This is my sermon from last week. If you are a pastor, feel free to copy and steal everything.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 2014.04.06 \u2013 John 11:1-45<\/strong> Eugene Peterson tells a great story about when he was a kid growing up in tiny little town in Montana. It was late August & school hadn\u2019t started yet. Peterson & his friends were bored. Remember that point in the summer when you\u2019d done all the stuff you were excited to do & nothing sounded fun anymore? There was this house on his street that was vacant. Somebody had bought it, & he & his buddies had been waiting all summer for the new people to show up.<\/p>\n Finally one day, a moving van rolled up in front of the house which was an anomaly. In their town when somebody moved, they telephoned every person in town w\/ a pickup truck & asked them to help. Peterson\u2019s dad had a truck so he usually got a call. So, Eugene always got to help \u2013 which suited him fine; not because he was nice, he says, but because he was nosy. He sorta liked going through people\u2019s houses, carrying things out of basements & attics, getting a look at the behind the scenes lives of his neighbors\u2026 that had appeal.<\/p>\n But this was different: it was the first time he had ever even seen a moving van (one of those red, white, & blue American Van line trucks). The movers unloaded all their stuff (family wasn\u2019t even there). Nobody was asked to help, so Peterson & his friends sat there all day watching them unload the new neighbor\u2019s stuff. And everything that came off the truck they viewed as a sign.<\/p>\n Two bicycles came off \u2026 probably had children (which meant new friends). Then snow skis: they lived in ski country, but none of them had ever gone skiing \u2013 they were too poor (maybe these folks had money). A motorcycle \u2013 he\u2019d never been close to motorcycle before. Maybe he could get a ride. When the furniture started coming off it was all nice. All they could think was, \u201cOur new best friends are rich!\u201d<\/p>\n They were just sure they would never be bored again. No more ordinariness. The neighborhood was getting an upgrade. Two days later the new neighbors arrived in a fancy car with New York license plates: Mr. & Mrs. Tipton & 2 teenagers Billy & Cynthia. Not only were their new best friends rich, they were from the exotic east. Peterson writes, \u201cThat was the icing on the cake: We could feel the culture and celebrity of the fabled East rubbing off on us. Our neighborhood was suddenly better & more interesting and more important. We couldn\u2019t wait for what was coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, after all the waiting, & the careful viewing of all the signs, the dream more or less fell apart when they got to know the Tiptons. The kids were stuck up\u2026actually kind of mean. They called Peterson & his friends hicks & hayseeds. He never got to try out the snow skis. He never even got near the motorcycle. Mr. Tipton never spoke a word to him. When the boys were sent to deliver a plate of cookies from Eugene\u2019s mom, Mrs. Tipton thanked them w\/out smiling, & shut door. He was hoping for at least a glimpse inside\u2026<\/p>\n The whole thing was a bust. All the new kids ever did was tell them embellished stories about New York. You\u2019d have thought they spent every afternoon in the sun on Jones beach, or at Yankee Stadium, or riding carriages in Central Park, and every night strolling down Broadway seeing movie stars & celebrities.<\/p>\n Peterson says (and this is the point of the whole story), their problem was that they had misinterpreted every sign. They were bored & wanted a little excitement. So every sign was viewed in a way that fit w\/their desires for something more exciting to come to their sleepy little town.<\/p>\n John\u2019s gospel sets its readers up for a similar process of observing & interpreting signs about who JS was & what he was up to. As we read John, we are constantly listening to what is said, watching the movements & action, and especially viewing the signs. The challenge is to interpret the signs without just making them mean what we want them to mean\u2026 it\u2019s actually a lot harder that it seems.<\/p>\n In John chapter 02, it tells the story of Jesus turning water into wine, and then it says, \u201cThis was his first sign.\u201d In John 04, heals the official\u2019s son & it says, \u201cThis was his 2nd sign.\u201d Although he stops numbering after that, John keeps using the word \u201csign\u201d and if you actually count you end up with 7 signs.<\/p>\n Now, for the Hebrew mind (we\u2019ve talked about this before), everything that has a meaning has another meaning, too. So in the scriptures a seven is never just a seven. It has another meaning as well. The number seven is always closely associated w\/creation \u2013 the first seven day event. So it\u2019s a pretty good bet that these seven signs are meant to be read as continuation of the work laid out in Genesis & the creation narrative. Especially when you factor in that John\u2019s gospel starts, \u201cIn the beginning,\u201d same as Genesis.