03/28/2020 Fourth Sunday in Lent – Full Service and Bulletin
March 28, 2020
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us all from sin and death. Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Gospel: John 11:1-45
Jesus is moved to sorrow when his friend Lazarus falls ill and dies. Then, in a dramatic scene, he calls his friend out of the tomb and restores him to life.
1Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
7Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I 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.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
PARISH NEWS FOR HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH
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Please have all announcements in the church office by Wednesday in order to have them in Sunday’s bulletin.
Attendance last week — Sunday: 19 Amount needed each week: $3,140.00
Saturday: 10 General Offering last week: $ 3,035
Word in Season Devotionals are available on the narthex table.
Next Week’s Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14–27:66
EASTER FLOWERS – Sign-up sheets are available outside of the office for Easter flowers or feel free to call the office to request flowers. Easter Lilies ($9.00), Peace Lilies ($11.00), Daffodils ($7.00), Hyacinth ($7.00), and Tulips ($7.00) are available. Please leave your name, phone number, which flowers, and who they are in memory or honor of.
PRAYER LIST If you know someone who is in the hospital or needs a visit at home, please let the office know.
Laura, Henry, Florence, Sandy & Larry, Suzette, Paul, Jason, Darleen, Arthur, John, Muriel, Russell, Jack & Linda, Doris, the homeless, all refugees, victims of violence and victims of natural disasters, our troops, those who live in fear, all medical professionals and 1st responders.
Also ... PLEASE REMEMBER to call the office if you are admitted to the hospital. Because of the HIPAA Law, the hospital can no longer notify us of your admittance. If you do not communicate with us, we cannot respond to your need. Please call Pastor Jen directly or call the office. . . after hours . . . no problem, our answering machine will pick up and we will respond ASAP.
LENTEN 10 MINUTE PRAYER CHALLENGE! During this Lenten season, our 40 day walk with Jesus, please consider spending ten extra minutes a day with Jesus in prayer. Instead of giving up things in Lent, or maybe in addition to that, please consider adding 10 minutes of prayer each day to your schedule. Put a timer on your phone-set the oven timer-set your alarm on your fitbit-but please consider joining your brothers and sisters at Hope in intentional prayer time this season of Lent. Prayer is the most powerful untapped force in the world, and when we pray together, it can change the world. And let’s face it, our world needs changing! For 10 minutes a day, if we could focus on praying for peace-peace for our community, peace for our country, peace for our world, peace for our congregation, and peace for ourselves -that is an active, intentional effort for God’s peace to prevail.
Prayer makes a difference-and because it is a godly thing, not only do our combined prayers affect the world as God hears them, but WE are strengthened in our faith and our love for Jesus as we intentionally spend time talking and listening to him.
Remember-prayer is both talking as well as listening. This Lent, please consider joining us for the 10 minute prayer challenge. It will make a difference as TOGETHER we are led by God’s Spirit to serve God and share Christ’s love with all!
HOLY WEEK WORSHIP – Due to the ever-changing situation regarding Coronavirus, final details regarding Holy Week worship has not been finalized. Please listen for robo calls and/or emails regarding worship on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. Please feel free to call the office at 941-697-2345 for any questions or concerns.
