Sunday Worship 26th March

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to our Sunday Worship on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Our Church Services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'. If you're unable to be with us in person, you can find the Gospel Reading for today, a reflection and prayers below.

Our first hymn this morning is "I Cannot Tell, Why He Whom Angels Worship"

Today's Gospel

John 11: 1-45              Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But 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.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus 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. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

When 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.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The 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. When 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.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus 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.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 

So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I 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.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The 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.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Reflection

Well, what a story we have here. It would no doubt make a good script for a mini drama on TV. We have life and death, loss, grief and suffering. There is tragedy, despair, hopelessness, and people being let down by their friends. But also hope, love and faith.

The whole event starts with a situation we could only describe as a matter of life and death with Lazarus critically ill. In desperation, the sisters Mary and Martha send word to Jesus, the only one who can save Lazarus. It’s like that moment when the clock is ticking in the corner of the screen as the hero is rushing to get there in time, battling against all the odds before a disaster occurs. Everyone is biting their nails as the clock ticks down to see if the devastating event will be avoided.

Except that’s not how this story pans out at all. In this case, the hero doesn’t drop everything and rush to save Lazarus. Yes Jesus is risking his life by going back to Bethany, a place where he has recently been violently driven out from, however, Jesus takes his time and by the time that he arrives it seems to everyone that it is too late. It was 4 days after Lazarus dies that Jesus arrives. [This is significant, because the Jews believed that 3 days their someone dies their soul leaves the body].

How disappointed would the family have been? After all, this was the man who had said, “Ask and you shall receive” You could be forgiven for thinking that they should have felt let down or even betrayed by Jesus. 

But despite all that has happened, we see that Martha and Mary both had faith and trust in Jesus. Martha’s faith was indomitable even though she may have had some doubt because Lazarus had been dead so long.  

Then we get the happy ending, we learn that it was all part if Jesus’s plan all along, in order that He could give God the Glory and that those whose witnessed would believe that Jesus was truly the Son of God. So time to put the kettle on as the final film credits roll?

Well, as you have a drink, think about a few things that Jesus might want us to take away from this: 

Maybe there are times when like Martha, you’ve asked Jesus to help you, and you don’t see or feel Him respond.  We need to remember that Jesus won’t always answer when or how we expect, but that doesn’t mean our requests are unheard. Jesus will find a way to use even the most painful and desperate of situations to bring glory to God. He has a plan, even if it’s not obvious!

Or perhaps like Martha you sometimes find it hard to understand something Jesus said, or struggle at times to grasp the of meaning of the Word of God. That is not surprising because, as I’ve said before, for us as humans it is almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of the divinity of God. But through belief in Jesus and with the gift of the Holy Spirit, if we keep faith and continue to walk with Jesus, He will take us to a place where all becomes clear. 

Finally, there may be times when you are so full of despair and hopelessness that life is not worth living. That the things you are wrapped up in just won’t let you move on. It is at these times that Jesus is there for you and waiting to offer you new life and loosen those things which bind you. Then, just as the Jews were convinced by the raising of Lazarus, others may also see the change that Jesus makes in you, they too, may come to believe and follow Him. 

So, it turns out that this wasn’t a story of life and death after all, it is a story and life and life!  As Jesus said to Martha; “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”             Paul

Our Prayers

Heavenly Father, thank You for the story of Martha’s unwavering trust and faith in You.

We pray that we too may have the same faith, that though You nothing is impossible.

That through our trust in You, we are able to remain strong in our faith, 

even when faced with the worst adversity, pain or suffering.

For You are truly the Resurrection and the life for all who trust in You.   

Amen

Our final hymn today is "To God Be The Glory"

Notices

Details of our services for Holy Week and Easter are shown in the poster below. Please note that the Parish Eucharist for Palm Sunday is at 10 am at St Thomas', and there will be no service at St Agnes' on that day.