If you have your Bibles, please reach down and grab them and turn with me to the gospel according to John chapter 11. And today we will read verses 17 through 27. We are still working through the same narrative we've been in for a couple of weeks now with Lazarus who has passed away. And we still will not be getting to the great climax of this narrative. It's a very long story, but I think there'll be great riches for us here in this text. John chapter 11, beginning in verse 17. This is the word of the Lord. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Now, Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. Now, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is to come into the world. Let's bow our heads and pray. God, we thank you for this excellent word that you have laid out before us today, teaching us that you are the resurrection and the life. Lord, we thank you for this wonderful truth that you have revealed to Martha and you have revealed to all your saints, Lord, that you are the resurrection and life, that though we may die, yet if you are in our hearts, we will live. God, I pray that this truth would just sink down deep into the hearts of everyone here listening to me today. that just like you asked Martha, do you believe this? We would all say, yes, Lord, we believe. God bless us as we hear your word ministered to us. Lord bless me as I seek to speak only that which is true, which accurately reflects your glory, your gospel, your word. Let me not get in the way, God, just guide my speech, put me on the right path, help me to do your will. In Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. Well, our sermon today is going to work through three main parts, divided up in three main parts. And they really all bleed together. They're not three distinct sections, really. The first is the comfort of men and the comfort of Christ. The comfort of men and the comfort of Christ. Next, we'll look at Martha's confidence and confusion. Martha's confidence and confusion. And then finally, we'll see how Christ is the resurrection and the life. Christ is the resurrection and the life. So first point, the comfort of men and the comfort of Christ. Jesus had delayed in going to Bethany so that number one, he tells us the triune God would be glorified and number two, so that faith would be increased in his disciples' hearts. During that time of delay, Lazarus, the friend whom Jesus loved, the brother of Martha and Mary, passed away. And by the time Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. That probably means he had been dead for four days. Today, someone might die, and because of modern advancements and perhaps to some extent a less than theological approach to death and the body, Someone could die today and his body could lay around for a week or more before being put into the grave. But in the days of Christ, it was different. The day you died would typically be the day that your body was laid to rest. And though messengers certainly may be sent in these scenarios to family members and friends who are living in different towns, your friend has passed away. Still, word didn't travel as fast as it does now with a phone call or a text. You could very well spend time with a friend one day, take a day trip to the neighboring village to take care of some business you needed to attend to the next, and then come back the third day and realize that your friend who you were just talking to had not only passed away, but they had already had his funeral and he was laying in the grave and you would not see him again. So it's very different. When a young man left home in those days to go make his own way in the world, his parents felt deep down the truth that they may never see their son again. They may only get a letter saying your son passed away a month ago. The reality of death was felt far more powerfully by our brothers and sisters in times past than sometimes we feel it today. And so on that same note, mourning for the dead and comforting your grieved friends and family was a much more regular part of life. I've heard people say before, well, I didn't go to that funeral because I wouldn't know what to say or what to do. I've even met some adults before who have told me they've never known anyone, at least no one close to them who's died. We hide death away, we ignore death so much in our culture. And oftentimes because of that in our day and age, we have no clue how to handle death. But the Jews, for all the mistakes we see them making in the New Testament, they give us a very good example here. John 11 in verse 19, many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. When someone dies, what are you supposed to do? You show up. You show up, you are present. You sit with that person in his sadness. You make your grieving friend know that his pain is not being born alone. That's what you do. And that's what these Jews here are doing. They're giving us this example. Most of you who are my age or older will remember Rudy Giuliani. Among other things, he was the mayor of New York during the attacks on September 11th, 2001. So his name went from, you know, no one in the South knew who this guy was just about to everyone overnight knows the name Rudy Giuliani. He's all over the TV. And shortly after that time, after those September 11th attacks, Giuliani wrote a book about the leadership lessons he learned during his time as a mayor. And one of the lessons that was so important that he emphasized in that book was this. He says, weddings are optional, but funerals are mandatory. Weddings are optional, funerals are mandatory. Now we could debate whether that's always the case or whether