Hour Glass

The raising of Lazarus points us all to the understanding of what eternal life means, as revealed by Jesus, in his dialogue with the bystanders, in his words to Martha....Open your Bibles to John 11:21-27 “Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him. Jesus said to her, “your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who believes in me, will never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

These are the words we often read at funerals, because in his dialogue with Martha ...Jesus affirms the resurrection for Lazarus and for all by the power of God, through the Savior. Martha runs to get Mary, and Jesus repeats the message.

The resurrection is through me, life is through me, I am the Messiah.

Then the message is made available to all through the dramatic, emotional event, as the stone is rolled away from Lazarus tomb, and the glory of God is proved and emphasized through Jesus words, “Father, I thank you for having heard me, I knew that you always heard me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so they may believe that you have sent me. When he said this, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Folks it doesn’t get much more dramatic than this!

I want us to remember, Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, Jesus freed him from the bonds of death, Lazarus walked out of his tomb, but Jesus did not cure him from death. There was a day, many days later, when once again Lazarus was carried into his tomb. There was a day, many years later, when there would be another funeral, the mourners would gather, and the women would weep for Lazarus. But on this day, many years later, there was joy in the tears, Why? Because many years later, they remembered, these words, as their souls groaned, their hearts remembered....

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

So let us now talk about the second time Lazarus died. On this day, there was sadness and shock, grief and mourning, by family and friends. But, there was rejoicing too, for Lazarus went home, and on this day, Jesus was there too. That is what we believe, we believe that Jesus saves. We believe in eternal life. We believe in living in the eternal presence of our perfect and holy father.

The second time Lazarus died, I hope Martha had faith that Jesus was with her brother rejoicing in heaven at the same time he was with her and Mary mourning on earth.

We weep. We mourn. We miss their faces, their smiles. In this world, we will live with heartache, our hearts will be broken every time we have to say goodbye to someone we love.

We know their name,

but God knows the hairs on their head.

We know their laughter,

but God knows where the joy came from.

We know their love,

but God taught them to love.

So when a loved one dies, we mourn, we grieve for all that has left with them, but God welcomes with open arms, the same moment they leave ours embrace, they walk into his everlasting arms.

So when the sand in our our glass here runs out, God turns it over in heaven, and it never runs out again.

I feel often in the American culture we treat death as something to be avoided and feared. We spent enormous amounts of energy and money trying to stay young and stave off death. There is no cure for death, we will all die, so let us learn how to live, knowing that there is a purpose to our life. Let us not fear death, let us embrace life, and honor the memory of those who have died. Let us remember what they taught us, because those special people God brings to our lives teach us how to live and how to die.