This past week while my wife and I
were at the Gym, a gentleman who knows we are pastors and who talks to us quite a
bit asked a question. Up to this point, he has never engaged us in religious
questions, but as we are exercising, it happened! He said “Can I ask you all a
bible question?” I have to be honest that these are some of the times that
pastor’s live for. We get all excited about the question that is to come. I am
about to pass out because the amount of exercise we do on Mondays but I perked
right up, waiting for this question.
I was not disappointed by the
question. He said, “Is it in the bible that God does not give you anything you
can’t handle?” Now, if you are in a room full of pastors, you would see people
wanting to chime in immediately. It can look pretty amusing but there were the
two of us and I must say that I was quiet for a moment. This question called
for a time to think, first before speaking.
This question has a lot to do with
today’s Gospel reading and this particular day that we celebrate; All Saints
Day. Our Gospel reading begins with Mary confronting Jesus. Mary is not happy;
she is grieving, obviously! She wants Jesus to know that in her grief there is
anger. The statement that she makes is that she knows that if Jesus would have
been around, Jesus could have prevented this death! To be clear, Mary is a
woman of faith. This is the same Mary who washed Jesus feet with perfume and
dried his feet with her hair. She knew what Jesus has done in the past; and her
faith tells her what Jesus could have done…had he been there.
I think what is important in this
passage is Jesus’ reaction. Jesus saw her weeping. He saw her grief and he saw
the grief of everyone else that was with her. Jesus reaction was not to punish
her, or say words to her that would put her in her place. JESUS was “greatly
disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.” That is putting it a little politely.
Our English translation does not do Jesus reaction Justice. The Greek words are
the same words used to describe anger. He wasn’t deeply moved, Jesus was angry!
Imagine, the Son of God angry!
So why would Jesus be angry? Was
Jesus angry because of Death? What was death to Jesus and the people of his
time? Death was the end. There was nothing after death; all the people knew was
that when there was death that was it…nothing more or less. Death seemed to be
more of a punishment because it was the end. It was almost like Satan had
control over death because of its finality! Look at what death did to Lazarus’
family. This death tore the family and friends apart. Look at their faces! They
are weeping and wailing. They feel the sense of loss, this hole in their heart
where Lazarus once occupied space is now gone.
So, Jesus is angry about all this.
He is angry because of the finality that Mary and Martha see. He is angry at
the appearance of Satan having control of death; AND, he is angry at how death
tears apart the family. He is angry at seeing the pain on their faces, the
tears that are being shed for their loving friend and brother. He is angry
because Jesus is not only fully Divine…fully the Son of God, but he is also
fully human; sharing the emotions of God’s children for the loss of a friend.
He is so moved that we read a little
further that “Jesus weeps.” Jesus’ emotions well up in him and he experiences
the same loss that Mary, Martha, and all his friends experience. HE feels the
hole in his heart, the memories that he shared with Lazarus, for now, are only
that…memories.
But Jesus does not get consumed with
his grief and the grief of others. Jesus goes to the tomb. He wants to go in
and Martha says that Lazarus has been dead for four days. It is important to
know that Jewish customs believed the soul left the body after three days and
he has been gone four days; so, there is no way he is coming back. And she
tells him that the stench is there because he has been dead for four days.
Jesus does not let that stop him. Jesus enters the tomb and is going to show
Martha the Glory of God that was promised because of her faith. He prays and
lets out his cry for Lazarus to “come out!”
By God’s glory and the love of God
Lazarus emerges from the tomb. “Unbind him and let him go,” Jesus says. This
death of Lazarus that seemed so final, is no longer final. Death that seemed to
be controlled by Satan has lost that sting, and that hole that was once in the
heart is no longer. Those tears wept for a dead man are now tears of Joy in his
raising.
I think we can relate in some ways
to this Gospel. We know what it is like to lose a loved one. We have lost
people special to us. We have felt that hole in our hearts, we have experienced
the physical and emotional pain of loss. We have been through all these
emotions that come with the loss of a loved one. We feel it when we lose
members of our congregation as well.
So I go back to the question asked
by the Gentleman this past week. “Is it in the bible that God only gives us
what we can handle?” The question implies that if we lose a loved one that God,
somehow, thinks we can handle it. It even implies that God would allow this to
happen because we “can handle it.” That is not the God that I know! We have
here in our Gospel reading a display of Jesus being angry because of death,
because of the pain that it causes in those that are left behind. We see Jesus,
the Son of God weeping just as we weep for our loved ones, weeping for the
memories left behind when we would much rather have the person. This also means
that getting angry is normal.
While we do experience the emotions
and physical pain of loss; we witness God’s promise displayed that death is not
the end. Jesus went into that tomb where death was present and smelly. He went
face-to-face with death and refused to allow the sting of death to be the last
word. Through Jesus, God promised to remove the stench and darkness of death
and bring new life. God’s promise of life is first witnessed here in this tomb
of Lazarus; but it will be promised to us through the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. It is the promise of being released into new life…unbound by the
sting and stench of death to experience all of God’s glory, love, and light.
Today, we celebrate all the saints
who have gone before us. Especially those who have joined the heavenly choir within
the past year. We do not presume to take away the pain and sadness of their
loss. We celebrate their life of ministry, their life of love and light in our
lives and in God’s Kingdom here on earth. It is the day where we mourn the
loss, but fondly remember their impact on our lives, the funny stories, quirks,
sayings; but most importantly we remember how much they are loved by God and by
us. And, we do look to the day when we will be at the great banquet together
that has no end…AND there won’t be any need for gyms or diets: Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment