Although we will be focusing our Old Testament Lesson for a sermon together this morning I want you to think back to our Gospel Lesson for this Sunday. I want to use those verses from John 11 as the introduction to my message today. Perhaps you were already familiar with the account of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. I think one could make a strong case that Lazarus being raised from the dead is second in notoriety only to Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead. We didn’t get all of the backstory for our Gospel Lesson from John 11 since we read selected verses and not the whole chapter.
But, again, perhaps you recall what led up to the famous miracle. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were dear friends of Jesus. And remember where they lived. They were residents of Bethany, a village about two miles from Jerusalem. John tells us that Lazarus had become very sick. So, his two sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus. “Your friend Lazarus is sick.” But Jesus didn’t go to them right away. Remember, he waited two days. During that time Lazarus died. We might wonder why Jesus did that. Then, at last Jesus, said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.” Of course, the disciples think this is a good thing. “If he sleeps, he’ll get better, right?” Finally, Jesus tells them the plain truth that Lazarus had died. Jesus then went to Bethany where the two grieving sisters awaited his arrival. Our Gospel Lesson for today recorded Martha’s interaction with Jesus. As I said, since our Gospel Lesson skipped ahead a few verses we didn’t hear Mary’s interaction with Jesus. But it was similar to Martha’s. Yes, the two sisters were grieving. Perhaps they were even a little disappointed that it took Jesus so long to arrive. They also seem to have had questions about their brother’s untimely and unexpected death. But the two sisters were also filled with faith in Jesus and the hope that they would see their brother again when Jesus raised all the dead on the last day.
With their story in mind, I have a question for you. On a scale of 1 to 10 how well do you think Mary and Martha handled their brother’s illness and his death? You might be saying to yourself, “That’s a little incentive, isn’t it, Pastor? How can you rate someone’s response to sickness and death? How can you quantify grief? Especially when it’s someone close to them, like their brother?”
I am asking you this question because I want you to think about how you handle sickness and death. How we as a congregation handle sickness and death. similar situations for yourself and others. Perhaps you have found yourself in a situation not unlike the one Mary and Martha were in with their brother Lazarus? It’s also good for us to consider what we will do when the reality of death strikes home in our lives.
With those thoughts in mind let’s direct our attention to a much less familiar section of the Bible. With Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in the back of our minds let’s consider what happened in our Old Testament Lesson. Although we are not even told the woman’s name her story is powerful. From her we also learn how live each day with trust in God’s power over life and death. When the Shunammite’s son became ill and died she went to the prophet Elisha. The woman recognized that it was at the Word of the Lord that she gave birth to her son. And she believed that it would be at the Word of the Lord that her son would live again. As we direct our attention to 2 Kings 4:17-37 it is my prayer for you that God the Holy Spirit would enable us to:
“LIVE WITH CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD OF LIFE”
I. Entrust those you love to His care
II. Expect those who die to live again
One of the challenges that goes with an Old Testament Bible story like this is presenting all the background information. We could spend our whole sermon digging into the history of these verses. Elijah and Elisha. Just a couple of weeks ago we heard about Elijah appearing at Jesus’ transfiguration. And do you remember how Elijah’s ministry ended? He was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Then Elisha took over the work of being the LORD’s prophet. The event in our Old Testament lesson happened early in Elisha’s ministry.
But perhaps it would be helpful to at least give you background that we know concerning the Shunammite woman and her connection to Elisha. The woman was well-to-do. She had no children. When the Prophet Elisha came to her town she invited him to her home to stay for a meal. Then her hospitality extended beyond food. She recognized that he was a prophet and so she spoke to her husband about Elisha. They decided to prepare a room for him I their house with a bed, a table, and chair, and a lamp.
One day when Elisha was visiting the women he asked his servant Gehazi if there was anything that he could do for her to repay her for her hospitality. She had been so generous and gracious. “Can we speak to the King on her behalf,” Elisha asked. The woman said she didn’t need anything. Well, then Elisha made the promise that she would have a son.
