Lazarus

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast,

you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. One Friday evening

when I was worshipping at a different church,

I haven't always gone to this one. This is only

a new one, so I used to go to a different one.

One Friday evening at a church in Gula, I just

finished on a walk with my beautiful mother -in

-law. It wasn't daylight savings, as of today,

just like, I'm not sure if you got a little bit

extra sleep like I did today. So it was a bit

dark and chilly, and we used to do band practice

before youth groups, so the hall was open and

the lights were on. There was some leaders in

there and there was some youth because all the

youth was in the band. And I was saying goodbye

to my mother -in -law in the car park. And I

heard this angry voice shouting just on the other

side. And I knew the voice. I knew the voice.

You know, I was a bit angry and was one of our

regular congregation members. Except it sounded

a bit different. And it's because he was drunk.

That part was not regular. He would often call

out during the sermons, like some of you riff

raff. But he was not usually angry. He was not

usually angry when he'd called out. And so I

walked over to him to see if he was okay. See

if he was okay. And I quickly realized that he

wanted to go into the church. Of course he would.

Everyone else was in there. They seemed like

having a great time. And I was like, well, I

can't really let that happen, as you can imagine

why. So I kind of redirected him away from the

church saying, come on, how about we go this

way? And he wasn't really happy about this. He

wasn't really happy at all. So we kind of walked

off into the night. I said, OK, everything's

going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine.

So I went to go walk into the church to let the

other leaders know. what had happened. But then

within moments, he had turned back around and

was walking towards my mother -in -law. I was

like, what is the right thing to do in this situation?

What is the right thing to do? Now you might

have a different response to me, and that is

totally valid. That is totally okay. I would

be okay. But what was the right... What was the

right thing for me to do? I stood between the

man and my mother -in -law as he got very aggressive

and she was able to go inside to get some additional

help. Eventually he ran off. I think he knew

my father -in -law was coming. What was the next

right thing to do? What was the next right thing

to do? as a Christian. What was the next right

thing to do as a person? Should I take further

action? We did take further action. We let the

police know so that this wouldn't happen again.

None of these decisions were easy. Particularly

the second one. The first one was a little easier

for me. What was the right thing to do? Sometimes

we have this tension between what is easy and

what is right. Have you ever felt this tension?

Maybe you're kind of sitting with this tension

at the moment. Maybe there's a workplace or a

family decision that you've got going on. What

is the right thing to do? It'd be really easy

to do this, but I don't know if that's right.

Judah experiences this regularly. It's a six

-year -old, it's a hard life. Every day after

school, in fact, the right thing to do is to

walk in, take his bag off, put his lunch box

on the bench. That is the right thing to do.

But it is not the easy thing to do for young

Judah. I think literally anything else would

be the easy thing for Judah to do. But yet he

struggles to do the right thing. And you know,

we come to this passage and Jesus is faced with

a situation. Does he do what is easy or does

he do what is right? He was in Bethany. He just

escaped. We didn't read it. We didn't even read

all of chapter 11 because that was too long.

