Shades of Grief

John 11:21-27

Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” “Your brother will rise  again,” Jesus told her. Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am  the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me,  even if he dies, will live.   Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die — ever.  Do you believe this? ” “Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I believe You are the Messiah,  the Son  of God, who comes into the world.”

John 11:32-37

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet  and told Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died! ” When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry  in His spirit  and deeply moved. “Where have you put him? ” He asked. “Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how He loved  him! ” But some of them said, “Couldn’t He who opened the blind man’s eyes  also have kept this man from dying?”

...............

Grief. 

Each of us respond to suffering and loss in different ways. Even a response of faith will be expressed in a variety of ways, depending on the person and the circumstance. Martha and Mary lost their brother Lazarus, and their expressions of grief had similarities and differences.

Notice how they both approach Jesus with the same first statement: "If you had been here, he wouldn't have died!" This is a statement of faith in the power of this miracle working Messiah. But it is also a bold and assumptive statement. You could even read into this a kind of bitterness: "Where were you Jesus? Why didn't you get here sooner and save his life? Why were you absent in our time of greatest need? Don't you care?"

Are these not the very questions that haunt us when faced with a seemingly meaningless tragedy? Why would God allow this when he is supposedly able and willing to protect his children from harm?

Faith is mingled with painful unanswered questions.

Now notice the diversity in responses. Martha immediately corrects herself: "I know that God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus takes the opportunity to proclaim his own divinity yet again: "I am the resurrection and the life." This all but reveals the surprise ending and empty tomb just moments ahead.

Mary does not correct herself. She just weeps. She is overcome. She falls at his feet in uncontrollable emotion. She utters her honest question and her expression of faith is a physical collapse upon the friend she trusts so deeply.

And Jesus responds with tears of his own. This translation says he was "angry in his spirit and deeply moved." What was the object of his anger? Death itself had stolen his friend away from his loving family, and this enemy was provoking the deepest emotions of God you can imagine.

To one sister he gives a declaration of words. To the other he gives his bodily compassion. Truth is here proclaimed as both personal and propositional. We hear the word of promise, that resurrection power has arrived and will be ours as well. And we see the tears, the anger, the embrace, and the body of Lazarus once dead now risen and shaking off the grave clothes!

Grief and faith will be expressed in many ways, often together. Questions go unanswered. Fears rage and anger boils as our enemy Death continues on its unholy mission.

And there is Jesus - weeping, proclaiming, and raising the dead again.

Prayer of the Consumer

Psalm 39:4-7

Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.
You, indeed, have made my days
short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight. 

Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.

Selah

Certainly, man walks about
like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions without knowing who will get them.
Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.

...............

Materialism. 

According to this passage, the root cause of materialism is that we think we are eternal.

We typically do not number our days. We think we are permanent, destined to live on and on, never having to say goodbye to the things and accomplishments we have accumulated. We make plans and dream dreams, assuming that tomorrow is guaranteed to us. We create hopes for doing, buying, building, traveling, saving, spending, and on and on.

We are practical materialists, even against our knowing better. If you asked a stranger to examine our lives from the outside, what would they see? Do we show by our choices and our budget line items that we believe only in the visible material world? That we have bought into the promises that this world so readily makes to us? That the next house or car or vacation or job opportunity will finally fulfill us? That we are one purchase away from knowing true peace?

Before I create any unnecessary guilt trips, it is important to note that the Bible does not endorse poverty over riches per se. In several places, Paul exhorts the rich to beware being proud and to be sure to be generous, but he never condemns the riches themselves. In the most quotable of these places, notice that money is not the root of evil, but rather the love of money:

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root  of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith  and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Tim 6:9-10)

It is the want of riches and the love of money that leads our impressionable hearts into many other vices. We crave what we don't have and that craving ends up justifying our discontent, anger, and resentment of others who happen to have it better than us. Notice also that this heart condition could apply to the rich and poor alike. You could have very little and still be enslaved by the empty promises of riches, thinking if only I had this or that, then I could finally be happy.

