Lord, If You Had Been Here

FBC 9-15-13 John 11:17-35 “Lord, If You Had Been Here…”

As many of you are aware our community suffered a terrible tragedy last Tuesday, when Alex Potratz died of injuries he sustained when he lost control of his truck.  For many of us this has been a tragedy that has struck too close to home.  We have children close to Alex’s age, we knew Alex or his parents or even his grandparents and other relatives.  But one overarching thing that we know for sure is that a parent burying their child is wrong.  It’s not the way it’s supposed to be.  The death of a loved one is hard enough when that person has lived a long life, and sometimes it is made easier when the person has suffered for awhile.  When my grandfather died in March of this year that was and still is a difficult memory.  But my grandfather was almost 92 years old, he had lived a rich full life and been able to serve the Lord for many, many years.  While his death was sudden and no less tragic it was not as traumatic as the death of a 17 year-old young man.

When someone dies there are always lots of scriptures that come to mind.  Psalm 23, as Pastor Lundala shared Tuesday night at the candlelight vigil, Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  I Corinthians 15 vs. 12 through the end of the chapter Paul’s elegant description of the resurrection and there are many more.  But in situations such as these, in times when someone so young has died, especially suddenly and under such tragic conditions, I often think of this passage in John.

I didn’t read all of the passage this morning but I want to refresh your memory.  In the first part of chapter 11 we are told several things first that Lazarus is sick, that his sister Mary was the one that poured the perfume on Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and that Jesus loved Lazarus.  Now Lazarus is sick enough that his sisters send word to Jesus about Lazarus and how sick he is.  But Jesus waits 2 days after he gets the news before he goes to see Lazarus.  When Jesus finally arrives Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days.  I’m not quite sure exactly where Jesus was when he got the news but it does seem clear that Jesus probably couldn’t have arrived before Lazarus died even if He left immediately upon hearing the news.  However, Jesus doesn’t leave immediately, He waits.

Martha greets Jesus first and what are the first words out of Martha’s mouth?  “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.”  This scripture came to mind when I first heard the news of Alex’s tragic death.  It’s words that I have thought myself years ago when a 9 year old girl was abducted in front of her house in the community that Armourdale Baptist, the church that Yolanda and I grew up in, is located.  The vehicle and license plate were immediately known as a neighbor chased the vehicle down for several blocks, unfortunately the perpetrator escaped and Pamela Butler was tragically killed.

Some people are hesitant to view Martha and later Mary’s utterance of the same words as a complaint.  But when they come to my mind they are a complaint.  True they are also an expression of regret and faith in Jesus and God, but they are also a complaint.  I know that many people were praying for Alex, I know from what coach Jazz said at the candlelight vigil and a brief visit with Alex’s aunt before the home coming game Friday, that Alex had made a decision to follow Jesus.  So I know that Alex was a child of God, precious and beloved by Him.  I know that the people praying for him were praying for his recovery.  And so I know that at least for me there is a complaint in those words. “Lord, if You had been there… or my complaint is a slight modification, “Lord, if You had intervened, if You had healed Alex, then he would not have died and we would not be grieving but praising.”  Now before you gasp thinking I’m in danger of being struck down by lightening.  My expression of that complaint just as Martha and Mary’s expression of that complaint does not negate my faith, it doesn’t mean that I don’t believe or somehow no longer believe.  In fact it is exactly the opposite, it is a sign of my deep faith.  Just as it is a sign of Martha and Mary’s deep faith.

If you have a complaint that you want answered, that you want to be rectified, who do you complain too?  You complain to the person who can satisfy your complaint.  There are those who mean well who will say in regards to this tragedy, “God has a plan,” or it’s, “God’s will we just don’t see and understand it.”  They may say something like this to Alex’s family, “God won’t give you more then you can handle.”  And I know that they mean well but sometimes when I hear that I just want to smack them upside the face and say, “God won’t give you more then you can handle.”  And just so you know that saying is a perversion of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which actually reads, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  So Paul is talking about temptation not talking about the tragedies and hardships that we might face in life.

So Martha and Mary are lodging a complaint with Jesus when they say, “Lord, if you had been here…”  And you notice what is Jesus’ response?  Does He rebuke them?  Does He say, “It’s God’s will, it is for God’s purpose that I delayed”?  No Jesus cries.  Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh, the one who has come to save us, who will defeat death once and for all, Jesus the one who will return with the Army of heaven to destroy Satan and put an end to evil once and for all, Jesus the one who knows what He will do, who is going to bring Lazarus back from the dead, in answer to Martha and Mary’s complaint, He weeps.

Jesus empathizes with Martha and Mary, He feels what they feel, He loved and knew Lazarus too, He understands what Lazarus’ death means for Martha and Mary and He enters into their pain fully and completely, experiencing it with them and offering them the comfort of heaven.  All of that He does before He brings Lazarus back to life.

I want you also to consider that Martha has faith in Jesus, she believes even as she complains that God will do whatever Jesus’ asks she also knows that she will see Lazarus again.  However, that knowledge, faith and belief does nothing to stop her feelings, to keep her from expressing her grief and complaint of how things have turned out thus far.

I know that in times like this we want to know why?  Why did God let this happen?  Why didn’t God heal Alex?  Why, why, why, Lord, if you had healed him, Lord, if you hadn’t let him get in an accident, Lord, if, if, if…”  I don’t know why this tragedy occurred, I’m not even sure that when it is all said and done that there is a reason.  That doesn’t mean God isn’t in control, it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t have a plan, what it means is that we are fallen creations, and we live in a fallen world that has refused to accept and follow God’s plan and as a result, painful and terrible things happen still.

