New Life

Lent 5A, 4/6/14
John 11:1-45

O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth might declare your praise.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Then he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus said to the crowd, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

This is what Christianity is all about, folks.

Jesus raises people from the dead.

This is where our faith begins.

The only reason that we do anything else as Christians – the only reason we gather for worship – the only reason churches even exist – is because Jesus has brought us new life, just like he did for Lazarus.

All those other things that we think are important – music, Bible study, committee meetings, outreach to people in need – none of those things matter at all. None of those things have any meaning    except when they are done in response to Jesus.

The only reason that Christianity matters at all is because it promises new life to all people.

Today’s Gospel story gives us the whole purpose of our faith in a nutshell. Jesus brings life. That’s why Jesus matters. That’s why we follow him.

I could end the sermon right here. Really, the point has been made. But my job as your pastor isn’t just to tell you what Christianity is all about.

My job is also to tell you why it matters.

Jesus brings life. Got it? Good.

But so what?

Christian faith has to do with how we respond to God’s gift of life. When Jesus gives us a second chance, what do we do with it?

I’ve been reading the book Proof of Heaven. Have any of you read it? Heard of it?

Proof of Heaven came out about a year and a half ago. It’s by Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who had a vivid near-death experience while in a serious coma. He miraculously made a full recovery from his illness, and now he’s spending the rest of his life telling as many people as possible all about the spiritual realm he experienced, which he now believes is the most important thing anyone can ever know.

I’m not going to go into the details of Dr. Alexander’s near-death experience because they don’t particularly matter for us today.

The reason that Dr. Alexander does matter for us as an example today is that he reordered his priorities when we came out of that coma. Given a second chance at life, Dr. Alexander is sharing the most important message he knows with as many people as possible. He’s spending all his energy on the deeper, meaningful, important things in life, and he’s talking to other people about it.

Dr. Alexander gives us an example of what to do one we’ve received the new life that Jesus has to offer.

Focus on things that are important – God, grace, love, forgiveness – and tell everyone you know about it.

That’s the Christian faith in a nutshell.

What do you think that Lazarus did after Jesus raised him from the dead?

Unbind him and let him go.

Jesus gave Lazarus the freedom to do anything he wanted in his new life.

Do you suppose that Lazarus went back to life as usual, without giving his death a second thought? I doubt it. This is pure speculation, of course, but I’d guess that Lazarus had a greater appreciation for the relationships in his life. He probably enjoyed his food and drink a little more, probably spent a little more time noticing sunrises and budding flowers and good music.

In fact, we can be pretty sure that Lazarus did tell other people about his experience, since it is recorded here for us in the Bible. Lazrus is named, unlike so may other characters in the Gospel of John, which means he was likely a leader in the early church. He shared the freedom he had found in the new life that Christ offered. 

So often we go through our lives as if the things that we want are the most important things in the universe.

We want the new car or the new job or the bigger TV, or we just want our own way. And we do everything possible to turn those wants into reality.

But really, God invites us to reverse that attitude.

When we live in full acknowledgement of our new life in Christ, we live knowing that the most important things in the universe are, in fact, the things that we want.

Grace is amazing. We want that. Forgiveness and relationships are amazing. We want those things. Love is the most important thing in life. And so we want it.

Several folks in this congregation have had a second chance at physical, earthly life.

I’ve heard some of your stories about surviving serious accidents or illnesses. You have some amazing experiences to share about the new life that you have been given.

What are you doing with your new life?

If you’ve had a close brush with death, have you been living differently since then?

I know that for most of you in that situation, the answer is yes.

That should be the answer for all of us.

Every single one of us has been given new life by Christ.

Even if that life didn’t come to us through a near-death experience or miraculous healing after an illness or accident – each of us had been condemned to death because of our sins. And each one of us is made alive because of Christ.

For us it doesn’t look like it did for Lazarus, but the effect is the same. Jesus saves us from death.

So how do we live?

When Jesus calls to us:

Robert, come out!              

Laura, come out!

Mary, come out!              

Steve, come out!                        

When Jesus calls for our bindings to be unwound, and grants us freedom and new life, forever, how do we respond?

New life in Christ breaks all the rules. We don’t actually know much about Lazarus after Jesus raised him from the dead. But we do know some things about Jesus when he was raised from the dead.

Once he is raised from the dead, Jesus can enter rooms that are locked. He can vanish into thin air when his disciples recognize him in the breaking of the bread. He can make a fruitless night of fishing turn into the biggest catch of the season.

Once Jesus is raised from the dead, stones in front of tombs don’t concern him anymore. They don’t matter.

Life matters.

The power of death has been taken away.

So it is with us.

We have already been given new life in Christ.

         We received that life in our baptism.

We receive it anew every time we share Communion, and every time we confess our sins and receive forgiveness.

We can experience Jesus’ gift of new life in our relationships with other people, or in the beauty of creation.

New life, grace that breaks the rules of sin and death – that’s what Jesus has to offer.

That’s the whole message of Christianity.

And our whole life of faith is responding to that gift. We want to share this gift with everyone we know! We can show God’s love to others in words and actions. We can reprioritize our lives. That’s what Christian faith is all about.

Amen.