Paul continues in the same passage to give a positive alternative to this craving:

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God,  who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real. (1 Tim 6:17-19)

In this positive way forward, riches do not have to be a pathway to evil. They can, in fact, lead to enormous opportunities for good and glory for God. Riches can become, like in the parable of the talents, a test of our faithfulness to God and an investment that pays off for the good of others and ends in a warm welcome in heaven, where our true treasure-house grows with every act of faithfulness.

Taken together with Psalm 39, Paul's words and all of Scripture present us with a challenge, whether we are rich or poor. The challenge is to:

- examine our hearts

- number our days 

- realize the impermanence of this material world

- make God himself our greatest hope and treasure

- realize our responsibility before God who owns all things

- and start using our resources to invest in real treasure - the growing kingdom of God and its many faceted blessings. 

I am reminded of another of Paul's challenges which sums all of this up rather nicely:

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you  to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

In the Hands of God

John 10:27-30

My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish — ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.

...............

Assurance.

I believe that assurance and confidence in the truth of our salvation comes from simply answering these two questions:

1. What do you know about the reality of God and his love for you?
2. How do you know that this reality is true and is yours?

We all have asked these questions, but perhaps in different words. Am I alone in the universe? Does anyone care for me? Will justice ever be done for me? Will the wrongs be made right? Why should I trust God to protect me or rescue me from troubles? Why pray for help? Does he see me? Does he know me?

We can answer these with cliches, but that can soothe us for only so long. The human heart is restless and will not settle for cheap answers. Our minds search and test every truth claim, hungering for a solid foundation upon which to build a happy life.

Many today believe that no such foundation exists. That leaves them with a choice between despair or fantasy. Most choose fantasy - creating our own sense of meaning out of thin air or from very subjective and tenuous wishful thinking. There is no proof for a loving God, so I will find my purpose in my career, my art, my friends, my community, in nature, in politics, in charitable work.... All good things that bring joy, but none of them are ultimate and all of them leave us hungry still.

If we cannot quench this hunger with what we find on earth, isn't it entirely logical there is something more out there? As Lewis said, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."

But what is this deeper world, what is it like, and how can I have assurance that it is real and that I can access it myself? Those are the key questions, and John 10 gives incredible answers.

What is the truth? Jesus is God, the final picture of God, completely one with the Father, the One who knows us completely, who has offered his life to bridge the chasm between us, and who has taken up his life again, risen from the dead to ensure eternal life for his precious children.

How do we know this is true and applies to me? His sheep hear his voice and answer his call. To those who hear that Jesus died and rose again so that they can have eternal life, to those whose hearts are compelled by that demonstration of love, they receive a promise of life that will never perish! He proved this love on the cross. He proved his divinity by rising again. These are historical facts recorded and preserved by martyrs and heroes of faith for over 2,000 years.

And the Spirit of God himself lives in those who respond to this message, continuing to affirm and bring confidence day by day. Confidence not in ourselves, or even in the strength of our faith. But confidence in the certainty and compelling power of a love unmatched and a promise that cannot be shaken.

No one can snatch his children from his omnipotent hand. This passage refers to both the hand of Jesus and the hand of the Father, as if two almighty hands were completely enfolding us. What could possibly harm or endanger us while we rest in these everlasting arms? Consider the finality and assurance of this promise and walk in the absolute freedom that it provides. A secure foundation. Eternal and unchanging.

Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath,  so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.  We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. (Hebrews 6:17-19)

Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,  by a new and living way He has opened for us through the curtain (that is, His flesh ), and since we have a great high priest over the house of God,  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.  Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23)

Blamed or Beloved?

John 9:1-2

As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,  that he was born blind?”

...............

The disciples asked a very backwards question about the blind man, which revealed their theological confusion.

"Whose sin is to blame for this man being blind?"