<\/p>\n So when Jesus shows up in the gospel of John, performing seven signs, it\u2019s not a seven part magic show meant to make him famous. John is telling us that this is a deeply symbolic reinterpretation of the creation story in light of this new thing God is doing in & through Jesus.<\/p>\n If you notice the seven signs build in significance. At first Jesus is keeping everybody\u2019s drink full. Soon he\u2019s healing people, feeding people, and commanding nature. By the 7th sign he\u2019s raising people from the dead. Since they build throughout the seven, it seems that understanding this seventh sign could be a key to understanding all of the signs\u2026 even the gospel itself.<\/p>\n If you are like me, what usually happens when we read the signs is that we interpret Jesus\u2019s signs as just proof that Jesus is God. Anybody grow up hearing signs\/miracles interpreted in that way?<\/p>\n The only problem is, Jesus never let people interpret the signs that way. In fact he explicitly denied that signs were evidence of his authenticity or identity many times. He said, \u201cfalse Messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs & omens, to lead astray.\u201d (Mt. 24:24). Signs that re meant to draw a crowd were not to be trusted. Jesus was constantly performing miracles and signs, but refused to do so as validation or proof of his divine authority\u2026 and he had harsh words for those who wanted him to: \u201cAn evil & adulterous generation asks for a sign.\u201d (Mt. 12:39)<\/p>\n Jesus didn\u2019t seem to think we should be impressed by signs, we shouldn\u2019t go looking for them, attempt to conjure them, or demand them of our leaders. The miraculous is not proof that Jesus is God; they are way more important than that.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that Jesus didn\u2019t appreciate miracles. In fact, when you read the gospels it\u2019s obvious that Jesus believed God was so present and active in the world\u2026 it\u2019d be odd NOT to catch a miracle every now & then. But not as proof that he was God, or validation of his identity\u2026 That\u2019s how the false messiahs & hucksters functioned.<\/p>\n Jesus\u2019s miracles & signs are meant to give us a glimpse into the world that God has always imagined for us, a glimpse of who God is & of who we can be, a glimpse of the world as it should be, not as it is. But this can never be turned into a side-show or an authentication. The point is not that Jesus is better than Houdini. The signs are shedding light upon a bigger story, and not just any story. That there are seven signs, and the whole gospel begins \u201cIn the beginning,\u201d tells us we are meant to read this as THE big story\u2014creation, fall, redemption, consummation\u2014being retold in a new way, with a radical new orientation.<\/p>\n The Pharisees are not able to interpret the signs correctly, because the signs point to a whole new chapter in God\u2019s story & they simply cannot accept that\u2026 they cannot accept the notion that God is doing something new. Jesus seems to know this is a problem. You can\u2019t take these new signs & fit them into the old narrative. You can\u2019t put new wine in old wineskins, they\u2019ll burst; need new wine skins \u2013 need a whole new chapter in the overarching story of God. If you are holding to an old story, and you see Jesus\u2019s signs, you\u2019ll likely come up w\/a completely different interpretation.<\/p>\n This is what happened in our text from last week. Jesus heals a man born blind \u2013 nobody had ever done that\u2026 they still haven\u2019t. How do \u201cThe Jews\u201d (remember this means the Jewish rulers\/Pharisees) interpret that sign? They say Jesus is in league w\/the devil, and they kick the man born blind out of the synagogue. Jesus\u2019s sign is interpreted as a threat. Jesus is telling a new story, but the Pharisees & Jewish rulers are a part of an old story.<\/p>\n How you interpret the signs Jesus performs, depends upon what story you think you are living in\u2026<\/p>\n Peterson says, \u201cSigns and wonders, miracles and mighty works are certainly part of the story, yes, an essential part of the biblical story and its continuation and outworking in the Christian life; but out of context, apart from God\u2019s revelation of himself in Jesus, severed and then removed from their organic positionings in the intricate and detailed formation of God\u2019s people, they are simply things, miracle-commodities that are bought and sold on the religious stock exchange.