As Jesus is travelling, news comes to him that Lazarus has become sick and Mary and Martha want Jesus to come to Bethany and heal him. Jesus puts off going to visit Lazarus and in time Jesus learns that Lazarus has died. When Jesus finally arrives at their home, Lazarus has been dead for 4 days, which is long enough for the smell of the dead body to reach out of the tomb so that everyone in the community knows for sure that Lazarus is indded dead. As Jesus talks with Mary and Martha he asks them if they believe Lazarus will rise from the dead. They say yes we they know Lazarus will some day rise from the dead and be in heaven, but they don’t believe that resurrection will be here and now. Jesus says to them, but I am the resurrection and the life and again they say, yes we know that and we know Lazarus will rise someday, but it won’t be today. All of this disturbs Jesus. Lazarus death disturbs Jesus, the sisters’ lack of understanding that Jesus holds the power of life disturbs Jesus and so as it says in the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35, Jesus wept. And then the story continues in John 11:38-44
This story of Lazarus shows us that Jesus has authority over death and because of that power he calls for Lazarus to come forth out of the tomb, and he does. Lazarus is a dead man now alive and walking – but we see from the story here that Lazarus isn’t walking very well because he is all tied up in the grave clothes. In Jesus day they would wrap a dead body in strips of cloth before they would lay it in the tomb and those strips of cloth were now getting in the way of Lazarus experiencing the fullness of life. The cloth that was wrapped around his face kept Lazarus from seeing where he was going and the strips that bound his hands and feet kept him from being able to really move. The grave clothes were holding Lazarus back from living the life that Jesus had called him forth to live.
So what’s holding us back? What holds us back from living the life that God calls us forth to live? God has called us to rise up in faith and experience the fullness of new life. God has called us to leave the darkness of the world and step into the light of his grace and power. Jesus calls us to leave our lives of sin and experience forgiveness, to leave behind doubt and bondage and experience the freedom and love that he offers. Like calling Lazarus up from the grave Jesus is calling us to experience the power of new life… so what is it holds us back? What keeps us from walking with Jesus? What keeps us from seeing Jesus? What are the grave clothes that keep us from experiencing the power of life?
I wonder if what holds us back is our lack of faith in Jesus or our lack of faith in ourselves?
When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already died, in fact he had been in the grave for a couple of days and the distinctive odor of decaying flesh was coming forth from the tomb so everyone knows he’s dead and in the midst of the grieving and crying Jesus asks Mary and Martha if they believe and trust in him. Look at John 11:25-26. Mary and Martha believe in Jesus, they believe he has power, in fact earlier Martha said, I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him. They believe in Jesus, they believe in his power and love, and I think most of us believe in Jesus.
We believe Jesus has power, we believe he rose from the dead, we believe he raised Lazarus from the dead, we believe that he loves and forgives, our problem isn’t faith in Jesus, it’s faith in ourselves. We don’t question God’s love for others and we believe that Jesus forgives others; I think we struggle to believe that God can love and forgive us. It’s faith in God’s love for us that often holds us back from experiencing this power of resurrection, or new life.
Yet we ask ourselves, how can Jesus possibly love me after all I have done? Why would God wipe away my past, I don’t deserve to experience new life? Can God possibly forgive me for how I feel, what I think, and how I live today? And why would God call me forth to new life when I have nothing to offer him? I don’t think our problem is faith in the power of Jesus; it’s faith in ourselves, or faith that God really does love us enough to move in our hearts and lives to bring us life. I believe that some of the grave clothes that hold us back are our past failures, our present sin, and this thought that we have no presents – or gifts – to offer God.
I don’t know about you, but I know my past failures bind me up at times. We wonder how God could love us after all we have done? If you are asking that question today, you are not alone, I believe it is a question we all struggle with. We know who we really are and we know all the failures and sin of our past and when we sit down and think about those things it is hard to imagine how God could possibly call us to walk with him in new life. King David struggled with this. After David was confronted with the reality of his past failures which not only included adultery but conspiracy to murder, David said this to God. Psalm 51:3-5.
David is thinking back to his past and knows that God is right when he passes judgment on him – he is guilty. We are all guilty. We have all failed, and yet God still loves us and God forgives. In fact David goes on to say this in Psalm 51:7. It is only if God washes us that we can be clean. We can’t erase our past – but God can. We can’t wipe away our failures, but God can and God does if we will hear God’s call and step out in faith to take hold of God’s love.
