Make Like Mick Jagger and Roll Stones

The story gives us a unique insight into a man who saw the world crafted and can even see the smallest need we have.  Allow me the pleasure of encouraging you from John eleven, verses seventeen through forty-four.  By the end, you may wanna make like Mick Jagger and roll some stones away.
—
Jesus heard about a buddy who died, and he purposefully waited to go to the funeral.  How kind.
When my grandmother died, I did not want to go the funeral at all.  I wanted to maybe show up before everyone else and grieve.  Grieving is something worthwhile to do alone, but also in a group with loved ones.  So why would the savior savor the days of grieving and hold up on showing up?  Either he is a jerk, has a broken clock, or has a broken heart over a broken world and has to time his healing so it’ll be in a more potent position.

Four days after Lazarus died, Jesus walked two miles into Bethany town.  Martha ran to meet Jesus.  Mary stayed back at the house to mourn (you remember Mary–she was the one who poured expensive perfume on his feet).  It was their brother who died.  Why wouldn’t the guy who promises eternal life come save their brother’s regular life?  You can imagine what thoughts were rolling through Martha’s mind as she met the Messiah on the outskirts of Main Street, “Lord, if you were here Lazarus would still be alive!”

Frustration with the Heavenly Father… sound familiar?  But what does she say next?

“But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”  And cue the tears.  The hotness behind the eyes, the trembling chest and quivering lips.  The prerequisite of weeping.  The groanings of a grieving sister.  The odd sounds only a broken heart can make.  The release of pent up anger-sadness.  The weeping.  She wished so bad that Jesus was there.  But he wasn’t.  But now he is.  So now what?
“Your brother will rise again.”  He said.  “At Resurrection day, yes, I know the doctrine.”
“No, no.  I am resurrection.  I am life.  Folks who believe in me, may die, but I will make them live.  And when they live believing in me, they will never truly die.  You believe that?”
—
Martha went to tell her sister Mary, “The teacher is here.”  The teacher.  You see, the end of her brother’s life did not mark the end of hope.  In all the darkness God still had good news.  He still has some stuff to show off.  Thank God.
—
As they approached the tomb, Jesus lost it.  He bitterly wept.  Not the gentle crying of watching an abandoned puppy dog on a TV commercial cry, but a weeping brought on by the anger and sadness of a broken world.  So the God who spoke and caused worlds to spin still stayed in touch enough to stay connected to his kids.  He cried with them.  Thankfully while staying connected he is still big enough to have a solution!

“Roll the stone away.”  He said to the people gathered.  “Get that rock out of the entrance to the tomb.”
“Look Jesus, Lazarus is decaying by now.  It’ll stink…”
There is no deterring Jesus.  “Roll it away.” He said.  Surprisingly enough, there was no odor of death.  Only sound of the savior shouting, “Lazarus, come out!”
And boom!  The first and only reference of a mummy in the Bible.
Lazarus got up from the dead.  “Now loosen the linen-wraps off him, and let him go.”  You can’t be made alive and thrive while wearing the casket clothes of your past.
—
So, sometimes for God to heal us, we got to uncover some things.  Whether it is at the altar at church, during a walk in the park, or kneeling at your bedside, roll the stone away from that tomb where you have embalmed your problems and allowed them to rot you away.  Don’t be afraid of the stench.  Jesus can handle it.  You may have wondered like Mary and Martha why it took Jesus so long to come, but hey, he’s here now.  He will cry with you, and once you let him in, he’ll shout out, “Now get up!  You’re free!”

Ditto, Thomas

The text is John eleven.  The situation is awkward at best.  Jesus' good buddy Lazarus died a few days back in a land where people want to throw rocks at Jesus until he is dead.  Jesus is going there to be with the grieving family.  The situation is deadly at worst.

Lazarus' sisters' point of view is depressing-Jesus waited too long, our brother is dead.  He could have helped.

Jesus' point of view is veiled-no big hurry.

Jesus' followers' point of view is-wait... we're going back? They'll kill us!

Lazarus point of view is-dead.