that has to be everyone's approach. I'm not presenting this as a universal law, but I think we can find a great deal of truth in Giuliani's maxim. It is far easier for us to rejoice with those who rejoice, but oftentimes it may be even more important for us to weep with those who weep. And here are Mary and Martha's friends doing exactly that. They're sitting with them in their sorrow, mingling their tears together. And as they're all together in the house of mourning, Martha hears from someone, at long last, finally Jesus is on his way. They've been waiting for Christ to come ever since they sent that messenger days before. And we can see again here the difference between Mary and Martha, just like we read in our lesson today. Remember, the kingdom of God takes all kinds of kinds. Some people are more quiet and reserved. We went over this a couple of weeks ago at length. Some people are outgoing and extroverted. There's nothing wrong with either of those types of people. God made us with different personalities. But because of our differences, each of us has different temptations that we find harder to refuse than others, as well as different strengths and virtues that perhaps we can more easily attain than others. In Luke chapter 10, we heard Mary was being praised for sitting at the feet of Jesus, just sitting there in the house, fully soaking in what was happening around her. The glory of Christ had come to her home. Martha, on the other hand, is gently rebuked. Rebuked for not being able to pause all of her chores and enjoy the master's presence. But here in this account, we see something different. Martha, the energetic go-getter, she's the one, in this case, who gets to enjoy more of Christ and his revelation. While Mary is the one who misses out on much of the sweetness of our Savior. So even though our personalities are given to us by God, we should let these sisters serve as an example to us. Let them remind us that we need to be on guard against leaning so much into our preferences or natural inclinations that we miss out on real spiritual blessings. Martha should have been sitting down at the feet of the master, not worrying with the household chores in Luke 10. Mary should have been running to Christ in John 11, not staying with the mourners. The hard worker needs to make sure he takes time to rest in God's finished work for him, to pray, to contemplate, to think deeply about the things of God and the things of his world. The sensitive, quiet believer needs to take initiative sometimes and get outside of his comfort zone for the sake of Christ and his kingdom. We can see that here. While Martha runs, she runs to Christ. She leans in to how God made her and she runs to her savior. And she receives from him far more comfort than she could have received from any of the mourners at her house. Mary remains surrounded by grief. And while Martha is receiving joyous news that though she will struggle to understand it brings peace to her heart, Mary has to wait. So let's look at this interaction between Martha and Jesus, starting here in verse 21. If you've still got your Bibles open, look with me. John 11, 21. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? So we'll still be looking at how Christ comforts Martha here, but I also want you to know, we're gonna go ahead and like I said, bleed into that second point I mentioned about Martha's confidence as well as her confusion. And then we'll come right into the climax of our sermon, Christ telling us that he is the resurrection and the life. We see a lot going on here in the mind and heart of Martha in the few verses we just read. For one, there is a great deal of confidence in Jesus Christ and his power. Martha is certain that if only Jesus had made it in time, Lazarus would not have died. She knows that Jesus is a healer, that he can undo the power of death, and she wanted him to minister to her family in that way. But in addition to her confidence, you can also see some degree of confusion with this dear sister. She seems to believe that Lazarus was not healed just because Jesus wasn't present. But we know that distance, physical distance, is no barrier to the power of Christ. Remember all the way back to our time in John chapter four, a nobleman had left his son who was lying on his deathbed to come find Jesus and beg the Lord to come heal his boy. Come to my home, please, Lord, that you may heal my son. A very similar situation to what's happening here with Mary and Martha at the beginning of our chapter 11. But what does Jesus do in John four? The nobleman says to him, sir, come down before my child dies. And Jesus says to him, Go on your way. Your son lives. And at that very moment, the man's son was healed. Jesus didn't need to be there in the nobleman's house. Or think of the centurion and his servant. This time a man comes to Christ and says, Lord, my servant is lying at home, paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. Perhaps this man had a demon that was possessing him. Perhaps he had been involved in some terrible accident. We don't really know. But Jesus says, I will, I'll come and heal him right now. And here we would think the centurion would say, praise God, everything's going to be okay. The master is coming. But instead, the centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go, and he goes, and another come, and he comes, and my servant do this, and he does it. Jesus heard this, he marveled at the centurion's faith. It's unusual that Jesus marvels. He marvels at the centurion's faith and he says to him, go your way. And as you have believed, so let it be done for you. His servant was healed that same hour. So