While we may be able to overcome our past failures, we then begin to wonder how God can forgive us for the sin we commit today. So many times the words of David are our words, my sin is every before me. Or the words of Paul echo in our hearts and minds, the good I want to do I don’t do and those things I don’t want to do – I do, what a wretched man I am. Even if we can overcome our past, we then struggle to believe God could love and forgive us because of the sin we see in our lives today.
One of the things I have come to realize is that Jesus always called people who were caught up in sin. Every single person Jesus called to follow him, every person Jesus reached out to heal, every person Jesus loved and forgave was a sinner – every single one – and that sin, their sin, did not keep Jesus away. This means that our sin does not keep Jesus away. Our sin does not keep God from loving us; it doesn’t keep God from calling out to us in the grave of our sin like Jesus called out to Lazarus in his own grave. Many times we think that God is so holy, pure and powerful that he can not enter into the darkness of our lives, but he does Jesus shows us that he does. God came into the darkness and sin of this world to forgive and God still comes into our darkness and sin of our lives to forgive and bring the light of love and freedom. Look at Psalm 139:11-12. Even the darkness of our sin is not dark to God – it doesn’t keep God away and it doesn’t keep the power of God’s love away. God is right here with us if we would just believe – not believe in God, but believe in God’s desire and ability to love and forgive us, if we would just believe we would begin to walk in freedom and life.
If the grave clothes of our past failures or present sin don’t bind us up, then it might be our struggle to see how we can walk with God when we don’t think we have anything to offer Him. Why would call me to new life? How could God possibly use me when I have no gifts or abilities to offer him? Well, let’s go back to Lazarus for a moment. When Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, what did Lazarus have to offer Jesus? He had nothing – he was dead – literally dead – he had nothing to offer Jesus in that moment but grave clothes: failures, sin, death, and yet… Jesus called him forth, why? Because Jesus loved him and Lazarus only response to Jesus, his only gift to offer in return was love.
We need to understand that God doesn’t call us to new life and Jesus doesn’t forgive and love to get something in return. God isn’t looking for presents and offerings from us; Jesus doesn’t want any gift but one – our hearts. Go back to Psalm 51:16-17, God doesn’t want an offering as much as God wants our hearts and lives. In fact, after Lazarus rises from the grave we never hear about him serving God, becoming a teacher or evangelist or even waiting on Jesus as a servant, the only time we hear about him again is in John 12:2 where once again Jesus is at Lazarus home and while Martha is serving the dinner, Lazarus is at the table with Jesus. Lazarus is simply sitting by Jesus side. God doesn’t raise us up and offer us new life in order to get some kind of present in return – he offers us life because he loves us and it’s time for us to not just believe in Jesus but to believe in his love for us.
One final word here, when Jesus says take off the grave clothes, he isn’t talking to Lazarus, he is speaking to the people who are around Lazarus which means that we need to help one another remove the obstacles that keep us from walking with Jesus. We need to help one another let go of past failures and present sin and we do that by reminding one another that God loves us and forgives us. We need to share with one another the truth of God’s love and grace and we need to be willing to offer that forgiveness and grace ourselves.
Now I believe that as we help take the grave clothes off of others, we experience the power of God for ourselves. Think about what it must have been like for the people who walked up to Lazarus as he comes out the tomb and they began to untie him. They were experiencing themselves the power of Jesus’ miracle and we have that same opportunity every time we look at someone and tell them that their past failures and present sin can not keep God from loving them. We experience the power of God’s love and grace ourselves every time we share that love and grace with others and that not only unties them it helps set us free as well.
So as we close today, I want us to share in God’s promise of love and forgiveness together and allow these words and this message to help us remove our grave clothes so that we can be set free.
Isaiah 43
I have called you by name and you are mind.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
When you pass through the rivers,
They will not sweep you away
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned,
the flames will not set you ablaze.
Because you are precious and honored in my sight
And I love you.
Next Steps:
Identify the grave clothes in your life. Is it your:
Past (failures)
Present (sin)
Presents (a sense of having nothing to offer God)
Read and reflect on these words of God’s love and forgiveness:
1. Psalm 103:8-14
2. Isaiah 43:1-7, 49:15-16
3. Jeremiah 29:11, 31:3
4. Zephaniah 3:17
5. John 3:16-17
6. Romans 8:31-39
7. 1 John 4:10-11
Pray.
Lord Jesus, help me to hear your voice calling me to live a new life. Give me the strength to leave my failures and sin behind and to trust your love to bring freedom, healing and life. Thank you that you have the power of life over death and thank you for sharing that power with me today. Help me to walk by faith and in faith today and everyday. AMEN
