Howdy. There's a moment when something might
seem wrong, but you're not ready to say it yet.
So you check, you look at your phone again, and
you wait a little bit longer for them to respond.
You tell yourself, you know, they're probably
just busy, but the longer the silence stretches,
the louder your imagination gets. I remember
a time in my life when if I did not answer my
phone, my mom did not assume that I was busy.
She assumed I was dead in a ditch somewhere.
Always, always, every moment. And one night when
I didn't respond to her phone call at the age
of 21 at 11 p .m. on a weeknight, she called
the police because in her mind there was no other
explanation whatsoever. but that I was dead.
Now, I tried to explain that there could always
be possibilities when someone is not replying.
I might be working late, or maybe I didn't hear
my phone, or, you know, I might actually have
friends and be out with people. Yeah, my mom
didn't believe that. But, and all the mamas in
the congregation are like, you just don't know.
You just don't know. But, you know, once that
fear sets in, it's hard to shake it. Because
when you don't know, your mind fills in the gaps.
We all do it. When we don't have answers, we
create the explanations. And sometimes we assume
the worst. Sometimes we try to convince ourselves,
well, it's either the worst or maybe it's not
that bad. But either way, we keep trying to make
sense of what feels uncertain. And that works
until the uncertainty disappears. until maybe
there's just no more maybe. Until something or
someone is no longer possibly gone, but definitely
gone. And that's exactly the tension that we
see in the story of Lazarus. At the beginning,
you see, there's still hope. You know, talking
with his disciples, you know, he's sick, you
know, and someone could get better. You know,
that's not the same as Lazarus being dead. It's
a very different feel. I feel bad, I'm hurting,
but at the same time, being sick, that's okay.
And we've seen what Jesus can do. We've seen
how Jesus can heal. And you know, there's still
time, there's still possibility, there's still
the sense that maybe things will turn around.
We were on the boat, everything was rocking,
all the waves were tossing, we were supposed
to trust him. Walking on the water, you're supposed
to trust him. But you see, time passes, and Jesus
delays, but not by accident. He does it deliberately.
It's almost as if he's trying to tempt fate,
as if he's pushing what might happen. You know,
we see what's going on here with Lazarus, but
Jesus seems to be pretty confident. I'm sure
it'll turn out okay, right? But then the message
comes, Lord, He's dead. And everything shifts
at a moment like that. You see, that moment,
whenever you know that you were expecting something,
and then you realize that what you're expecting
is no longer even on the table, you know, those
things where you hadn't really thought about
it, but it was in the back of your mind, and
then it's taken away, and you realize what you've
lost. See, this is no longer a situation that
needs healing. It's a situation that is final.
And yet, even then, there's still a part of us
that resists the finality. There's a part of
us that holds back from believing what it is
that we have heard. You've felt that before,
I'm sure. Stages of denial, anger, bargaining,
depression. Finally, though, acceptance. When
something happens that just doesn't seem possible
Your first instinct is not to accept it. It's
oftentimes to question it. There's got to be
a mistake You misunderstood that cannot be right
there has to be another explanation You see God's
people have always wrestled with that tension
the tension between what we see and what we trust
Because fear and faith between the grave that
seems final and the promise that is absolute
See, even in our doubt, God calls us to stand
before the tomb and to hear His Word. It's like
hearing something so unlikely that your mind
refuses to process it. It's as if someone were
to come in and tell you that Chuck Norris passed
away. And you would not immediately accept it,
would you? You'd think, no, there's got to be
a misunderstanding. See, this is the guy who
never did a push -up in his life. because he
always pushed the earth down. The man who was
bitten by a king cobra, and after four very difficult
days, the king cobra died. The man who gave death,
as we had once heard, a near Chuck Norris experience.
See, a man whose Christian faith has been known
for a long time, and for which, at a moment like
this, we are truly grateful. But you see, that
instinct... That resistance, that reaction. This
cannot be true. Where you keep trying to confirm
it. You see, that's exactly the kind of tension
around the tomb of Lazarus. What would it have
been like to be walking there, on the way to
this place, to be one of the disciples wondering,
maybe, maybe Jesus knows something that we don't.
Right? Maybe he's not actually dead. Maybe it
is that as we're getting there, Jesus is going
to reveal that everyone was wrong and Lazarus
was just sick and everything is really okay.