But in chapter 10, he had just escaped being

stoned. So he nearly got stoned. Like people

had literally picked up their rocks and they

were like... and it didn't happen. So he'd nearly

got stoned to death. He'd just escaped it and

then he'd come to Bethany. He was just chilling

out, calming down his nervous system. And two

women had sent a messenger to him. These two

women called Mary and Martha. You probably, you

might have heard of them before. These were the

two women who, when Jesus went to their home,

Martha was like, what can I do for you? Like,

cup of tea? biscuit um like busying herself and

Jesus like Martha Martha Martha and then Mary

was like oh chilling these are these are the

women these are the one we're talking about Mary

was the one in the next chapter which we haven't

read either but she's the one that pours the

perfume upon Jesus's feet these are these are

like they're not mentioned once is what I'm saying

even though even if you mentioned once in the

Bible like That'd be pretty important. Like these

are mentioned more than one time. So these are

women that Jesus loves. They love Jesus. And

their brother Lazarus, who is a dear friend of

Jesus. He is sick. He is so sick that he is going

to die. And Jesus was probably about a day's

travel away. What is Jesus to do? What is the

right thing to do? Surely. The easy thing to

do was just to not go at all. I mean, He probably

deserved just to take a minute. Just to like,

take a minute, take a break. I mean, Jesus knew

what was probably gonna happen later on, the

whole dying for their sins thing. Like, why take

the risk and the effort? But instead, an opportunity

to grow the faith of the disciples. and to bring

glory to God. And so after some time he makes

the journey to Bethany and after some doubt from

the very same people that asked Jesus for help,

he goes to the grave and he rolls the stone away

and he knows the miracle has occurred because

of two reasons. One, when the stone rolls away

there is no smell and like you can kind of picture

it there would have been a smell. because there

was a dead body in there for four days in like

a really hot climate. So they rolled the stone

away. He's like, okay, cool, it worked. But also

he knows the miracles occurred because he prayed

about it and he has faith in God and he shouts,

Lazarus come out. Jesus did the right thing,

not the easy thing, but at what cost? Because

the right thing is not normally the easy thing

for a reason. And for Jesus, this was the rubber

stamp that sealed His fate. This was the end

of Jesus' public ministry and life. The decision

was made by the Pharisees upon hearing of this

miracle that He was to be put to death. That

was creepy. But yet... He made the decision to

raise Lazarus anyway. So how do we do it? Like,

how do we do it? How, because like we don't just

walk into making the right decisions. Like we

aren't just people who always, like always know

and always do the right thing. Maybe we sometimes

know and sometimes do, but. We won't always do

the right thing. So how did Jesus do it? There

was four key things. I'm going to tell you exactly

what I'm going to preach. So if I got off track,

you can be like, actually, that's not what you

said you're going to say. So there's four key

things that he, four key movements he made before

Lazarus walked out of that tomb, wrapped in cloth

from dead to alive. Four key things. Jesus takes

his time. Jesus is willing to face his enemy.

Jesus weeps and Jesus testifies to the father.

So let's talk about the first one. Jesus takes

his time. So the two sisters sent a message to

Jesus telling him, Lord, your dear friend is

very sick. But when Jesus heard about it, he

said, Lazarus's sickness will not end in death.

It happened for the glory of God so that the

Son of God will receive glory from this. So although

Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, he stayed

where he was for the next two days. Could you

imagine being Mary and Martha when the messenger

comes back to them? So where is he? I don't know.

So is he coming? I don't know. Like, okay, perhaps

you have a tendency to put something off for

a few days. Like you get a difficult email, someone,

your husband, wife, housemate, asks you to take

the bins out or empty the dishwasher. And you're

like, yeah, yeah, like I will get to it. This

is not what I'm talking about, okay? This is

not what I'm talking about. Do not go home saying,

I know it is the right thing to do to take the

washing off the line. But Ashley said, to take

my time. Jesus took two days. I am not talking

about that. I have had too many sermons misconstrued.

Let me be very clear. Jesus was praying. and

he was unrushed, but he was not complacent and

procrastinating. We can trust God and we can

take our time. We can take a minute knowing he's

in control. We can be intentional in eliminating

our hurry. Read the book, it'll be on the shelf.

By first seeking God and slowing down. Maybe

we take two days to consider. Maybe we take two

minutes. but coming before God the Father and

saying, regardless of how fast my heart is beating

right now, I want to seek your will first. Sometimes

the easy decision is taken because we rush and

act too quickly. Perhaps God is saying to you

today, stop, pause and pray because Lazarus isn't

getting any more dead. My miracle will still

happen. Seek me first, I am in control, stop

trying to wrestle it away from me. Just as Jesus

takes his time, we can slow down too. And this

is coming from someone who's constantly asking

the United Church just to move a little faster.

Jesus is willing to face his fear, to face his

enemy. Finally, he said to his disciples, let's

go back to Judea. But his disciples objected.

Rabbi, they said, only a few days ago the people

in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going

there again? Who are you hiding from? What are

you hiding from? When we are faced with a difficult

situation, when we are seeking to do what is

right and not what is easy, we must be willing

to face our enemies. We must be willing to face

our fears. Jesus didn't go to Judea after this

comment, but He is willing. He is not afraid

to if that is what is required. Knowing that

returning to Judea would be dangerous and lead

to his probable death. If we want to be people

who do what is right and not what is easy, then

God might need to lead us to places that we are

afraid to go. Now because of my life experiences,

there's certain particular people that I'm a

bit afraid of being alone with. I'm like, I'm

not talking about extroverts. add to that like

this impending possibility that I might faint

in those situations. I've convinced myself in

a lot of situations that that nudging in my spirit

is not God and that it's just empathy and it

should not be listened to under any circumstances.

But one day I got off a train in Gawla and I

saw someone was struggling to walk in a straight

line in the middle of the road and That annoying

nudge was there. And so I stopped. I slowed down.

