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Reading is from John 11, 
beginning with verse 17, on his 

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arrival. 
Jesus found Lazarus had already 

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been in the Tomb for four days. 
Now, Bethany was, less than two 

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miles from Jerusalem, and many 
Jews had come to Martha and Mary

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to comfort them and the loss of 
their brother. 

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When Martha had heard that Jesus
was coming. 

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She went out to meet him, but 
Mary stayed at home. 

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Lord Martha said to Jesus, if 
you had been here, my brother 

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would not have died. 
I'd but I know that even now God

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will give you whatever you ask. 
Jesus said to her. 

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Your brother will rise. 
Again, Martha answered. 

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I know that he will rise again 
in the resurrection at the last 

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day. 
Jesus said to her, I am the 

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resurrection and the life, the 
one who believes in me will live

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even though they die and whoever
lives. 

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By believing in me will never 
die. 

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Do you believe this? 
Yes, Lord, she replied. 

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I believe that. 
You are the Messiah, the Son of 

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God, who is come into the world?
This is the word of the Lord. 

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Find a seat. 
My wife and I were having a 

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conversation the other day about
names. 

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One of the things that she does 
on the side, is she names 

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products? 
So, if you run a big company and

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you need to name a new sandwich 
or a new beer, she works for the

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company that helps you to name 
things and we were going around 

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our neighborhood, considering 
the names that we saw all around

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us and you can sort of tell when
things were named, if they were 

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named in the 90s, and they might
have had Huns and them. 

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So, there is a cafe. 
Called. 

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I think it's called right in the
nick of time. 

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But it's th why Emmy? 
It's a cafe Bakery. 

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We don't name things like that 
anymore. 

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Instead. 
We name things kind of 

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straightforward. 
So there's that place in the 

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seaport. 
Drink. 

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What do you think they do there?
There is a pizza place called 

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do. 
There's a bakery called bread. 

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And so we named our church. 
Resurrection. 

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Because if you want a 
straightforward one word 

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summation of the heart of the 
church and the Heart of what 

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God's doing in the world. 
It is resurrection Central to 

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the gospel. 
Resurrection. 

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The word is filled with 
possibility and promise. 

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Maybe that which I lost isn't 
lost forever. 

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Maybe that, which is broken can 
be repaired. 

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Maybe that wound, that is so 
deep and festering. 

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Maybe that could be healed. 
Maybe there is hope beyond the 

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darkness and the grief in my 
past. 

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Now resurrections also an odd 
concept, right? 

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Because dead things don't come 
back to life, sort of a rule 

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that we have something that 
we've observed in the world. 

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That dead things don't live 
again, but Resurrection as an 

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idea or as a concept, it's 
largely hopeful, that's the note

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that's being struck. 
But lurking just beneath the 

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shadow of Resurrection bright 
beneath. 

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The surface is the shadow side, 
which is that death always, 

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precedes Resurrection death, 
always precedes Resurrection. 

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We're intimately familiar with 
death, want to talk a little bit

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about death this morning. 
I love that. 

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We were singing that song where 
we were asking Jesus to rescue 

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us and have mercy on us now and 
at the hour of our death and you

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might have thought. 
Wow, that's out of place. 

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On a Sunday morning. 
But right along with its message

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of Resurrection, the church has 
historically held up a big sign 

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that says death is on its way. 
It's a real thing that you have 

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to confront. 
It's lurking, somewhere around 

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the corner. 
It's somewhere in the future. 

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It's coming towards you at its 
own pace and its own time with 

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its own methods. 
Violent death is around us. 

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It's in our streets. 
There is accidental death, on 

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our roads. 
Incurable death fills our 

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hospitals, surprising death hits
our homes. 

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It's shocks and it horrifies it 
unsettles. 

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It haunts us. 
There will be various times in 

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your life. 
When you feel that more than 

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others. 
If things are going well in your

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life. 
Then this message seems a little

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out of place. 
If you're in a difficult spot or

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death has come close to your 
family. 

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Then you might be feeling this 
pretty heavily. 

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Because try as we might your 
organic diet, which I need to be

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on your perfect gym routine, 
which I need to be on your 

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Innovative Medical Treatments. 
You can't stop this thing. 

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It's our archenemy as human 
beings. 

