The Day That I Die
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” John 11:25-26
Some friends were hanging out one day, and the conversation grimly turned
to the issue of death. One of the friends asked the others, "What would you
like people to say about you at your funeral?"
One friend answered, "I would want people to say, 'He was a great humanitarian
who cared about his community.'"
A second replied, "I would want people to say, 'He was a great husband and
father, an example for many to follow.'"
The third friend gave it some thought and answered, "I would hope someone
says, 'Look, he's moving!'"1.
If it were possible, I think Lazarus is one of the Biblical persons I would
most enjoy talking with.
Have you noticed one thing about Lazarus, though?
We know a bit about the household of Lazarus, Mary and Martha.
We read a lot of what Martha says, we have a few words even of Mary, but
in the gospels, Lazarus never says a word.
Considering his sisters, maybe he never gets a chance.
He is the center of one of Jesus most famous miracles.
Jesus and his disciples have returned to the Jerusalem region after receiving
word that Lazarus is first sick, then that he has died. Have you noticed
that Jesus deliberately delayed returning when they heard that Lazarus was
sick?
It seems he was waiting for Lazarus first to die, or that is the impression
you get from the gospel.
On the surface that seems a heartless thing to do, especially with a good
friend.
But maybe Jesus knows more about life and death than we do.
Martha joins him at Lararus' tomb. She is grieving and still angry with Jesus
for refusing to come and help.
She knows Jesus could have healed her brother.
She loves and trusts him, but is angry in her grief. Jesus has promised that
Lazarus will rise again.
Martha dismisses his statement saying, "I know he will rise again at the
final resurrection."
But her unstated cry is "but Lord, I want him here NOW"
The scene is dramatic.
They have gathered at the tomb.
Jesus says, "roll the stone away."
Martha says, "It's been four days, his body will stink.", but Jesus orders
the stone removed. It is.
Can you visualize the scene?
A hillside where there are likely many such tombs. Probably a stony and dry
place.
The assembled group standing in front of the open cave, wondering what Jesus
is going to do.
Maybe they get a whiff of decay.
You can imagine them thinking, "no way I am going in there."
Jesus begins to pray:
“Father, I thank you that
you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I say this for the
benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent
me.”
Then John says he cries out in a loud voice: "Lararus, come out!"
Can you visualize the scene?
All the skeptics gathered round who half an hour before were criticizing
Jesus that he didn't care for his friend.
And now not sound.
You can just see them.
Every eye is riveted to the opening of that dark cave.
You can hear a pin drop.
A minute maybe goes by and eyes begin looking back and forth from Jesus,
to Martha to that dark hole of death.
We know what's going to happen, but they don't.
Then as sure as anything, there is cry, a gasp, a shriek of wonder, joy and
maybe even fear.
He is moving! He is coming out!
Not like Jesus did, free from his grave clothes, but wrapped head to foot,
and he is moving.
I bet there was screaming and hollering as people watched Lazarus struggling
to get free of his stinky grave wrappings.
Jesus says, "Unwrap him and set him free"
Did you hear it?
"Unwrap him and set him free."
Jesus has called him back into life, just like he does with us.
But he still has the grave clothes of death clinging to his body.
Get them off! Jesus orders.
New life has no truck with the remnants of death--get them off him right
now!
Jesus says the same thing to us.
You have new life. Get rid of the remnants of death that cling to you.
In point of fact, Lazarus could not get them off.
Can you imagine him squirming and struggling to get free?
Jesus tells the others to unbind him.
Jesus tells us the same thing.
Our duty is to unbind one another, not remind one another.
Jesus says, "set one another free from the past."
Unbind, not remind.
That's our task. Not to keep one another in chains of unforgiveness or judgment.
Not to keep reminding one another of our failures.
Get rid of the stink of death. Be free. Set one another free.
But you know the sad thing is Lazarus just has to die again.
I don't think he worried about that, do you?
If anyone knew he didn't need to fear death, it was Lazarus.
He knew Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
I wonder what he saw and heard.
I want to tell you what one man saw and heard:
On January 18, 1989, Don Piper was returning
home from a conference in Galveston, Texas, when his car was struck head-on
by a tractor trailer truck, killing him instantly.
