Life after Life - transcript of talk Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020

John 11.1-45


Part One – verses 1 – 16 ‘The Death of Lazarus’

We might think as we read Scripture that God is not very efficient, although we find he is always sufficient.

Jesus hears of Lazarus being sick, very sick. And yet Jesus tarries and delayed going to Bethany for a further two days.

Why wait – why waste time?

When God looked around for a man and his wife through whom God would bless the world, you might imagine God would find a nice young couple. But no, God choose an old man and his wife who was beyond years for bearing children.

This apparent lack of efficiency is to be noted throughout Israel’s story.

And when Jesus came to choose those whom he was to call Apostles, he selected a rag bag of people. Not very efficient you would think for launching the Kingdom of God movement.

As we read in 1 Corinthians 1:26

My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families.

Then in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus outlines what kind of people will embrace and inherit the Kingdom of God. It is the poor, the marginalised, the little people, the outcast, the nobodies.

If that’s what you feel like sometime then rejoice because to such as these belongs the Kingdom of God.

And it is worth noting here in our present crisis that Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth – so if we take Jesus at his word, and why shouldn’t we, the earth is going to continue in some form or other. Which is what we read in Revelation 21 with heaven coming to earth and for what we pray as I am sure many of us have been doing, the Lord’s Prayer, Your Kingdom come upon earth as it is in heaven.

So, it may look to our human way of thinking that God is not very efficient, but let us heed the words of the Prophet Isaiah

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

For it is through the little people that… ‘the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.’  Habakkuk 2:14

Words you might recognise from that lovely hymn…

God is working his purpose out,
as year succeeds to year:
God is working his purpose out,
and the time is drawing near:
nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God,
as the waters cover the sea.

In the end, despite what to us may look like inefficiency in human terms, in this case Jesus’ apparently waiting two days, God proves to be all sufficient as we hear Jesus say in this passage…

When Jesus heard this, he said, “His sickness won't end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.

Part Two John 11. 17 – 37 ‘Jesus Comforts the Sisters’

For the first ten years of ministry as a Church of England Lay Minister I worked in two parishes, one in Luton and the other in Prudhoe, Northumberland. During those ten years I conducted hundreds of funerals. One of the most common phrases you would hear at a time like that was, ‘if only.’ And this is the first thing Martha says to Jesus as she comes bustling out to meet him. The same phrase the quieter Mary says as she meets with Jesus later, ‘if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.’

At such a time as this I want to encourage you with every fibre of my being to change the ‘if only’ into ‘I’m glad I did.’

My mum used to say, bring me flowers when I can enjoy them.

And I remember visiting my stepfather shortly before he died.

At that time, we lived in Cornwall and he and mum lived in Oldham, Lancashire, so it was a long trip to make. On my last visit to the hospital, as I was leaving, I gave a him a hug and said, ‘I love you.’ He looked at me and smiled and said, ‘do you.’ That is for me a real precious memory and I’m glad I did, rather than later saying ‘if only.’ 

I could tell you story after story of people who said, ‘if only.’ Like the car mechanic in Prudhoe who kept working beyond retirement despite his wife begging him to stop so they could spend more time together. Eventually he sold the business and settled down to retirement and even booked a cruise for him and his wife. Sad to say they never got to go on the cruise as she died within months of his retiring. Today, change any ‘if only’ you think you might be saying if something untoward happens, into ‘I’m glad I did.’ 

If this current crisis has reminded us of anything it is both the beauty and the fragility of life.

The second important phrase I would like to draw to your attention is Martha’s ‘even now’ faith.

 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Even now as we face this deadly hidden enemy that is Covid-19 – we know that God is all sufficient.

Even now let us heed the words of the poem ‘The Gate of the Year’ by Minnie Louise Haskins made famous by King George VI in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Even now – we put our faith, our trust and our hands into God’s – much as a small child would when scared and unsure of the way.

‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’  Psalm 23.4

Part Three John11:38–45 ‘Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead’

In this final section of our Gospel reading for today I would invite you to consider three things presented as an alliteration.

Consider Christ’s Communion

Consider Christ’s Call

Consider Christs’ Commission

Christ’s Communion - So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”  

‘I knew you always hear me’ Jesus lived in constant communion with Father God.  Think about those who are your nearest and dearest, you don’t have to introduce yourself every time you meet, they know who you are and most often will even recognise your voice. And Jesus didn’t have to introduce himself every time he met with God in the place of prayer, he knew that God always heard him.

During this lock down we have the precious gift of time without many of the normal distractions making their demands upon us. We have a wonderful opportunity to develop our communion with Father God.

Christ’s Call -  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”  Jesus calls Lazarus by name to come out of the place of death. And Jesus is still calling people by name to come out of the place of death and sin...

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.


‘I have come, said, Jesus, that you may have life and have it to the full.’ John 10.10


And Paul writing to the Church in Rome says…

…knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.  Romans 6.6

I hope you know this, that you have heard the voice of Jesus calling you from a life of bondage to sin to a life of freedom.

Because…’if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’

John 8.36

Christ’s Commission – ‘The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

In his book, ‘You – God’s Brand New Idea’ Max Lucado says that ‘God loves us just the way we are but loves us enough not to leave us that way.’ When we emerge from our former life, we may well be bound up with grave clothes, grave clothes of addictions, to drink, gambling, sex – all kinds of things that can bind us. We need to be released from these things and become clothed in Christ’s new garments.

If you might be tempted to think you prefer your old stinking grave clothes, then listen to these words from the Prophets Isaiah…

I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels... Isaiah 61.10

And helping people take off and keep off and put on a robe of righteous is part of our commission from King Jesus.

‘…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’ Ephesians 4.13

'Mother One Another' - transcript of talk for Mothering Sunday 2020

Mothering Sunday 22^nd March 2020

John 19:25 – 27

Just three verses that may well form part of our devotions and readings as we come to walk alongside Jesus through his passion, death and resurrection.

Three verses offering hope, love and encouragement at this most unprecedented of times across the world.

I was engaged in a Gospel Discussion recently and we were exploring the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane. We noted the fully human Jesus’ shrinking from what lay before him and pleading with his father, ”My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

And here in this passage from John we have Jesus drinking this most vilest of all cups, filled to overflowing with all the sin of the world.

Let us be careful not to think of Jesus in simple dualistic terms, human and divine, something he was able to switch between. For Jesus was the new Adam, the one who showed how to live an authentic human life in full communion with God as Abba Father and in the world created and sustained by God. Jesus, both fully human and fully divine in perfect harmony.

And Mary here before the cross is perhaps hearing the words of Simeon from all those years ago, ‘and a sword shall pierce your own soul too.’

And this picture at the foot of the cross, where Mary’s soul is being pierced serves to remind us of the most wonderful most mystical, most magnificent story that is the Gospel, the Good News.

The Christian Faith is earthed and real and bloody, not an abstract philosophical reasoning or even rationale understanding.

It’s not a set of rules and regulations, must do and must not do.

And at a time like this, it is not even a gathering together, albeit we should gather if and when we are able once more.

We will I am sure be finding all sorts of creative ways to maintain contact, but we mustn’t allow that to become the new norm.

Heeding the words from the Letter to the Hebrews, 10.25 ‘Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

There is the story told of a Minister visiting one of his congregants whom he hadn’t seen in Church for several weeks. The man said he had given up attending Church as he didn’t feel any need. The Minister didn’t say anything but simply leant over to the fire and pulled a coal and place on the hearth. They both watch as the coal gradually cooled down. The Minister then placed it back in the fire were it soon glowed red hot.

The Christian Gospel, the Good News is so much more than a restored relationship with Father God.  It is about a fully integrated restoration of everything, above all about restored relationships with each other as people made in God’s image and a restored relationship with the whole of the created order.

