Sermon for Friends Congregational Church

“Resuscitation Sunday”

Delivered by Lenni Lissberger

Sunday, March 9, 2008

John 11:1-45

I have good news Friends. It is just two more weeks till Easter! I would say "Hallelujah!" but, we're really not supposed to say that during Lent. I guess I could say "Praise God," but interpreted, that means "Hallelujah," so I guess that would be cheating.

Let me just say, I am so looking forward to Easter when we'll be singing our doxology in our familiar rejoicing style. Do any of you miss it like I do? When I found UCC, I also found a new Doxology and I love it. Remember, just a month ago we were singing it that way.

And now, during Lent it's like this.

There's nothing wrong with singing it this way. I sang it like that all the time when I was growing up. But now I know a new way, and I don't wanna go back. But! Don't forget we are singing it this way today!

You know, I don't remember making a decision to give up joy for Lent, but it seems like I have.  The closer we get to Easter, the more hectic my life is becoming and the sadder my encounters.

I listen to our prayer concerns during joys and sorrows on both Wednesdays and Sundays, so I know I'm not the only one having problems. I hear you speak of health concerns, economic concerns, family concerns, spiritual concerns, and of course there are always concerns that are not spoken.

You have no idea how glad I am to be in a church where we share our journeys with each other.

We have no need to feel isolated when we come through that door, for we are on a communal journey, and not just during Lent, but all year long.

And it is because of this, that I feel comfortable using myself as an illustration.

Teri and I are facing separation from our little grandson, not that we see him nearly as much as we would like when he's in Texas, but for seven or eight months he'll be completely out of reach in Oregon. We've learned to not totally breakdown like we did the first year it happened, but that doesn't make it any the less sad.

And, right when I have deadlines to meet in various parts of my life and feel the need to go faster and faster, I'll be undergoing knee surgery, which will slow me down. This is just an anxious period in my life.

But then I contemplate Holy Week and Jesus' journey through that time period. It's only a week from now, you know. I don't want to pull a Mel Gibson, but, it was a journey from triumph to trial to torture to the tomb.

There is no way I can compare my problems with those of Jesus. But contemplating his upcoming journey, I think, what does this story tell me?

For one thing, Jesus says that unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it cannot arise to new life.  We may have sorrow so unbearable we cannot see the hope of new life. We don't realize that God will help us through that sorrow and into the new tomorrow if we just ask.

Another thing the story tells me is that God understands our pain.  God was with Jesus every step of the way through his journey, and God is with us every step of the way through our journey. We are never alone, whether in the midst of sadness or in the midst of joy. God mourns with us and rejoices with us and loves us so completely that every cell of our body is saturated with God's love.  How could God not know what we need.

I will say that a wonderful thing about lent for me is the encouragement to set aside a time to listen, for God speaks to us in the silence. Judging from my experience, God is not in a contest with us to see which one can talk the most. God just waits and listens as long as I'm talking. It's almost as though  God has all the time in the world. Some find it hard to be silent in the presence of someone else, but the more familiar they are with them, the more comfortable silence becomes.

Teri and I have been together for 12 years so we're very familiar with each other. Early Friday morning about 7, I woke up as Teri opened the blinds. For a while we watched what seemed a South Central Texas miracle and listened to the silent sound of falling snowflakes. As they continued drifting down, we drifted back to sleep as though outside our window nothing wonderful was happening. It was a blessed moment as God gave us the peace we needed.

There is something I don't understand about Lent. We're encouraged to read the Bible, reflect on our lives, make confession, and become closer to God—but to hold off rejoicing till Easter. But when I read the Bible, make confession, and become closer to God all I want to do is rejoice. What am I doing wrong?

Well, I guess you could say I'm more into instant gratification than I am into patience. But is that unusual when we're looking forward to something positive? Of course it's the opposite when we're anticipating something negative. If we're close to broke, we would hardly spend our last hundred dollars just so we could experience going broke right now. We would probably find we have the patience of Job under those circumstances.

But I'm not the only one looking forward to Easter. Our scripture also looks forward to Easter.  Today's scripture is like an Easter preview. Someone is raised to new life. But, there's a difference between today's Scripture and Easter, otherwise known as Resurrection Sunday. I guess you could say today is more like Resuscitation Sunday, because the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life in today's gospel would have meant something different to the people in that story. They believed that departed spirits went to Sheol, and that a person raised from the dead, would be raised to continue leading a normal life. Jesus, however, was considered to be resurrected to an eternal life.

In the last few weeks the Gospel of John has been teaching us in a particular manner. The author of John presents metaphorical stories as a stage for Jesus to reveal his attributes, and he does it like this: First, Jesus speaks metaphorically, then the metaphor is taken literally, then Jesus explains the metaphor and reveals an attribute

For example, last week we had the story of Jesus healing the blind man. Jesus, using both sight and light as metaphors for enlightenment, says, "I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind." The Pharisees take it literally, setting the stage for Jesus to explain and say, "I am the light of the world."

The week before was the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus speaks to her of living water, and the woman takes it to mean just plain water. Then Jesus explains, saying he is the source of the living water. Relating it to Spirit he says, "[T]he water I give . . . will be. . . a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The week before that finds Jesus talking to Nicodemus. He tells him he must be born from above, which Nicodemus takes to mean he must, literally, be born again. In this story Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man come from heaven and as the Son of God.

So now, this week, we have the story of Jesus and Lazarus. Jesus tells Martha that her brother will rise again, meaning now. She misunderstands and assumes he is speaking of the resurrection on the last day. Then Jesus uses that situation to say, "I am the resurrection and the life."

So, by this means, in the last few weeks, John has identified Jesus as: Son of Man from Heaven, Son of God, Source of the Living Water, which leads to eternal life, The Light of the World, and the Resurrection and the Life. We know quite well, therefore, before Jesus enters Jerusalem, who he is.

Next Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem, and we will be with him as he begins his journey through Holy Week. But, even though I will feel the sadness and sorrow, even though I know we have to face the death in order to rejoice in the resurrection—I already know the end of the story—How can I keep from rejoicing?

Amen