The Story of a Man Named Lazarus...

This past weekend, I found out that my bosses son, Jesse, had passed away. Although I had only gotten to know him a little bit, this still came as a huge shock for me. The last major death in my life was the passing of my grandmother about 4 years ago, and even then it wasn't quite as sudden. My grandmother spent her last couple weeks in a hospital bed where people could say their goodbyes. She had lived a long, full life serving the Lord. When she passed, it wasn't near as sudden. Finding out about Jesse was much more of a shock.

Over the past year or so, one thing I've been learning and seeing more and more of is the character of God, more specifically, the emotions of God. One thing I guess that had taken root in my mind is that the Lord is the same in his emotions, never changing. That the Almighty was so mono toned so to speak. It wasn't until I read the story of Lazarus in new light that this idea was shattered. The story which is in the bible, John chapter 11, goes like this.

Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus, and was the brother of Mary and Martha. Mary and Martha sent people to Jesus to tell him that Lazarus had fallen ill. Jesus, knowing of Lazarus's death at this point, waits a little longer to go down to mourn with the family. When he gets there, seeing the tomb, Jesus wept! Like, tears flowing, wailing, snot bubbles coming out of his nose wept! As some people in the crowed said "could not have Jesus prevented this?" Jesus was deeply moved, and ordered that the tomb be opened. And for the glory of God, Jesus said

 "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

He then directed his attention to the tomb and cried aloud "Lazarus! Wake up!"

And the dead man came out.

You see, it wasn't until I put myself in the shoes of Lazarus and not one of the side-liners that this passage finally hit me. It wasn't until I was able to say, I am a dead man, dead in my sins and I need the life of a Saviour that this passage became more than just a story. It wasn't until I heard Jesus weep and say "David! Come out!" that this passage actually made a difference in my life. I had always believed that Jesus was the resurrection, that He would bring to life all things, and as I write this fighting tears, I hold fast the reality that Jesus is saying "Come out!" not just to me, but to anyone who is listening. The reality that Christ mourns the death of our spirit as we sin, yet there he is again and again to say "David! Come out!"

The little bit that I knew Jesse was that he was full of the joy of God! Always willing to serve, even surrendering up a summer to serve at bible camp to share the love that Christ had given him leaves me still missing him, even though I know he has woken up. I know he's in heaven, and I hold fast to that truth, that reality of being made perfect before God in Christ and now worshiping the Lord without ceasing! But still, knowing that Jesus weeps over death, that The Almighty has felt exactly as I do gives me much more freedom to mourn, yet much, much more freedom to worship. Knowing that God is a good God and doesn't make mistakes, I find peace that this will all work for Him, who loves us.

Please be praying for Jesse's family, friends, and anyone else that knows him. Pray that the grace of God would comfort and uphold all who mourn.

If you are reading this and want to talk, lets talk. My facebook profile info is located at the top right corner of this blog. Know that you are loved beyond anything you could imagine, and Christ is saying "Come out,"

Surrender

Currently I'm sitting at my desk on a Monday evening, so very tired with no prevailing reason as to why, and the only thought that keeps on ringing in my head is to surrender. It's been my theme for the last couple months, something that I've been taken captive of and something that I need to captivate me every day.

Although I very much dislike teaching or preaching on something topical, there are too many examples of surrender in the bible to not mention a few. The easiest place in the bible to find them is in Hebrews 11, the hall of faith. All these people are recognized for faith that they exhibited in the Lord as examples of how believers in Yahweh proved themselves before God and man, and are written for both present and past readers to glean from.

Abel offering his best for the Lord as a sacrifice because he believed that the Lord deserved his best, believing that it would please the Lord, that it would bring him joy. Noah built an arch in an increasingly wicked generation because he had faith that the Lord would send rains upon the earth to judge the wickedness of mankind. He endured probably one hundred years of ridicule, hatred and abuse from the people around him as he built the arch in faith of what the Lord had said to him.

Abraham in faith left all of his life, his family and his possessions to go to a place that was not known to him because as an old man he believed that the Lords promise of bearing a nation were good. He trusted in the Lord as he walked along, and the Lord was with him. And then when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his son, whom the Lord had given him, he followed faithfully and nearly sacrificed Isaac. We know the ending to that story, the one of the Lords provision in trying times.