Thomas point of view is-no sense in not following Jesus now.  Might as well die with him.
Wait, what?
--
I relate to Thomas.  His name means "twin," and his name in Greek (the language of the New Testament) is Didymus, which is where we get the word ditto.

Thomas had guts.  He found himself in yet another situation with the savior.  The last time things got this weird was when Jesus said everyone must eat his proverbial flesh and sip his proverbial blood.  That time, a lot of followers of Jesus became deserters.  After all, that does sound icky.  Thomas was one of the ones who didn't bail.  "Y'all leaving, too?"  Jesus asked his closest friends.  "Where else would we go?  You have the words that lead to eternal life," Thom's buddy said to Jesus.  Check out John six, verses twenty-five through seventy for that one.

This time, Jesus is wanting to go back to Judea where some folks hate him so much they want him dead.  And Jesus wants to go back to see a dead guy.  Imagine Thom throwing his arms in the air, "Well, let's just all go die then."

Note, however, he refuses to desert Jesus.  Of all the odd things Jesus had done thus far, Thom knew better than to roll out now.  Jesus was way too cool to leave:  he got that wedding reception bumpin' again with fresh wine made from old water, fed thousands with a few fish, reached out to the down and out, and promises eternal life if you keep following him?  Yes, please.

So Thom decided even if they kill Jesus and him and everyone else, it'd probably be worth it, somehow.  Weirder things have happened with Jesus so far, anyhow.
--
So for us, shouldn't we follow Jesus even when the night seems darkest and the situation the bleakest?  After all, Jesus has came through for us in crazy ways in the past.  So, if he is leading us to a valley, let us follow.  Thomas followed Jesus in such circumstances and got to witness something amazing.  Check out John eleven for that one.

"Let us go also, that we may die with him," Thom said.  "Ditto," I say.  We may find that we will find life, not death, if we follow him.

In Response to Evil

Romans 3:10-18 has some surprising words for us...

 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
     in their paths are ruin and misery,
 and the way of peace they have not known.”
     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Times like today bring us all to sense of awareness, a sense of wondering, "What is the world is wrong with us?"  We wonder what the cure can be for all this evil, the answer to some God-awful riddle.  In this post, I won't get into the philosophical question of evil, but if you interested in why God lets bad things happen, read this post (click here) about why He allows evil .

Aside from theology and philosophy, I want to grieve.  I want to, for some reason, really breath in the breadth of this bad day.  I want to ponder the power of an evil person, and how we could all fall off the sanity train and commit atrocious evil, too.

In countless news stories and web posts, people are seeking the answer to prevent awful tragedies.  Gun control, tighter laws, securer school buildings, more security, these are all well and good, but I can't help but hope there is a bigger and better comfort.

Thanks to brother in law, Trevor, I began thinking about man's ascent.  How we all try every day to create our own utopia.  Whole civilizations want it, and one of the most passionate longings of the human heart is to be in a utopian paradise. C.S. Lewis said:

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.

We want to want to really want to strive for perfection, but hey, we can't.  If we could, don't you think you would be over that bad habit you swore you would be over by now?  If we could, would we still have massacres on the news screen?  Would there still be fatherless homes and broken souls?

At some point, we must humble our weary hearts and realize WE DO NOT HAVE ANY CURE FOR EVIL.  That does not mean there isn't a cure.  There is a cure.  Let's give Him a try...

When the world thinks we should keep trying to ascend to Utopia, or Paradise, Jesus LEFT Paradise to bring it down to us.  And if He left there, then we should follow His advice on how to get there.

 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

" Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  -Jesus, Matthew 11:28-30

"I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."    -Jesus, John 14:6

 "I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." -Jesus, John 14:27

These Bible passages and quotes, however, only apply to those who willingly submit their lives to Jesus Christ and accept that His way is right, and our ways are wrong.  That His love is perfect, and ours is broken.  If this were not true, then why haven't you succeeded in life yet?  Give it up, give your heart over, and find rest, peace, and security in the arms of God.

May God bless the families and lives hurt by today's tragedy, and may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.