If that reminds you of Job's foolish friends, then you are halfway to the point I'm about to make. It is very tempting for people, especially religious people, to jump to blame and sin when trying to understand just about anything. Plans fail, circumstances get hard, emotions get raw, relationships are strained, or some kind of suffering or disappointment arrives, and we are the first to say, "I told you so." I see my 5 year old do it all the time. And the rest of us have yet to grow out of it too.

Why do we do this?

Because we forget that we are image bearers before we are sinners.

Sin is not fundamental to man's design, though it has become part of our nature after the fall of Adam. It is vital that we see man's nature as both noble and fallen, not one without the other. Though we now sin and live under sin's curse, the image of God is very much alive in fallen man, however distorted. Likewise, we don't have to attribute every calamity to some sinful root cause, like the false accusations of Job's friends. When we accuse in this way, we look more like the devil than our dear Savior, though he has every right to accuse and every ability to do so accurately.

Yet, he didn't.

Observe the Pharisees and Jesus in their response to this man born blind.

The Pharisees are obsessed with keeping the Sabbath rules and using the fine print of religiosity to try and entrap the would-be king of the Jews. So, they accuse the one-blind man of lying. They can only see sin and will stop at nothing until there is a plausible target for blame. Even when they can observe the evidence of his healing, along with clear character witnesses and eye witnesses to the event, they choose to deny the truth.

They choose blindness.

Jesus, on the other hand, returns to be with the man when he learns that he's been kicked out of the synagogue. He goes to comfort and befriend the outcast, not accuse him. And he reveals his true identity to the man, who responds in faith and worships him - another clear statement of Christ's claim to be divine.

Jesus offers himself, the source of life and joy, rather than the blame we deserve. We are beloved rather than blamed.

Lord, search my heart and help me to never jump to blame but to have eyes to see how you are redeeming every hard and frustrating moment each day. Let me love those in my path today, with patience and intentionality. And remind me of the only One who can really do this, who alone can fill me and empower me to do likewise.

From Judge to Savior

Psalms 38:1, 4, 9, 15, 18, 21-22

Lord, do not punish me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath...

Without a Savior, there is only judgment. My approach to my Maker can only be fear. I know what I am. I know what I've done. And I know that He sees and He must right every wrong. He will punish every wicked thought, every wicked desire. He must do so, for the sake of his name and the good of his children. Without a savior, without someone to make things right, he can only be to me a frowning Judge.

For my sins have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear...

The weight of guilt is inescapable. That feeling I get when I'm hiding something from a friend or family member. I've broken a prized possession of theirs, or forgotten to keep a promise I made. My tail goes between my legs. I know it's time to eat crow/humble pie/my words (pick your figure of speech). The burden of guilt can only be lifted through the painful pathway of exposure. The scalpel must come before healing.

Lord, my every desire is known to You;
my sighing is not hidden from You...

And why do I hide, when he already knows my deepest thoughts and desires? I don't trust that he knows best, that he can handle whatever I need to tell him. I must repent of the hiding before I can repent of what I am hiding.

I put my hope in You, Lord ;
You will answer, Lord my God...

The only alternative to hiding is to turn completely to face my Maker and start trusting that he can make good out of my foolishness. Hope implies that I believe he is good and trustworthy and he will respond in the best way possible, even if it might hurt my pride. I am Eustace the dragon, and it will take strong claws to tear away at the iron flesh I hide behind.

So I confess my guilt;
I am anxious because of my sin...

Simply speak and the scalpel can begin. There will be anxiety, no doubt. I have hurt others. I have hurt myself. I have hurt my Maker and grieved his holy heart. But with confession, the judge begins to become a savior. He can only give the mercy I need once the crime has been exposed. A lifeguard cannot rescue me while my arms are flailing around. I must rest in his arms completely.

Lord, do not abandon me;
my God, do not be far from me.
Hurry to help me,
Lord, my Savior.

And finally I am his. Seeking to be near the very one I was hiding from. I have turned 180 degrees. I even ask him to hurry, because by faith I am finally understanding the depth of good that he has planned even for a fool like me.

Hurry to help me Lord!
You are my only hope!