Moses by faith lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and with the power of the Lord defied ten of the Egyptian gods to provide escape from the clutches of evil that was entrenched in the Hebrew camp and practice of worship at that time.

One thing that all these examples have in common is that they have to surrender, both good and bad. 

Abel surrendered the fat portions of his first born from his flock to the Lord, the part that was the most desirable in his eyes, to worship the Lord. The fat portion is the most flavourable and the has the most calories, to some one who has to live off of the land and would have needed many, many more calories than most people today, giving up something that good would sound insane. But he did it because he loved the Lord, and sought to please Him.

Noah surrendered one hundred years of his life, again something good, to do hard back breaking labour and endured 100 years of ridicule because he loved the Lord, as he was the only righteous person left on earth whom the Lord saw.

Abraham surrendered relationships and business opportunites to follow the Lord and his promise of offspring. And then surrendered his offspring, something that was good.

A lot of the times that I've been taught surrender in church was to surrender the bad things, to leave them at the cross. I remember doing things in youthgroup like writing down the struggles that we have in life, maybe a secret sin that no one else knew about, and we were supposed to go up to the cross and nail it to it as a symbolic way of saying that they were the Lords, and we bear them no more! Praise the Lord O my soul!

However, we need to remember why exactly Jesus had to go the cross, and that was to take away the bad that separated us from God to restore a right relationship with God and make things new, and I thank God every day for that! But one thing that I rarely heard teaching on was to surrender the good as well.

Another thing all the examples of heros of our faith is that they all had to surrender good things in order to follow what the Lord had called them to do, and this is something that I am having to learn and re learn. Right now I am in culinary school for the purpose of missions, to use whatever certification I will have as means to reach people for the Gospel. This is  good thing. I love cooking! It is something that I am good at, it is something that I can connect with people whom I wouldn't normally get to connect with and show them the love of Christ. But I have to surrender it to Him as He has me here. School is not my forte, and if you are reading this, I'm sure you are aware. I enjoy learning, but I don't like textbook work. So school is a big step for me, to surrender these next couple years into His hands.

As I try my best to do well in school, work hard and study hard, I find myself having to surrender more and more, and I'll give this example. Several nights ago, my laptop broke down, and I had a test a couple of days away. What was I to do?? I started panicking and stressing out with such a pain in my gut, one that I hadn't felt in a long long time. I called the computer repair shop (under warranty) and they said that it would take 5 days to get it fixed. So then I started freaking out even more and started shaking. In the midst of all that, there was sudden clarity. Why was I so attached to this thing, this thing that doesn't give life, and yet I felt dependent on it like it was my own? Was God not in control? Did God not put me in school? Is He not sovereign over this as well?

Another thing I am having to surrender are my finances. I'm a fairly frugal guy, try to save up as much as I can and spend as little as possible. I don't buy new clothes until i absolutely need them. But while I'm in school, I won't be making near as much money as I was before, and having to pay extra for things like bus passes and tuition. Is the Lords bank not endless? Are the riches of His glory not proclaimed in all creation? I know that He's called me to school, and I have faith that He will provide for me.

I think I am starting to ware our in thought, but the ultimate example of sacrifice was Jesus.

Philipians says "[Christ Jesus] who though he was the very form God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross."
The ultimate sacrifice was that of a loving savior for those who did not love him. That an all loving, all powerful all knowing God sacrificed his Son to set things right with man and to set an example of true love through sacrifice. And that is the mindset we as followers of Christ are to have, daily. It is hard. As Jesus sweat blood before the hour of his betrayal, so we won't have an easy ride, but it isn't for us. It's for Him. As Abel sacrificed what he considered his best for the joy of the Lord, so we are called to do the same. Not out of compulsion, but out of love. When a man and a woman love each other, they sacrifice things in anticipation of the joy it will bring to their partner. The same is called for Christians to for God, as he sacrificed everything.

Please forgive how redundant some of those paragraphs might be, this is just what has been on my mind and on my heart as of late. And I hope that whoever reads this knows how much of a sacrifice has been made for you life, how much you are loved.