September 18, 2016
The Partying God
When It Doesn't Feel Like a Party
John 11:1-7
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
In our culture, it’s easy to look at a bad situation and say that God is to blame or people are to blame because they've done something wrong. But, God doesn’t bless people based on performance. God’s love for you is God’s love for you and you can’t do anything to sway it in either direction.
John 11:17-22
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
John 11:31-36
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
God doesn’t want us to be polished and fake, He wants us to be raw and real. That’s what Martha and Mary do in this story, they show Jesus that they are really hurting. So what do we do when we feel this way?
1. Take it to God.
Jesus responds to Mary and Martha by weeping with them. God cares about our pain, and our hurts.
2. Find Scripture to Stand On
Martha knew scripture well enough to know what He what capable of, and what His character was like.
John 11:21-22
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
If we’re going to really trust God, we need to know his character!
3. Lean Into Discipleship
Don't try and walk through hard times alone. Press into the church.
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
4. Always Look at the Big Picture
Jesus knew the party that the Father had created and He knew the party that would start on the cross.
1 Thessalonians 4:13
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
Terrible things are going to happen to all of us, and at times we are going to feel crushed by our pain, but we can't forget about the party!
Communication Card
- I will choose to trust God’s character in the midst of hard times.
- I’ll keep my eyes on the big picture regardless of my circumstances.
- I need prayer because life doesn’t feel like a party right now for me.
To go deeper in this series, click here to purchase "The Partying God" by Robert Herber on Amazon.