\u201d (Christ Plays in 10,000 Places<\/em>, P93)<\/p>\n You have to keep the signs in their organic positionings<\/em>. John situates each of the signs in the midst of a narrative that helps interpret them. That way we can\u2019t make Jesus do what we think he ought to do, or be what we think he ought to be, because there\u2019s particular story\u2026 Getting the right story told is the key to understanding the sign. Perhaps this is Jesus\u2019s biggest struggle w\/Jewish leaders, and why he gets good and frustrated with them at times. You have to be telling the right story, or you\u2019ll misinterpret the signs.<\/p>\n In our day, some people interpret Jesus\u2019s signs to say that God wants us to be healthy and rich. They insist that the way to become healthy and rich is to give your church a ton of money (\u2026convenient isn\u2019t it? Pastors of local prosperity gospel churches drive Mercedes and Lexus automobiles and live in mansions). They also believe that if you are not healthy and wealth, then something is wrong: you don\u2019t have faith, God is angry, you have unconfessed sin. My conviction is that the reason they do this is because the overarching story they\u2019re a part of isn\u2019t really the Christian story, it\u2019s the story of American affluence. Imagine what happens when you take the prosperity gospel to Africa in the middle of an AIDS epidemic & say disease means don\u2019t have enough faith, or God doesn\u2019t love you, or you have unconfessed sin\u2026 all of the sudden the good news isn\u2019t good news. And if the good news isn\u2019t good news in the middle of an AIDS epidemic, then it\u2019s not really good news.<\/p>\n How you interpret the signs Jesus performs, depends upon what story you think you are living in\u2026 and Jesus is telling a new story.<\/p>\n After Jesus healed the blind man, he went to Jerusalem for the festival of dedication (Hanukah). He was teaching in the temple & caused huge scene. John\u2019s gospel puts the money changers incident early on in Jesus\u2019s ministry. On this trip to the temple, \u201cThe Jews\u201d are at their frustrating nadir. \u201cTell us plainly, are you the Messiah?\u201d (John 10:24) The gist of Jesus\u2019s answer is \u201cI\u2019ve been doing all these signs; you only see what you want to see. So you cannot see I and the father are one.\u201d (John 10:25-30)<\/p>\n So they try to kill him. Jesus escapes across the Jordan, to the place where John the Baptist was baptizing, which is not an ancillary detail. This is why we read this during Lent. Jesus returns to the wilderness; the place where he was baptized by John, the place where he was tempted. The wilderness, we know, is the place of disorientation that leads to new orientation.<\/p>\n When we pick up the story, Jesus has just learned that his friend Lazarus is very sick. The way John tells the story, he\u2019s making it obvious that it was weird that Jesus didn\u2019t go right away. He doesn\u2019t tell anyone, he doesn\u2019t prepare to leave, or send a message saying, \u201cbe there soon.\u201d He just stayed in the wilderness while Lazarus died. Why the two extra days?<\/p>\n Well, the geography tells the story. Where is he? He\u2019s in the wilderness. What is he always doing in the wilderness? Praying & wrestling w\/the father\u2019s will. By now Jesus\u2019s conflict with the Jews is heated. They\u2019ve tried to kill him at least twice (Once for the \u201cBefore Abraham was I Am\u201d statement in John 8, once for the \u201cI and the Father are one\u201d statement in John 10). Going back to Bethany was a risk.<\/p>\n I had a professor in seminary who when (in talking about controversial issues), he\u2019d say, \u201cYou can only go to Jerusalem once.\u201d You better make dang sure this is what God wants. If Jesus goes to Jerusalem he\u2019s going to set events in motion that will end in his death. So he takes a couple of days to pray for direction. While he\u2019s praying God reveals to him Lazarus is dead, and that God is leading him to Jerusalem. He tells his disciples \u201cwe\u2019re going.\u201d Thomas says what they are all thinking: \u201cCome along. We might as well die with him.\u201d (if we\u2019re going to die anyway, we might as well die together).<\/p>\n Now, some people think he stayed put for two days so Lazarus would have time to die so he could raise him. That interpretation draws from those who believe the signs are meant merely to authenticate Jesus\u2019s identity. But the way John tells the story, it seems more likely that Jesus has been doing what he always did in the wilderness: listening for God\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n When Jesus finally got there we\u2019re told that Lazarus has been dead for four days. It\u2019s an important detail because there was a common Jewish belief that the soul of a dead person would hang around for three days, hoping to reenter the body. Four days tells the reader that this guy is really dead.<\/p>\n Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and we\u2019re told that many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Which means word was getting around Jerusalem that Jesus of Nazareth was back in the area. The rulers would know.