Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text (John 11): I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this? She said to him, “Yes Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.
Prayer: Lord God, our heavenly Father, enlighten our darkness with the light of your Holy Spirit, so that I may preach well and we all may hear well, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The sad thing about today is that even a year ago there was probably no way that we expected that we would find ourselves here today. Wolfgang wasn’t an old man by today’s standard.
Maybe we’d like to go up to Jesus like in the gospel reading today and say, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.”
In this reading today, we hear a small discussion between Jesus and Martha, whose brother Lazarus has died. Later on, we read that Jesus goes to her brother and raises him from the dead.
Martha doesn’t really know what to expect. Jesus asks her various questions, and she answers well, even though she might not really know what she’s saying.
Martha says to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
It’s a bit like if someone had gone up to Wolfgang and said, “Woofy, if you had been here my fridge wouldn’t have died. But now that you’re here, I know that you’ll probably be able to fix it!”
So we read that Martha says: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
There’s a sense in which maybe she blames Jesus for her brother’s death. And maybe she wants him to fix the situation, but she doesn’t know really what she’s asking. She says, “Whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” “Do whatever you like.”
So Jesus says to her: “Your brother will rise again.”
And the same words apply to us today. Your brother will rise again.
History isn’t finished as soon as someone dies; because all history belongs to God, and he is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.
“Your brother will rise again”, says Jesus.
And Martha says to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Listen to how Martha makes a good confession of faith – even though she doesn’t fully know what she’s talking about.
She’s talking to Jesus like he might not get the job done. Or when he gets the job done, it will be so far off in the future!
It’s a bit like if someone asked me to fix a fridge. If I offered to fix your fridge, you’d be wise to roll you eyes and say, “Oh, well. I suppose it will get fixed one of these days!”
Martha says to Jesus, “I know that he will rise again on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Jesus says to her: “I am the resurrection and the life.” “Whenever I’m around there is resurrection.”
Now today, we have come to farewell our brother, our husband, our father, our friend Wolfgang. We know for one thing that God sent him to you for your benefit. And also, God put you there for him. God looks after the world by appointing people to look after it. God looked after you and took care of you by sending you Wolfgang. God looked after Wolfgang and took care of him by sending you to him.
But now there has come a time where we say, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” And this is not an easy thing to accept sometimes.
But there’s something that we really need to think about and this is this. Before Jesus went to suffer, and die and rise again, he actually told his disciples about it in advance. He prophesied about these things if you like. But the disciples had no idea what he was talking about. But when he was risen from the dead, then they went “Aha” – I get it now. I understand what he was talking about. Beforehand, we had no idea, but now we get it.
Also in the gospel reading today about Martha and Jesus, Jesus says some things to Martha which she doesn’t really understand until afterwards. She doesn’t understand what Jesus means when he says, “Your brother will rise again”. “I am the resurrection and the life.” But when he goes and raises her brother from the dead, then she gets it. The light switches on for her!
In the Christian faith, we also say that those who have died will rise again.
We don’t just say that they will be alive. We say that they will rise again.
On Easter Sunday, Christians throughout the world don’t just say, “Christ is alive”, but “Christ is risen”. He is risen from the dead! He’s gone there and he’s come back! And on Easter he goes to his disciples and show them the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side and says, “Have a look! It’s me! I was nailed to the cross, and now I am risen from the dead.”
Because when we say sometimes that someone is alive, we can often mean that to say that they are “alive” in our hearts, or they are generally “alive”. But that often doesn’t give us much comfort or strength in the long run, especially when we know that the person isn’t there for us any more.
But Jesus doesn’t just say to Martha, “I am the life”, he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” “Your brother will rise again.”
He will rise, not because he was perfect, or because he wasn’t a sinner. If that were the criteria for resurrection, then we’d all be stuffed! But he will rise, because of Jesus words which he speaks. Jesus speaks his words in baptism on us, he forgives our sins, because he suffered, died and rose again. The whole point of holy baptism, is that we are taken by Jesus to himself, so that he can give us as a gift to others, not just now, but also at the time of the resurrection.
In this life we also suffer, we also mourn. In this life we also die. But we will also rise. So Jesus says, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
And now we can say of Wolfgang that he is resting with his Lord. But the story doesn’t end there – the story doesn’t even end when Jesus himself gives back to us our loved ones in the resurrection, and gives us back to them.
And we might sit there and say, “How can this happen?” How can there be a resurrection of the dead? Let God sort that problem out. That’s the same question that Mary asked, “How can this be, [how can I become the mother of God] since I am a virgin?” Let God sort that problem out.
The most important thing is this: Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In a sense, Martha listens to these words and doesn’t really know what he’s talking about. And the same goes for us. We sometimes don’t know what Jesus is talking about. But don’t let that stop us. All faith begins with blindness: it doesn’t begin with sight, it begins with hearing the words of the living Lord Jesus Christ, who holds life and death in his own hands. Now we see in a mirror dimly, says St Paul, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
And Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” And Martha said to him, “Yes Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Amen.
Lord God, heavenly Father, send us your Holy Spirit at this time, as we mourn the death of Wolfgang. We thank you for his life and all the many blessings that you gave to us through him. Comfort us and strengthen us with your holy comfort, and give us everything that we need, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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