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Novelist Neil. 
Gaiman said everybody's going to

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be dead. 
Just give them time. 

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So today, I've chosen this 
passage that takes place in the 

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middle of a funeral. 
Because if if if the news you're

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putting your hope in isn't good,
news at a funeral than you 

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ought, not to be placing your 
hope in it. 

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Okay. 
So let's try it out here in this

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funereal setting. 
So Jesus is on his way to the 

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Grave side of his friend, 
Lazarus. 

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Yes, even Jesus, friends died. 
We're told in verse 17 that by 

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the time Jesus got there. 
Lazarus had already been in the 

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Tomb for four days. 
And so at that point, the 

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families already, deep into the 
mourning process, and we find in

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verse 19, that many of the Jews 
had come to Martha and Mary to 

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console them concerning their 
brother. 

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And so, this gives us a context 
to that. 

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They're in the middle of a 
seven-day mourning period. 

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That was common in the culture 
of the day. 

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That if someone died in your 
family, they had to be buried 

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very quickly because they didn't
have the same kind of science 

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stuff to Serve the body over a 
number of days. 

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So they bury them on the first 
day and then the community would

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surround them for seven days to 
mourn. 

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So people would stream into the 
home and offer consolation and 

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sorrow because death ripples 
through families, right? 

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When we know this, that's why 
all cultures developed different

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ways of dealing with death. 
I think that if you, if we had 

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this way of dealing with death, 
where our neighbors surrounded 

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us, where our Community of Faith
came close, we would be in 

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pretty good shape. 
What death is tough for us, 

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partly? 
Because of the way we've treated

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it, which is that we have 
quarantined it to the edges of 

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our society. 
We've put death, it has to stay 

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in the hospital. 
It has to stay out of sight 

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until we have been able to make 
it up to Make it look like it's 

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life again. 
And then it, we don't have death

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in our homes. 
We have funeral homes. 

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That's where the funerals live 
and we only go there 

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occasionally as if to forget, 
the death is a reality. 

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Look at the seaport. 
Look at all the hip new 

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neighborhoods in our city. 
Where are the cemeteries? 

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No one is planning to die. 
Out of sight out of mind because

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death cast a shadow on 
everything and that's what's 

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happening in our text. 
Martha is walking through the 

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valley of the shadow of death. 
And she's saying if only Jesus 

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had been here, maybe this could 
have been different. 

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Look at verse 21. 
Lord, if you had been here, my 

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brother would not have died. 
Martha had followed Jesus. 

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She had seen his miracles. 
She had watched him. 

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He'll leprosy. 
Give sight to the blind. 

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He delivered oppressed people 
from the evil one. 

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She knew that he was powerful. 
She also knew that he had kind 

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of a direct line to God when he 
prayed, God seemed to respond. 

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So if nothing else, Martha knows
that Jesus is like a prophet 

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healer and so she says in verse 
22, even now I know that 

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whatever you ask Ask from God, 
God will give you. 

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Now, we often miss make a 
mistake here. 

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We think that Martha is 
expressing Resurrection, faith, 

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and she's saying, like I know 
that you could raise my brother.

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That's really not what she's 
saying. 

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What she's likely saying is 
something like I know that even 

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now if you ask God to comfort us
that he would provide 

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Supernatural Comfort. 
I know even now that if you put 

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in a good word for my brother in
the afterlife than maybe he'll 

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get decent treatment. 
I know even now that if you 

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wanted to turn those Five Loaves
into a bunch of food for all the

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people that Been in my house, 
for the last six days. 

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You could probably do that. 
You could still help us Jesus, 

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but what she's probably not 
saying is that I believe you 

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could beat the arch enemy. 
Because if only Jesus had been 

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here, but he wasn't here. 
And so now all hope is lost. 

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Right. 
We have to deal with this new 

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scenario because dead people 
don't come back to life. 

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And when someone loses a loved 
one, the last thing that they 

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want to hear our platitudes, 
wow, at least, he's in a better 

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place. 
At least. 

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Her pain has come to an end and 
Christians have their own 

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version of these platitudes. 
We call them theological 

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platitudes and someone's 
morning. 

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You might hear someone else say 
well God works in mysterious 

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ways, or he works all things 
together for those who love him 

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or God is in control. 
Now, here's the thing, those 

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three things. 
I just said, they're all true. 

