A, Lent 5,
Jn. 11:1-45 The Raising of Lazarus By the Rev. Blake R. Hutson
O Lord to see you is the end and the beginning. You carry us and you go before us. You are the journey and the journey’s end. Amen.
There are some things that we don’t like to admit. For example, when was the last time you realized you were wrong and needed to admit it? Maybe it was this morning. Maybe right now you are sitting next to the person that needs to hear an apology. They know it. You know it. It is just a matter of you taking that moment, where you allow yourself to be small enough to admit… “I was wrong.”
There are other things that we don’t like to admit. How about this past week? Has there been a circumstance that has felt like it was bigger than you? Something that has possibly consumed your thoughts—something that you feel like is totally out of your hands? Something that makes you feel like you have no control? Maybe it’s something that you hate to admit, but the situation is just not going how you would have planned for it, it’s bigger than you. It’s out of control.
Sometimes being in control is an illusion. Sometimes we think we are in control. During this time we have a feeling of security, a comfort that we know how things are going. But in reality, when our sense of security is shaken, even the slightest bit, if a “kink” is thrown into our routine…. we can find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, out of control.
And the reality is that ultimately, we are not in control.
So the question is… how do we as Christians address this? We may not like to admit it, but at some point, everyone has some circumstance that brings them to this point in life. The circumstance—whatever it may be, at the time, it rules your thoughts, it may keep you awake at night, and may sometimes leave you wondering “where in the world is God while I am going through this?”
Every circumstance that we face that raises these feelings and questions has somewhat of a pattern to it. It can be sort of a journey. The journey can be as short as a day or last over a period of years.
When we pray often we go through a journey of faith. The journey has stages. The first stage of the journey is often “asking but not seeing”. The next stage of the journey could be described as “Seeing but not understanding.” The final part of the journey of faith is often “Understanding by looking back.”
Let me suggest that all of us, whatever the circumstance, are somewhere on this journey. And wouldn’t it be nice if we could see the big picture as we do in today’s Gospel? Today’s gospel reading is a long one—in it we are able to see a perfect example of a family going through this cycle, this journey of faith. We find a circumstance that seems to overwhelm a family. In the midst of it we see where God was in the entire situation…to the end result… that they look back and know God was there the whole time.
Asking, but not
seeing
In today’s gospel reading, we have two sisters and a brother and the brother gets sick. Mary and Martha watch their brother, Lazarus, get sicker and sicker. So, these sisters turn to God and ask for help. They call upon Jesus to come and heal their brother.
However, Jesus does not respond immediately. As a result, the sisters watch their brother’s health decline to the point of death. The whole time they were looking for Jesus. And they were wondering why Jesus has not come when they called.
Like Mary and Martha, we know what it is to call on God for help. Mary and Martha have nowhere else to turn and they look to God. But it seems that their prayers are not being answered. At this point they are asking but not seeing. Do you think at any point they started to doubt their faith? Do you think that because they were not hearing an immediate answer that maybe they started to think something was wrong with them?
Oftentimes, when we pray and we don’t feel God is answering, these questions may start to come up in our mind. We are asking, but not seeing. So where is God, when we go through circumstances where we feel helpless, out of control? In this case it is an illness, but these circumstances can be anything from a relationship, to a job, to a personal struggle.
As we see in the story, Jesus did hear their prayer, he did
hear their request, and he did respond. It
just happened to not be in the timing that Mary and Martha thought it should be…which
leads us through the next part of the story.
They see, but don’t
understand
When Mary and Martha first see Jesus the first words out of both of their mouths were “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (vs. 21 & 32). They felt helpless in their circumstance. They watched their brother get weaker and weaker, feeling out of control and helpless. They, like many of us, reached out to God when they felt out of control. But there was no answer. Jesus was too late. Their brother had died.
They felt angry that Jesus did not respond in the time frame they wanted. At this point, They begin to see God in their circumstance, but they don’t understand. At this stage, they see that Jesus did hear their request. And he was responding.
But how many times have we felt this—felt that if my prayer would have been answered the way I had asked for it to be, I would not be in this situation now? God if you would have been there, if you would have answered my prayer, this would not have happened.
These are the feelings Mary and Martha have as Jesus comes to them. As the story unfolds, Jesus raises their brother from the dead. He does answer their prayer, just not in the timing or way that they thought things would happen. The text doesn’t indicate that Jesus responded to their frustration or their possible doubts. I don’t wonder if sometimes this is a normal part of the journey of faith as we learn to trust God with our circumstances.
Understanding by
looking back
We are reminded in this story that God is with us in everything that we face, even if we may not realize it at the time. God knows our needs and God responds and provides for them… in God’s timing. Not ours. Sometimes we may not see God’s timing as being beneficial in the short term; sometimes we don’t realize the benefit of God’s answer until down the road. This is another thing we can’t control… God’s timing and God’s answer.
Mary and Martha may have wondered if God was truly with them in their circumstances at every stage…at some points they may have felt abandoned by God. This story reminds us that God always hears our prayers, and that God’s answers can come in many forms. We are reminded that when we ask for God’s help, God’s answer may not be in the form we thought or in the timing we imagined.
So where are you in today’s story? Whatever your circumstance, more than likely you could be in one of these three places as you deal with it. Are you ‘Asking, but not Seeing’? Or are you ‘Seeing God begin to answer your prayer, but don’t understand’ the way God is answering it or the timing of God’s answer? Or, have you been through these two stages, and now you can ‘look back at your circumstance’ and see where God was at work even though it was not exactly what you had expected. But ‘now you understand.’
There is a good chance that everyone here is dealing with some circumstance that feels bigger than we are. There is a good chance that each of us can pick a place in the journey described today and can say “that is me, that is how I feel, that is where I am right now.”
Let me remind you today, that God is aware of your circumstance and request. God knows exactly what you are going through. Trust that if you have brought the situation to God has heard your prayer. We never know how God will answer our prayers. But God is always present in our lives. God is present in your circumstance. If you don’t see God right now…don’t feel abandoned. God’s answer may be right around the corner.
Amen.