March 16, 2025
• Rev. Rob Fuquay
St. Luke’s UMC
March 16, 2025
Lent 2
The Prayers Jesus Prayed
“Praise”
John 11:1-44 (selected verses)
This story has a lot of emotion in it. It’s a story we are meant to feel as much as we are meant to think about it. In fact, we don’t really understand it, if we don’t allow ourselves to experience it. There is immense grief, disappointment, disapproval, and even anger.
But notice, too, how much confusion there is in this story:
--Jesus is very close to Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus, yet when the sisters send Jesus a message saying their brother is ill, Jesus doesn’t rush to go see them.
--Jesus says to his disciples that Lazarus’ illness will not lead to death but a few moments later he plainly says, “Lazarus is dead.”
--When Jesus arrives Martha and Mary both are confused why he didn’t get there sooner.
--The crowd is confused that Jesus healed others but didn’t help his friend.
--Martha is confident that Jesus can still change the situation. She says, “Even now I know God will give you whatever you ask.” Yet, when Jesus calls for the stone to be removed from the front of the tomb, she protests saying it has been four days and there will be a terrible odor. Professor Gail O’Day points out that there was a belief in Judaism at the time that the soul hovered about the body for three days waiting to reenter, but by the fourth day, when the body changed appearance, it departed. In other words the situation is now hopeless. Martha hovers between faith and doubt.
--Then there’s confusion in Jesus’ own actions. He tells disciples that he is going to Lazarus to “awaken him,” predicting a miracle. Yet when he gets there, Jesus himself weeps.
So there’s lots of emotion and confusion in these interactions.
Does your faith ever feel like that? You believe one moment, yet struggle to believe the next. You are confident in what God can do, and the next thing you know you want to give up. You feel hope and suddenly feel hopeless. And all before breakfast!
Do you find it hard to stay consistent in your faith? If so, then today’s story is for you. It is for people who have to bear life’s hard realities and struggle to hold on to their faith in God at the same time. And the prayer of Jesus in this story is one that can change our lives.
Let’s go back through the events. Everything started when Jesus learned from Martha and Mary that their brother was ill. They hoped Jesus would come and heal Lazarus. After all if Jesus would do such things for total strangers, surely he would do this for a close friend.
But Jesus delayed. He made it sound to his disciples like Lazarus’ condition wasn’t that bad. “It will not end in death,” he said. But then after a few days he declared they were going because Lazarus is dead. There are some cryptic things going on here. Jesus says what is happening with Lazarus is for God’s glory, and more specifically for Jesus’ glory. This is the first time Jesus has spoken of his own glory. Even more, Jesus says that what will happen when they get to Bethany will also be for the disciples and their faith.
So they arrive and the first encounter is with Martha who greets Jesus with these words, “Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died.” This begins what becomes a very theological discussion and leads to one of the most powerful declarations in the Gospels. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
There’s not a funeral I have conducted in 37 years in which I have not said those words. We Christians hang our spiritual hats on those words. But believing them? Living by such confidence? That’s another story. Or actually, that is this story! Martha will waver in her confidence. Jesus asked her if she believes in him. She says, “I believe!” But when Jesus got to the tomb and called for the stone to be rolled back, she protested. She said, “Lord, there will be a terrible stench!
Martha believes, but she doesn’t believe anything is going to change.
Now, Jesus encounters Mary, who says the same thing her sister did, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In other words, “Lord, why did you let this happen?”
Have asked you asked that question in the last year? Have you asked that question before? Have you asked it in the last year? Lord, why did you let this happen?
The Gospel of John pulls us into this story, not just to think about it, but experience it, in order to say, this is what faith looks like. We want to believe. We struggle to believe. And that’s all a part of faith. John gives permission to doubt. John doesn’t praise doubt, but permits us to understand doubt is a part of faith while at the same time challenging us to go deeper in faith, deeper in trust.
And this is where the story takes an unusual turn. When Jesus sees Mary and all the people mourning, it says, “he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.” (v.33) And that will be repeated when he reaches the tomb, and it says he was deeply disturbed.
A lot of commentaries point to this moment as an example of Jesus’ humanity and compassion, that he feels grief just like we do. This is why many versions of the Bible translate the words John uses as deeply troubled, moved, upset, his heart was touched.
But that’s not what the original words mean. They don’t describe grief or sadness. They are much stronger. They describe indignation, anger. Jesus isn’t grieving here, he’s angry. But because anger seems out of place, many translations make it sound more like grief.
