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As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a young man ran up and knelt before him and asked him: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him you know the Commandments: you shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and mother. The man said to him: teacher I have kept these since my youth.
Jesus looked at him, loved him and said: you lack one thing, go sell all that you own and give the money to the poor then come follow me. When he heard this he was shocked and he went away grieving for he was a rich man. (Mark 10:17-22)
I bring this story up because some scholars claim, and I tend to agree, that the young man we meet above in the Gospel of Mark, is the same person we meet today in the Gospel of John – Lazarus of Bethany.
Tradition tells us Lazarus is the son of Simon the Leper, and brother to Mary and Martha. They are a well-regarded family, known in the high priestly circle of Sadducees in Jerusalem, just two miles away. They are also a family of great means as we find out when Mary anoints Jesus’s feet with ointment valued at 300 denari, a year’s wages for working-class people at the time.
Now before I go any further I want to introduce you to the theme of this sermon: one word – belief. I know you might be thinking… belief? Don’t you often say belief is not a requirement for participation at Epiphany? True. Belonging over believing!
And yet, belief is part of our tradition, albeit a misunderstood one. So, today my hope is to get some clarity on how to think about belief in Jesus.
The stage is set at the encounter between Jesus and Martha when he arrives in Bethany four days after the death of his beloved friend Lazarus.
There on the road, in conversation with Martha, Jesus claims He is the resurrection and the life. That those who believe in him even though they die will live and everyone who lives and believes in him will never die. Believe, believe, believe repeated over and over again. Then Jesus looks Martha in the eyes and asks: “Do you believe this?”
And that is our question as well. Do we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and that through him we touch eternity; we fuse with the supraliminal soul of God? Do we believe this? And, if so, what does that mean in the regular routine of our particular lives?
Now, I’m very familiar with the story of Lazarus, in fact, I would consider myself somewhat of a topic expert. And yet, as I studied and prayed about this sermon, as I do, a new insight opened up that I want to share with you.
The rich young man, Lazarus, whom I think the evidence indicates is the author of the Gospel of John, wove into this narrative the story of how he came to fully believe in Jesus Christ as resurrection and as life, and how that changed everything for him.
We first meet Lazarus at the river Jordan in chapter one. He is there as the un-named follower of John the Baptist, with his friend Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Upon the encouragement of John the Baptist they seek out Jesus, and ask where he lives. To which Jesus responds: come and see.
And what they see is: Jesus turning water into wine; Jesus healing the official’s daughter; Jesus turning the loaves and fishes into a feeding festival for 5,000; Jesus walking on water; Jesus giving sight to a man born blind.
Then one day, in a scene captured in Matthew, Mark, and Luke Lazarus feels inspired to kneel down in front of Jesus and ask for the secret to eternal life. The answer: live well with your family and your community. And, Oh, one more thing: trust God first and above all else. And this Lazarus could not quite do. He couldn’t give up his hedge. We all have a hedge.
The hedge is the thing we also really trust in. I mean we say we trust in God, but the hedge is the thing that we hold in parallel, and believe we have more control over. It is the “also believe in.” What do you also believe in? That is your hedge. For Lazarus it was his wealth.
And he is called out, not because Jesus is interested in revealing his hypocrisy, but because Lazarus asks and Jesus responds: give up your hedge, and follow me.
I’m not sure how that made Lazarus feel, but I do know it was enough for him to turn south and return to Bethany as Jesus and the rest of the Apostles turned north to Galilee. He returned home, back to the life he trusted; back to the wealth he believed in.
That is the definition of belief, incidentally – the thing you trust in. Belief as a thing we think is consistent, repeatable, tangible, provable. Like the scientific method. I believe in that. I believe in the banking system. I believe that Epiphany was built in 1911.
I believe David Scott, a guy whose wedding I performed in Beverly Hills, legitimately logged the most moon buggy miles ever recorded. He was an astronaut. I read it in a book, I believe the stat. But I also believe him. He told me. He is trustworthy.
Belief at its most authentic is personal. We know this, you and I. I believe in my wife. I believe in our Vestry. I believe in all of you. Belief at its most powerful, at its most real, is about relationship and the people we put our trust in.
The Greek word used in the Gospel is pisteuo which does not mean factual agreement or informational certainty, but rather – to trust in, to place your faith in, to commit yourself to. It is personal. It is relational.
Lazarus did not fully trust in Jesus, he had a hedge, which is why he returned to Bethany, and why he is telling us this story.
The Gospel of John is his story about how he screwed it up, how he missed the moment there with Jesus, and instead returned home to his wealth, which, it turns out, couldn’t save him from sickness and death.
He wants us to learn from his mistake; not how to avoid death by believing in Jesus, but how to live more fully and fearlessly because of Jesus.
And so, he writes the Gospel with an emphasis on belief. It is a word used more than a hundred times. It sings throughout the text starting with the prologue we are so familiar with… In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then we meet John the Baptist the witness who came to testify to the light so that we might believe in Jesus.
Lazarus believed, almost. But he couldn’t get over his hedge. Then he died and crossed the Rubicon going to the light, hearing his name called by a familiar voice, being greeted by loved ones who had preceded him in death, and then, seeing Jesus face-to-face.
Four days later, again the light, the voice, the people, Jesus… and Lazarus knew in that moment, with blinding certainty that the Word was with God, and the Word was God – personal, incarnational, Jesus.
And suddenly what had been his hedge, his wealth seemed silly and small and insignificant.
He believed, and he wants us to know that belief as well, because he wants us to know that love as well, because that love makes us fearless people walking upon the earth. Resurrection and life is a better bet than any hedge can fund.
And so, knowing this first hand, Lazarus ditched his old identity, renaming himself the Beloved Disciple who followed Jesus everywhere, fearlessly. He followed him into Caiaphas house, the high priest who had put out a hit on him.
He followed him to the foot of the cross when all the other Apostles ran away scared. He outran Peter to the tomb, he looked in and believed.
This is the story of a man who had maintained his hedge, until he came to see, first hand on both sides of the tomb, that Jesus is God. And so, he wrote this Gospel to save us a little bit of time by telling his story finishing in chapter 20:31 by saying: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” That you may have a fearless life.
Holy Week begins March 28th at 9:00 in the morning This is Lazarus Saturday and starts with a talk that might give you more insight into Lazarus as the Beloved Disciple and the author of the Gospel of John. It is followed by an amazing liturgy in the likeness of ancient orthodoxy.
And as you sit in that service at the beginning of Holy Week my invitation is to consider your hedge and what a fearless life might look like for you. How would you live if you knew what Lazarus knew first hand – that Jesus is resurrection and life; that Jesus will meet us wherever we are whether on this side of the tomb or the other side.
What would your life look like if Jesus was the one in whom you, first and foremost, put your trust; no parallel, no hedges?
That’s my invitation for your contemplation as we move from Lazarus Saturday to the Great Vigil of Easter.
As you walk the journey of Holy Week, may resurrection and life inspire your belief.