<\/p>\n But Jesus is facing a more pressing problem. His close friend has died, and this is not only a problem for Jesus, it is a problem for God.<\/p>\n Last week we talked about the Jewish concept of Shalom, which means \u201cpeace.\u201d But it\u2019s not just inner peace or world peace; shalom means \u201ceverything living in proper relationship to everything else; all the world existing in harmony.\u201d Lazarus\u2019s death is a disruption of shalom.<\/p>\n When Jesus faces any kind of disruption of shalom, he moves against it. Here he\u2019s faced with death the ultimate disruption of shalom. So the question is, how is he going to move against death?<\/p>\n Martha comes to meet him first saying (v22), \u201cMaster, if only you\u2019d been here, my brother wouldn\u2019t have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you.\u201d She\u2019s talking about the Jewish belief in the general resurrection of the dead \u2013 which is a Christian belief as well: that God will raise all who have died to new life; God will remake our world with its beauty & power enhanced, and its violence and death abolished. Martha believes this is going to happen way in the future, but it\u2019s no consolation right now.<\/p>\n Then Jesus does something incredible which we cannot miss. He asks Martha to imagine that future is suddenly and dramatically brought backwards into the present. The future of God has burst into the present in Christ. The new creation, and with it the resurrection, has broken in to the middle of the old story, transforming it into a whole new story. God is moving against death in and through Jesus. So Jesus says,<\/p>\n 25-26\u2033You don\u2019t have to wait for the End. I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?\u201d Then comes Mary saying the exact same thing:<\/p>\n 32\u2033Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.\u201d Notice Jesus\u2019 reaction this second time. At first, he gets ticked off. I quote the message version here because most translations say \u201cgreatly disturbed\u201d or \u201cdeeply moved,\u201d or \u201ctroubled.\u201d The verbs in the Greek are much more harsh \u2013 He\u2019s ticked. It says a \u201cdeep anger welled up,\u201d and then it says Jesus wept\u2026 he cried.<\/p>\n In the West we have a tendency to sentimentalize the scene. JS is crying because he\u2019s sad is friend died \u2013 I think that is a misreading for several reasons. First, we\u2019ve just been told he\u2019s angry. Second, that\u2019s the interpretation offered by \u201cthe Jews\u201d in John\u2019s story. \u201cLook how deeply he loved him,\u201d they say. How many times have \u201cThe Jews\u201d interpreted JS signs rightly? Never \u2013 they always give the wrong answer. Third, this interpretation is part of a sarcastic side conversation, including a crowd impugning Jesus for not healing Lazarus like he did the blind man.<\/p>\n But the biggest giveaway is to notice that he cries in response to an offer to see the tomb. I think that\u2019s key. Whatever else Jesus is feeling at the time, surely he was feeling grief for his own impending death. He knew it was coming \u2013 he\u2019d just spent two days in the wilderness discerning if it was time. Death is the enemy, and it had just grabbed hold of his friend Lazarus. Surely he was thinking, \u201cyep, that\u2019ll be me in a few days.\u201d It\u2019s like the intensity of the situation just overwhelmed Jesus, so he cried. It\u2019s a very human moment\u2026 shalom had been destroyed & Jesus had to move against it.<\/p>\n The question was: how?<\/p>\n The answer the story gives is this: Jesus decides that he\u2019s effectively trading his life for Lazarus\u2019s life. This is the meaning of the 7th sign: Jesus will die so that Lazarus can live.<\/p>\n You have to remember, as long as Jesus stayed on the other side of the Jordan, he was relatively safe. It was easy to maneuver and he knew the place. The moment he goes over to Bethany, his fate is all but sealed. He\u2019ll be arrested. Even the disciples can see that Jesus is going to trade his life for Lazarus\u2019s life\u2026 and so he begins the exchange that will culminate in his trading his life for ours as well.<\/p>\n It seems like an odd thing\u2026 Why move against death this way? For all of the certitudes that Christians cling to, surely we have to admit that this is a legit question, and not an easy one at that (if we\u2019re honest). Why did Jesus choose to move against death in this way?<\/p>\n N.T. Wright offers this, both the question & an explanation: So, Jesus wept. There was a direct line between the death he was about to overcome w\/Lazarus & the death he would die a few days later; a death that would overcome the death of the entire world once & for all. Jesus had come to believe he was bridging God\u2019s future into the present; & he had to trust that when the future of God comes in contact: with the blind, the sick & even the dead\u2026 God\u2019s life will overcome death. Jesus had to die the same way we have to die: trusting that God will raise us from the dead. Right now, he knows he is essentially trading his life for his friend.