I.
About a year later the woman gave birth to a baby boy. Everything seems to have been going great for the woman and her son. But one day, while he was still young but old enough to talk, he complained to his father about pain in his head. You heard in our Old Testament Lesson how the boy’s father had a servant carry the boy to his mother. The woman held the boy on her lap. But a few hours later he died. What the woman did after that is what we are going to focus on. The Shunammite women went to the prophet for help. Which means she was ultimately going to God for help.
First, she takes the child to “Elisha’s room.” “21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.” Second, she goes to see Elisha. “22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.” Her husband was familiar with her usual pattern of interaction with the man of God. This was different. She goes with earnestness to Elisha. “She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.” Next, she pushes on to talk with the prophet. “When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! 26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’” “Everything is all right,” she said.” No, it was not all right! So why did the woman say it was? Confidence, hope? Those things will waver, as we might expect. We hear that when she finally is able to speak with Elisha. “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?” Elisha proposed a solution. He sent Gehazi with this staff. Perhaps that would heal the boy. But notice what the woman says and does. “30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.”
Brothers and sisters, as we look at the prophet Elisha, we see a foreshadowing of Jesus. Of course, even though he was a prophet of God Elisha was limited in knowledge and power. Jesus is unlimited in his knowledge and power. And, he invites each of us to entrust those we love to his care. Like the Shunammite woman we recognize our loved ones as gifts from God. But do we share her confidence in the Lord of life? I am not saying that the woman didn’t have her moments of doubt and fear. We can see in these verses that she did. But we pray for the kind of faith that she had. We ask God to give us faith to stay focused on his power and promises no matter what we face.
In the past couple of months not a small number of members of our congregation have faced significant health issues. Have we entrusted those we love to God’s care? Well, yes. But not perfectly. We have let fears creep into our minds and rob us of the peace that Jesus wants us to have. Perhaps we have gotten angry or frustrated with God. Our hope has faded at times. One reminder for us in the example of the Shunammite woman and in the example of Mary and Martha is that sinners don’t have a perfect faith that never wavers. Perhaps that’s what makes these sections of the Bible so appealing. We see ourselves in these women. Like them we are prone to ask why God allows these things to happen. Like Mary and Martha we may say, “Lord, if you had been here you could have prevented this from happening.” Or perhaps we expressed questions about God’s power and doubts about his love for us. Thankfully, we have been given another day of grace. We are gathered in Gods’ house. Here we are invited to confess our sins and again receive forgiveness. We lay our sins at the foot of the cross and find in Jesus the cleansing flood of forgiveness. And in addition to that grace, we are once again encouraged to entrust those we love to God’s care. Jesus, the Great Physician, stands ready to receive our requests for care and healing. Today, we are again invited to live with confidence in the Lord of life.
Although we may see the need to do this more clearly when there is an urgent need we don’t have to wait for those situations. To relieve us of the worry that we might have for our loved ones even in every day life we are invited to entrust them to God’s care in our prayers for them. One thing I have found helpful in my prayers is to picture in my mind me handing my loved ones over to Jesus. “Here, you must take care of them. I am powerless to protect them so I entrust them to your care.” And then be at peace. That too is living with confidence in the Lord of life.
II.
So now we have to transition to the harsh reality that our Old Testament Lesson and our Gospel Lesson set before us. Because of the curse of sin in this world even believers must face death. But believers have expectations for those who die with faith in the Lord.
