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Religious Despair

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Ezekiel 37:1-14, John 11:1-45, Romans 8:6-11

March 13, 2005

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

"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." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

You know what a parish pastor sees in that conversation? Despair in the face of religion. Martha was wild with grief even while she “believed” all the right things a Christian is supposed to believe. She “knew” Jesus better than almost anyone. She “knew” all about resurrection: that her dead brother Lazarus would rise on the last day. She “knew” all about who Jesus really was, that He was “the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” But still, even four days after her brother had died, she was in despair – even angry at Jesus: "if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Despair in the face of religion. I see it all the time at funerals. Even with all the talk about Jesus and the Resurrection, I so often get a sense when I look into peoples’ tear-filled eyes of a long-distance, hollow, vacant stare that seems to say, “Yeah, I know, but …… “ They sit in the front rows there and if they aren’t looking down at the ground, or lost in their wandering thoughts, their eyes seem locked on the coffin, unable to see beyond it. And if they hear anything at all, all the religious talk coming from the pulpit up here just seems to be about something far, far away, maybe someday, pie-in-sky-by-and-by.

And not just at funerals, but at other times in life when the bottom just seems to fall out of everything – inside our own thoughts and feelings, in our families, our marriages, our jobs, our medical conditions, studies and tests at school, friendships – the kinds of things that just about everybody seems to get some practice at in this life.

There IS a place for tears and grief and anger when these things happen, no matter HOW strong your faith is: Christians bleed just like everybody else. Even in this episode with Lazarus, JESUS himself wept. In fact, that is the shortest verse in the entire Bible: verse 35 – “Jesus wept.” So, we can too.

But if the bleeding does not stop, if infection sets in with the soul, if the gangrene of despair turns the promises of Jesus into just so much religious talk that really does not much affect the walk, then like Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, we can become like unburied skeletons. THAT is hopeless. Where the human condition is concerned you can’t be much more hopeless than dried bones in a valley.

In Ezekiel’s vision it was GOD who asked, “…CAN these bones live?" Who ever heard of skeletons living, except in make-believe horror stories? THAT is what I would call hopeless. But, to his eternal credit, what Ezekiel said was this: "O Sovereign LORD, YOU alone know." Good answer. The answer did not have to do with the condition of the bones, but with the power of God. And from there, God does indeed bring even these bones to life. But that was only a dream. And despite what Walt Disney promises, it is not the case that all dreams come true, not even when you wish upon a star. Poets, philosophers and religions all promise all kinds of things. But along comes Jesus. And He actually does it. He takes a guy who has been dead for four days and actually brings Lazarus back to life in front of a whole crowd of grief stricken eyewitnesses who thought Jesus had let them down, who were wild with grief and anger – including two of His closest followers who knew all about who He was and all about the hope of resurrection, but who still were laid low in despair.

Notice that Jesus deliberately allowed Lazarus to succumb. Then He faces the despair of those who were in such pain because they felt He had let them down. Then He affirms their pain as He himself cries with them. And then He actually does what Ezekiel had only dreamed of. And one week later, the Father does one better: He not only brings Jesus himself back from the dead, but in a way where Jesus never has to go through that again.

And now, connect the dots, folks. Ezekiel dreams it, Jesus does it. The Father carries it the next step to permanent resurrection with Jesus. See a pattern developing here? Where does it go from there? It goes directly to you. In the Bible Focus which was read at the beginning of the service, the apostle Paul wrote: “… if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

Like Martha, YOU know about Jesus. YOU know about resurrection. But when you find yourself in the same boat as Martha where the waves of despair threaten to overtake your faith, remember what she learned, what Jesus actually DID for her. He really DOES come through for you, He really DOES bring life out death, He really DOES open doors when others close, He really DOES work good through ALL things, – even personal disasters – for those who love Him. Do not just know about Him – TRUST Him … and not just for some day in the distant future at the end of all time, but right here, right now - He who told Martha and this morning tells you, "I AM the resurrection and the life.”

Right here. Right now. And forever more.