Persevering Love - Sermon for All Saints Sunday B

Persevering Love

All Saints B

November 7, 2021

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

John 11.32-44

I was called to the hospital because Donna had just died and her family wanted me to come. Her daughter, Linda, Linda’s husband Tom, and their two daughters, Anna and Julie, were gathered around, obviously grieving. It was not unexpected as Donna was getting on in years and had been in ill health, but still, the death of a loved one is hard. I’d gotten to know the family well, having walked with them through the illness and death of Dorothy’s husband, Elmer, a few years earlier. Plus, I’d interacted with the girls in Christian Education, but Confirmation and Sunday School. Furthermore, Tom, Linda, and the girls lived just around the corner from Cindy and me.

Now, I’ve walked with a lot of families over the years and I have the ability to maintain some distance through death and dying. So, I was surprised on this occasion to feel their deep grief in a way I hadn’t before. Upon reflection, I realized that I wasn’t grieving for Dorothy, who had lived a long life and was making this expected journey. I wasn’t even grieving for Linda and Tom, who had experience with this. No, I realized I was grieving with and for Anna and Julie, whose tender grief was palpable. It broke my heart to see their vulnerable hearts aching at the loss of their grandma.

So, if I can be so bold, it is that I think I can understand a bit of what Jesus was experiencing at Lazarus’ tomb. There’s more to the story and I need to take a few minutes to set the scene. In chapter 10, Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd. … The sheep hear my voice, they follow me, and I give them eternal life.” Then, at the beginning of chapter 11, Jesus is elsewhere when he hears that Lazarus is ill, but he deliberately waits two days before traveling to see Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, during which Lazarus dies. When Jesus finally decides to go, the disciples think it too risky because of the animosity of the religious leaders in Jerusalem, but ultimately decide to go and “die with him.”

As Jesus nears the family, Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, hears about it and goes out to meet him. Martha gives Jesus the “what for” because he delayed coming to them. Yet, she makes some of the most profound statements of faith in the Bible, affirming the resurrection and Jesus’ ability to do as he asks God. Then Jesus makes another “I am” statement: “I am the resurrection and the life,” which Martha also affirms. Martha returns to her sister, Mary, and encourages her to have her own “meet Jesus moment.”

As Jesus greets Mary and he sees the grieving around him, he gives rise to the shortest verse in the Bible and favorite of Confirmation students everywhere: “Jesus weeps'' (or as the NRSV translates, “Jesus begins to weep”). Jesus sees the devastation that death wreaks on humanity and, because of his particularly close relationship with Lazarus, Mary and Martha, deeply feels their sorrow. But there’s more: Jesus is deeply angry, most likely because the power death holds over our most precious relationships. The mourners make an astute and very important observation: “See how he loved him!” Even so, it should have been, “See how he loved them!”

“WandaVision” is a TV show in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe, a series of films based on Marvel Comics’ superheroes. It aired following the last Avengers, “Avengers: Endgame” and features Wanda (aka the Scarlet Witch who has immense powers), and Vision, a very advanced android who had supposedly died during “Endgame.” I won’t spoil it, but in one scene Vision tells Wanda he has never experienced loss because he never had a loved one to lose. He implies that this was true until Wanda came into his life. Then he says this now iconic phrase, “What is grief, if not love persevering?”

Indeed, what is grief, if not love persevering?  Our grief is evidence that love does not die. And when Jesus raises Lazarus, he gives us a foretaste and down payment on our resurrection to eternal life. When we struggle with the big question of “Where were you, Jesus?” like Mary and Martha, Jesus answers with a resounding “On the cross!” defeating Death through persevering love. My sisters and brothers in Christ, as you light candles on All Saints in the midst of your grief, for all the losses you have suffered,  may you be washed over by the profound persevering love from the One who first loved us. Amen.

For the full worship service, including the video of the sermon, click here.