physical distance we can see from these gospel accounts is absolutely no barrier to Jesus healing someone. He does not need to place his hands on you for you to be healed. If Jesus had willed to heal Lazarus and prevent him from dying, he could have done it effortlessly from where he was. And Martha doesn't get it. Now, I don't want us to rag too much on Martha here. And that's for a couple of reasons. Number one, we all sometimes think the way that Martha is thinking, don't we? All of us have said at some point, if only Jesus were here right now, he would fix all of this. We forget that Jesus said to us, it's a good thing I'm leaving you. It is a good thing that I am going away. Because if I wasn't going away, the Holy Spirit would not come to you, but he is coming. He's coming to teach you. He's coming to comfort you. And through him and his power, you will in fact do greater things than even I did while I was here on earth. Do we really believe that? Do we believe that it was good for us? It was in our best interest that Jesus left. Or are we still like Martha? Oh Jesus, if only you could be here right now. And secondly, another reason that I don't want us to pick on Martha here is that she may have been onto something when she said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Now we of course know it was the will of God that that would not be. how this played out. And we also know that hypothetical situations about what Christ would do, but didn't, sometimes are not helpful to engage in. Speculation is a great danger in theology. That means it's not usually a wise idea to make guesses about what Christ would have done. Nevertheless, it's interesting to note that in the Bible, no one ever died while they were in the presence of Christ. You can search your New Testament in vain. You will not find an example of someone dying while Jesus is in the vicinity. So perhaps Martha is right. If you were here, Jesus, Lazarus wouldn't have died because people don't die around you. You might think, well, James, no one's died in my presence either. Does that mean I can prevent death simply by being somewhere? A skeptic might ask that. I would say to them, well, how many deathbeds have you sat by? How many sick and dying people flock to you on a daily and weekly basis? How many public executions have you been to? Have you lived in a culture where people regularly get sick and die from things that today we can go to the pharmacy and get a cure from just like that? No, that applies to none of us. It applied exactly to Jesus. Jesus was surrounded on all sides by a culture of death. Yet death never seemed to be right where he was. Now, like I said, this is a bit of a theological rabbit trail we're on, but isn't it amazing that even before his bodily resurrection, death just seems to flee from Jesus wherever he is. Our God is a God of life. So Martha says, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. She very well might've been right. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Martha has amazing faith, but it is incomplete. We see that in yet another way here in verse 22. Jesus does not have to ask God for miracles. Yes, it is completely true that Jesus came to do the Father's will, that he is submissive to the Father, that he leans on the Father, that he will not act apart from the Father. All that is true. But it's also true that he has the power within himself to raise the dead. He says that's something he's already been given by the Father. In eternity past, He has the authority to lay down His life and to raise it up again. And we see from His ministry, He has the authority to raise up other lives as well. Whatever Christ asks of God, it's true, God will grant according to His will. But also, whatever we ask of Christ Himself, Christ will do according to His will. So although Martha has a true and living faith and an enormous confidence in her Lord, she's still viewing Jesus and his power as smaller than it really is. She still doesn't understand that he can do all these amazing things no matter where he is, no matter what else he's doing. She has a small estimation of her Lord. It's like if you ever ask a child how much something costs, they know it's a lot of money, say, hey, what do you think that house costs over there? And the kid says something like, I don't know, like $1,000. And you're like, well, that house actually costs $500,000. The child was right to estimate that this house was very expensive. but they're still picking far too small of a number. They can't imagine something being $500,000. They can't imagine it. Well, that's kind of like how we are with Christ. We know, oh Christ, your power is amazing. It must be like a thousand amazing. And yet at all that time, it's infinitely amazing. He is infinitely powerful. He doesn't need to weep and fast and pray and ask God, please, please, please raise this man from the dead. He can just will it. He doesn't even have to speak a word and Lazarus would be raised. He doesn't break a sweat performing miracles that we could never do in a million lifetimes. Martha's estimation of Christ's power and our estimation of Christ's power is far too small. We discount our Lord. But Jesus doesn't nitpick her theology here. Instead, he remembers her frame. He considers her grief and her pain. Martha has lost one of her two closest relatives, one of her best friends, her head of household and her provider. When people find themselves in this type of grief, sometimes they say really weird things. Some of the strangest theology you will ever hear, I guarantee you, will be at a funeral or a hospital bedside. People say things that just make absolutely