John 11:11-16

John 11:11-16 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Thomas recognized that Jesus placed the disciples' lives in jeopardy by going back to Judea where Mary and Martha awaited his coming, yet Thomas and the other disciples willingly set aside their concerns for self-preservation and safety to follow Jesus regardless of the consequences. They had committed fully to their Master. Even though they explored the possibility that if Lazarus merely slept, he would get better; when Jesus made the situation clear to them that Lazarus was dead, Thomas was ready to give everything, saying, Let us also go, that we may die with him. As twenty-first century believers with busy lives, responsibilities to fulfill, and perhaps a few doubts about how much we want to commit to Christ; are we yielded to that degree to Jesus? Are we willing to go to Judea or are we concerned about the consequences, the cost we might have to pay? Believers today are inundated by spiritual helps. We possess more supports than any previous generation: more Bibles, inspired songs, sermons, online services, self-help studies and books, meetings of every kind, conferences, more of everything. Yet, are we more willing to go to Judea than the disciples? Is our response, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening (1 Samuel 3:9), when we hear the Spirit's call in an anointed sermon or read a passage of scripture that calls our name?

Perhaps we have heard so many great messages, read so many inspirational books that our hearts are a bit indifferent to the gospel; we have a ho-hum, lukewarm response at best. Nothing stirs us much anymore. We might shed a tear and say an amen, but we don't want to make a lasting change to commit to anything that demands something. "Yes, that was a pretty good message, but I have heard better. Why get all excited. He preaches like that every Sunday; he always gets all passionate about God and the Bible. My life is what it is. I need to go home. I have things to do, places to go." Pastors must find it discouraging sometimes to see how little their sermons and the Word of God change the lives of their congregants. Rather than taking up the cross and following Jesus, rather than forsaking their old ways of living, many stubbornly hang onto their former lifestyles and are hardly discernible as followers of Jesus Christ. They fail to embrace a new and living way, thinking such a commitment too painful or too difficult. They want Christ and the world too. They cannot envision a Judea in their future. But Jesus said, I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)

Nonetheless, Pastors do not give up. They serve the recalcitrant, the wayward, and the slow to grow because they love with the passionate love of the Lord, a love that is from everlasting to everlasting. God sent his Son to die. Jesus was willing to go back to Judea, willing to go to the cross for the JOY set before him. Preachers, missionaries, and servants of the Lord do not stop sharing the good news and ministering to those who struggle in their faith or drag their feet. They keep encouraging those who sit in the pews and try to stir them to arise and shine and to give God the glory because they believe the Word. They believe God is in the room and the Holy Spirit and will change the hearts of men and women the instant they yield to God. Christ won the victory over sin: He gives people faith to die to themselves--all their weaknesses, doubts, and fears. Brothers and sisters if you struggle today, struggle no more: the Word says, be confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 KJV) We can go forth as a mighty army for Christ. We need not draw back into lethargy, cynicism, unbelief, or fear. No ho-humming for the Church of the Redeemed. Our prayer for you today: Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)