Sermon Tone Analysis

Universal Law of Cause and Effect

Have you ever thought of what causes you to wake up every morning?

If you're lucky, you might say the cause is a full night's worth of sleep that eventually wakes up your body.

But what about the nights when we have something important to do early the next day, and we decide to stay up later than usual?

Instead of letting your body wake up naturally, you set your alarm for work/school and then only get four to five hours of sleep.

What do you think are the effects that impact your body then?

Sleep deprivation, moodiness, imbalance diet, and health problems.

Universal Law of Cause and Effect

The scientific community calls this the universal law of cause and effect.

With everything that occurs in the world, there must be a first cause for the event to take place.

To illustrate an example, let's say I'm searching through my refrigerator for milk so I can make myself a bowl of cereal.

Well, the result of pouring milk into a bowl mixed with the grain will create my breakfast.

Still, before this effect can take place, a few causes must happen first, such as a cow must become pregnant.

Milk has to extracted and delivered to a grocery store.

Then the milk has to be transported to my fridge; then, I can mix it with my cereal.

The law is complete, and I can crunch on my favorite breakfast meal because the requirement has come to fruition.

This universal law applies to everyone; we can't escape it.

It's naturally going to follow wherever we go.

Without a cause, the effect cannot happen.

Which brings us to our tough questions, "why do evil and suffering exist?"

The result of evil and suffering plagues everything; it doesn't take long to see how dysfunctional the world is, indigenous people, bury their living children for many reasons - disabilities, fear of demonic spirit, or for pagan sacrifice.

Families are torn apart by physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

Schools and shopping centers are targets for mass shootings, and slowly more people are walking away from the church, and these effects upon God's creation was not a standard system but influenced by the first negative cause - The Fall.

The Cause of Suffering

And we read about The Fall from the first book of the bible.

In Genesis, the third chapter, we read of the account of the first couple, Adam and Eve, and their participation in eating the forbidden fruit.

Even God spoke to the man directly to not eat from this tree, for it will result in death spreading to all the ends of the earth.

But humans are going to do humans do and do things they will regret, and the Genesis story goes like this.

:1-8

Through disobedience came the powers of death, which became our first cause of suffering and pain.

God would not tolerate their actions, so he expelled them from the garden and drove them away from what was perfect and beautiful.

Genesis

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.

Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Suffering to Sorrow

With both of them officially leaving Eden (God's garden) that carried the promise of experiencing blessed peace and goodness, now the couple is to journey to the unknown and experienced suffering that leads to sorrow.

Before the Fall, everything was flawless.

Now they are suffering by difficult farming, strife against the animal kingdom, pain in childbearing, and family disorder.

Adam and Eve were not only leaving Eden but entering towards a road of long-suffering, and we too now get to walk hand-in-hand with them.

Since we endure suffering, we face all the same challenges and difficulties as they did.

We mourn over the loss of family friends.

We ask God to deliver us from evil because we know in our hearts that the things that happen are not just.

We wish there were a way that suffering would be undone and destroyed once and for all.

With takes us to the gospel of John, we will be reading a family is who is experiencing distress since they lost their brother.

Now we turn to John chapter 11 and see how God will intervene in their story.

John 11:1-16

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death.

It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?

If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”

13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.

But let us go to him.”

16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

From Death to Life

The first thing to notice in the story is the friend of Jesus, Lazarus, whom he loved was ill, and the sisters Mary and Martha sent a word to Jesus asking for him to come and heal his infirmity.

Since they were close to him, they knew his local hangout spots and addressed Jesus to come quickly.

And Jesus waits for this illness to develop for the glory of God, so more people will believe in him, so instead of moving.

Jesus remains near the Jordan river for another two days!

How do you think Mary and Martha felt about Jesus taking forever to see their brother?

It would be like us calling a 911 operator about our emergency, and they respond, saying, "I would love to help you, but our first responders are on lunch right now.

We'll send them out once they are available."

That would only add another blow to our suffering if we didn't receive help during our time of crisis.

I can only imagine how the sisters felt when they saw their brother slowly dying, and they knew that Jesus got the message.

After the two days go by, Jesus decided to head to Judea.

The disciples warn him of the danger of the Jewish leaders that want to destroy him, but rather than worrying.

He makes a statement about walking in the daylight.

Anyone caught walking in the dark stumbles for the light is not in him.

Here, Jesus is saying to us, don't fear physical death, but worry if there is no light in you.

We learned earlier that Jesus is the light of the world; without him, we are spiritually dead.

It's a more significant issue to walk in sin rather than face death and have the light within you.

Then Christ speaks to them plainly and says that Lazarus has died, but let us go to him.

He sounds as Lazarus is alive, and there going to visit him.

John 11:17

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

It was the jewish custom (shiva) to come and stay with the mourning family for a week and help them during their time of greif.

Once Jesus arrived near the city, Martha met Jesus and blames him for Lazarus death.

Sounds similar to the story in Genesis when the Adam blames God for his wife led him into to eat of the forbitten fruit.

We always try to blame God for things that he didn't do.

However, Martha request Jesus to ask God for whatever he wants.

But she is missing the point, Jesus is God.

God is standing in front of her and instead of rebuking her.

Jesus gives her assurance.

"Your brother will rise."

But still not understanding him, he claims.