The rising of Lazarus. John 11

The Third Calling

I’m reading a book at the moment called The Third Calling. It’s about how you might consider what to do with your retirement years, something I’ll soon have to consider myself. The first calling is school years and youth, the second calling is family and working life. It’s an interesting way of approaching the retirement years and how to discern what to do with them.

Perhaps I could re-think what Third Calling means in terms of relationship with God. Third calling comes later in life, perhaps under a special circumstance, and not necessary in retirement. I think of St Paul’s third calling to be his Damascus Road experience, a very special circumstance indeed when he heard the Lord Jesus calling him to apostleship. In Lazarus’s case, his third calling would be his being raised from death, literally being called from the dead.

The raising of Lazarus from death was a stupendous miracle. Think about it for a moment. He was in his grave for 4 days. Well and truly dead. Decomposition had started to set in. The two sisters lamented that Jesus had apparently missed the opportunity to heal their brother while he was still alive. Mary and Martha both said when they first met up with Jesus after he arrived, Lord if you’d been here our brother would not have died. A quite understandable lament. Jesus was not in the right place at the right time and has missed the opportunity to meet their needs, place and time being the key words.

How often do we expect God to be in the right place at the right time when we need him? And when he’s not there, he’s failed. He’s let us down, or so it seems. Where was God when I needed him during two years of near unemployment? Why wasn’t he in the right place at the right time to help me out? And towards the end of those two years, I really started to dwell on the possibility that God was leaving me on the shelf.

A friend of mine said about those years, has it occurred to you that God may have wanted you to have that time without much work? No, it hadn’t occurred to me. And neither did it occur to me that my occasional temporary agency assignments were preparing me for the long-haul job I’ve got now. When I got to the interview, I was exactly who they were looking for at the right time.

We can’t think beyond time and place. And it’s on this point that Jesus teaches Mary and Martha, and us through John’s recounting of the story.

God is not limited by time and place the way are, and death is not the ultimate end we think it is. So Jesus says to Martha, your brother will rise again, and she says yes that’s right, on the last day of history. But she still hasn’t got it! She, like us, is still thinking in terms of time, place, and history. And Jesus, in his response to that with those immortal words, I am the resurrection and the life, is telling her, stop thinking time and place, think me. You need to keep focused on me, and then you will understand death and life in its proper order.

Times of trial are not the end of the story. Mary and Martha’s loss was overturned when their brother was restored to them from the grave; the disciple’s fear after seeing Jesus crucified and buried was turned into joy and confidence when they saw him risen and alive on the third day afterwards. And even if we don’t see the resolution to trials in this life, we have these words from the book of Revelation that in the new life when our calling at the end of the age happens, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away.

Now this statement by Jesus, I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live, even though he dies, is the key point the John wants his readers to get. It is an astonishing and forceful claim. John uses what is called the emphatic I in Greek. I, me, am the resurrection and the life. No one else, and anyone who believes this, to him I have the power and authority to give eternal life. Forget the gurus and philosophers. They can’t give you eternity after your earthly life has finished. But you’ve got to turn to Jesus in belief first, personal trust first in what is unseen. That’s why Jesus said to Mary, if you believe, then you will see the glory of God. What you see in this age is not the be all and end all of human existence. Remember, God works in and beyond space and time.

For unbelievers, physical death is thought of as the end. But not so for those who believe and trust that Jesus Christ is the Son of God to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. For that one, physical death is not the important thing. Death is but a gateway to further life and fellowship with God into eternity, beyond space and time. And you can have that life now. It starts in this life and continues past our earthy remains.

Now, Lazarus was raised to continue his earthly life, and at some point later he would have died (hopefully) of natural causes. But the miracle was a sign, or a demonstration, that pointed those who saw it to a greater and permanent reality: the raising of the faithful departed at the end of the age, and no doubt Lazarus will himself be included in that when all things will be brought to their conclusion.

Note the position of the story in the Gospel, just before the last week of Jesus’ life. Why is that significant? Because John is preparing his readers to encounter the master’s own death and resurrection story, the one that really counts. Lazarus was raised back to a life in time which means he would die again. John is saying, here is a story of a life raised, albeit in time, and if you can grasp that, ok. But there shortly follows a story of a resurrection of much greater significance for you and me, one which we should pay close attention to.

Now John records that Jesus called in a loud voice “Lazarus, come out!” and the dead man came out.

Note particularly the words John uses to describe the manner of Jesus’ calling Lazarus out. English tends to lose the intensity of Jesus’ voice. It’s not, Oi Lazarus listen up, like a warrant officer on the parade ground. No. It is a great, all powerful, gut felt crying out. It is the all-powerful voice of God calling forth the dead. And it is a sign of things to come at the end of history. The same reminder of things to come at the end of time is found in 5:25.

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

For those who heard Jesus calling Lazarus with such power and authority, it must have been an incredible experience. There’s no wonder it was remembered, talked about, and written down.

The great and powerful voice of Jesus will be heard on the last day, by both the dead and those who will still be living in their earthly time. Even you, in person, by your name, will be called forth on that day. And when that is heard by those who remained faithful during their lives in time, the bonds of death will be broken for evermore. Just like Christ’s were on his day of resurrection.

Take off the grave clothes and let him go.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus said to his disciples at the end of his time on earth, between his rising from death and his ascension back to his Father, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. He has the keys to our eternal lives, and we need to take that very seriously. As the psalmist put it, today, if only you would hear his voice. Do not harden your hearts. And as the voice of the Father himself said during the Son’s transfiguration, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!

Now let’s return to this idea of the Third Calling.

The third calling may be thought of as being the call of God to his faithful ones, be that in eternity calling forth those have completed their lives on earth, or for us still living in time. It may be the call of God to a deeper fellowship with him in whatever way, shape or form that takes. The book I’m reading advocates a discerning process about how to spend one’s retirement years productively. And that same idea can be taken into the third calling of our earthly Christian lives.

As it is written in the Prophet Isaiah, then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? How should we discern what God may have to say to us in our third calling? What form might that take? What has God gifted us with to use for the advancement of his Kingdom? What contribution can each of us make to our parish’s outreach? Here I am, send me.

Whatever it may be, our earthly third calling will prepare us to hear the Lord’s voice on the last day. That great and powerful cry bringing the faithful into eternal life. So make the most of every opportunity while you still have life on earth. Forget what is behind, strain forwards to what is ahead, and press on towards the goal of your third calling.

Philip Starks

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