WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:07.520 Good morning, my name's Kevin. I'm one of the pastors here at Church of the Advents, and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:14.759 Because of the pandemic, our Thanksgiving celebration was quieter. We stayed home, just the five of us. 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:19.679 But it was still really good to spend a day focusing on gratitude. 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:26.719 And as you've heard, today's the first Sunday of Advent, and I'm especially glad that Advent is finally here. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:33.219 This is by far my favorite season of the church calendar, and I think this is exactly what we need right now. 00:00:33.879 --> 00:00:43.859 As many of you know, Advent, the season, gets its name from the Latin word Adventus, which simply means an arrival or a coming. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:55.019 And in this season, we fix our eyes on the once and future coming of Jesus Christ, to borrow the great subtitle of Fleming Rutledge's excellent book on Advent. 00:00:55.020 --> 00:01:00.300 In this season, we remember the incarnation and all that that means. 00:01:00.859 --> 00:01:10.079 And we long for the day when Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead and finish the project of new creation and set the world to rights. 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:14.240 Advent is a season of preparation and anticipation. 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.659 It's a season of watching and waiting. 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:27.179 And when I think about 2020, I wonder if there's ever been a year when it was more clear that things are not okay, that we are not okay. 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:31.140 I wonder if there's ever been a year when we've needed Advent more. 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:34.259 And I don't need to tell you that it's been a hard year. 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:38.479 The social fabric of our nation has been stretched to its very limits. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:44.640 There have been a tremendous amount of natural disasters on the East Coast. 00:01:44.740 --> 00:01:47.180 The Atlantic hurricane season has been the worst on record. 00:01:47.320 --> 00:01:50.140 And the West Coast of America has been ravaged by wildfires. 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:54.100 Much of the year, it's felt like the world's been on fire. 00:01:54.240 --> 00:01:58.859 And that's because it actually has been for lots, for many days. 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:05.939 And of course, this isn't to mention the pandemic, where we've been hunkered down for almost 10 months. 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:11.680 According to the most recent numbers, 1.4 million people have died because of COVID-19. 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:15.439 And that includes 262,000 Americans. 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:20.020 We've just had the worst two weeks of the pandemic. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.199 And from everything that they're telling us now, the worst is yet to come. 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:28.659 And so for almost a year now, we've been watching and we've been waiting. 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:30.819 And I don't know about you, but I've prayed a lot of prayers like this. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.680 Lord, when is this going to end? 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:34.719 Lord, where are you? 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:35.780 Why don't you do something? 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:36.979 Why do you tarry? 00:02:37.819 --> 00:02:40.439 Why does it feel like you're silent when we need you to speak? 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:44.539 Why does it feel like you're hiding yourself when we need you to act and to show up? 00:02:45.939 --> 00:02:47.280 These are questions I've been praying. 00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:49.159 They're not questions that I have answers to. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:51.479 They're classic Advent questions. 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:54.500 They're good questions to pray this season. 00:02:54.500 --> 00:03:06.419 And I think by God's grace, this season of Advent gives us the resources to pray like this, to watch and to wait without losing faith and without losing hope. 00:03:06.419 --> 00:03:10.399 Our passage this morning is John 11. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.480 And this isn't a typical Advent passage. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:21.819 But I think Mary and Martha have much to teach us about what it looks like to watch and to wait without losing faith. 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:30.259 In fact, I think Mary and Martha's experience of waiting for Jesus in this scene is a paradigm for us, is a paradigm for the life of the church. 00:03:30.359 --> 00:03:42.280 The four days, the four painful days they've spent waiting for Jesus to come, fix their situation, is akin to the history of the whole church, waiting for Jesus to come and fix our broken world. 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:48.539 Fleming Rutledge describes this dynamic so well in her book on Advent. 00:03:49.379 --> 00:03:50.319 She writes this, 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.180 The Christian community lives in Advent all the time. 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:55.939 It can well be called the time between. 