It’s difficult to know what to make of Elisha’s technique for bringing the boy back to life. This isn’t of course an ancient form of CPR that we ought to still practice today. To be honest we really don’t know why Elisha did it this way. Some Bible commentators have pointed in a number of directions with this “mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands.” But in a way it does remind us of how Jesus has put his hands in our hands, his lips on our lips, and his life-giving breath into our spiritually dead bodies bringing us to eternal life when he brought us to faith in him. Picturing what Elisha did for that little boy is not a bad way to think of what happened at your baptism since the Apostle Paul said that through that sacrament we were clothed with Christ! (Galatians 3:27)
It’s a picture worth holding on to when you’re looking down at the lifeless body of a believer. You can’t bring that person back to life, but Jesus will some day. That’s his promise and the Bible has shown time and time again how God has power over death. It’s no wonder the psalmist said: “[A righteous person] will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD” (Psalm 112:7). Like the Shunammite we can say, “All is well,” and really mean it even when we’re in the midst of a terrible crisis that no one else seems to know or care about. God knows and God cares. And should the crisis end in what many would say is the worst possible outcome – death, we still will confess: “All is well. My Jesus will raise that believer on Judgment Day and I will see him, I will see her again.”
There was an expectation in the Shunammite women that the prophet Elisha could raise the dead. That’s why she went to him. But relief would not come right away. God was about to exercise Elisha’s faith too. Elisha sent Gehazi ahead with instructions to lay his staff across the boy. But this did nothing. The boy remained dead. So Elisha himself continued to the house and went up to the room where the boy lay. He closed the door and prayed. Had Elisha failed to pray when he had sent Gehazi ahead of him? We don’t know of course, but we are reminded that in time of crisis, the first thing that we should do is pray, and seek the Lord’s help and blessing.
After Elisha prayed he positioned himself on top of the boy so that his eyes looked directly into the boy’s eyes and his mouth was on the boy’s mouth and his hands were in line with the boy’s hands. The boy’s body began to warm, but did not revive. So Elisha got up, paced around, and then positioned himself on the boy again in the same way as before. This time the boy sneezed, seven times and then opened his eyes. He was alive!
Once again, that’s what it means to live with confidence in the Lord of life. Shunammite women’s faith was rewarded. The last verses of our Old Testament Lesson tell us, “Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.” The same was true for Mary and Martha. And the same will be true for us. That’s why we entrust those we love to God’s care. We expect those who die to live again.
This past week I came across a blog from a pastor that entered ministry after I did. He lamenting the change in how many Americans deal with death today versus how they did in the early 1990’s. He wrote, “My work as a pastor started in 1995, and one of the first things I noticed was how a growing number of people had changing attitudes toward funerals.
At first, people felt bad because they didn't own a suit or pulled one out of the closet that didn't fit anymore. That quickly morphed into not wanting a 'funeral' but a 'celebration of life'—or nothing. I also noticed that funerals (when held) became times when families would make it sound like whoever died had zero faults, was a flawless saint, and never made a mistake (even if the person was a scoundrel)—hagiography at its finest. There was little actual thought about eternity except jokes about playing golf/cards/drinking in heaven/(insert favorite past time here). All of it underscored a culture that increasingly showed it had almost no understanding of how to mark a death or process the afterlife. Over time, the Christian message of hope felt more and more foreign to everyone except the most seasoned Christian. Welcome to post-Christian culture.” We heard similar thoughts expressed in the introduction to our service today. People say, “Well, that person who passed away will live on in our memories.” But they don’t believe in a bodily resurrection from the dead. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says that if we don’t believe in the resurrection from the dead, we Christians are to be pitied more then anyone else—our faith is futile and we have no hope. As you think about inviting someone to Easter start thinking about a clear testimony about what faith in Christ is all about. It’s not about bunnies, bonnets, and brunch! Let’s be clear. Jesus rose from the dead after conquering sin, death, and hell! We live with confidence in our living Lord as we expect those who die to live again
This morning we have joined Mary and Martha in their grief. Did they get it right? Was there reaction to sickness and death perfect? No. Two grieving women expressed frustration and fear. But they entrusted their loved one to the Lord of life. And they expected that their loved one would live again. We also see ourselves in the Shunammite woman. The same thing was true of her. She entrusted her son to God’s care. She expected her loved one to live again. May we now live with confidence in the Lord of life as we do the same. Amen.
