LORD OF RESURRECTION

SATURDAY, November 3 
John 11: 41-44 (Good News Translation)
 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me.”  After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave cloths, and with a cloth around his face. “Untie him,” Jesus told them, “and let him go.”
Have we ever wondered
what Lazarus was thinking?
He has died, been buried for four days
Secure in the arms of his God!
And then God says, 
You must go back...
Back to your friends and family,
Back to the other world?
I need you to help their unbelief,
To believe in my Son. 
Lazarus is a bit of a pawn
In God's far-reaching plan. 
So he follows the voice of Jesus
And walks out, 
Into the light of resurrection. 
And they believe. 
But what is Lazarus thinking
About what just happened? 

Is there a Lazarus in us
Willing to follow the voice of God,
Even when we cannot see or comprehend?
Even when the call is difficult or uncomfortable?
Are we listening?
Are we willing to be a part 
Of resurrection transformation?

d.365.org GO!  (Estelene Borakenski)
Go now and offer comfort and grace to a world in need of resurrection, certain in the knowledge that the God who causes resurrection is with you.

FRIDAY, November 2  'Resurrection Work'
John 11:37-40 (Good News Translation)

 But some of them said, “He gave sight to the blind man, didn't he? Could he not have kept Lazarus from dying?”

 Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance.  “Take the stone away!” Jesus ordered.

Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, “There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!”

 Jesus said to her, “Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?”

Who picks who gets healed?
Is it some sort of lottery?
God and Jesus pulling winning cards
   out of the world's jar of suffering?
This person - a miracle
This one - will die to prove a point. 
This man was only blind...easy stuff. 
Water into wine - child's play. 
Resurrections are much harder -
But far showier. 
'If you have faith' -
There's the catch phrase. 
Do we really believe today
God is still capable of such miracles?
Or did the resurrection from the cross
use up the miracle magic?
'If you have faith' -
Do we REALLY believe?
God is at work...
Faith makes a difference 
Beyond our imagination.
Our world is suffering.
Offer comfort and grace;
The God who resurrects
is working through us.  

THURSDAY, November 1  
"Resurrection Moments"

d365 PAUSE! (Estelene Boratenski)
Of all the things we believe to be true about the God we cannot see, the notion of being resurrected from the dead is the one thing that calls for complete faith.

Most people will grant that Jesus was right about how we should live our lives. But those unexplainable moments — a healing that mystifies medicine, a turn of events that seems to have no earthly explanation, a sunrise too beautiful for human understanding — remind us that, with God, all things are possible.

Taste and see how God’s acts of grace can strengthen our faith when we are in need of resurrection.

John 11:32-36 (Good News Translation)

Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet. “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”

 Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how the people with her were weeping also; his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved.  “Where have you buried him?” he asked them.

“Come and see, Lord,” they answered.

 Jesus wept.  “See how much he loved him!” the people said.

How often, Lord. 

Do we weep?

Do we shed buckets of tears 

with anguished sobs of pain?

And then cry out,

Why, God, Why?

Why did you allow this to happen?

Why didn't you intervene?

You must not care.

I must have done something wrong. 

God is angry with me.

And then you gently,

ever so gently that it is unfelt,

reach out and comfort us,

And assure us 

That you are hurting too.  

No anger, no wrongs,

Just shared grief.  

In those moments, 

a resurrection begins. 

You are at work.