00:03:56.979 --> 00:04:02.719 Advent contains within itself the crucial balance of the now and the not yet that our faith requires. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:08.259 She goes on to say that the contrast couldn't be more stark between this theme, this Advent theme, 00:04:08.259 --> 00:04:16.459 and what she calls the frenzy of holiday time in which the commercial Christmas music insists that it's the most wonderful time of the year. 00:04:17.159 --> 00:04:19.639 And Starbucks invites everyone to feel the Mary. 00:04:20.779 --> 00:04:32.959 The disappointment, brokenness, suffering, and pain that characterizes life in this present world is held in dynamic tension with the promise of future glory that is yet to come. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:37.680 In that Advent tension, the church lives its life. 00:04:38.259 --> 00:04:40.800 And I think tension is just the right word for this. 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:45.939 It's about remembering that Jesus came and about pleading for him to come again. 00:04:46.099 --> 00:04:56.579 It's about the consolation of Christmas and wrestling with and through the desolation that we experience between the times as we wait for him to come again. 00:04:57.719 --> 00:04:59.480 And this is a hard tension to endure. 00:04:59.599 --> 00:05:00.539 It always has been. 00:05:01.039 --> 00:05:03.379 That's especially true, I think, this year. 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:06.620 There's a lot of ways of dealing with this tension. 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:17.579 I think there's always the temptation to dull the painful reality with the burn of booze, with the warm fuzzies of holiday nostalgia. 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:22.439 But what I think we need, especially this year, is the fire of lament. 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:29.540 I think we need to learn to lament, not just to endure this difficult season, but to hasten Christ's coming. 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:39.800 And so what I want to do with the rest of our time this morning is to draw out a few insights about this key spiritual practice of lament for us who live between the times. 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:41.759 And so we're going to focus on two things. 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:43.379 First, what lament looks like. 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:45.540 And secondly, what lament does. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:47.740 So what is it and what does it do? 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:50.780 So first, what lament looks like. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:52.439 Well, what is lament? 00:05:53.020 --> 00:05:54.020 Let's ask that question. 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:55.939 A lament is a kind of prayer. 00:05:56.780 --> 00:05:59.160 In fact, it's the most popular prayer in the Bible. 00:05:59.460 --> 00:06:03.580 Forty percent of the Psalms, which are the prayer book of God's people, 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:06.439 Forty percent of the Psalms are laments. 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:09.859 I think that tells us that God clearly wants us. 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.699 He thinks we need to learn the language of lament. 00:06:13.719 --> 00:06:20.279 And I think we can learn just about everything there is to know about lament from Mary and Martha, from their story here. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.879 Of course, their situation is a bit different. 00:06:23.159 --> 00:06:24.279 They're sending messages. 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:28.019 They're talking with Jesus face to face because he was among them, 00:06:28.139 --> 00:06:32.439 not praying like we need to when we are speaking to Jesus, when we're lamenting. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:37.500 But all the same, what we see in John chapter 11 is the stuff of lament. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:40.459 So here's a definition of what a lament is. 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:48.399 A lament is a God word complaint that cries out for deliverance, that implores God to come and to rescue us. 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:51.740 That's a bit textbookish. 00:06:52.060 --> 00:06:56.300 Here's maybe a better, more pithy way of describing lament. 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.139 Lament is simply a prayer out of pain. 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:01.220 It can be one word, why? 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:02.220 Help. 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:03.220 Help. 00:07:04.020 --> 00:07:05.240 Lord, I need you. 00:07:05.340 --> 00:07:05.960 Where are you? 00:07:06.080 --> 00:07:07.940 How long, oh Lord? 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:15.760 It's important as we're talking about laments, it's important to say that lament does not necessarily dull our pain. 00:07:16.380 --> 00:07:19.400 What lament does is direct that pain Godward. 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:28.339 And I hope that you'll begin using the prayer guide that we've developed for this next season of our life together at Church of the Advent. 00:07:28.939 --> 00:07:36.819 If you do, if you're going to pray along with us and read the Bible along with us, you'll see that there are 11 psalms of lament in the lectionary this week. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:40.919 So you'll have some time to practice praying these kinds of prayers. 