Why was Jesus’ angry at this moment? There’s not a clear answer. Scholars say lots of things. He was angry at the unbelief of all the people around him. But that seems out of character for all the times Jesus shows compassion for people who doubt. Some say he’s angry at the reality of sin and death, the obstacles to experiencing the abundant life Jesus came to bring. Still others point out what this miracle will mean. When Lazarus’ is raised, Jesus’ popularity will explode, and it will seal his fate. Right after this story the religious leaders plot how to kill Jesus. As Dr. Fred Craddock says, “Lazarus will come out of the tomb so that Jesus can go into it.” Perhaps Jesus is angry about this.
Who knows for sure. But what can be said, is that in this moment Jesus is not sad, he’s mad. Yet look at what it says next, “Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (vv42-43)
This is the first prayer of Jesus in which we are told what he said. It is a prayer of thanks, of gratitude. And one thing that stands out about this prayer is the context in which it is prayed. It is not prayed from a place of joyful celebration. Jesus is surrounded by mixed faith, hopelessness, and even for himself, anger!
Again, have you ever prayed from that place? Have you ever prayed when you aren’t sure you even believe, or perhaps, the only thing you feel for certain at that moment is that you don’t believe. Or have you prayed while angry? Angry at the events going on? Angry at God? Angry at yourself?
Then the other thing that stands out about this prayer is not just the context around it but the content of it. Jesus gives thanks before receiving an answer. How different is that from our prayers of thanksgiving? Don’t most of us give thanks as a result of a blessing? We give thanks for what we have? But here is Jesus giving thanks even before he has an answer!
As someone once said, “When you give thanks after a gift is received, that’s just being polite; but when you give thanks before a gift is received, that is faith.” Jesus demonstrates in this prayer a radically different picture of faith, to give thanks in advance of miracle or blessing. What does it mean to pray like Jesus?
Someone in our church who prays like Jesus is Gustana Moss Chaney. If you have ever been prayed for or prayed with Gus, you know this. Recently Pastor Jen sat down with her to ask her about the way she prays. Let’s watch…
When I pray with people going into surgery this is how I often pray. I thank God in advance for the blessing, healing, and help God will provide.
What happens to us when we pray this way, when we give thanks in advance of answers to prayers? For one, it deepens our confidence that God is active and working. We don’t have to beg or cajole God to help us. God wants to help us. God cares about us. When we believe that we can go ahead and thank God now. This gives us confidence.
And giving thanks in advance of blessing increases our curiosity. If we believe that God is going to bless us, then we look for how that blessing comes and what those blessings might be. We live expectantly in anticipation of what God will do.
Studies have verified the way a little bedtime ritual increases the quality of our sleep and ability to rest. When we go to bed at night, to say a prayer that includes going through our day and recalling everything we can remember that was a blessing. “This little thing happened at the store.” “I found a dime in the parking lot.” “I got this surprise phone call from a friend.” Whatever it might be. This not only distracts us from the worries of tomorrow, it gives us confidence that we will have what we need to face the worries of tomorrow. Having a curiosity for the blessings to come brings a peace and assurance.
And that brings up one last thought. Giving thanks in advance gives confidence, increases curiosity, and it changes how we judge the present. When we give thanks now, even in hard times, we believe that we will one day understand our present reality very differently.
Eugene O’Neill based his play Lazarus Laughed on the familiar biblical story. Lazarus, of course, was a friend of Jesus who died. After four days, Jesus brought him back to life. In O’Neill’s play, the focus is on how Lazarus responded to his new earthly life after four days in eternity. How did his interval make a difference in the way he viewed the important things of this world?
The conclusion is that it made a tremendous difference. Having seen the things that count in eternity, Lazarus measured the things of this world by a new standard. He had no fear. Nothing to worry about holding onto. Nothing to fear slipping away. And so he went through the rest of life giving a low, musical laugh at everything.
When he saw people striving so hard to amass their wealth he would laugh. When he saw the pretensions of important people trying to impress others he would laugh. When he saw the religious people frowning and getting upset about rituals and the temple, he would laugh.
He would laugh because now he knew what was really important, what really mattered.
Giving thanks in advance is a trust that one day we will be able to laugh about everything we have gone through now. We will see it all differently, from a place where we can be thankful for what we go through now, no matter how hard or difficult.
Closing story of Virginia Men’s Basketball team…
“When you learn to use it right, adversity will buy you a ticket to a place you couldn’t have gone any other way.”
When you give thanks in advance, no matter what you’re going through, no matter how hard or unpleasant, no matter how much your faith wavers, you believe that one day you will get to a place where you can look back and laugh. Because you can see what came of that place and even give thanks for it. We don’t have to wait until we see how things turn out in order to give thanks. We can give thanks in advance because we worship a God who redeems hard places. We worship a God who brings hope by way of a cross. We worship a God who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
For that, we can be thankful. Amen.