April 2 2017 Mission Possible - Rising from the Dead

April 2 2017"Mission Possible – Rising from the Dead", John 11.1-45 (Dramatic Reading) Pastor Jacqueline Hines

God has blessed America.  [slide # 1 flag] We live in the land of opportunity. It is a land flowing with milk and honey, both literally and figuratively. God has blessed America. We have come a long way from the pioneer days. We no longer have to churn cream to make butter, or boil chickens to remove the feathers, or use a scrub board to wash clothes. We just have to go to the grocery store, remove wrappers, and press buttons. We are truly blessed to live and do ministry in such a time as this.

Yet, at whatever time we live in, work is work. [slide # 2 work] There are days when we whistle while we work. There are other days when we complain and gripe and we might say like that popular bumper sticker –“I would rather be fishing.”

Lazarus was probably a working man, and like all of us he got sick from time to time. Whatever work he did came to a halt, then he died. But, God had a plan. God’s plan was the same plan God has for all of us. God’s plan is to get the glory, [slide # 3 to God be the glory] to get the credit, so that all can say that God is good and God is great!

When we look through the pages of Bethel, we can say with confidence, “God is good and God is great.” In 1844, this church began with God as a central focus. Bethel began with God as the one who was worshipped and lifted up as more important than anyone, as worthy of our devotion and service. Now 173 years later, we are still bowing before this altar in humble adoration and praise.

When we leave this altar we go do what the early church did according to the book of Acts that we are studying during Lent. Christians were always studying, fellowshipping, praying and eating. That is what we do too. We go down to the fellowship hall and café and the library to eat and meet and study and laugh and support one another in ways too numerous to count. [slide # 4 they broke bread…]

Like us, Jesus and his friends Lazarus and Mary and Martha celebrated a lot. [slide # 5 dinner with Jesus and Lazarus’ family] There central place of celebration was Jerusalem. They called it the City of God. It was and still is a fabulous city, filled with the grandeur of God’s presence.   

Christians always have and will always need a place to celebrate. Celebrations give us the joy that strengthens us to cope with life’s bumps in the road.

God mandated several celebrations. The main celebration that God commanded God’s people to participate was and is the Passover. Passover was a time to acknowledge that God had delivered them from the Egyptians. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover the week before he was crucified. Our celebration of Holy Communion has its roots in the Passover. When Jesus broke the bread and shared the cup at the last supper, it was at a Passover meal. [slide # 6 last supper]

During Passover week, it was crowded like the Philadelphia region was when the Pope visited. Because Passover was a mandatory celebration, it was an official holiday. The routines of life were shut down and everybody was focused on the Passover, worshipping and thanking God for delivering them from the Egyptians. Of course, for some it was a heartfelt occasion, for others it was just a great way to make some extra money, renting a room, selling lambs for sacrifice, or boarding animals as needed.

Bethany was just two miles away from Jerusalem. [slide # 7 Bethany two miles] Not everybody could find a place to stay in Jerusalem for the celebration. Many considered themselves fortunate to get a place just a few miles away. Jesus was one of them. He stayed with his friend, Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha who lived in Bethany.

Even though it was holiday time, Lazarus was sick. Then he died in the middle of all that preparation and celebration. By the time Jesus arrived at the tomb, Lazarus had been there for four days. John tells us that Jesus wept. Some say he wept because he felt the loss of someone he loved. Others say Jesus wept because he was taking Lazarus was from the bliss of heaven and returning him to this world of woe and wickedness. Jesus wept.

There is much discussion these days about how churches are dying. In my mind, the church can never die. We may be constantly exposed to contagious temptations, contaminating viruses, and infectious attitudes. Occasionally, we are injured and damage in spiritual collisions and unexpected accidents. We may find ourselves fighting spiritual fatigue and weakness or having little appetite for the things of God. The church has seasons of disease and distress, but from age to age, we rise.

In the American church heyday, history tells of churches in revival and bursting at the seams with people. Churches were building and expanding. Today it is the churches persecuted and poor in Asia and Africa that are bursting at the seams along with evangelical mega churches we see in the U.S. The Holy Spirit does a great work, but it is not always the same work.

The church never dies. There has always been and there always will be people who believe God and seek to serve and obey. That number may be as small as a dozen members or as large as 144,000. People fill the pews for many reasons, cultural, emotional, spiritual, and political. Also, the pews may not be as full for the same reasons, cultural, emotional, spiritual, and political. But, the church never dies.

Our Lord is merciful to us when we are not on our best behavior and puts up with us when we are not living up to our potential. But, when we get hungry enough for the things of God, we do better, we grow strong enough to make a difference, not just where it matters, but where it matters most. This does not always mean we will have a crowd. [slide # 8 where two or three]

When we get sick and tired of being sick and tired, we do the spiritual work required to bring healing and hope and help in our homes, to be a shining example for our young people, to seek the Lord with our whole heart until someone is delivered from their wicked ways, even if that someone is us.

Our District Superintendent, Dr. Anita Powell did a workshop last week where she gathered a panel of 6 young people under the age of 40. Their job was to help us understand how they experience the generation that goes before them.

I remember 3 things from that workshop: #1. Young people are not always welcomed and included in opportunities to serve. The old guard holds on very tightly to their positions and are not as eager to work at mentoring the young. [slide # 9 mentor]

#2. The language and the attitudes and the behavior of the generation before the young are not always exemplary of what their Sunday school teachers teach them.  [slide # 10 watch your language]

#3. Young people are hoping to be surrounded by Christians who are sweet and kind, not grumpy and rude. [slide #11 be sweet and kind

Like Lazarus, the church will never die, but, for the church to be as lively as it can be we must follow Jesus’ lead. We must do the work he gives us. [slide # 12 Lazarus]

He first tells the mourners to work and take away the stone. [slide # 13 stone] Though stones can be heavy, we can move stones in our hearts or in our various organizations and committees, if we work together. I wish I had a nickel for every excuse I have ever heard from people, year after year who refuse to commit to keeping the covenant to loving God’s people and doing the work of the church.

Jesus did the work of speaking to Lazarus in a loud voice. [slide #14 Jesus reaching for Lazarus…] Some of us have to work harder than others in order to speak in a loud voice. “Lazarus, come out.” So Jesus calls us, to come out of that cookie jar, come out of debt, come out of that bad habit. He calls the church, come out of the fear of change and let God do a new thing in you. (Becky’s Spring Craft Bazaar is a beautiful new thing at Bethel!)

Jesus told those mourning Lazarus to do the work of unbinding Lazarus and letting him go. He was asking them to do a job that was up close and personal. [slide # 15 unbinding Lazarus] He was also asking them to do a dirty job. There are lots of jobs in the church that are dirty. Ask Chris and Paul how many times some child threw up in the church bathroom?  Or ask Allen how many times he had to get down on his knees in the kitchen floor to light the stove. Or ask some committee chair how many times they had to manage messy misunderstandings between members. There are lots of jobs in the church that stink. 

It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to do our job from generation to generation. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us to work together and roll away the stone, to do the dirty work that needs to be done, so that we can let go of that which binds us and let God show us how to live our lives in Christ. Church, we have work to do. Let’s come alive and do it! Amen. [Slide # 16 Walk in the spirit…]