<\/p>\n Think about where we are in the story. They are 6 days before the Passover. Somewhere around a half-million Jews are flooding into the city. Jesus is sitting on the high priest\u2019s doorstep \u2013 2mi away in Bethany. Jesus\u2019s last two trips to Jerusalem have ended in attempts on his life. If he raises Lazarus from the dead, all of Jerusalem will know. There will be no hiding from this\u2026<\/p>\n Possibly the most overlooked reality in the way the Gospel of John tells the story concerns the interpretation of this seventh sign by the Jewish masses. In the span of just a few days Jesus goes from the Jewish people wanting to kill him, to them welcoming him back into Jerusalem like a king. (Palm Sunday story, next week). First they want to kill him. Then they greet him as the King. What happens in between those? The 7th sign\u2026<\/p>\n This miracle is going to sway the crowds. They are going to start to believe he\u2019s the Messiah. And only Jesus seemed to understand that he was trading his life for his friend, and eventually ours. So when he was standing in front of his friend\u2019s tomb, he wept at the pain of it all\u2014the pain, anger and sorrow all mixed together.<\/p>\n And yet, this is the great hope of the gospel: Through the faithfulness of Jesus, God is going to tell a new story (gospel). God has resolved that anything disrupting shalom in this world\u2026 its days are numbered. Not just that God will fix it in the end; God is on the move right now. The disruption of shalom is killing things that are meant to live. So God moves against it.<\/p>\n So the real question for us is not, \u201cIf you die tonight where you going to spend eternity.\u201d God\u2019s already taken care of that. The question here is what\u2019s killing you right now? What is bringing death into the middle of your life? How long are you going to hold on to your: fear, shame, anger, pain, unforgiveness, addictions, anxiety, or your past? How long until you let God raise you up to new life?<\/p>\n What\u2019s killing you? Let me just tell you the good news: The Spirit of God is alive in this world, the Spirit of Christ is living within you & it\u2019s ready to move against everything that\u2019s disrupting shalom on your life, against everything that\u2019s killing you. God is telling a whole new story\u2026 and it\u2019s a story of healing, and redemption, and restoration & the defeat of death & all its friends.<\/p>\n We just have to have a tiny bit of courage & faith\u2026 just enough to open up to God, enough to welcome the friend who has come to trade his life for ours. Will you let the spirit of God begin to work in your life, to set you free?<\/p>\n The 7th sign is a sign to all of us that death\u2019s days are numbered. That God will not stand by & let us struggle forever.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is my sermon from last week. If you are a pastor, feel free to copy and steal everything.\u00a0 2014.04.06 \u2013 John 11:1-45 Lent 05 \u2013 Jesus Raises Lazarus from the dead Eugene Peterson tells a great story about when he was a kid growing up in tiny little town in Montana. It was late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[950,951,426,237],"class_list":["post-2934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-john-111-45","tag-lazarus","tag-lent","tag-sermon"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nLent 05 \u2013 Jesus Raises Lazarus from the dead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n23Jesus said, \u201cYour brother will be raised up.\u201d
\n24Martha replied, \u201cI know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n27\u2033Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n33-34When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, \u201cWhere did you put him?\u201d
\n34-35\u2033Master, come and see,\u201d they said. Now Jesus wept.
\n36The Jews said, \u201cLook how deeply he loved him.\u201d
\n37Others among them said, \u201cWell, if he loved him so much, why didn\u2019t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThis passage points us forward to the questions that will be asked at Jesus\u2019 own death. Couldn\u2019t the man who did so many signs have brought it about that he himself didn\u2019t have to die? Couldn\u2019t the one who saved so many have in the end saved himself? John is telling us the answer by a thousand hints and images throughout his book. It is only through his death, it is only through his own sharing of the common fate of humanity, that the world can be saved. There is a line straight on from Jesus\u2019 tears in verse 35 to the death in which Jesus will share, not only the grief, but also the doom of the world.\u201d (John for Everyone<\/em>).<\/p>\n