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:43.060 So that's what a lament is. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:44.840 It's a prayer out of pain. 00:07:45.660 --> 00:07:47.020 So what does lament look like? 00:07:47.080 --> 00:07:50.060 Well, there are four contours to lament. 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:54.080 I'll go over them quickly so you'll know how to recognize them. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:58.719 First, we see that a lament has an address. 00:07:58.819 --> 00:08:00.019 We turn to God. 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:03.099 A lament is not just a complaint uttered into the void. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.579 It's a prayer addressed to God. 00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:10.019 It's a prayer of faith, trusting that our God is a God who listens. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:15.519 Our God is a God who cares and is capable of responding to our prayers. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:24.319 Next, there's the complaint where we cry out to God, where we lay our problems or our plight before the Lord. 00:08:24.799 --> 00:08:26.339 And the complaint is the right word for this. 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:31.639 This could be problems caused by ourselves or by others or even by God. 00:08:31.719 --> 00:08:34.179 It's all fair game in prayers of lament. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:35.659 We cry out to him. 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:36.600 We complain to him. 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:39.720 The third move is the request. 00:08:39.819 --> 00:08:41.579 We make our appeal to God. 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:46.480 We call on God to come and to help, to come to our rescue. 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:51.520 And we lay out our specific requests and the reasons why God ought to help. 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:54.540 We appeal to why he should be motivated to do something. 00:08:55.040 --> 00:08:59.420 We appeal to his character, to his reputation, to his love for us. 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:05.100 And then finally, to round it out, the fourth contour is confidence, where we trust in God. 00:09:05.520 --> 00:09:11.220 This is an expression of trust and praise that God is good and will be faithful. 00:09:11.580 --> 00:09:17.800 Now, these are the four contours, basically four bullet points for what make up a lament. 00:09:17.920 --> 00:09:22.340 But I don't want us to get the wrong idea, the wrong impression about what laments are. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:24.480 Laments are not neat prayers. 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:25.980 They're laments after all. 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:27.100 They're messy. 00:09:27.460 --> 00:09:28.340 They're rough. 00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:29.660 They're angry. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:30.780 They're often desperate. 00:09:31.920 --> 00:09:34.860 And Mary and Martha in this scene show us how to lament. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:39.440 They show us what it looks like to live it out in the midst of a devastating loss. 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:43.980 The movements of lament are embodied in their story. 00:09:44.040 --> 00:09:46.420 And so it might be more true to life than a buttoned up prayer. 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:50.920 So let's take a look at what they show us, what it looks like to lament in life. 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:54.840 So first we see that Mary and Martha turn to Jesus. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.080 We see this at the very beginning of chapter 11. 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:03.560 Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:07.699 These women were sisters to Lazarus, and they were close followers of Jesus. 00:10:08.619 --> 00:10:10.779 And the sisters sent to him. 00:10:10.839 --> 00:10:11.799 They send to Jesus. 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:15.479 And we see that Mary and Martha have a very close relationship with Jesus. 00:10:16.319 --> 00:10:17.639 These siblings love Jesus. 00:10:17.979 --> 00:10:18.599 They trust him. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.979 They've seen firsthand his care for the broken. 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:23.879 They've seen his power. 00:10:24.079 --> 00:10:25.139 They've seen his miracles. 00:10:25.299 --> 00:10:27.299 They've seen his ability to heal. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:28.959 Verse 27. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.500 They have great theology about who Jesus is. 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:37.960 It says in verse 27, they know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who is coming into the world. 00:10:38.379 --> 00:10:42.759 He's coming to fix everything just as God had promised. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.400 And so they know that if anyone can heal Lazarus, it's Jesus. 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:49.840 And so Mary and Martha turn to him. 00:10:49.900 --> 00:10:50.780 They send for him. 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:54.400 And second, we see that they appeal to Jesus. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.379 And their appeal is very simple. 00:10:57.179 --> 00:11:00.159 Laments don't have to be long, drawn out, profound prayers. 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:05.139 Their appeal is this, Lord, he whom you love is ill. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.399 And in this, there's an implied request. 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:10.120 The appeal is clear. 00:11:11.079 --> 00:11:12.240 Lazarus is sick. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:14.000 You love him. 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:15.439 And you can heal him. 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:17.299 You could even heal him with a word from a distance. 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:18.960 So please, come. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:20.620 Fix things. 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:27.860 And then what Jesus does next is, I think, one of the most surprising things that Jesus does in all of the Gospels. 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:28.980 In verse 6, it says, 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:37.060 When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:38.779 It's shocking. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:44.919 At the request to heal his beloved friend, Jesus intentionally delays. 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:49.279 Third, we see Mary and Martha cry out to Jesus. 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:52.699 Because Jesus delays, Lazarus dies. 00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:58.240 Now, initially, their complaint was all about the sickness that plagued Lazarus. 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:05.259 But because Jesus delayed, because he tarried, their complaint now becomes focused squarely on Jesus. 00:12:05.439 --> 00:12:06.699 The target moves. 00:12:07.459 --> 00:12:09.439 And now we're getting close to the heart of lament. 00:12:09.599 --> 00:12:10.480 It's raw. 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:11.539 It's unpolished. 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:12.339 It's emotional. 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:13.839 It's angry. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.060 Their gentle request turns into a kind of stinging rebuke. 00:12:18.660 --> 00:12:20.480 The complaint is directed at Jesus. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.980 And Mary and Martha lead off with the same thing. 00:12:24.060 --> 00:12:26.879 We see the same words in verse 22 and 32. 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:28.379 This is their complaint. 00:12:29.160 --> 00:12:35.019 Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:44.199 Now, one of the interesting things about this is that we see these same words expressed coming across differently. 00:12:44.659 --> 00:12:46.679 Mary and Martha are feeling different things. 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:50.819 Martha hears that Jesus is finally on the way. 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:54.059 And I imagine her running on the road to meet Jesus. 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:59.599 And I pick up some real anger in how she approaches and speaks to Jesus. 00:12:59.699 --> 00:13:02.119 She's basically grabbing God by the collar. 00:13:03.339 --> 00:13:09.159 Mary, on the other hand, says the same words, but falls down in the heap of tears at Jesus's feet. 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:13.740 What I think this shows us is that we all lament differently. 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:17.759 We can be praying the same psalm of lament, but it might come out differently. 00:13:17.860 --> 00:13:20.299 We might express ourselves very differently. 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:21.579 I might pray in anger. 00:13:22.179 --> 00:13:24.120 You might pray through tears. 00:13:24.939 --> 00:13:29.179 The same words with Mary and Martha, but different expressions. 00:13:29.179 --> 00:13:34.559 But what unites them, I think, is their brutal and even their beautiful honesty. 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:39.859 I think it's important for us to know that it's okay to be angry with God. 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:42.819 It's okay to be disappointed with God. 00:13:43.439 --> 00:13:46.179 It's okay to be a weeping mess before God. 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:50.319 God wants us to bring these things to him, to talk to him about it. 00:13:50.979 --> 00:13:53.500 God wants us to be honest with him, however we're feeling. 00:13:54.319 --> 00:13:57.299 The best prayers are honest prayers. 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:27.279 God wants us to be honest with you. 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:32.419 Maybe you're feeling a crushing sense of loneliness, being so isolated for so long. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:37.219 Maybe you're feeling trapped in a marriage that's grown cold and lifeless. 00:14:38.059 --> 00:14:39.819 Maybe you're grieving death. 00:14:39.959 --> 00:14:46.079 Maybe you're just feeling overwhelmed with the demands of work and family right now. 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:48.819 Maybe you feel like God has forgotten you. 00:14:49.339 --> 00:14:51.559 Maybe you feel invisible to God. 00:14:52.279 --> 00:15:00.159 Well, I think this Advent season is an invitation for us to take stock of how we're doing. 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:04.500 So I want you this week to ask yourself, where is my anger? 00:15:05.339 --> 00:15:06.779 Where is my disappointment? 00:15:06.959 --> 00:15:07.779 Where is my hurt? 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:09.039 Where are my tears? 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:13.419 Your tears might be the best place to start your prayer. 