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They're just out of place at 
that moment. 

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His true is they may be true 
statements. 

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And the wrong spot can do more 
harm than good, which is what 

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makes the next statement of 
Jesus? 

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Really weird? 
Because it seems like he is 

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speaking of theological 
platitude. 

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He says, in verse 23, your 
brother will rise again. 

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Now, it's important to know the 
context of Martha's belief. 

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So she is a first-century Jew 
and the majority of first 

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century Jews. 
Have a understanding that at the

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very end of time. 
God is going to raise his 

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faithful people up from the 
dead. 

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Right? 
So Jesus says, your brother will

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rise again and she goes, yeah. 
I know, I have that Future Hope 

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and that's what all the people 
in my house. 

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Have been saying for the last 
couple days, and I'm kind of 

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sick of hearing this. 
So it's a theological platitude 

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from an angle. 
At least, you know that you're 

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going to see him again someday. 
Jesus repeats it, your brother 

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will rise again. 
So Martha responds in verse 24. 

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I know that he will rise again, 
in the Resurrection on the last 

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day. 
Yeah, I know in the last day. 

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I know the pie in the sky stuff.
Jesus. 

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But it doesn't do me, what much 
good right now because Lazarus 

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is dead. 
Death is final, especially if 

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you've been dead for four days, 
which is how long the text says,

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Lazarus has been out. 
I can understand why some people

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have trouble with the idea of 
Faith or a religion because it 

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seems to defer hope always to 
the the end, right? 

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It's like the period on the 
sentence that I call life. 

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That's where the hope is at the 
very end. 

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What good does it do in the 
present? 

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On what basis would I decide 
that it makes sense to put my 

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hope in that way out there. 
Future promise. 

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Now if something like the 
resurrection of the Dead were 

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true. 
Like Martha believes and like 

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Christians have historically 
believed then that would be 

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utterly world-altering. 
I hope we can agree on that. 

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If everyone if we knew that we 
would all be raised again at the

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end, that would change some 
things. 

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But in order for me to know that
that was true. 

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I would need like someone to 
come from the future to tell me 

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that that's true. 
Right. 

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Like a Time trap. 
I love time travel. 

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I really do. 
I love books about time travel 

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movies about time travel. 
I love it. 

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When the person comes from the 
future and they have, they're 

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coming. 
Usually because they have some 

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information right there. 
Like oh man, I got to get back 

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there because if they knew this,
then we could avoid that, right?

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So they go back into the past 
and they are trying to get 

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everyone's attention. 
They're always dressed in future

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clothes and they're speaking of 
the future accent and they're 

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out of place and they say 
something like you have Abandon 

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this practice. 
You have to disavow this leader.

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If you follow them, you're 
following them to your own Doom.

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You have to start using this 
medicinal cure. 

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And minds are blown in the 
majority of people always 

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disbelieve them. 
But then, there's that one 

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person who takes them. 
Seriously. 

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I love it. 
But in order to believe news 

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from the future, you can watch 
in these stories. 

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People's minds. 
Have to stretch their paradigms 

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have to expand to accept what 
they're hearing. 

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And if they can that information
from the future changes, the 

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present and I want to suggest 
that we have something of a time

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travel situation on our hands in
this text. 

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Martha says, in verse 24. 
I know that he will rise again, 

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in the Resurrection on the last 
day in the future. 

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And Jesus says, in verse 25. 
I am the resurrection and the 

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life. 
Jesus is the resurrection and 

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the life and this is the 
shocking point in our text. 

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When Jesus said your brother 
will rise again. 

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It was not a theological 
platitude. 

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He was being serious. 
He was saying, you know that 

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Endtime future resurrection that
period at the end of the 

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sentence that you sort of place 
your hope in. 

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Yeah, that I am that and I am 
bringing that into your present.

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I am from the future and I'm 
here to prove that death does 

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not ultimately win. 
In fact, I'm not just bringing 

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the secret that the resurrection
is going to happen in the 

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future. 
I'm telling you that I am the 

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resurrection and the life. 
I am the source of all life. 

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Anything that exists has sprung 
from my Lively creativity in the

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past, anything that will be 
raised. 

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Again will be raised because it 
is connected to my life. 

