Today my Dad, Sister and Granny (my Mom’s Mom) went out to Riverside National Cemetary for Mother’s Day. In the process of preparing for today, I was trying to think of what would benifit me as I work through the grieving process, but also what would benefit my family as well. As a result, I decided to prepare a short sermon to remind us of some things that would be encouraging and comforting on a tough day like today.
The Lord led me to John 11:1-45, the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Of course it’s a passage that many of you are familiar with, but I can honestly say this passage is much more powerful, in light of loosing a loved one that is a Follower of Christ.
I think that the words the Lord gave me were not just for us and so I’d like to share the sermon with you in written format. I hope it comforts those of you who have lost a loved one and I hope it encourages the rest of you to watch out for your brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering. One final note, please excuse the simple “3 Point Outline” approach. After all I am a recovering Baptist…
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Read John 11:1-45
Intro
Over the past 11 months we have been learning to live our lives here on earth without Mom. Some days, like today, have been tough then others and I think that it’s important for us, as we are moving through this greiving process to remember a few things.
- God Is Still With Us
a. Especially during the last few weeks of Mom’s life, it was really tough to remember that God was still with us. It was easy for us to say what Martha and Mary said:
b. John 11:32 “Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.””
c. Even Jesus on the cross felt forsaken and alone.
d. He quoted from Psalms 22:1-2 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”
e. It’s so easy to feel alone when we are suffering… but we can’t forget the end of the story and that next part of the Psalm.
f. Psalms 22:3-5 “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.”
g. The reason we know God is with us is because He has continued to be faithful to us even today. God has been watching over us from before He was born and will continue to watch over us for all of eternity. - We Still Need To Trust God
a. This is also another reason why we know God is with us… is because because we have trusted Him before and he has been faithful to us in many ways that we can’t even see.
b. We can trust that God has rescued us from the power of sin and we can see that in the fact that we have been changed from the inside out.
c. We don’t have to be a slave to the things of this world, instead we are free to worship and to love God.
d. I know that we’ve dealt with so many set backs that it’s hard to trust God. But I think that’s because it’s not God that has failed us but the other things that we have put our trust in.
e. We put our trust in Doctors, or medicine, our own resolve, our friends, our church. But in the end all of those failed in one way or another because they are all imperfect.
f. And even though we may not understand it right now, we can trust God’s perfect plan to take Mom from this miserable earth, and bring her to a place of eternal worship and satisfaction in Christ.
g. We know that Mom trusted God and her trust in Him has more than paid off because her faith has become sight. She knows now that she didn’t trust in vain and she was not put to shame. - We Still Need To Be Devoted To Proclaiming The Gospel
a. I know that it’s hard to proclaim the truth of the Gospel when we are hurting.
b. But when I think about what has comforted me the most, I think of the Gospel.
c. It’s because I have been reminded that one day, because God has rescued us, we will be reunited with Mom in a perfect, healed body and will spend eternity together worshiping Jesus.
d. We need to remind each other of that truth, but we also need to proclaim that same hope to our friends and family that don’t know the Lord.
e. So that they too can spend eternity worshiping Jesus with us and with Mom.
f. The reason Mom spent her last hours on earth proclaiming Jesus, instead of complaining to Jesus, was because she knew the Lord had called her to do so, no matter what the circumstances.
g. And she also knew that the strength to do such a difficult thing didn’t come from her… it came from Jesus
h. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me.”