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.939 I think your tears are God's invitation to lament. 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:24.779 I encourage you to bring all of this before the Lord this week, and maybe even write out 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:26.360 your own prayer of lament. 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:32.519 And if you would be so bold as to share that with a pastor or with a trusted friend. 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:38.019 Now this all leads us to the fourth move, that of trust. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:40.899 Laments don't end with their complaints. 00:15:41.800 --> 00:15:43.840 Well, that's not exactly true. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:47.600 There is one Psalm of lament, Psalm 88, that ends with a complaint. 00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:52.519 But most round themselves out, fill themselves out with an expression of trust. 00:15:52.519 --> 00:16:00.460 Even though Mary and Martha are grieving deeply, they still turn to Jesus and express their 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:01.039 trust in him. 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:03.059 We see that in verses 21 and 22. 00:16:04.220 --> 00:16:08.500 Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:15.480 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:21.620 It's important to emphasize that this trust doesn't cover up their sorrow. 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:24.100 It doesn't solve their problems. 00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:25.720 It doesn't make them feel better. 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:28.620 A lament is trust in the midst of tears. 00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:30.100 It's prayer out of pain. 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:35.399 Mary and Martha show us what it looks like to lament. 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:39.539 Now I want to talk about, as we wrap up, what lament does. 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:46.079 I want to look at what, or rather how Jesus responds to the lament of Mary and Martha. 00:16:47.059 --> 00:16:49.539 And as we do that, I want to make a point about prayer. 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:52.120 I want to correct a misconception about prayer. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:58.939 Sometimes I think that we believe prayer in general, lament in particular, is mostly about 00:16:58.939 --> 00:17:01.559 how we can become okay with how things are. 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:04.720 But that's not what prayer is. 00:17:05.639 --> 00:17:08.720 Lament is not about, lament is not a coping mechanism. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:12.500 It's not a way of making the bitter taste sweet. 00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:17.160 Of course, we pray for peace that surpasses understanding, but lament is not about reaching 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:19.600 some sort of Zen state as the world is burning. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:22.940 The ultimate goal is to stir God to action. 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:28.700 Listen to how John Goldengay, an Old Testament scholar, describes the purpose of prayer. 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:29.799 He writes this, 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:35.740 A commonly articulated Christian conviction sees prayer as designed not to change God, but to 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:36.400 change me. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:42.500 Christian faith has thus abandoned a scriptural conviction that prayer, about prayer. 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:48.580 Prayer is designed to change the way God is acting, to change circumstances and to change 00:17:48.580 --> 00:17:49.240 other people. 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:54.960 Whereas a more implicit Christian conviction sees prayer as designed to make me feel better, 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:56.259 but this is wrong. 00:17:56.840 --> 00:17:58.540 The purpose of prayer is not therapeutic. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:03.720 Prayer is designed to get God to listen and to get God to act. 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:11.440 Now, lament is the best way I know how to refuse despair and to cling to hope, but it's not 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:11.860 therapy. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:14.680 We lament because the world is not okay. 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:20.000 We lament because we are not okay and only God can come and make it okay. 00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:27.140 And time and again, the scriptures teach us that lament moves God to act. 00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:30.940 We see that in this passage in verses 32 to 35. 00:18:31.820 --> 00:18:36.259 Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 00:18:36.320 --> 00:18:39.160 Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:44.800 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply 00:18:44.800 --> 00:18:47.520 moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.839 And he said, where have you laid him? 00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:52.519 And they said to him, Lord, come and see. 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:55.279 Jesus wept. 00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:02.319 John 11, 35 is the shortest verse in the Bible and perhaps the most profound. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:04.200 Jesus wept. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:08.200 The tears of Jesus are incredibly important. 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:14.400 We see the creator and redeemer of the world enters into our broken situation and we see 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.299 him moved by its brokenness. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.500 We see him weep with those who weep. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.080 We see Jesus's compassion. 00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:22.680 And that word compassion just means to suffer with. 00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:26.580 The word became flesh. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.200 Jesus Christ, the son of God entered into our suffering. 00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:37.180 It was so profoundly moved by our lamentation that he not only weeps, but he is moved to raise 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:38.480 Lazarus from the dead. 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:41.340 In verse 32, Jesus says, Lazarus, come out. 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:46.100 He shouts into the tomb and at his word, a dead man comes back to life. 00:19:47.100 --> 00:19:50.220 Now this is Jesus's greatest miracle, hands down. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:55.940 But as amazing as it is, it's simply not good enough. 00:19:56.900 --> 00:20:00.759 This scene reveals Jesus as a compassionate and powerful man. 00:20:00.860 --> 00:20:03.360 He's a great friend to have on your side. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:08.699 And it's comforting that he can raise the dead like he raises Lazarus. 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:10.979 But this doesn't ultimately solve our problem. 00:20:11.679 --> 00:20:16.619 Let's not forget Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but he's going to die again in the 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:18.539 very next chapter of the gospel of John. 00:20:18.639 --> 00:20:23.259 The Jews are plotting Jesus's, I'm sorry, they're plotting Lazarus's second death. 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:29.240 We don't just need a compassionate and powerful friend or a teacher or a miracle worker. 00:20:29.639 --> 00:20:30.579 We need a savior. 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:35.899 And if you keep reading the gospel of John, we see that Jesus is just that. 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:40.939 We see the good news of Jesus Christ that he didn't just suffer with us. 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:42.539 He suffered for us. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:49.519 He was crucified and died and was raised so that our hope is greater than that of Lazarus. 00:20:50.379 --> 00:20:56.480 Lazarus was raised only to die again, but we have a greater hope and a better promise. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:03.640 Though God may tarry, though we may yet die, we will be raised with Christ on the last day. 00:21:04.940 --> 00:21:06.400 So what does that mean for us? 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:12.400 Well, as we consider all of the problems and the potential solutions of 2020, I think it 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:18.799 means that what we really need is not a better functioning democracy or more radical and effective 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:22.420 climate change policy or even an effective vaccine. 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:24.279 Now, don't get me wrong. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.779 All of these things would be great things. 00:21:27.860 --> 00:21:28.660 They'd be good things. 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:30.200 But they're penultimate. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.240 If the virus doesn't get us, something else will. 00:21:35.660 --> 00:21:41.180 What we need is not that God would prolong our days on the earth, but that he would renew it. 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:44.800 Our ultimate hope is not that God would delay our death. 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:49.600 Our ultimate hope is that he will swallow up death forever. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:54.240 This is the great promise prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:59.779 He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces 00:21:59.779 --> 00:22:03.719 and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth. 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:06.219 For the Lord has spoken. 00:22:07.399 --> 00:22:10.179 It will be said on that day, behold, this is our God. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.519 We have waited for him that he might save us. 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:15.159 This is the Lord. 00:22:15.659 --> 00:22:16.799 We have waited for him. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.779 Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:23.159 This is our ultimate Advent hope. 00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:30.059 And as we watch and as we wait, we add our voices to the prayers of the church. 00:22:30.399 --> 00:22:34.899 The prayer that the church has been praying for its whole life, its whole history. 00:22:35.639 --> 00:22:37.119 How long, O Lord? 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:38.519 Come quickly. 00:22:38.519 --> 00:23:02.460 How long, O Lord? 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:04.279 How long?