Sunday Fifth Week of Lent
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Ezekiel 37:12-14, Psalm 130:1-8 Romans 8:8-11, John 11:1-45
“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.” John 11:6
Waiting. Do any of us like it? We stand in line at the grocery store, and we have to have our phone out to keep our mind occupied. We open our computer, and the little circle rolls on and on telling us the buffering has to finish before we can continue. We sit in an office waiting for our appointment and if there is any delay, we start to get antsy and irritated. We all can relate to how hard it can be to wait whether it is something like a traffic jam or Christmas morning.
Sometimes we have to wait for God. That may be the hardest thing to do. Because when the next step or the results are out of our hands and out of our control, there is lot of trust needed to be patient. We can feel alone, unheard, anxious, and even angry. Our mind may tell us that it’s going to be okay, but our hearts hurt, and we want answers. And in our instant gratification society, we have been trained to expect things quickly. Have a headache? Take a pill. Bored? Open your phone or turn on the television. Solutions or distractions are all around us.
But, when we are praying for a physical healing or a reconciliation of a relationship, it can often feel like our needs are not as important to our Father as they are to us. Our hearts are heavy with our need. Our voices cry out…
“Lord, I am not strong enough to walk through this illness. It’s so scary.”
“Father, my child doesn’t believe in you anymore. Help, please.”
“Jesus, I’ve given him everything and it’s not enough. He wants someone else.”
“I don’t know what to do with these feelings. Where are You, Lord?”
And so, we wait. We wait for answers. We wait for help. We wait for a miracle. We wait for peace and joy to return.
I imagine that Mary and Martha felt this way. They knew Jesus so well that they were like family. They had seen His miracles and they knew what He could do. He had stayed in their home and eaten Martha’s food. Mary had sat at His feet and listened to His voice. So, when Lazarus fell ill, they sent for Him to come and help saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” But He didn’t come. Day after day, they watched for Him, but Lazarus continued to decline and then finally passed away. And Jesus was nowhere to be found. How their hearts must have been broken, not only from the grief of losing their brother, but also from feeling abandoned by Jesus. Do we ever feel that way? Do we ever wonder why God delays? Is he answering our prayers, and does He care?
Here’s the truth. He does care and He does hear us. He is answering our prayers, just on His time and not ours. Not easy to hear and hard to accept, but we don’t know everything, and we can’t see the future. Consider Mary and Martha in our Gospel passage again. What can we learn from them to better improve our patience?
Martha, in her own unique style, does not wait for Jesus to come to her when she hears He’s been sighted. She rushes out to greet Him and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” One part frustration with Him and one part still asking for a miracle. She has faith, but she is putting her desire first instead of waiting to see what Jesus wants to do. Jesus has to remind her that it is not just about a future resurrection, but that He is the Resurrection. He is calling her to focus on His will. Her faith still needed to grow some more.
What about her sister? Mary did not rush out to Him but waited for Him to call for her. Remember, she had sat at His feet. He said she had chosen the better part. That better part was not sitting at His feet instead of cooking. The better part WAS choosing Him. He came first before anything else. So, what if her waiting meant she would let Him lead? She would trust Him to fill her in on why He didn’t come when He was ready. And when He had spoken to both of them, He showed them that the delay had a purpose. He could have come sooner and healed Lazarus, but when He raises him from the dead, His glory was made manifest.
What about us? How do we see our times of waiting? Do we wait FOR God to hurry up and arrive and then rush out asking for answers? Or do we wait WITH God, watching to see what His will might be and what He plans to do in this situation? We may still offer ideas and ask questions, but we are also seeking Him in the waiting instead of focusing on why He hasn’t come and fixed things to our satisfaction. Do you see the difference?
Consider it this way. It is a greater miracle for God to raise our FAITH to life than it is for Him to raise our bodies back to life. Why? As Peter Kreeft, a Catholic philosopher and theologian says when talking about this Bible passage, “He raises Martha’s faith. That’s a greater miracle than raising a dead body, because a dead body has no power to resist him but a live soul does.” As you read the reflections this week and hear other’s stories, consider if you need to re-evaluate things. Do you wait FOR God or wait WITH God?
The Reflection Team welcomes you to the fifth week of Lent. Thank you for being with us this long. We are just two weeks from Easter and there is still so much to unpack before we get there. How are you doing? We are here and want to know. We pray for you daily and hope that the Lord is working in your life this Lent and that you've been getting to know Him on a deeper level. He LOVES you! And so do we!
