The Glory of God Revealed That You May Believe When He Calls
John 11:28-32
Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg
July 24, 2005
“When the London Times asked a number of writers for essays on the topic “What’s Wrong With the World?” G.K. Chesterton sent in the shortest and most concise reply:
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely Yours,
G.K. Chesterton”[1]
Chesterton was a respected writer whose Christian faith was out in the open. He wrote plays, fiction, non-fiction, and even tracts. He was a famous man in England. He had not always been a Christian though, for he had made a spiritual journey from paganism at age 12 and agnosticism at age 16 to following Christ as an adult. I wonder if the London Times thought they’d get an essay from Chesterton describing how everyone else is wrong with the world, especially those who don’t know Christ?
Instead, when faced with the question of what is wrong with the world, Chesterton looks inward and lays the blame for the world’s misery at his own feet. There is something compelling about Chesterton’s simplicity and honesty in facing the question of what is wrong with the world. Perhaps what is most compelling is that only he who has found hope outside of himself will be willing to see his own hopelessness. Chesterton never intended to follow Christ; as a boy he had actually wanted to develop his own heresy; instead he wound up at the feet of Jesus, not quite able to comprehend how Jesus had called him or, for that matter, why.
Today, we are in the middle of a six part series focusing on John 11. The point of all of Jesus’ actions in John 11 is the glory of God so that many will believe. As we read through to verse 33 of this chapter, notice that the stage is set for God to be glorified: Lazarus is in the tomb, the disciples are ready to follow Jesus wherever he leads, Martha is waiting and hoping in the midst of her grief, and now in verses 28-33 Jesus calls Mary and through her he calls the Jews who do not yet believe in him. Everyone has been gathered together at Jesus’ bidding, and today we are reminded of one of our core beliefs: Jesus calls. Jesus calls us to see him and to believe in him. For those like Mary, who believe in him already, the call is to continue to see him as he reveals himself to you in every area of your life. For those like the Jews, who do not yet believe in Jesus, the call is to faith. For all of us the call of Christ means surrender and obedience.
Are you ready to respond to such a call?
Jesus calls Mary. You remember that at the news of Jesus’ arrival to Bethany Martha rushed out of her house to meet Jesus, but Mary stayed at their home. She was in no hurry to see Jesus. Mary, the one who had sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his teaching, leaving her sister to take care of the needs of all of their guests, now cannot find it in herself to go to Jesus. She is paralyzed, unable to move either forward or backward, so she stays at home while Jesus comforts and teaches Martha.
When I say that Mary is paralyzed, I mean this in a spiritual way, although Mary’s paralysis does have a physical dimension. Mary believed in Jesus; she had sat at his feet, and she loved Jesus, and we’re told in verse five that Jesus loved her. Mary cannot go back to the time in her life before she knew Jesus. She cannot return to that state of being, for when one comes to know Jesus, the old ways are necessarily left behind. Mary cannot move forward either. Yes, she believes in Jesus, but she isn’t ready to believe that Jesus is a part of her brother’s death or even a part of her grief. Mary isn’t ready to let Jesus into those places in her heart, so she sits at home all alone, even as she is surrounded by many trying to comfort her.
Getting stuck, without a way forward or backward, is not comfortable. When we are stuck we must realize that the story we’re in isn’t our story and that we are not its focus. Jesus is at the center and when we are stuck, we can be sure that he is going to do something new in us. It might not be a comfortable place to be, but being stuck offers us a fresh opportunity to place our faith in Jesus. Think of the disciples as Jesus told them to feed the 5,000 with a few loaves and fish. They must have thought Jesus was nuts, how could they pull off something so amazing? Then they realize that they can’t feed 5,000 with a few loaves and fish, but Jesus can and does and he works through his disciples.
There are times in our lives of faith when we get stuck, and we find Mary in one of those moments as we read this passage. Then Martha comes home and she draws close to Mary’s ear so that only Mary can hear what she says: "The Teacher is here, and is calling for you." (John 11:28) Mary, who had been stuck and unable to move, suddenly jumps up and runs to Jesus. Jesus has called to Mary and invited her to see that the way forward is to continue to follow him. The way forward is to surrender her grief, anger and doubt to Jesus and to find in him a foothold: the hope of new life. Christians make a mistake when they tell one another not to grieve or doubt or even be angry when difficulties arise in life. Instead of acting like we’re immune to such feelings, we would be much better off, and honest, if we assured one another that our real feelings and fears are the very things that interest Jesus.
Mary is a great example of this. She runs to Jesus and without even catching her breath she falls at his feet and says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:32) How interesting to note that once again Mary is at Jesus’ feet. Remember that we are introduced to Mary as one who sat at the feet of Jesus taking in all of his teaching, and now in the midst of her despair she comes to the feet of Jesus again: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." We should notice that Jesus never verbally responds to Mary’s words. He takes them in and accepts them; he is not afraid of her feelings or of her. How could he be? Jesus loves Mary and has called her to himself. Jesus’ response to Mary’s pain, her weeping, is to be moved in spirit and troubled.
