Where Were You, Jesus?

Download: Audio Notes

Sunday Reflection

Read Doreen Raymer’s reflection, titled, “Lazurus, Jesus, and Us” from Sunday’s worship service. You’ll find it in the Sunday Reflections blog.

Scripture Reading: John 11:1 – 44 (NRSV)

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Read more…

Looking to Sunday

by Elaine Poproski

Today I woke up after a very bad sleep. It was one of those mornings when coffee would not be a luxury, so much as a necessity. I was facing a full day of on-line meetings that required my full participation. Things were set to begin at 9:45. This was to be a 15-minute check-in before we went into separate meetings. In my head, 9:45 became quarter-to-ten, which somehow became 10:45. At 10:40 I tried to log on, but couldn’t… for obvious reasons. I tried three times before I realized my mistake. Thankfully, my second meeting wasn’t scheduled to begin until 11:00, so I didn’t miss that one.

In the grand scheme of the state of our world, my day hasn’t really been that bad. I have a roof over my head, sufficient resources to self-isolate and work from home. I’m not sick. No one in my family is sick. I live in a country in which all levels of government are listening to the experts, abiding by their advice, and doing everything they can to care for our citizens. But still, I’m not having a good day. And because of that, I’m grumpier than usual and at bit more fragile than usual. How’s your day going?

You know who had a really bad day? This guy named Lazarus. He’s in the Bible. He was a really, really good friend of Jesus – maybe Jesus’ best friend. He got sick and he died, and Jesus wasn’t there. It was a bad day for Lazarus’ sisters too. They were also very good friends of Jesus. But Jesus didn’t even show up until after Lazarus was buried. It wasn’t just a bad day. It was a bad couple of weeks. Have you been there? Are you there now?

When things are bad, we need Jesus to show up. We need Him to show up when we’re sick or afraid. We need Him to show up when there’s nothing we can do for someone we love. That’s what we’re going to be talking about on Sunday.

On Sunday we’ll once again be gathering on-line and by phone. If you want instructions for how to join us, send me a quick email with the best way to connect, and I’ll make sure you have what you need. If you joined us last Sunday, the details are exactly the same as they were then. This Sunday will be a bit more like a regular worship service, without the music, but with time for prayer and reflecting together on Scripture. If you want to read ahead, you’ll find the story of Lazarus that I reference above at John 11:1 – 45. In the meantime, may your bad days be few and far between. And may you sense God’s presence with you, even as you sit alone in front of your computer screen.