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I am the resurrection and the 
life life itself. 

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Embodied. 
For Martha. 

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The death of Lazarus was the 
biggest blow of her, her life. 

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You never experienced anything 
like this. 

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Not only did she lose her. 
Brother, her intimate friend her

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companion. 
She lost a lot. 

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More Joanne, Brandt is a new 
testament scholar, and she 

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points out that the death of an 
adult brother who was head of 

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household is a Calamity for 
unmarried sisters. 

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So, as they're grieving that 
week during that seven-day 

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stretch, their there is not 
like, they're in this great 

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socio-economic position. 
They're they're set up, they can

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kind of take a couple months off
to process the loss. 

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No, it's the loss of their 
brother and all of the sudden 

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Martha and Mary are marginalized
minorities, their economic 

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00:16:27,900 --> 00:16:31,200
Drifters. 
They don't have time for Pie in 

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00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,900
the Sky. 
What they need is God on the 

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ground. 
They need someone with the 

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power, over life and death. 
That someone to break into the 

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present and demonstrate that 
fear and anxiety, and grief and 

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00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:49,000
sorrow and pain are not going to
go on for eternity, and they're 

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not going to have the final 
word. 

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They need someone like Jesus to 
step in and say, I am the 

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resurrection and the life. 
Martha. 

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You said, if only you had been 
here, I'm saying I am here. 

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This is the good news that 
reality Church proclaims in 

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00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:11,700
Boston. 
The Resurrection Church 

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00:17:11,700 --> 00:17:17,800
proclaims in Boston. 
Jesus, who is life himself, the 

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source of all life, the hope of 
all life. 

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00:17:21,500 --> 00:17:24,700
This one has broken into 
history. 

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He has overcome the grave to 
make it known to you that 

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abundant overflowing vibrant. 
Deathproof life is available to 

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00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:43,500
you now and in the future. 
When you connect your life to 

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00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:49,100
Jesus the life, then death is 
not final and all of deaths, 

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00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:52,600
Friends start to be taken in a 
different light because when 

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00:17:52,700 --> 00:17:55,600
your faith is in Jesus, the 
resurrection and the life, you 

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00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:00,000
know. 
That war is not infinite. 

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00:18:02,900 --> 00:18:05,000
That Injustice is not 
indefinite. 

292
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:11,700
That poverty is not permanent 
that racism will not go on 

293
00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:14,500
forever, that we will be 
reconciled. 

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00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:20,400
That fear is not final because 
in Jesus death has an expiration

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date. 
And like a time traveler trying 

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00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:31,200
to explain a new reality. 
Jesus expands in verse 25. 

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He says, I am the resurrection 
and the life whoever believes in

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me, though. 
He die. 

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00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,800
Yet shall he live read that last
part again? 

300
00:18:42,900 --> 00:18:47,900
Whoever believes in me, though, 
he die, yet, shall he live? 

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00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:54,600
So this is what Jesus means when
he says Resurrection, he's 

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saying even if you die, like, 
Lazarus has died. 

303
00:18:57,900 --> 00:19:01,700
If if One Believes In Me, then 
death is not the end of your 

304
00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:04,900
story. 
It doesn't death is not the 

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00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:07,900
period. 
It's not the conclusion. 

306
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,700
How do you get access to the 
promised life that's available 

307
00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:16,100
in Jesus? 
Like what he says, he says, 

308
00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:23,300
whoever believes in me. 
It doesn't say whoever obeys me.

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00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,200
He doesn't say whoever can 
measure up. 

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00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:32,100
Whoever can win over my favor. 
He doesn't say. 

311
00:19:32,100 --> 00:19:35,400
Whoever makes the cut. 
He says, whoever believes in me.

312
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,700
This makes Jesus so beautifully 
different than all of the 

313
00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:40,800
systems of, in our world that 
promise life. 

314
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,300
He's the source of Life, the 
defeater of death, and he 

315
00:19:47,300 --> 00:19:51,200
invites you to believe in him in
order that his life might be 

316
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,100
given to you as a gift. 
It's what allowed the Apostle 

317
00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:58,100
Paul to say in 1st, Corinthians,
15:55. 

318
00:19:58,900 --> 00:20:01,200
He looked death in the face and 
he said, oh, death. 