That’s the way that Jesus is. When he calls us to himself he wants our whole selves. He doesn’t just want the happy parts; he doesn’t just want the clean parts; he doesn’t just want the polite parts; he wants all of you, even the parts you keep hidden at all costs. When we become disciples of Jesus Christ, we make a commitment to follow him wherever he leads and we make a commitment to surrender to him in order that our whole being is shaped into his image. C.S. Lewis has said that this is a process of going further up and further in,[2] for our lives of discipleship are marked by those places at which we yield to him and turn over to him that to which we hold on so tightly. This is no easy task. Mary struggled with it as she mourned for her brother; and we struggle too.
Surrender does not come easy. John Calvin notes that “[Our] restoration does not take place in one moment or one day or one year; but through continual and sometimes even slow advances God . . . renew[s] [our] minds to true purity.[3] Going further up and further in is no easy task, for there are times when we are very happy to stay just where we are in our faith, in our lives, in our relationships. Things get so very comfortable and they start to fit so well. Comfort is an idol though; and we take pains to protect it. Mary’s comfort was shattered by her brother’s death; so it is that our comfort is often shattered by those moments in life when we, or those we love, face deep transitions. It is at these moments, when the veneer of comfort is shattered, that Jesus steps in and calls us forward into a life of greater dependence and deeper surrender.
John Eldredge writes that, “God has had us in mind since before the Foundations of the World. He loved us before the beginning of time, has come for us, and now calls us to journey toward him, with him, for the consummation of our love.”[4]
We follow one who is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in him will live, and friends, those who are living in Christ must heed his call when they find that they are stuck, for if you have yielded to him, he will not let you go or leave you in a position where you are unable to move forward or backward. That is not his way. Jesus calls Mary. Jesus calls you.
Jesus also calls the Jews. When we look at verses 28-33, we don’t find a place where Jesus sends a message directly to the Jews. He doesn’t send Martha to them telling them that he has called them. Recall that the Jews have already tried to stone Jesus twice. They were hardly a group that wanted an invitation from Jesus. We can only imagine what their RSVP to his invitation would have been.
Instead, Jesus calls the Jews through Mary. He knows that the crowd that has come to comfort her will follow her. When she responds to Jesus’ call, some of them will respond too. This crowd of Jews does not yet believe in Jesus. They aren’t ready to believe that some carpenter from a backwoods village who performs miracles and speaks with authority is their Messiah. Jesus calls them now to give them one more chance to believe in him.
Jesus has come to Bethany so that God will be glorified. When God’s glory is revealed many who do not believe will discover faith. It is interesting that as Jesus calls Mary further up and further in, others are brought to the threshold of faith. So often we are tempted to believe that the story is only about us and what Jesus is doing in our lives, but what is happening in our lives always has an impact on the lives of those around us. These Jews, who are comforting Mary, follow her as she responds to Christ’s call. They have no idea that they too will have an opportunity to respond to Jesus. Jesus wants them to believe so he calls Mary, and in so doing, he also calls the Jews.
You never know who Jesus is going to call. Often times it’s the people you would least expect. Zacchaeus only wanted to see Jesus. He wasn’t expecting to become a part of Jesus’ story. We can imagine that he thought to himself, “I’ll just climb this tree and no one will notice me, but I’ll get to see Jesus.” Jesus has other plans for Zacchaeus. Jesus calls him down from the tree and invites himself over to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Zacchaeus warmly welcomes Jesus into his life and immediately surrenders that part of his life that he knows is in need of God’s redemption. He gives away half his wealth and promises to pay back those he has cheated.
When Jesus is welcomed into someone’s life, he changes them and that change is immediate and noticeable. “Follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Upon hearing this call, Jesus’ first disciples leave their nets in their boats and follow Jesus. “Follow me,” Jesus said to the tax collector Levi, and Levi got up and left his old life behind. When we are called by Christ our lives change as he opens to us a new and living way. Jesus calls the Jews. Jesus calls me. Jesus calls you.
It is not easy to be called and pointed in another direction. I, for one, happen to think that I already have a pretty good sense of direction. What I need most though is Jesus’ sense of direction. That is what Mary receives when Jesus calls and that is what the Jews who comfort her are offered. How hard it is to rest in that call.
Henri Nouwen captures the difficulties we face in responding to the call of Christ when he writes, “Faith is the radical trust that home has always been there and always will be there. Yet, over and over again I have left home. I have fled the hands of blessing and run off to faraway places searching for love! This is the great tragedy of my life. Somehow I have become deaf to the voice that calls me Beloved, somehow I have left the only place where I can hear that voice and have gone off desperately hoping that I would find somewhere else what I could no longer find at home.”[5]
Perhaps you too have become deaf to the voice that calls you “Beloved.”
Beloved, Jesus is calling. Will you heed the call?
May it be Lord. May it be.
[1] G.K. Chesterton in Soul Survivor: How 13 Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church by Philip Yancey. New York: Doubleday. 2003. 58.
[2] C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle. New York: Collier Books. 1956. 167.
[3] John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ed. John T. Mitchell. Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1960. 601.
[4] John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. The Sacred Romance. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 1997. 97.
[5] Henri Nouwen in Soul Survivor: How 13 Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church by Philip Yancey. New York: Doubleday. 2003. 306.