He knows more than any of us do, right? By the
time Jesus arrives at Lazarus' tomb with those
disciples, there is no uncertainty left. Lazarus
is gone. So then why did Jesus still come? He
doesn't avoid the religious leaders that everyone
knows is trying to arrest him, and apparently
we have found out that they do have plans for
him to die. He doesn't hesitate because of Thomas
or the others wondering if this is when they
too will lose their lives. See, Lazarus had been
in the tomb for four days. Not hours. Not recently.
Four days. You see, by Jewish belief, a spirit
hovered over the body for three days. Maybe even
possibly could be revived or restored. But beyond
that, though, death was final and by day four
decomposition had begun. The tomb smelled. The
friends, they'd all lost hope. Mary and Martha,
they were grieving deeply. But what happens?
Jesus says, take away the stone. And the response
is immediately, Lord, Don't. Just don't. You
see, they've already accepted what is happening.
This is Martha speaking. The same Martha who
had just confessed, I believe that you are the
Christ, the Son of God. And yet, here she is
standing at the tomb saying, please don't open
it. Because if we're honest, faith and fear,
they sit right next to each other. You see, It
happens with us all the time. See, she believes
in Jesus, but she also knows what's inside of
that tomb. She knows what four days means. She
knows what four days smell like. Mary, she had
been at His feet earlier weeping. She could hear
it in her voice, Lord, if You had been here,
my brother would not have died. See, we can hear
the anger, the accusation. but it's actually
grief wrapped in a faith that doesn't understand
what's supposed to be happening next. This is
not how the story goes. Jesus, we saw how it
went for so many others, but Jesus doesn't correct
them. He doesn't rebuke them. He weeps. Not because
He doesn't know what He is about to do. Not because
He doesn't think that everything is under control,
but because this is not... what God created people
for. This is not what the original plan had been.
And he also knows what his friend had just been
through. And standing there between faith and
fear, Jesus still says, take away the stone.
Because by now, The reality, it seems undeniable.
There's no life left. There's nothing to check.
There's no pulse. There's no breath. And if we're
honest, that's the part that we try to avoid
too. You see, we as people, we don't mind dealing
with things that are struggling. We don't mind
fixing things that are broken. Whenever something
is just having a difficult day, whenever something
just needs a little oil, a little grease, whenever
someone just needs an encouraging word or just...
Just a moment. Maybe if someone just needs an
extra can or an extra box of food, if someone
just needs an opportunity to have a smile put
on their face, we don't mind dealing with those
struggles. But when something feels completely
dead, like all people are without Christ Jesus,
we don't want to face that. Because as long as
that tomb stays closed, there's a little space
for denial. Maybe beyond that denial, we could
finally just let go of the hope. But you see,
even Lazarus is not the furthest point of hostlessness
in our story today. Because at least with Lazarus,
there's still a body. There's still a place to
go. There's a tomb. There's a name. There's a
memory. Whatever they were struggling, there
was still somewhere they could come to. But we
see in Ezekiel, we don't even have a body. The
prophet is brought to a valley of dry bones.
These are not recently dead. They're not freshly
buried, dry, scattered, disconnected. There are
no bodies. There are no faces, just the remains
of what used to be. There's not even a person
anymore. See, Israel had been conquered. They'd
been exiled. They'd been removed from the land.
Years had passed. God's promises felt lost. These
were not the bodies of people that they had known
individually, but this image was meant to communicate
what Israel had gone through. In that imagery
of Ezekiel, the exposed dry bones, they mattered
even more than we might realize. These bones
were not abandoned just by themselves. They were
also dishonored because burial had been denied,
dignity had been denied, identity had been denied.
We don't even know who they are. They don't even
have names because bones, they weren't supposed
to be left out like that. Even after battle,
you're still supposed to be buried. Because burial
means dignity. It meant you belonged to a people.
It meant that your story mattered. But these
bones, they're just left out there. They're exposed.
They're forgotten. This isn't just about death.
This is what it looks like when people believe
that even God's promises don't come through for
them. When not only life is gone, but whenever
people think that meaning feels like it's gone
as well. I'm sure none of us have ever struggled
with the feeling that maybe we've been exposed
or vulnerable. I'm sure none of us have ever
felt forgotten or none of us have ever felt like
we've had no meaning. I'm sure we've all got
it figured out, right? But you see, God brings
Ezekiel into that valley and asks the most absurd
question, can these bones live? What? Okay, the
honest answer is no. No, God, there's not a chance
that these can live. They're bones. What do you
expect? Not after this long. Not in this condition.
Not with nothing left to work with. Not after
this long in our lives. Not when we are in this
condition. Not when we have nothing left to work
with. But you see, God tells Ezekiel to speak
bone to bone. Structure where there was none.