319
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,800
Where is your Victory O Death. 
Where is your sting? 

320
00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:09,200
He has confidence that this 
Jesus. 

321
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,700
Who is the Rex, resurrection? 
And the life has come into his 

322
00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:16,600
own life and it has changed the 
way that he sees death. 

323
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:21,200
He's encountered life himself in
the person of Christ, and Jesus 

324
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,800
has sucked the fear out of 
death. 

325
00:20:25,300 --> 00:20:28,200
And he reveals death for what it
is, you know, and I love horror 

326
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,300
movies. 
Death is terrifying in horror 

327
00:20:32,300 --> 00:20:34,500
movies. 
The movie. 

328
00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:37,600
It follows. 
Excellent horror film. 

329
00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,200
If you are looking for one to 
scare the tar out of you on the 

330
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:45,600
Saturday night. 
It follows is about it. 

331
00:20:45,900 --> 00:20:48,600
Following you and its amorphous,
right? 

332
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,100
It's not clear what it is, but 
the whole movie, there's 

333
00:20:52,100 --> 00:20:56,300
something and it no matter where
you run, no matter where you go.

334
00:20:56,300 --> 00:20:59,100
It is following you and it's 
going to look different every 

335
00:20:59,100 --> 00:21:01,800
time sometimes it looks like a 
creepy old woman in a hospital 

336
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,300
gown. 
Sometimes it looks like a little

337
00:21:03,300 --> 00:21:05,300
kid. 
They're like neck bent. 

338
00:21:05,300 --> 00:21:08,300
It's fought but it's following 
you. 

339
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:16,900
Our films are stories imbue 
death with incredible power. 

340
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,300
And Jesus is saying that's an 
improper view of what death is 

341
00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:27,400
death is frail. 
Death is dying, death is on its 

342
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,900
way out. 
It is only a matter of time. 

343
00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:39,400
Life wins. 
This life is not just something 

344
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,000
that comes at the end of the 
sentence at the end of your 

345
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,700
life. 
You get to experience true life.

346
00:21:44,700 --> 00:21:49,000
No, it's actually something that
is he wants to reverse engineer 

347
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,200
into your present. 
Leslie. 

348
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:58,400
New begin says to be bound to 
Jesus by faith is to share 

349
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,400
already. 
Now the life, which is beyond 

350
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,000
death. 
And this is what Jesus offers 

351
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:12,400
you today and already now 
experience of the life, which is

352
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,400
beyond death regardless of your 
qualifications, regardless of 

353
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,600
your background, regardless of 
your track record, your bank 

354
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,900
account, your title, your 
reputation, your past. 

355
00:22:23,900 --> 00:22:28,300
He's offering you life from the 
future now. 

356
00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:34,200
He says, I came that they may 
have life and have it 

357
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,300
abundantly. 
That's why he came that you 

358
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,500
might have Abundant Life. 
And so the question, then the he

359
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:43,800
puts to us today, is do you 
believe this? 

360
00:22:45,900 --> 00:22:49,400
Do you believe this? 
He puts the question to Martha? 

361
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,800
He's just told her that, he's 
the resurrection and the life. 

362
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:56,500
And at the tail end of verse 26.
He looks at morning Martha and 

363
00:22:56,500 --> 00:23:01,600
asks, do you believe this? 
Do you believe that I am in the 

364
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,100
present, the resurrection and 
the life? 

365
00:23:04,100 --> 00:23:07,700
God In the Flesh, who is 
breaking into history? 

366
00:23:07,700 --> 00:23:09,500
To ensure that death doesn't 
win. 

367
00:23:09,500 --> 00:23:16,700
Do you believe this? 
Do you believe that Jesus can 

368
00:23:16,700 --> 00:23:19,700
break into your present 
situation to bring hope in the 

369
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:23,100
midst of hopelessness and light 
in the midst of darkness and 

370
00:23:23,100 --> 00:23:27,600
satisfaction to your bottomless 
desire and healing to your deep 

371
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,800
wounds. 
Jesus says, I am the 

372
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,000
resurrection and the life. 
Do you believe this? 

373
00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:37,400
And what happens when you do 
believe this? 

374
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:46,000
You get a new identity. 
Now identity in our world, works

375
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,300
like this, you're always 
building it. 

