“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha and Mary thought that things would have gone differently if their friend Jesus had been with them. Wasn’t he the one who loved them and cared about them? How come they were left with the loss and grief of this moment? Couldn’t Jesus have done something? We can relate to Martha and Mary because we too can, at times, wonder why God has not preserved us from suffering. Why do I have cancer? How come my family seems to be so dysfunctional? When will I have enough money to pay my bills? Hasn’t God promised to take care of me? And my worries are not just personal. If God were here with us would we be dealing with another war? Would the immigrants in our midst be treated as unvalued and unwanted? Shouldn’t there be more of a concern about the future of the planet? Lord, if you were here, would we be going through all this!
Jesus answered Martha and Mary: “Your brother will rise.” You might not see it now, but the plan of God is at work. There is a time and season in the will of God and you have the blessed assurance that God wants all of us to enjoy the fullness of life and joy. No matter what you are going through put your trust in God with the knowledge that all will be well in God’s time. Your brother Lazarus is in the hands of God, so be at peace.
Martha responded to Jesus: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” I am so glad to know about the future but that doesn’t help me now. It is today when I am suffering, today when I am full of grief, today when I am feeling lost. Thank you for the confirmation that on the last day all will be well but I want to be well today. I expected that having you in my life would make things better, would give me happiness. Instead, I feel like I am being tossed about by feelings which are beyond my ability to cope.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” That happiness that you yearn for, that fulfilled life you seek, is not found out there, in the abstract, but by connecting with me. “If you were here” you said. But I am here, I am with you always. When you are weeping, I weep with you. When you are feeling lost, I will show the way. When you feel alone, hold onto me. When you grieve, I grieve with you. Your faith is not about an idea, but in a person, in me. Come to me and I will give you rest.
Yes, Martha answered, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Of course, Jesus, you have shown me so much in our time together. You have shown me that love is stronger than death, that kindness and mercy and compassion are freely give us by God. Your presence in my life has made all the difference. I cannot doubt you now at this moment. I have learned to lean on you and I don’t believe we’ve come this far together so that you would leave me now. In my relationship with you I have seen the face of God.
“Where have you laid him.” I am with you in the nitty-gritty of life, in the harsh reality that human beings must deal with. Don’t look for me only in the church with folded hands. See me with the calloused hands of hard work, with the well-scrubbed hands of a nurse, with the dirtied hands of the grave. Don’t imagine that my eyes are only focused on the heavenly realms. I notice the lost sheep, the lost son, the unfortunate widow, the crime victim, the workers in the vineyard, the poor man at the gate. I am with you at the detention center, in the hospital room and, yes, at the graveside. I do not fear the smell. I do not fear death. I do not fear evil because the Father always hears me.
All that is true and yet, nonetheless, St. John tells us, “Jesus wept.” Even though he trusted in the plan of God, even though he was assured of a happy ending, even though he was the beloved Son, Jesus wept. Jesus wept at the feeling of loss and grief that are part of the human condition. He wept because he felt like he had let down his friends. He wept at the specter of death staring him in the face. This is not the only time the gospels report Jesus weeping. He wept at Gethsemane at the prospect of suffering and death. He wept over Jerusalem as he envisioned the horror of war and destruction which lay in its future. Jesus wept because there are times when knowing God’s plan for our welfare is not enough to keep us from being overwhelmed by the slings and arrows that come our way in life. Church, we gather here as people of faith. We, like Jesus, feel like weeping when we see sickness impacting our loved ones, when we see violence threaten our city and world, when we fear that greed and selfishness will condemn our planet’s health. But, also like Jesus, with tears in our eyes we can say, “Come out.” We can say, “Untie him.” We can act as Jesus did with confidence that this is still God’s world, that a little light can spread into a bonfire, that God can take our little bit and feed a multitude. So, yes, weep. But also act, act with all the love that God has poured into our hearts for God never fails.