And I chose to observe from a distance for a

few moments. And then I prayed, Lord, I am afraid

that this could go really badly for me. Please

protect me. Be with me. Be with that person.

And make it really clear that this is what you

want me to do. Everything worked out okay. I

walked him the 25 minutes -ish home and he was

a lovely -ish man. Offered me tea. God isn't

always going to call you into the valleys. God

isn't always going to call you into the things

that you are terrified of doing. He is a good

and kind God. But I do know that doing the right

thing over the easy thing requires us more often

than not to get a little uncomfortable. And I

do know that he goes before you and he will be

with you and he will never leave you and he will

never forsake you. It says in Psalm 23, he guides

me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valleys,

I will not be afraid for you are close beside

me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort

me. You prepare a feast for me. in the presence

of my enemies. Church, are you willing to face

your fears, to face your enemies, to get a bit

uncomfortable to do the right thing and not the

easy thing? Maybe being willing to say yes to

public speaking. Maybe being willing to say yes

to help another in need. Maybe being willing

to say yes to that critical conversation because

those are terrifying and I am afraid to do them.

But more often than not, they are what is right.

Who are you afraid of? And what are you hiding

from? Because God is with you if you are willing

to face it. Jesus wept. When Jesus saw her weeping

and saw other people wailing with her, a deep

anger welled up within him and he was deeply

troubled. Where have you put him? He asked them

and they told him Lord come see and then Jesus

wept Anger a crowd had gathered and many had

traveled from the city because they had heard

of Lazarus's death and of Jesus coming to call

him from the grave and yet The people of God

had such unbelief faithfulness and hope. Jesus

had been praying since he had been told of Lazarus's

condition. He'd petitioned the Father. He knew

that Lazarus's sickness would not end in death,

but that it happened for the glory of God so

that the Son of God would receive glory from

this. In the middle of this moment, in the chaos,

in the heat, in the crowd of all the people,

looking out at them all, Jesus's heart ached.

and groaned for the havoc that sin and death

had raged on this world. And so he wept. He wept.

It's hard times for this world. Not like a single

tear. He didn't try to keep his face composed.

He probably could have got away with it. He was

probably sweaty enough. He wept for his people.

His people noticed. Jesus leant into the emotion.

He didn't go, now is not the time man, pull it

together. He didn't go, don't worry, you're literally

about to die for their sins. It'll be all good.

Cue list of all the other CBT distorted thinking

patterns. Jesus's heart ached. And so he wept.

If my many dollars of therapy have taught me

anything, and it's taught me a lot, don't worry.

When you try to numb one emotion, you tend to

numb them all. Has anyone heard that before?

Wow, cool. Here first, money worth while. Doing

what is right and not what is easy doesn't mean

you have to be happy about it all the time. It

doesn't mean that you're gonna feel good about

it all the time. It can be quite the complicated

situation. But you know what? We can be colourful

crowns. This is single -handedly one of the most

profound books I have read. And it's only a few

pages long, so you can knock it off on Goodreads

real quick, and then you can tell Pastor Tim

that you read a book this week. You can read

it after the service if you like. Simply, each

crown represents an emotion. Purple is grumpy.

That wasn't deliberate, by the way. That wasn't

like, you're all purple crowns. And where it

lands, spoiler alert, is that we do not have

to be one colour. We can be colourful crowns.

We can hold more than one emotion at the same

time. I'll show you the last page. See? Spoiler!

It's a crown and it's lots of different colours.

Read it. Add it to the pile. This is your book

list. My family's favorite is to say we can be

scared and brave because we are colorful crowns.

Now I'm not gonna sit here and talk too much

about this stuff because you can either read

emotionally healthy spirituality or go to therapy.

But friends, I will say, I will say that Jesus

wept even though he knew his friend wasn't dead.

Jesus wept even though he knew his friend wasn't

dead and that God was going to be glorified in

a miracle in a few more moments. It is okay,

no. We must feel the feels as they come up because

I do not want any of you to be missing out on

the fullness of life that God has for you in

the fullness of expression that is all of our

emotions. Jesus testifies to the Father. So they

rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up

to heaven and said, Father, thank you for hearing

me. You always hear me. But I said it out loud

for the sake of all these people standing here,

so they will believe you sent me. Then Jesus

shouted, Lazarus, come out. We're so close, we're

nearly there. Jesus took his time. Jesus is willing

to face his enemies. Jesus wept. And in the last

moments before Jesus calls Lazarus out, he testifies

to the Father, to who God the Father is. Jesus

doesn't need to do this for the miracle to work.

