Live Like You Are Dying

John 11:1-45

Death. It is really difficult when your friend dies. When your friend dies too soon. Cancer. Car accident. Suicide. I might be young, but I have experienced my fair share of death, to be honest maybe even more than my fair share. In the last 24 years I have been to at least 12 funerals. Funerals of people that are very near and dear to my heart. People that I love whose time on earth has come to an end, sometimes a very abrupt end. And believe me they were hard funerals. Even as someone with a faith background and a framework with which to understand death, I dislike funerals. I dislike death.

Recently the death of a college student has been weighing on my heart. This college student was in his senior year. He loved the outdoors, hunting, and fishing. On one night in February he went out to the bar with his roommate. In the crowded bar they were separated. His roommate wondered where he had went and decided he must have found some other friends. The night went on and still he had not seen him. As he went home he walked back through all the bars in the area looking for his roommate. He made numerous unsuccessful calls to his roommates cell phone. And after returning to their empty apartment he reported the young man to the police as missing. The young man’s body was found the next day in a neighboring town, about 40 miles away next to the train tracks, without a jacket, in South Dakota’s freezing temperatures. I think my brother has felt like Mary and Martha several times since his roommate’s death. I think my brother often wonders, “If I had been there my roommate wouldn’t have died. If I hadn’t separated from him at the bar he would still be alive.”

In our text today we meet up with Mary and Martha, who also dislike death. Their brother Lazarus became ill and Jesus did not make it to Lazarus’ bedside quickly enough. Lazarus died and was wrapped in cloth and placed in his tomb. When Jesus finally arrives, he is first greeted by Martha who is a bit upset with him. She believed that if Jesus had been there Lazarus wouldn’t have died. Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will rise, but Martha thinks that the resurrection Jesus is speaking about is on the last day, the final resurrection. Jesus says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Then he asks Martha an important question. He asks if she believes this. Do you believe this, Martha? She says, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” This conversation with Jesus brings Martha comfort in the midst of her grief after Lazarus’ death.

Mary approaches Jesus with the same comment as Martha, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And before Jesus could respond Mary started to weep. Jesus’ response to Mary’s tears and to the death of Lazarus is also to cry. Jesus wept. In the same way that we cry, Jesus cried. Jesus was sad. Jesus loved Lazarus. Lazarus wasn’t just some random person; Lazarus was one of Jesus’ friends. Jesus, who believes in the resurrection and eternal life, was weeping at the loss of his friend. And filled with sadness and tears, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” And miraculously Lazarus whose hands and feet were bound with strips of cloth stands up and walks out of the tomb. Jesus tells the crowd to unbind Lazarus. And those who were gathered, who had seen this miracle, believed.

This was a miracle. Lazarus was given physical life. This is not how death typically works today. I have not heard of anyone being raised from the dead recently. However, I think, through death we are given life in a different way. We believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Because we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and life that we’re able to receive life, even in the midst of sudden death. When we are confronted with death we can choose to live differently. That is what I have experienced and witnessed after several deaths like this. I have witnessed people living each day with a little more fervor. I have seen groups of people bond and support each other through these trying times. I have observed people living today without regrets, because they never know when tomorrow might not come.

This type of living reminds me of a country song by Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dying.” This song was dedicated to Tim McGraw’s dad, who was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and given three weeks to live. The lyrics of the chorus are: “I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing, I went two point seven seconds on a bull name Fu Man Chu, and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying. And he said: Some day, I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying.”

In some ways, Jesus is living like he was dying. In the Gospel of John this is the seventh and final sign that Jesus is the Messiah. Next week we begin Holy Week. We boldly accompany our Lord through his final days. We journey to a cross, where our Lord and Savior will be crucified. We journey to another tomb, where Jesus the Christ is laid. Yet, he is the one who is the resurrection and the life. And once again he will show the entire world that death is not final through his own resurrection.

Jesus says to us today, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Do you believe this? Do you believe this, St. Paul’s? Do you really believe this? May we respond in the same way as Martha, “Yes, Lord [we] believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” And through believing, may we have the courage to live like we are dying. Amen.