not mentioned.

I think if I was writing it

I would have said something like

and at that moment

everybody just lost their mind.

Like it would have,

like it was joyous

and they were in shock

and they said,

can you believe

what just happened?

We would probably all say,

yeah,

that was probably

what happened.

But John,

I think,

is intentional.

He leaves us

with this astonishing miracle

and then lets us

have our own reaction

to Jesus

and what he did.

He invites us

to go deeper

with Jesus

in the process.

So maybe a couple

takeaways

at the close

of this drama.

What are some

of the takeaways?

For one,

healing prayer

doesn't trivialize suffering.

Just as Jesus

didn't minimize

the awfulness

or seriousness

of Lazarus' death

or illness,

praying for healing

takes the suffering

and woundedness

of others

as seriously

as it deserves.

In healing prayer,

the silence

and absence

of Jesus

is fully acknowledged.

The goal

is not to explain

away anything

or find a why

for anything

that's happened

to anyone.

In healing prayer,

we sit with

the mystery

that we don't know

how,

but Jesus

will show forth

his love

and goodness

and beauty

and life.

In healing prayer,

it's always

awaiting on the Lord

with others

for Jesus

to show up

and journeying

with others

when he does.

Healing prayer

is about presence.

Healing prayer

is about inviting

Jesus to be present

with someone

so his words

can be heard,

his heart

can be known,

and so people

can know

that Jesus

is there,

that he's going through

and he went through

their suffering

with them.

Healing prayer

is about being open

to Jesus' invitation

for people

to come

and find more

of him

and who he is,

what he is like

at their lowest,

darkest,

and most painful

of experiences.

I have found

that there's a place

in God

that can only

be accessed

when Jesus

meets us

in our deepest

places of woundedness.

It's not because

Jesus is mean

and withholds himself

ordinarily,

it's because

he gives us

an experience

of his disproportionately

greater glory

in the places

where we most

need it.

It doesn't mean

we look for suffering

or try and suffer,

and it doesn't mean

God engineers suffering

in order to give us

this experience.

It just means

he responds

to what should

never have been

with more of who he is

and what he wants

for us.

Lastly,

healing prayer

receives the resurrection.

Sometimes,

when you're praying

for healing,

whether it's inner healing

or physical healing,

it feels like you're

just choosing

to roll back

the rock of the tomb.

There wasn't a lot

of faith

in that moment.

Martha and others

objected,

and Jesus said,

roll it back,

and so they just did.

And Jesus

and the whole crowd

was standing

in front of this

contradictory data

of a dead man,

a tomb,

days old,

a stench,

and all heavily

resisted faith.

Martha and the others

only had obedience

to do what Jesus said,

to roll the rock back,

but that obedience

held enough faith.

And a lot of time

when we're praying

for each other,

we pray in the face

of contradictory data.

Our prayers

come in obedience

to Jesus' instructions

that we pray

for each other,

but we always press

towards seeing God

and his Son

be glorified.

I have seen

some amazing answers

to prayer,

really amazing.

I've also been

painfully disappointed

for myself

and for others

by not receiving

answers to prayer.

So my prayer

is that people

would encounter

the resurrected Jesus

in a prayer time.

And that my experience

through amazing highs

and hard lows

is that when I look back,

Jesus has always

shown up,

and he always does

eventually show forth

his glory.

And so I keep praying.

So the healing prayer ministry

is new at Advent.

I want to invite

anyone who wants

to pray,

who wants people

to come pray with them

to find Jesus

and see how he would

draw close to them

and mark them

with his glory

to come seek it out.

Prayer ministers

who come over

at the side

after services,

and if you want

to actually set up

a time for prayer,

contact Hillary.

And there are lots

of people who would love

to come pray with you

and see what Jesus

would do.

Let me close

in prayer.

Lord Jesus,

we thank you

that you offer

yourself to us.

You promise us

that you will

show forth

your love,

your goodness,

your beauty,

and your life

somehow.

And somehow

it happens,

and sometimes

it happens,

and we don't even know

how it happened.

It's just suddenly there.

you've done something,

and we are grateful.

We want to see you

keep doing this.

So Lord,

we invite you

to come draw close

to us

in those places

of pain

where we most need

to be marked

by your glory.

Amen.