Creekside Church Sermon of March 21, 1999 "Life Before and After Death" John 11:1-45	Rev. David Bibbee
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Furthermore, Toynbee said that over the span of centuries and civilizations, a variety of saviors have emerged. Some held the septor of political power. Some held books...they were the teachers and philosophers. Some swung a sword of military power. Then there were the manufactured saviors such as the Greek gods. These saviors have all gone the way of most civilizations. They are dead. Toynbee said, "When the last civilization has come to the River of Death, there on the other side filling the whole horizon will be the SAVIOR."

This title belongs to Jesus alone. He is the only one to have conquered the final foe...death. Our days are numbered. But His are infinite. Sooner or later death will have its way with us, but death is not the enemy it once was because there is nothing in death or in life which shall separate us from the love of God which is ours in Jesus Christ. And yet centuries later, we are still running from death. In many ways it still controls us. We have got to make our mark and achieve our goals as quickly as possible and cram all the pleasures and experiences into our lives that we can because death is closing in and tomorrow it may catch you. Hospitals keep adding new additions and have become the largest buildings in most cities. We want cures for everything, and we expect medicine to be our hedge against death. We go to funeral homes to see our loved ones. We want them to appear natural so they seem more asleep than dead.

We cannot escape death, but we can break free from its grip. For Christians, life is about faith in Christ, not the fear of death. So far in our journey through the gospel of John, we have seen Jesus as the giver of second birth, as living water to the thirsty and light to the blind. Today he is the resurrection and life, not only in the hereafter, but in the here and now.

Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus was ill. Very ill. His sisters Martha and Mary had done all they could to help him, but he was no better, so they sent word for Jesus to come. "Lord, the one you love is ill." Surely Jesus would drop everything to go heal Lazarus. But Jesus seldom does as we think. "This illness is not unto death," he said. Really? How did he know? He hadn't seen Lazarus. He never asked about his vitals. Like the condition of the blind man in last week's lesson, Jesus said Lazarus' illness would be an occasion for God's glory.

Jesus loved Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and upon receiving the news, he stayed put...for two days. He didn't say, "I'm in the middle of something right now," or, "I'll come when I'm good and ready." We don't know what Jesus was doing. Imagine the comfort Lazarus would have felt if the courier had read a reply from Jesus; "Dear Lazarus: Hold on a few days, and I'll be there. If you can't, go ahead and die. I'll take care of it later...Your friend, Jesus." Give Jesus an "F" in pastoral care. When Jesus is finally ready to go, the disciples warn him not to go to Bethany. "You know how they feel about you back there. You'll get yourself killed." There was death ahead...for Lazarus and Jesus, and so Thomas, the eternal optimist says, "Let's go fellas. We might as well die with him." Death was about to have its way.

By the time Jesus finally arrived, the funeral was over and Lazarus was in the tomb. Martha went out to meet him. She was not happy. "How nice of you to make it, Jesus. The one you loved has been dead four days now. He wouldn't have died if you had come when we called you." Jesus told Martha, "He will rise again." That's what the people who came to the funeral home said. "He's in a better place now." "You'll meet again." "I know he'll rise on the last day," Martha said. But Martha was concerned with the present rather than the future. The sweet hereafter was little consolation for her. She wanted Lazarus back, now. Then Jesus uttered his greatest "I am..." saying. "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, though they die, yet shall they live. Do you believe this?"

I have had the privilege of being with people at the awesome moment when a spouse, parent, or child dies. When death delivers a direct hit, it feels as though everything is up for grabs and the world is falling apart. No matter how well-intentioned, cliches like, "He's at peace now," or "You'll be together again," or "You've got to be strong," are not comforting. You need something more concrete than a future promise. You need something now. That's why Jesus said, "I am the resuurection and the life." I am, not I will be. I am the life. Right here. Right now. Whenever death has done its worst, I offer you my best. Do you believe this? "Yes Lord, I believe you are the Christ who is coming into the world."