He doesn't need to do this for God to hear him.

He's already been praying to God. He'd been doing

that for the two days probably. But this prayer,

in this moment, is for those who would hear Him.

This prayer was for that those who were listening

and watching would know that it was not by Jesus's

power, but it was by the Father's. That is whom

Jesus was given glory and honor to. Now I'm not

saying that before you do any good and right

thing, you sit everyone down and say, let me

tell you about your Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

But I'm also not not saying that the old, God

bless, when you hold the door open for a mum

with a pram and toddler goes astray. Primarily,

doing what is right is ultimately not about us.

It is not about the glory we can earn from others.

It is not about the favour we can earn from God.

It is about giving glory to our Lord. What a

relief. What a relief. Because if even Jesus

didn't make doing the right thing about Himself

and He was raising someone from the dead, then

why should we? Scripture upon Scripture talks

about the way we live matters. All accumulating

to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, You are

the light of the world. A city set on a hill

cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp

and put it under a basket, but on a stand and

it gives light to all in the house. In the same

way, let your light shine before others so that

they may see your good works and give glory to

the Father who is in heaven. This is how we do

what is right, not what is easy. This is how

we do what is right and not what is easy. We

take our time, we face our fears, we feel the

feels, and we testify and we give glory to God

the Father. But, but, how do we know What is

the right thing? Like, how do we know? How do

we know what is the right thing? Like, what is

worth it? What is worth it? Because friends,

like, everything changed for Jesus after this.

Everything changed. The Pharisees and the high

Jewish leaders, upon hearing what Jesus had done,

decided that he would be arrested and put to

death. That's a big cost. Jesus retreated after

this into the Passover festival, and we'll hear

more about that in a few weeks, for about six

weeks. Was raising Lazarus worth it? Surely other

people had died and He didn't raise them. I mean,

Lazarus was gonna die again anyway. What is the

right thing? How did Jesus know it was the right

decision? How are we to know what is right? How

are we to know what is worth sticking our necks

on the line for? What is worth the cost? Jesus

explicitly says Lazarus' illness was not for

death, but for the glory of God. And faced with

this glory, the religious leaders plotted Jesus'

death. Jesus' gift of life is the most radical

and dangerous thing to these authorities in power.

And yet... And yet, in trying to subdue this

threat, they only made a way for Jesus' true

power over life and death to go out into all

time and all world. While Lazarus' death was

simply reversed, and one day he would become

ill and die again. Jesus would make the journey

through death, descend into hell, conquer death,

rise to new life, and ascend into heaven. What

is right might not always be clear, but it will

always point to the coming kingdom of God. Lazarus'

death pointed towards Jesus' death. The power

over the gift, the power over the gift of life

points towards the power of the life and death

that is to come. What is right will always be

kingdom coded. What is right will always be about

the kingdom of God. What is right will always

be about justice. We'll always be about peacemaking.

We'll always be about reconciliation. We'll always

be about forgiveness. We'll always be about obedience

of God. If you are ever unsure about what is

right, then we need to look to the life of Jesus.

And this is the last book recommendation. This

one. If we are unsure about what is right, then

we look to the life of Jesus and look at what

He did. Church. I want to see God's kingdom come

here in Henley as it is in heaven. I want to

see hearts transformed and minds renewed. I want

to see families coming together at the dinner

table, praying over one another, taking back

the ground that the enemy has taken. I want to

see healing over mental health of the lives of

our community, because God does not just care

about the spiritual health, but he has claimed

victory over it all. I wanna see reconciliation

between friends and neighbours who have spent

years ignoring the conflicts and ills between

them because they did not think that there was

a way back in grace. I wanna see the poor in

our community live in dignity. I wanna see people,

I wanna see adults, I wanna see grandparents,

I wanna see children coming to an understanding

that they are deeply loved by a creator who sees

them and knows them and gave up his life for

them. And I don't want to just see it. I don't

want to just see it. I want to be a part of it.

I want to be a part of God's kingdom coming here

in heaven. Do you? Do you want to be a part of

that? Because this is why we exist. We exist

so that everyone may have an encounter with Jesus.

Let us stand. I want to be a part of choosing

what is right, not what is easy, because it points

towards the kingdom of God. Thanks so much for

tuning into this week's message. If you felt

challenged or need prayer, we'd love to hear

from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. Or

if you're interested in how you can support this

ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide

.com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless

you.