10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." 11 After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." He will return.ĩ Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.
Don't go there."Īre we always supposed to take the path of least resistance? No, Jesus will walk straight back through the area where they once tried to stone him.
There are always reasons against fulfilling the vision. Watch out for disciples and friends, family and co-workers, who are always finding reasons to stop. Once Jesus decides to return to Judea, his so-called disciples find plenty of reasons to stop him. All strength, all health, is beyond our notions of time.ħ Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" It was because his strength did not need to respond according to urgent schedules and anxiety. It was not because he did not love Lazarus. He heard the news that Lazarus was ill, and he waited two days to respond. The ones who love us most sometimes they take longer to arrive than others. The friends who help us most are those not driven by the tyranny of the urgent, those not in the biggest hurry, those who are not most anxious, those who do not panic. Often, the people who are willing to drop everything and help us are the ones least equipped to help. "Don't you realize how needy I am?" "If you love me, why don't you respond immediately?" Those are the questions we demand of each other, aren't they?Īh, but it is not the people who respond most urgently and most anxiously who love us most. Why doesn't Jesus drop everything he is doing and rush over to see Lazarus? Indeed, everything -even illness- can mediate grace.ĥ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.ĭelay. But all illnesses can also be vessels of the glory of God. I believe all illness has that ultimate purpose: to be used for the glory of God. But the Lord loves us in the midst of those illnesses.Ĥ But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." The Lord knows our illnesses in deeper ways than we know them. "Lord, the one whom you love is ill." The Lord knows who among us is sick. This is the way most of us speak with Jesus. They keep showing up in the New Testament, and they keep showing up in church.ģ So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." No family is consistently perfect, are we?Įach of us, from the smallest household, to the largest church, has people who like to listen, people who like to serve, and people who are sick. Martha was the sister who loved to serve others. Mary was the sister who loved to listen to Jesus. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair her brother Lazarus was ill. John 11.1-45 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. A sermon by the Very Reverend Sam Candler
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