It’s been said many times and needs to be kept on being said, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.

And here at the foot of the cross Jesus looks upon his mother with love, care and concern.  He commends to his beloved disciple the care of Mary. We can only conjecture, but this beloved disciple may have been quite a young man. Woman and younger people weren’t considered too much of a threat or likely to cause problems for the soldiers as they undertook this grizzly job of public execution.

‘Dear woman, here is your son’, and to the disciple, ‘here is your mother.’

(By this we might assume Mary’s husband Joseph had died.)

In a moment of undergoing the most appalling agony, the love, care, compassion and consideration of Jesus is demonstrated as he sets up a new special relationship between his mother and the beloved disciple.

Jesus own trial and punishment were a mockery and a gross injustice.

However, there are those who have been found guilty by due process of the law and find themselves incarcerated in prison.

On this Mothering Sunday the Prison Fellowship through the Angel Tree Project has enabled many of them to send a card to their Mothers.  For many this is seeking to make amends and restore a broken or damaged relationship with their mothers, especially young men. We should pray for them. www.prisonfellowship.org.uk

Restoring relationships takes time and effort.

Jesus bled, suffered and died that we might be reconciled to God – and to each other and to the created order.

During this time of isolation and lock down, keeping our relationships fresh and active will be challenging.

Thankfully we do have many more means of communication.

I remember leaving my home in Oldham, Lancashire at the age of fifteen in 1966 to begin a five-year Apprenticeship in Newmarket. At that time, we didn’t even have a phone at home. The only way we could communicate was by letter. Now we regularly speak to our grandchildren in Cornwall by Skype.

This difficult time we are passing through gives us a real opportunity to seek to emulate Jesus in his care for his mother.

We may be undergoing a personal trial and great difficulty but are we able to see beyond that in our care for others.

And we will know of plenty of ‘others’ who are particularly vulnerable at this time.

The same ‘others’ who were vulnerable at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The weak, the sick, the homeless or poorly housed, the aged and infirm, those in prison, those on zero contracts, those who have lost jobs.

And are we able to emulate the life of Jesus if we are in isolation, particularly his prayer life?

Not just sitting watching endless hours of TV but by spending time in prayer, developing our relationship with God. After all, this is what monks and nuns have been doing for centuries.

Agreed that to be a monk or nun is a special calling, but maybe at a time like this they have something to teach us. Thankfully much of their wisdom is available through books, podcast or daily meditations.

It is obvious that our way of life is going to be radically altered by the onset of Covid-19 for years to come.

How will we as the People of God emerge?

Well if we are careful and prayerful, we might discover that our relationship with God has deepened as we have taken the opportunity to spend time with Him while not being distracted by so many other things. Then if we have endeavoured to add action arising from our contemplation, we will discover many restored relationships with each other and with our world.

My own dream for the future arising out of this is a fresh appreciation of both the beauty and the fragility of life. That the enormous financial costs involved could be more than met by selling off stockpiles or armaments and weapons of destruction.

That we might heed Jesus’ words as he is arrested, ‘they that live by the sword shall die by the sword.’

May we battle and fight not against others but against virus such as Covid-19, against hunger and poverty, against poor housing and shelter, against slavery and domestic violence, against knife crime and so much more. All the things that kill, maim and destroy.

‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’  John 10.10

May we ‘beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks.’

And in all of this remembering as Jesus said on one occasion…

“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

What is the will of God at such a time as this?

Well, on this Mothering Sunday we can take these words of Jesus spoken from the Cross, heed them, and then seek to ‘mother one another’ and to love each other as Jesus loved his mother - and each and everyone one of us - including you.

As you ponder that and your response listen to this beautiful song from Graham Kendrick...

https://youtu.be/2MblrWZDpPQ

This 'talk' was given as part of a Worship Service on behalf of Rural Mission Solutions - www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk