Our gospel lesson this morning, where we see Jesus having dinner with Lazarus and his two sisters,
is really the end of a much longer story.
Today we hear how Martha served Jesus his supper and Mary anointed his feet, but what we don’t hear is the “why.” Why did Lazarus invite Jesus over for dinner? And what caused Mary & Martha to be so devoted to Jesus?
Well, immediately
before this dinner, we hear the story of Lazarus’s death. This very same Lazarus who’s eating dinner
with Jesus in our lesson this morning had died not too long ago.
And before he died,
Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus saying, “Your dear friend Lazarus is dying. Come quickly and you can save him.” But Jesus didn’t come.
In fact, when he got
the message he waited several days before going. And so by the time he got there Lazarus had already
been dead for 4 days.
And Mary and Martha were
both upset. They told Jesus, “If you’d
been here our brother wouldn’t have died.
If you’d just come when we called you everything would’ve worked out
fine.”
But Jesus hadn’t come
when they called, and so they were left wondering how could he have ignored our
plea for help? How could Jesus abandon our
brother like that? What kind of person does
that? What kind of God does that?
Now obviously, Lazarus
didn’t stay dead. When Jesus got there, he
went to the tomb where Lazarus was buried and told the people to roll the stone
away.
And then in a
commanding voice he cried, “Lazarus come out!”
And sure enough, out he came; alive and well.
And that’s where our
story for today picks up. It’s right after
this amazing miracle. After God’s plan
for this family had been fulfilled.
Just a few short
hours since Mary and Martha had been so upset and confused and distraught.
Just a few hours
since they’d been struggling to understand why Jesus had ignored them and abandoned
them in their hour of need.
But now here they
are at this dinner, and all that’s faded away.
To paraphrase our lesson from Isaiah, they no longer remembered the
former things, for Christ had done a new thing.
He’d made a way in their wilderness and a river in their desert. He’d raised their brother from the dead.
And if you look at the
first couple verses of our Psalm for today you can almost imagine these as Mary
and Martha’s words. “When the Lord restored
the life of our brother, we were like those who dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter and
our tongues with shouts of joy.”
And I think the lesson
for us in all this can probably best be summed up in God’s words from the book
of Isaiah, where he says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are
not your ways.” And we might add to that,
“My plans are not your plans.”
The story of Mary
and Martha is a perfect example of what happens when God’s plans don’t match up
with our plans and expectations.
When Lazarus got sick,
Mary and Martha came up with a plan.
They sent for Jesus and had certain expectations of what he should and
would do. “We want Jesus to come heal
our brother. We need to get Jesus here
to fix this.”
But then Jesus
didn’t come. He didn’t do what they
wanted. He didn’t follow their plan. And so they were confused, and disappointed,
and perhaps even a little angry.
And I don’t know
about you, but there’ve been times in my life when I wanted God to do something
for me. I’ve had a plan I want him to
follow, and he hasn’t followed it.
And like Mary and
Martha, when that happens, I sometimes get confused or disappointed or even a
little angry at God.
And then I hear God remind
me, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. And my plan’s not always going to agree with
your plan.”
In the moment when
Lazarus died, and before Jesus had arrived, it was almost impossible for Mary
& Martha to conceive that God had a good plan in mind for them.
And what made it double
difficult for them was that Jesus was their friend. In fact, he was one of their closest friends,
and yet he didn’t make them his top priority.
And again, speaking
only for myself, that’s where I run into problems when I try to tell God my
plans. I think I should be his top
priority.
But in the story of
Lazarus, we see that Jesus had a different priority; and that was to do the
will of his Father in heaven. His only
goal was to serve his Father, and everything else took a back seat to that.
All Mary &
Martha had wanted was for Lazarus to be healed, but God’s plan was so much
greater. He wanted Lazarus to be
resurrected. And that was the plan Jesus
made his priority.
And that’s the
difference between God and us: he has a much grander view than we do. And our lesson today shows us that Mary and
Martha had finally come to understand that.
They both lavish
Jesus, their friend and their God, with the best they have to offer. He’d given them back their brother, and so
Martha offers him the finest meal she can muster and Mary anoints him with her
most expensive perfume.
It was their way of thanking
him, and honoring him, and worshiping him.
And that’s exactly what
we’re doing here today. Our worship this
morning is our way of thanking God for all the blessings he’s given us.
It’s our way of
thanking God for fulfilling the plan he has for us, and for the promise he’s
given us of the Resurrection. For the promise that
one day he will stand outside our tomb, and call our name, and tell us to come
forth to eternal life.
And at the same time,
our worship is also a time to be strengthened in our faith.
Some of you may be feeling
the way Mary and Martha felt after Lazarus died but before Jesus raised him
from the dead. And so our worship is a
time to be reminded that God does have a plan for us.
If you’ve been wondering
why Jesus hasn’t answered your prayers or come to you when you’ve called him;
if you’re confused by that, or disappointed, or even angry, then I’d encourage
you to take heart from Mary & Martha.
Their story reminds
us that no matter how dark things may seem, and no matter how distant Jesus may
feel, he hasn’t forsaken you. He is
coming. And he does have a plan for you. It may not your plan, but it’s a plan you can
definitely put your hope and trust in.
And it’s my prayer
that God would use our worship this morning to remind you of his plan, and give
you confidence in the promise that he will fulfill it.
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