Ninety minutes after the accident, Dick Onerecker, a pastor who happened
upon the scene, felt led by God to pray for the dead man. He did so, and
Piper immediately returned to life. But for 90 minutes, as his lifeless body
lay inside his car, Piper claims to have been in heaven.
Piper's recollections of heavenly glory have since been chronicled in 90 Minutes in Heaven, a book which has
sold nearly 2 million copies and become a long-time fixture on the New York
Times bestseller list…
"It was like nothing I could have ever imagined," Piper recalls. "When I
was killed, I was immediately transported to heaven's gate. It was an instantaneous
thing."
Piper refers to his heavenly detour as a "smorgasbord for the senses," being
embraced and welcomed by friends he had known throughout his life, angelic
choirs, and even a "pearly" gate—sort of.
"Although I didn't have a body as we normally think of one, I didn't see
a single person who I didn't know," he explains. "There were relatives, there
were friends who had died in high school, there were some of my teachers—there
were people I had known all my life who had gone to glory. They were smiling,
embracing me, and welcoming me.
"Then, as I looked over their heads, I could see the looming gate. To say
it was beautiful would be a serious understatement. It wasn't 'pearly' as
people say, it was more like it had been sculpted from mother-of-pearl. Then
there was the light, a light I couldn't fathom as a human being, and there
was an angelic choir that seemed to be singing every praise song conceivable
all at once."
But almost as soon as Piper's heavenly excursion began, it ended, thanks
to the power of answered prayer.
"My first conscious memory was 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.' Here I was,
in this crushed vehicle, staring at a tarp that had been thrown over me,
holding someone's hand, and I'm singing a song. What in the heck is going
on?"
Onerecker had prayed that Piper would have no internal injuries and no head
injuries. Then he started to sing hymns, and Piper started singing with him…
Piper was transported to the nearest trauma hospital in Houston, where he
spent nearly four months recovering from his injuries. His left arm and leg
were almost completely severed, and had to be surgically repaired and reattached.
"I spent so much time in such terrible pain, and having seen glory, I wanted
to go back," Piper says. "The trouble was so many people were trying to help
me, and praying for me, that I realized I was here because people were asking
God for me to be here"…
Today, Piper travels nearly two thirds of every year, giving talks about
his experiences, speaking to audiences of practically every type.2.
I have spoken to more than one person who has experienced something similar.
My grandmother used to tell of the time she saw paradise. It was a very similar
experience.
I am sure you have known people with the same kind of story.
I have told you of the day Mrs. Lintick died in Dauphin, Manitoba.
I was standing with the family by the bedside. She was in deep coma and Chain
Stokes breathing pattern had set in.
Her doctor said death was imminent.
We were at peace because we knew she was.
The room was silent as we sat beside her.
Then she breathed one last breath and rolled toward us.
Her eyes came open with awareness and she focused just over my left shoulder.
Then she began to break into the most wonderful expression of surprise and
joy.
And in the next instant she was gone. Just like that.
I looked over my shoulder to see who she had seen that brought such a moment
of joy.
All I saw was the open doorway.
All of this took maybe three seconds, no more.
I have no proof beyond what I know I saw.
I am certain Jesus or one of His angels came to the door, called her name
and awoke her; and in the twinkling of an eye as the Bible says, she stepped
from her dying bed to grasp the hand of the Master.
The day that I die, I am certain something similar will happen too.
Whether like my grandmother, I find myself soaring above a hospital into
paradise, or like Mrs. Lintick, waking to the voice of life, or like Don
Piper, just immediately being in the presence of eternal glory, I know Who
is the resurrection and the life.
And I am prepared to trust Him with the how.
I am in no hurry, mind you.
But when the time comes, I know that, like the dying man next to Jesus, I
will join him that day in paradise.
Do you know for certain?
Friend, now is as good a time as any to be certain.
Join me in this prayer:
Lord, you set us free from guilt and death
by your death. I now put my trust in you and your forgiveness. I thank you.
You have set me free from death and now I pledge myself to unbind others
and help set them free too.
Amen
Preached March 9, 2008
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian Church
Victoria, British Columbia
Notes
1. John Beukema, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
2. Michael W. Michelsen, Jr. "When I Was Killed " Today's Christian
(January/February 2008)
Online Resources Consulted
http://www.preachingtoday.com/
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