376
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,600
You're always crafting it. 
Your identity is made up of 

377
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,100
everything that you have done or
experienced in the past. 

378
00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:58,300
And then in the present, you're 
just sort of like, at the mercy 

379
00:23:58,300 --> 00:24:01,200
of whatever has happened in the 
past and your identity is just 

380
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,900
the sum total of who you have 
been all this time, right? 

381
00:24:04,900 --> 00:24:09,500
And that can tell you that, as 
you go on the tough stuff Stacks

382
00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:12,800
up and it always gets to be a 
part of your identity. 

383
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,800
And you're carrying around the 
weight of who you have been? 

384
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,100
Identity in our world is from 
the past. 

385
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,700
It's from the history. 
It's it's what lies behind us. 

386
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,000
and in Jesus, your identity 
comes from the future. 

387
00:24:36,500 --> 00:24:39,000
Your identity. 
Your fundamental who you are is 

388
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:44,600
not who you have been but who 
you will be in Christ who he is,

389
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:52,500
growing you into. 
You are gifted a hope-filled 

390
00:24:52,500 --> 00:24:57,000
identity where this Jesus speaks
to the death in your past, 

391
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,600
speaks to the stuff. 
You're carrying and he looks at 

392
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,800
you and he says that is actually
I know you define yourself. 

393
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,900
That way. 
I know that your narrative that 

394
00:25:05,900 --> 00:25:08,900
runs in your head all day is 
made up of that stuff back 

395
00:25:08,900 --> 00:25:12,700
there, but I'm telling you that 
I am gifting you a different 

396
00:25:12,700 --> 00:25:18,200
story. 
That you are not the sum total 

397
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,200
of what you have done. 
You are the sum total of what 

398
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,700
Jesus has done and is doing by 
the power of His. 

399
00:25:24,700 --> 00:25:26,600
Holy spirit. 
That's good news. 

400
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:30,200
There's nobody else can give you
something from the future like 

401
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:34,700
that. 
A new identity. 

402
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,400
Do you believe this? 
And then a new purpose. 

403
00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:47,900
A new purpose to be one who 
lives out and offers experiences

404
00:25:47,900 --> 00:25:51,700
of this Resurrection Life. 
You know what, our churches 

405
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,400
ought to be. 
They ought to be places where 

406
00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:00,700
you can get a taste of God's 
future places where you can get 

407
00:26:00,700 --> 00:26:05,000
a glimpse of the goodness that 
God has planned for his world. 

408
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,600
A taste in this community of 
reconciled relationships, a 

409
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:13,700
taste in this place of 
forgiveness, a taste in this 

410
00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:17,200
place. 
Of all that God has. 

411
00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:23,900
Were mercy and Justice can be 
experienced. 

412
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:28,100
When you go into Baskin-Robbins 
or another ice cream store. 

413
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,200
You can try out different 
flavors. 

414
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:32,800
I hope you've had that 
experience. 

415
00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:39,000
It's awesome. 
So you get a little white spoon 

416
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,000
and you take, I want to have the
cookies and cream. 

417
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,700
I want that pistachio. 
I want and there's a limit. 

418
00:26:43,700 --> 00:26:46,200
Okay, I have found out that 
there's a limit to how many 

419
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:54,000
things they will let you try. 
but the church, Is that 

420
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,700
Community which is offering to 
the world, a taste of what God 

421
00:26:58,700 --> 00:27:02,300
has in store a taste of God's 
future. 

422
00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:07,600
Experience forgiveness, 
experience, wholeness 

423
00:27:07,700 --> 00:27:12,000
experience, Grace experience, 
acceptance experience, being 

424
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,300
wrapped up in community 
experience, being accepted for 

425
00:27:16,300 --> 00:27:21,200
who you are experience, changing
who you are experienced growth 

426
00:27:21,300 --> 00:27:24,800
and newness of life, because 
Jesus has declared your identity

427
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,400
from the future. 
A new identity and a new 

428
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,800
purpose. 
And so this morning, we're going

429
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:36,500
to have some time for 
reflection, some silence, some 

430
00:27:36,500 --> 00:27:40,800
Stillness. 
Oftentimes, we avoid Stillness 

431
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,100
because that's where the fear of
death Creeps in. 