Sermon:
These long readings from John’s Gospel during Lent have a depth and a power to them that can reach to the very core of our lives. Today we hear about death and new life, about the end of some things, and, perhaps, the beginning of others. Death is always a topic close to home, one that seems to get closer every year. On the eve of Palm Sunday and Holy Week, it’s particularly immediate. At this time in the life of our world, it is particularly immediate. ~~~So it makes good sense to hear Jesus command, “Lazarus, come out”—and to wonder what all that means, and whether it matters. We Christians have some very distinctive, and some very special, things to say about death—about both real, physical death and about the other deaths, the little deaths, the endings and changes and losses that we seem constantly to be experiencing. In fact, we say much the same thing about both types of death-the physical death and all of those little deaths of loss we face daily. ~~~In our Gospel, Lazarus was dead. Really dead. Graveyard dead. In fact, Lazarus was dead past three days -maybe Jesus could have helped if he’d arrived earlier, but not now. Death ruled over Lazarus. So, Jesus looked at the stone in front of the cave where his friend’s body lay. His friends were with him and they saw when Jesus saw. ~~~They first thing they saw was the reality, the force, the sheer power of death. Jesus was shaken; he was deeply troubled; he wept. There is nothing lighthearted or glib here. Death is the final word creation has to say to us. It’s a really big deal. There is nothing in this world stronger or more final than death, and there is nothing in this world that can rebuild what death tears down. It is an end. All we need do is look around at our world in the midst of this crisis and we see the reality of that. ~~~~When Jesus stood at Lazarus’ tomb, the people didn’t see death naturally blossoming into new life—they didn’t see butterflies coming out of cocoons, or chicks popping out of eggs. If Jesus had not called, Lazarus would have stayed in that tomb. Death is real and it is powerful and it hurts and it destroys. He saw that. They saw that. But he also saw something more. ~~~What Jesus saw, was that God was Lord, Lord even over the dead. God was Lord and so God, and God alone, could call Lazarus back, and give him new life, and new direction. The wonderful part of this story is that the spirit of the Lord would not be stopped, and that even death could not destroy the purposes of God. ~~~ The real point to this story is not that Lazarus come back. Before too long, Lazarus died again, and Jesus wasn’t there, and Lazarus stayed dead. So that’s not much of a point. The real point is that Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead. The real point is that the voice of Jesus carries—it carries even through the walls of the grave, and his word is the clearest word, and the strongest word, and the last word. That’s the good news, that’s what we Christians see that the world does not see. We see that the word of God, and the purposes of God, and the love of God cannot be stopped, and will not be stopped. Not even by the strongest, and the worst, that the world has to offer. Not coronavirus, not financial setback, NOTHING can stop the love and purpose and will and Word of God. NOTHING. ~~~At the same time, notice that these stories give us absolutely no information about the mystery of death itself. Lazarus doesn’t become a celebrity and go on some first-century Oprah tour talking about tunnels and bright lights and four days worth of even-nearer-than- near-death experiences. There’s none of that. What’s more, John’s Gospel tells us that Lazarus’ life got quite a bit messier—less pleasant and more complicated—after this miracle. He really didn’t live happily ever after, not as we count such things. He knew of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion-he was a part of that all. The promise of new life is not a promise that we are in charge and that we will get what we want. The promise is better than that. ~~~The promise is that God, in Jesus Christ, is Lord even of the dead, even of death itself. And that what he says, goes. That’s what we Christians see. Alas, we can see no farther—we can see no more. But we can see that far. We want details, we want guarantees, and we want some power and some control in all of this. We want to know what it’s like. But we don’t get any of that, not in the face of physical death, not in the midst of the other deaths, the little deaths-loss of jobs, loss of health, loss of relationships. Instead, in the face of all the deaths that make up our lives, we are told first that death is stronger than we are and that we have no knowledge about and no power over death. But then we are told that Jesus is Lord, Lord of all—Lord of life and of death. So, we must choose. Whatever deaths are before us, we must choose. ~~~~We must choose to despair or to trust; to give up or to go on; to abandon hope, or to let go in faith. That choice is not made for us, but it is offered to us. And that choice can be terribly hard. More than at any other time, the reality of death—death in whatever form—is a call to trust. Do we choose to bow down to death and its power, or do we trust in Jesus and his loving Word??? ~~~We see what the world sees, and yet we see more. We see that the word of Jesus has power. Our baptismal calling is to share that Word, that hope, that joy. “Come out” the Lord calls. “Come out” into different life, into new life. “Come out” into life unknown and unexplained. “Come out” in trust and in hope. Come out to share in the mission Jesus has given us to be led by his Spirit to serve him and share his love with all people. Come out-and walk boldly with Jesus to Calvary and beyond. Amen.
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