This is what I do know.  Alex had a strong Christian faith and because of that his absence from us means his presence with the Lord.  I know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  I know that God is faithful and compassionate and even now He is pouring His spirit upon and wrapping His love and compassion around those who are mourning the death of Alex.  And I know that in Christ Jesus there is hope, even in death there is hope for Jesus has conquered death.  Jesus died and was raised to life and we have the promise of God Himself that whoever believes in Jesus will not die but have everlasting life and so while we can voice our complaint and grief over the death of Alex, we can be confident knowing that for everyone who believes in Jesus death is not the end but only the dark tunnel we pass through to spend eternity with Jesus.  My prayer and hope is that each of you know Jesus and that you will not grieve for Alex as people who have no hope but simply grieve that it will be a while before you can see Him again.

Saying see you later to my Grandpa

To some of you he was Charles or Charlie or Mr. Neece or dad but to me he was grandpa.  I liked to think that since I was the first grandchild and the only grandson for 20 some years, that he was especially fond of me, and that was more true then you might think because he was especially fond of all of us grand kids and great grand kids and as I grew older I bore witness to that fact as I watched him with you younger grandchildren and great grandchildren.

My mom has been haranguing me a few days now about how long I will speak, I will try to be brief.  I know that grandpa didn’t like church to be long, well he didn’t like it to go past 11:45 the stated time I think in the by-laws.  We never got out at 11:45 we always got out at noon I once asked why he didn’t just plan for noon and he said, “We’re supposed to get out at 11:45.” And I thought why don’t we just vote to change the time but then I think he was fearful the pastor would keep us till 12:15.

One of the greatest gifts that my grandfather gave me, gave his family and anyone that was willing to accept it was himself.  If you knew my grandpa you might think he growled a lot and talked loud, which he did, but if that’s all you thought then you never knew him. 

When I think back through my life one of the most common memories I have is worshiping with my grandfather at church every Sunday.  Then later out to eat with them and then a visit at grandpa and grandma’s house pretty much every Sunday.  That alone I am thankful for but another enjoyable memory was our summer vacations. Almost every family vacation that I can recall grandpa was there with the boat.  Loaded with skis and inner tubes and fishing gear and we got to fish and ski as much as we wanted.  There were bigger boats and fancier ski equipment but none of them had my grandpa driving.  I never realized how hot and tiring it must have been for him until I had kids of my own and he gave me the treat of taking them out in the boat alone.

It was rare that grandpa skied himself, most of the time he just drove and was content to drive around in circles until some of us were so tired we puked, I won’t mention any names but it’s the aunt who lives out of state.  And even though it was vacation he would get up at the crack of dawn to take my mom and sometimes I would tag along and we would go skiing at first light when the lake was as smooth as glass.  There was something spiritual about the boat gliding over the water and the skis cutting through the glass surface of the lake.  And when we were done he was ready and willing to take the next batch out again.  And he would let us kids use his fishing polls as long as they were the closed reels, and clean all those blue gills that we would catch, I never once cleaned a fish I caught.  I remember a certain uncle asking once while they were cleaning the fish, “Why doesn’t he clean them?” and in a typical grandpa growl he asked, “you want to teach him?”  Like I said I never cleaned a fish.

I’ve had the opportunity to ski behind other drivers but they all pale in comparison to grandpa.  First, I have yet to experience anyone who could and would bring the rope right to you so you didn’t have to struggle and swim to it.  And I’ve never experienced anyone who good run the boat just so to get you lined up, help you keep your position and ease you up out of the water.

These are wonderful memories that I cherish but they are more then that.  They speak to my grandpa’s character and tell what kind of a man that he was.  My grandpa was a generous servant.  Now some might be chuckling thinking that grandpa was more of a penny pincher and miser then a generous man.  But the truth is the two are not mutually exclusive.  He was an extremely generous with his time and his money.  He just never wasted it and always sought the best bargain that he could get.  That doesn’t make you stingy it just makes your frugal and smart.

If you had an opportunity to look at some of the pictures online of my grandpa there are two pictures of him with mop in hand in the church basement.  And if your car or A/C or refrigerator ever needed Freon he was the man to see only charging for the Freon, for family at least, and he was meticulous about it always weighing the cylinder before and after never charging you for more then you got.  I remember all the work he did around the church too, fixing the A/C and the furnace, running the sound system, changing light bulbs and putting other odds and ends.  He fixed washers and dryers for us and even put a set of used tires on some rims for me once and helped with putting new a/c hoses on our van once.

He served the church and others with the gifts that he had been given.  Pastor Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11-12 ‘It was he (Jesus) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up .”  We might be tempted to think that Paul’s list is an all inclusive and complete list but it’s not really for some he gave to be fixers of the A/C and handy men, and boat drivers and all manner of servants.

My grandpa wasn’t an evangelist or pastor or teacher, he never sang in the choir, he never sang at all, but he was always ready and willing to serve the Lord and others with the gifts and talents that the Lord had blessed him with.  And the life he lived out was a picture of servant hood.

I weep and mourn this morning because I loved my grandpa and I miss him.  But I don’t weep as one who has no hope because I know that grandpa had a relationship with Jesus Christ and so I know that today He stands at the side of the risen one Jesus Christ.  I know that because I too have a relationship with Jesus Christ that this separation is only temporary that one day I too will see Jesus face to face and my grandpa again and so I weep for joy for him, and longing for me.  So I won’t say goodbye I’ll say see you soon.