432
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,500
But I think that the beauty of 
life could could sneak into the 

433
00:27:50,500 --> 00:27:53,100
Stillness that Jesus the 
resurrection and the life might 

434
00:27:53,100 --> 00:27:56,000
actually want to meet you 
presently now. 

435
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,500
And so, Jesus asked the 
question. 

436
00:27:59,500 --> 00:28:02,200
Do you believe this? 
And I think that he asks it to 

437
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,500
those who claim to believe it, 
right? 

438
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,000
There's probably plenty of 
people here because why else 

439
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,600
would you be in church on a 
Sunday morning, who claim to 

440
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,900
believe that Jesus is the 
wrecks, resurrection, and the 

441
00:28:12,900 --> 00:28:15,500
life. 
And he puts the question to you 

442
00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:19,000
today. 
I mean Martha believed in Jesus,

443
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,000
she believed everything that she
knew to believe about him. 

444
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:28,200
But he wanted to know, are you 
presently trusting me in the 

445
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,500
most difficult thing that you've
ever experienced? 

446
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,600
Martha's wounds are raw. 
Her brother has been dead for 

447
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,400
four days. 
And Jesus wants to know, are you

448
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:42,400
trusting me there? 
At Ground, Zero of pain. 

449
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,400
And so, when we have still a 
Miss, if you, if you are one who

450
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:55,200
believes in Jesus, I want you to
bring that to him. 

451
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,100
Your anxiety, your deepest fear,
your deepest grief, your 

452
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,700
despair, your depression, and 
offer it to Jesus, and ask him 

453
00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:07,800
to be present, to ought to bring
his resurrection life into the 

454
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:09,700
present. 
And I don't know what that will 

455
00:29:09,700 --> 00:29:14,500
look like. 
I don't know how he will meet 

456
00:29:14,500 --> 00:29:18,200
you. 
I mean, you might believe like 

457
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:20,200
sure God will make things right 
at the end. 

458
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,700
But what if he wants to do 
something now, presently? 

459
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,000
It's your disappointment or your
sorrow your loss. 

460
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,400
Martha actually ran out to meet 
Jesus. 

461
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:38,200
He was on his way to her house 
and she went out. 

462
00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:41,600
She interrupted him on the way. 
And so this is an opportunity to

463
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:46,700
go out to meet Jesus and to 
bring your stuff and say Jesus. 

464
00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:50,000
If only you had been there. 
Do you think that you could be 

465
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:57,000
here now, right? 
And if you don't follow Jesus, 

466
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:58,900
then the same question is put to
you. 

467
00:29:58,900 --> 00:30:03,300
Do you believe this? 
And it's a question that I hope 

468
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,900
causes you to ask questions, 
like What is my hope in the face

469
00:30:07,900 --> 00:30:12,100
of death and violence and 
sickness and pain? 

470
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,500
Am I experiencing the kind of 
vibrant life that Jesus seems to

471
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:19,900
offer. 
Jesus asked. 

472
00:30:19,900 --> 00:30:22,700
What do you believe this? 
It's not an accusatory question.

473
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:27,200
Sometimes I take his questions 
that way like I'm on the spot. 

474
00:30:27,300 --> 00:30:30,500
Do you believe this? 
It's a kind, you know, that good

475
00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:34,500
friends can ask you kind, 
questions that pull out, the 

476
00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:37,300
true stuff that you've been 
having a hard time articulating.

477
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,000
Jesus asked this question to you
with kindness in his eyes in 

478
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,800
order to pull out some stuff 
that you may have been having a 

479
00:30:43,808 --> 00:30:47,000
hard time articulating. 
He's inviting you into 

480
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,900
conversation and relationship 
with him. 

481
00:30:52,700 --> 00:30:57,400
Death is the enemy. 
Jesus is the Resurrection Life. 

482
00:30:58,300 --> 00:31:01,700
It's more than a teacher, more 
than a prophet, a messenger, A 

483
00:31:01,700 --> 00:31:06,600
Healer, a miracle worker. 
He's God In the Flesh crucified 

484
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,800
for you. 
Risen again, home from the 

485
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,700
future. 
To rescue you. 

486
00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:16,600
Do you believe this? 
Amen, let's pray. 

487
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,400
Oh God, we confess that we live 
in a world with 

488
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:24,700
a