Year A 5th Sunday in Lent

Text John 11:1-45 – A second chance at life.

One of the saddest moments for me whenever I officiate at a funeral is listening to regrets people have that they didn’t make the most of their time with the one who has died.

I wish we could have another chance to do things we never had time to do.

I wish I hadn’t been so busy.

I wish I had spent more time with them just to talk.

Or there are those situations where there was some unresolved issue with the deceased.

The last words were not kind words and now it’s too late to apologise or take them back.

It’s too late to forgive or to ask to be forgiven.

A dispute has seen a refusal to speak with each other.

There are moments when we wish that we could have another chance, but when it is the death of someone it is too late.

The raising of Lazarus is about 2nd chances.

Lazarus has died from an illness and his friends and relatives are distressed.

Even Jesus is distressed as we hear that famous passage, the shortest passage in the Bible – Jesus’ wept.

It is the shortest passage in the Bible but undoubtedly the most profound passage in the Bible.

Here we see that Jesus is truly human.

Here we see the devastating effect that death has on us – even on the Son of God.

Even though Jesus knows that death is not the end – that he is the resurrection and the life, nevertheless, Jesus is deeply affected by the loss of a dear friend and the hurt that he sees in his other friends.

While we, as Christians, know that death is not the end, it can be a missed opportunity to have experienced a full relationship with that person and sadly one that can cause a life time of regrets for unresolved issues.

One of the saddest comments I have heard is when a person has said “I’ll never forgive them this side of the grave”.

As Christians God gives us a 2nd chance everyday.

I’m not talking here about the comfort that God gives us in death, although that is surely an amazing gift.

What God gives us each day is the forgiveness of our sins and the strength to forgive others.

God also gives us a renewed vision of what is truly important in life.

I love a comment I heard recently – no one ever says when they’re dying that they should have spent more time at the office.

Sometimes it takes a tragic incident for us to realise the true beauty and value of something precious.

Lazarus is not just a symbol of Jesus’ authority over death.

He is also a symbol of God’s gift of life.

Life that is deadened by anger that doesn’t allow us to forgive those who have hurt us and prevent us from any further relationship with them.

The sapping of life through our pride that stops us from acknowledging when we are wrong or have hurt someone and prevents us from apologising or extending the hand of fellowship to them.

I have experienced family members torn apart because of a refusal to forgive or say sorry over such small matters.

 I have experienced relationships that could have been saved if one or both were prepared to humble themselves and offer or accept forgiveness.

Forgiveness and reconciliation are extremely difficult – and the closer the relationship, the greater the hurt and the greater the strength needed to reconcile.

As the old saying goes – to err is human, but to forgive is divine.

Divine in 2 senses – first because of the divine feeling that one gets when there is a reconciliation.

It is the same as receiving one back from the dead like Lazarus.

Just like the parable of the Prodigal Son and the joy in the father who is prepared to forgive but has an older son who cannot understand.

We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. (Luke 15:32).

Or when King David wrote Psalm 133:

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

But there is also another sense to the saying – to forgive is divine.

And that is that sometimes we need God’s strength to forgive.

We can’t do it on our own.

Our human nature won’t allow it.

And so we look to the greatest of betrayals and the strength needed to forgive.

When we put God’s Son to death – calling for his crucifixion.

There on the cross Jesus is already asking his Father to forgive us:

Father forgive them – they don’t know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).

And so in our Psalm today we hear:

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can serve you. (Psalm 130:3,4)

And no better way can we serve God than loving one another as he loves us (John 13:34,35).

The death of Lazarus is about 2nd chances.

It’s not the same as Jesus resurrection because Lazarus would again die.

Lazarus was given a 2nd chance.

Mary and Martha were given a 2nd chance as Jesus gives them back their brother.

We too are given a 2nd chance to put aside our anger and hurt and be reconciled with one another.

We too are given a 2nd chance to see the beauty of God’s creation and realise that there is more to life than careers, money and possessions.

God has given us our friends, our family and our church.

And yet, sadly, these are often the first things we neglect and hurt.

Like the dead bones in Ezekiel’s prophecy, God is able to breathe new life into us as he returns us to our Baptism where the old Adam dies each day and we rise to new life with God.

So let us rise each day and begin the day with God as he renews us and brings us new life and calls us out of the grave and gives us that 2nd chance to see the beauty of his creation around us in our friends, family and church.