i used to be young and bold, but now i'm afraid

i'm getting so old

The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 11th chapter!

Today, instead of some passage about Jesus in the wilderness for forty days, or some epistle calling us to endure, we have Jesus raising the dead. 

It’s only the first week of Lent; Ash Wednesday was just four days ago; and Jesus is already up to Easter!

Before I’ve had a chance to build the suspense, Jesus gives the punchline! Before you’ve had a chance to try and keep a lenten fast, Jesus brings the feast!

In fact, if I’m right, Jesus is beating Walgreens to the punch! Even corporate America knows it’s too early to get into the Easter business! 

And that’s the problem for us, isn’t it?

Because for us, the old saying still holds true, “timing is everything.” 

Our lives are lived racing against the clock. Or, waiting on it.

*In fact, I know for a lot of us, spring can’t come soon enough. This winter has been rough, and we’re ready for it to be over. But all we can do is wait for it to pass…*

That’s the way it is for us; time dictates our lives. 

We live by seasons and seconds. And all it takes is falling on the wrong side of one of those to make or break the lives we’ve been trying to hold together.

Like on Friday, Amanda and I went to Black Panther, and while I was buying popcorn, I heard the couple behind me arguing. 

And you know what they were arguing about; time. 

They got to the theater late. All it took was a few missed minutes, and the couple’s happy date night turned into a night of bickering instead.

Timing is everything, isn’t it? 

We spend our lives at the mercy of to-do lists and deadlines…

And the way we’ve always seen it. 

Why, that’s how it was for Martha, Mary and Lazarus, that day.

That day Lazarus fell ill. 

That day when, instead of recovering, he just grew more and more sick. 

That day when it slowly became more and more clear that time wasn’t on his side. 

That day when the only thing they could think to do was call Jesus.

That day spent waiting for Jesus to arrive. And then another. And another.

Until that day time ran out for Lazarus. 

That day when Jesus’ presence would have made all the difference. When Lazarus breathed his last breaths. 

Only, Jesus wasn’t there that day. And time was cut short for Lazarus. He died.

Then, a few days past too late, Martha hears Jesus has found the time to pay a visit. 

So she runs out to meet him.

And when she finds him, she has no time for small talk. 

She cuts right to the chase; “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died,” but you weren’t and he did…

And she has a point, too. Doesn’t she?

Jesus was just hanging back. It’s not like he was busy preforming miracles or preaching.

He had no good appointment to keep him from going to Lazarus’ side.

When Jesus got word about Lazarus, he said it wasn’t a matter of death; but rather God’s glory. 

And accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Meanwhile, the clock was running out for Lazarus…

And now, Martha stands on the wrong side of the clock, asking Jesus where he was…

Have you ever been there? 

Those times when the clock ran down. Those moments when it felt like if you only had just second or two more, everything would be different?

We all have. 

It’s a part of human life. 

It’s why we’re so fascinated with time-travel. 

We reason if we could just find a way to finally beat the clock, then we could cure the helplessness that comes when the clock hits zero…

But for Martha, there was no cure that day. 

And upset as she was, she knew it was too late to do anything. Conceding to reality she sighs, but “I know he will rise again.” 

Sure, that won’t happen until the Last Day, but for now that’s the best Martha can hope for…

…But just like with us today, Jesus refuses to stay on the expected schedule. 

He locks eyes with the grieving sister and says, “I am.” 

Jesus tells Martha he’s the resurrection. He’s the Last Day.

…But all Martha can see is that stone. 

That stone separating the life she had before, from the one she has now.

So when Jesus goes to the tomb, saying move the stone, Martha let’s Jesus know just how bad of an idea that is. “It’s too late,” she says. 

By now, time has had it’s way with her brother’s corpse. 

“The plan stinks,” she tells Jesus. 

But Jesus just repeats to her what he said to his disciples. It’s not about death. It’ not about too late. It’s about God’s glory. 

While they’re moving the stone, Jesus is praying. And once he’s finished, he cries out in a voice loud enough to wake the dead, “Lazarus, come out!” 

And just like he told us on Ash Wednesday, when the Good Shepherd calls his sheep by name, they can’t help but hear the sound of his voice, can’t help but rise and follow him out.

And Lazarus is no exception, either. 

The dead man rises from his sleep, from his death, and comes out of the tomb!

But we’re no different from Martha, are we?

All we can see is the stone. The best we hope for is that Jesus will help us get around it. But for Jesus that’s not what’s at stake. It’s not about death or too late, it’s about God’s glory. 

Jesus doesn’t go around death or deadlines, he goes through them.

Like when Jesus first got the news about Lazarus’ illness. He waited. Didn’t he?

And as much as it’ll always rub busy bodies like us the wrong way, sometimes Jesus’ bright idea is to let time run out. Because he’s not about keeping the status quo. He’s about raising the dead, bringing Easter, showing God’s glory of God!

But we live our lives by deadlines and to-do lists, don’t we? And all we can see on the other side of those seconds, is the stone that would seal our fate. 

Before those stone were even on our horizon though, Jesus went ahead of us and removed their power. On the day of his resurrection when they got to the tomb and the stone was already rolled away. On that day Jesus went to every other tomb too late and too early, and broke it open, raised the dead!

But it never looks like the right time to us. Does it?

It happens too late, Like at a funeral. When Jesus say move the stone. 

Or it happens too early. Like today. A full 36 days before Easter when Jesus raises the dead!

Too early, too late. It makes no difference to Jesus!

Maybe today it looks like time is running out for you. Maybe there’s some sin in your past you know it’s too late to go back and fix; but Jesus comes to you doing his untimely work. 

Yes, like Martha, when we look around all we can see is the stone. The timing seems all wrong to us. But whenever Jesus arrives God’s glory is always in tow.

Jesus who lives to life eternal, now plumbs the past to remove the stone that seals our fate. He goes into our future to let loose the bondage of those seconds that would separate us from the love of God.

Yes, for now, we can’t always see this. Can we?

But one day, when when it’s too late or too early, Jesus will reveal what he’s been up to all along. And on that day, time will be no more. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying will be no more! 

Then, all that will be left will be God’s glory.

Then we will see for ourselves that none of this has been about death. Rather it’s been a matter of God’s glory all along!