Sinu, flesh, skin, bodies coming back together.
It feels like a horror movie at first. Strange,
unsettling, kind of unnatural. Because they look
like bodies, but they're still not alive. How
often is it that we feel like a body and the
breath just is not inside of us until God says
breathe. And the breath enters them and they
live. but we need to go back to that tomb. Because
in that moment, Jesus doesn't just stand there
in front of death and observe it. He doesn't
just accept it and what's happened as if nothing
can change it. He speaks into it. And not abstractly,
not some general epithet. He speaks by name.
Lazarus, come out! And the man who is dead walks
out. He's still wrapped, He's still marked by
death, but He is undeniably alive. And that's
when everything begins to come into focus because
somewhere in that moment the person who said,
Lord, just don't, is now standing face to face
with what Jesus can do because... While we're
seeing this moment, this is not some personal
improvement. This is not some recovery. This
is not things just getting a little bit better
in life. This is not about taking something that
is just weak and making it strong. It's taking
something dead and making it alive. That's where
this becomes something more than just a dream
or a vision, because let's just be honest. Most
of us don't think of ourselves or of our lives
that way. I'm just here to do a little bit better.
I've got a few things I need to work on, so I'm
just going to get the encouragement from the
pastor. Wish he'd get over all this resurrection
stuff so we can get the good stuff right. I'm
not exactly where I think I should be. You know,
the scripture doesn't describe, though, any of
our conditions that way. It doesn't say we're
struggling. It says we're dead. We're dead in
our sins. We're dead in our ability to fix ourselves.
We're dead in our capacity to create life where
there is none You cannot improve something that's
dead You cannot coach bones into making themselves
into a body And you cannot encourage a corpse
to wake itself up Life has to come from outside
all of our power, and it's even more so with
what we see in Jesus, because with Lazarus, Jesus
interrupts death from the outside, and then in
his own resurrection, he breaks death from the
inside. See, the people when they saw Jesus,
they didn't wonder on that cross if maybe he
had avoided death. They didn't think he just
got a little sick. They saw the crucifixion.
It was finished. He was done. So when He rose,
it wasn't a question of whether He might have
avoided death in the first place. This was a
declaration. Death does not get the final word.
That changes everything. Because now the question
is no longer can God do something with what's
left over in our lives. The question is when
there is nothing left and He still calls it to
life. And that's where this becomes personal.
Because every one of us has those places in our
lives that feel like the valley. Places where
something has dried up. Where hope has seemed
thin. Where it's been gone. Places where it doesn't
just feel broken. It feels over. Sometimes it's
not just painful. Sometimes it feels like something
was missed. Like something that was supposed
to happen and it didn't. Like maybe we stepped
outside of what God was going to do and there's
nothing left. And now we're just left with nothing.
Because maybe there was never anything in the
first place Maybe we also think about that with
the people in our lives Sometimes for those who
don't know Christ we just assume that maybe we
just need to leave dead alone They don't know
Christ just leave it be But the promise of the
gospel is not I will help you fix what's broken
it is I will bring life where there is None.
The same voice that called Lazarus calls you.
The same breath that filled the dry bones is
given to you. And it isn't about becoming a better
version of yourself. It is about being made new.
It is about the old is gone. And good riddance.
Because that new life is not something that we're
just waiting for some day is begun now. the faith
that you have, the life in you, the trust in
Christ. That is not self -generated. That is
resurrection at work right now. And that is the
same resurrection, not just for your life, not
to get rid of the old, to move into the new.
That is for every person that you know in Christ
as well. Because even the ones that you think
have no hope of ever coming to trust Him, it's
supposed to be for them too, because that's what
the Word of God does. It brings dead people and
makes them living people. And as much as we love
to joke about it, it's exactly what we're hoping
for with everyone. See, people love to joke about
Chuck Norris. We talk about all the amazing ways
in which he defied all logic and he counted to
infinity twice, caused the man to check his closet
every night, and destroyed the periodic table
because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
But you see Chuck Norris is in Christ. And he
will stand with us in that resurrection too.
And that's what we care about. Because not because
of strength, not because of reputation, but because
the same voice that calls the dead to life, calls
all who belong to Him by faith. So the question
for you today is not, is there still a little
life left to get up and get going again? The
question is, do you hear his voice? Because he
is calling. He is speaking. He is bringing life
out of death for you and for everyone in this
world. So one day, that voice will call again,
and the graves will open, and what feels final
now will never be final again. Because death
does not win. Christ does. And in Him, so do
you. Amen?