One of the laws of physics states that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. For Jesus, life and death cannot coexist. When Mary and the other mourners came out to Jesus wailing and weeping, it was too much for him. He lost his composure and wept with them. He wept for their pain. He wept for Lazarus. He wept because he couldn't bear what death had done. When Jesus pulled himself together he went to the tomb and told them to roll away the stone. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Martha said. "It's been four days now and it will smell to high heaven." "Martha, do you believe?"

Jesus prayed and called Lazarus out in a commanding, shake down the thunder from the skies, loud enough to wake the dead voice. "LAZARUS, COME OUT HERE!!!" I love verse 14. I wonder if it inspired the title of the film "Dead Man Walking"? "The dead man came out," John says. Mummy-like. Dazed and confused. Was it caring to put Lazarus through two funerals and have Mary and Martha endure the grieving process all over again? Let's look somewhere else. Imagine what it was like for Lazarus to be raised. Fredrick Buechner's description may come as close as any other:

Recent interviews with people who have been resuscitated after being clinically dead, reveal that after the glimpse, evidently all of them get of a figure of light waiting for them on the other side, they are very reluctant to be brought back again to this one.

On the other hand, when Lazarus opened his eyes to see the figure of Jesus standing there in the daylight beside him, he couldn't for the Life of him tell which side he was on.

With Jesus, being on this side or the other side of death is life. Death is everywhere in this story. Lazarus is dead. One, maybe more of the disciples think it will be curtains for all of them in Jerusalem. Jesus moves toward a date with death on a cross, but before he does, he calls a corpse back to life. Life is what Jesus is about. "I have come to bring life...abundant life." It was not an easy thing for the people to accept. They had grown accustomed to death. They didn't want Jesus to rearrange things. The Mortician's Federation and the Cemetary Owners Association didn't look kindly upon what Jesus had done. Religion and government wouldn't tolerate Jesus upsetting the status quo. "You're not going to raise someone from the dead and get away with it."

Jesus and Lazarus traded places. Lazarus left the tomb. Jesus will enter a tomb. Raising Lazarus was a preview of coming attractions. The message is not that we will avoid death. The resurrection doesn't give us freedom from death. The resurrection is God's way of getting our attention and giving us the freedom from the fear of death.

Jesus is the giver of life. He rescued life from the cavernous jaws of death. We concede to it. We make allowances for it. We get used to it. We have heard the stories from the battle field of soldiers eating their rations while sitting on the bodies of the dead. Numbness sets in. It used to be that when a murder took place in our town we would instinctively say, "Oh no!" Now it's, "Oh well...what else is new?" Now it's news when a day goes by without a molestation, a mugging or a murder. We eat supper while watching starving, skeletal children in Sudan on the evening news. That's just the way it is. It's part of the landscape at the close of the twentieth century. But don't expect Jesus to get used to it. He can't stand death.

I do it more than I want to admit. I postpone Jesus' gift of life. "It will come," I say to myself..."someday." You do the same. We're more like Martha, "I know he'll rise...on the last day. But why wait like Martha when we can be like Lazarus...raised to life...today?

Listen! Did you hear that? I could swear I heard someone shouting something. It sounded like, "Come out!" What could that mean? You don't suppose it could be Jesus, do you? Could it be that we have unintentionally adjusted to death in the church? Have we settled in with stuckness? Have we made friends with frustration? Have we gotten used to funerals? Have we accepted a shrinking membership? Have we squelched enthusiasm ... been too quiet and careful because we don't want to seem too enthusiastic about making changes that can bring growth and new life to this church?

Would you please open the hymnal to page 116. Let's sing verse 2 of Crown Him With Many Crowns:

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o'er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those he came to save.
His glories now we sing who died, and rose on high,
Who died, eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

He is the resurrection and the life. He lives that death may die. The hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out (John 5: 28). He's calling you. You can come out now

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