Lord, If
Notes
Transcript
IF: The Word that Hurts
IF: The Word that Hurts
21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.
“Lord, if-” Two little words that today touch us where we really are.
Martha said this to Jesus … and so did her sister.
32 As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!”
And perhaps those words have been uttered by many sitting in this room for the past few days. “Lord, if-”
Two little words.
One of them hurts.
The other one heals.
IF is the word that hurts, but LORD is the word that heals.
Let’s focus on “if.” It’s the word that hurts.
IF somehow that day could have been different.
IF he hadn’t been out of school that day.
IF I had only been there.
IF…
IF is the word that hurts.
And it hurts because it looks back to a past that cannot be changed.
IF looks back and raises a host of questions that no one can answer.
IF is not a word that encourages faith, because IF looks backward - where as FAITH looks forward.
What we need today is FAITH to believe that God is in control, that He is working all things together for good, even though we do not understand the plan that He has.
There is another reason why IF hurts. IF is a word that looks for explanations.
Why did this happen? That is the question on everyone’s heart.
But we must remember the total picture.
Even if we did have a full explanation today, it wouldn’t bring Levontay back to us, and it wouldn’t heal our aching hearts.
What we must remember is that God is still on the throne and He knows what has happened and how we feel today.
I suppose in the final analysis, IF is a word that hurts because IF can be very selfish. It can smack at pride. You and I are suggesting that WE know what is best, that if WE could have interjected ourselves that things would have been different.
IF becomes a mirror in which we see ourselves, when what we need is a window through which we can see God.
IF is a very normal word for us to use in a difficult experience like this.
But we must recognize the fact that IF is the word that hurts.
However, LORD is the word that heals.
When you and I come to Jesus and say “Lord!” then the healing will begin in our hearts.
Mary and Martha were brokenhearted.
Their brother had died and Jesus apparently had done nothing to prevent his death.
By the time Jesus arrived at the grave of Lazarus, the man had been dead for four days!
But, both Mary and Martha were able to say, “Lord!”
What kind of a LORD is He?
Why is it that LORD is the word that heals?
Jesus is the LORD of Love
Jesus is the LORD of Love
Love always heals.
Love is see throughout John 11.
3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.
36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
The tragedy of Lazarus’ death did not change the fact that Jesus loved him and his sisters.
In love, Jesus came to them in their hour of need, just as he comes to us today.
He spoke words of encouragement, just as he speaks to us from His word today.
In love, he wept, and right now our Lord feels the pain in our hearts and enters into our sorrows.
But the greatest proof of the love of God is not Jesus at the grave, or Jesus weeping, but Jesus on the cross.
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus is the LORD of Life
Jesus is the LORD of Life
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Martha believed in the resurrection. But she saw it only as a future event.
Jesus said that resurrection is a present experience. Those who have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ can experience a resurrection power in their lives today.
The power of His resurrection will carry us through the heaviness we are feeling today.
Jesus is the LORD of Glory
Jesus is the LORD of Glory
The emphasis in John 11 is on the glory of God.
4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
We can’t change the past, but the way we use the past can help us in the future.
God can take even the seeming tragedies of life and work them out for our good and His glory.
The way we week, the way we encourage each other, the way we carry our burdens — all of these can be used for the glory of God.
Wrap Up
Wrap Up
For the Christian, the best is yet to come. Death is only sleep, according to the Lord.
The spirit goes back to God who gave it, but the body sleeps, awaiting the resurrection morning.
If death is sleep, there is nothing to frear. Jesus Christ has taken the sting of death, and we share his resurrection victory.
There is a land where beauty cannot fade, nor sorrow dim the eye.
Where true love shall not be dismayed, and none shall every die.
To share in this victory, one must be an heir.
To be an heir, one must be a child.
16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,
17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
May our presence here today cause us all to reflect on our need for God and to trust in Him.
Here the, are two little words you and I must understand and deal with: “Lord, If-”
If is the word that hurts, but LORD is the word that heals.
The eternal destiny of Levontay is in the hands of a fair, just, and merciful God.
We trust our God will always do what is right — and today we rely upon His grace, compassion, and mercy.
He is a good God.
Today, we don’t want to say “Lord, if-”, we simply want to say LORD.
Graveside
Graveside
We have reached the end. We can go no further with Levontay.
Although his life has ended, his memory will live on throughout our lives.
Let us hold onto the memories of a loving son.
Let us remember the good times we spent with him.
Let us remember the good that Levontay did.
As we mourn for his death today, and as we go throughout the next few days, weeks, months, and down through our lives, let us remember the 121st Psalm, in which we find that the Lord will help those who seek Him:
A song of ascents.
1 I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.
4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.
5 The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side.
6 The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life.
8 The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.
P R A Y E R
P R A Y E R
Our Father in Heaven, holy & reverend is your name. Please give comfort to all of us, especially to the family during this time of sorrow. We ask for the comfort that only You can give.
We are grateful for Levontay and the life that he lived. Though his body may be laying here in the grave, may he continue to speak to all of us by the way he lived.
Help us all to remember that we are but dust, and unto dust we shall return.
Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
Lord, when our time comes to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, may we fear no evil.
Help us to live in such a way, that we will be numbered with the righteous.
We know in that day, You will wipe away all tears from our eyes.
There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there will be no more pain; for all the former things will have passed away.
Please be with us this day, and through life. These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN
