Funeral Crasher 1

THE FUNERAL CRASHER

PART 1

“Roll the Rock Away!”

John 11: 38-41

TELL STORY leading up to vs. 38…

First we notice:

Jesus arrived at the place of their pain and despair.

HE CARED:

“Jesus wept.”—vs. 35

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.”—vs. 38

An obstacle stood between the sisters and a miracle—a stone.

The “stone” represents for us the obstacles that stand between our need and a breakthrough. 

Jesus said, you must first “Roll away the stone.”—vs. 39

But the stone wasn’t their problem.

It was their objections to moving it.

There are usually three main objections to moving obstacles that stand in the Lord’s path to our life:

Pride: I don’t want to admit to a problem

Shame: I don’t want others to see the problem

Unbelief: I don’t believe He can do anything about the problem

Jesus’ word to us is always, “Didn’t I tell you that if you would believe you would see God’s glory?”—vs. 44

Believing entailed removing any obstacle standing in the way of their breakthrough.

Their part was to do what they could do—remove the stone.

His part was to do what they could not do—raise the dead.

Jesus requires us to do what we can, that he might do what we can’t.

Let’s talk about the first one: 

The obstacle of PRIDE

PRIDE is the culprit that stands between so many people and a touch from God.

Jesus once compared two men—one humble, the other infected with pride.

The humble prayed, "Be merciful to me, a sinner", while the "religious" man says "I thank you that I'm not like that guy.”

Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick but the one who has it. — Bud Robinson

Let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with having a sense of pride in a job well done. This is of God.

“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.”—Ecc. 2:24

The wrong kind of PRIDE is this:

PRIDE: Pride is the exalting of self to the exclusion of God. A sinfully prideful person will not give God the glory.

Just before losing his mind, King Neb. uttered these words:

“Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"

 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.”—Dan 4:30-31

The Bible warns:

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”—Ro. 12:2

Pride was the first transgression to stain God’s perfect universe.

Satan became “Lifted up with pride and said, ‘I will be like God.’”

Pride destroyed one third of heaven’s angels who followed Lucifer!

Of the seven things listed in Prov. 6 that God hates, the very first one is "A proud look…”

The Bible warns that, like clouds gather before rain, pride gathers in the heart of the person about to fall into sin.

The bible encourages us to, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.”—1 Pet. 5:6

Humbling yourself usually requires the admission that you can’t do it alone; that your problem is bigger, stronger, and will win the day without God’s help. It also means giving God the glory:

The reprobate civilization described in Ro. 1 are described as those who:

“Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,” and so, “their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”—vs. 21

The STONE OF PRIDE can stand before the Lord and a person’s need for a breakthrough because they will not admit they can’t do it, can’t handle it, can’t fix it.

Jesus says to them, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe enough to roll away the stone, you would see the glory (the breakthrough) of God?”

The second obstacle that can be like a stone standing between us and our breakthrough is:

The obstacle of shame

Shame manifests itself most often in the presence of moral sin.

It keeps us from receiving the breakthrough of God’s forgiveness.

We don’t want to face God or others with our failures so we carry the shame in the cobwebbed rooms of our soul.

Mary was, frankly, embarrassed.

She did not want the odor of the death in her family to reach others.

“Let’s just bury it,” she seemed to be saying. “It’s too late now. It’s past the point of rescue.”

And so, figuratively speaking, some people choose to live a lie, to maintain an image of success and happiness rather than let others in on some of the things that stink in their lives. 

Yet the Bible is clear. The stone of shame must be rolled out of the way if a miracle is to take place. Listen to James on this: 

“Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”—James 5:16 Message Bible 

“Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart].” AMP 

“So admit to one another that you have sinned. Pray for one another so that you might be healed.” NIRV 

ILLUS: Jesus bore your shame by hanging naked on the cross so that you could be delivered of shame.

See Him there? He hangs between heaven and earth, naked and humiliated. A sign over His head, “The King of the Jews” in mockery of Him.

Yet Isaiah wrote, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces…” 53: 3

The Bible says, “He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”—2 Cor. 5:21

Let’s take a bit of poetic license and put it this way: “He made Him who knew no shame to be shame for us, that we become unashamed.”

The third and final obstacle standing like a great rock between us and a breakthrough is:

The obstacle of unbelief

You see, the two sisters of Lazarus—Mary and Martha—had two kinds of faith, neither of which Jesus was hoping to find.

Martha had SOMEDAY faith.

"Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Mary, on the other hand, had YESTERDAY faith.  

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

The Bible says that Jesus then sighed heavily, like a teacher who has made the point too many times to students who just don't get it, and headed for the burial site.

His answer to the two sisters is one we all need to hear today:

"You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life.”—John 11:25-26

The sisters ordered the stone rolled away, and an unprecedented miracle took place!

What about you?

Is there a stone of pride, or shame, or unbelief standing between Jesus and the breakthrough you so long for?

Next Time: “Take Off The Graveclothes!”