no sense. And yes, there are times to correct people even in their grief, but Martha's faith is real and it's directed in the right direction. And for that matter, her theology is largely sound here. So Jesus is gentle. He has compassion on her in her pain. So he says to her, verse 23, your brother will rise again. And we learned about the comfort of man. Here's the comfort of Christ. Can you think of anything better to say to a grieving family member when a believer dies? The Jews sat with the hurting family. That's very important. Sometimes just being silent in the presence of those who are suffering is the best thing to do. When we're around someone who is consumed by grief, we often feel like I've got to just fill the silence with something. It's too awkward. I've got to say something. We feel like we'd be doing a disservice if we just paused for a minute and just let things lie. But silence is often best for a time to simply be still and let your quiet presence be a comfort to your hurting loved ones can be a great ministry. But eventually there does come a time to speak. And when that time comes, we often wonder, what am I supposed to say? What can I say to help my friend? And Jesus shows us one of the absolute best things that we can say right here in verse 23, your brother will rise again. Your wife will rise again. Your son will rise again. Whoever it is that you have lost, if they trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will rise again. Now, when we say that to a hurting person today, we mean what Martha thought Jesus meant, don't we? Martha says, verse 24, I know, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Martha believed in the doctrine of a future bodily resurrection. Isn't that amazing? That's amazing. We sometimes look at our Old Testament and think, where did they learn these things? And of course it's there. The truth of the resurrection shines through the pages of Scripture, even though sometimes our dim eyes and cold hearts can't see it. But remember the confidence of our Father Job. I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand on the earth at last. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. how my heart yearns within me. Can you proclaim that truth boldly with Job? With tears in your eyes and a smile on your face, can you say, though this body will grow old and die, and though it will turn to dust in the grave, nevertheless, with these very bones, I will leap for joy in the presence of my master. With these eyes, though they long ago will have wasted away and become nothing, with these very same eyes, I will look at my Savior and see Him for who He truly is. Oh, how my heart yearns within me." Does your body yearn within you for the resurrection? Martha believed this to be true, and yet in her moment of grief, that comfort seemed far away. Martha said to Jesus, perhaps with tears still in her eyes, I know that he'll rise again. It's almost like she said, but I have to wait for the last day. Jesus, how does that help me right now? And once again, Jesus doesn't rebuke Martha for this. He doesn't rebuke her for not understanding the fullness of what he means. He doesn't rebuke her for not being comforted enough by the precious doctrine of the final resurrection. He is still very tender with his hurting sister. He keeps opening up the veil, showing her more and more of his glory, pouring more wine and oil into her broken heart. Look with me now at verse 25, and this is the final point of our sermon today, verses 25 and 26. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. In these two verses, Jesus completely reorients the conversation. Martha's heart is focused on her present sadness, on the loss of what could have been. And in her head, she's thinking of this event that's far, far away, the resurrection of the body. And Jesus takes the conversation and turns it into one about him. Not about Martha's pain, not about Lazarus's death, not about judgment day even. Jesus makes the conversation about him. Martha tells her Lord, I know about the resurrection, Jesus. Jesus says, but I am the resurrection and the life. Now we've got to ask ourselves at this point, and perhaps Martha was thinking this, but Jesus, how can you be a future event? I don't understand what that means. But what Jesus is saying here is that he is the one who raises the dead. He is the author and sustainer of life. And that to be united to him is to be raised from the dead and alive forevermore. That's what resurrection and life is. Union with Christ. Union with Christ, becoming one with Jesus is by definition to be resurrected and alive. Resurrection and life are not gifts we receive apart from union with Jesus. They're not even transactional benefits that Jesus gives to us as if it's something that's distinct from him. No, resurrection and life are aspects of our being one with our Lord. Remember that side note about how no one dies in the presence of Christ. Christ is life himself. And so no one can be joined to Christ and dead. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. So what is eternal life? Is it merely to exist forever? No, the wicked will exist forever, but their existence is one of eternal death. Eternal life is to be in loving union with the Savior of the world. When Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life, he's making yet another claim that he is God himself. He's already said things in John's gospel, like I am the light of the world. I am the bread of life. I am the good shepherd. I am the door. Before Abraham was, I am. All of these statements. along with I am the resurrection and the life, are Jesus's clear assertions that he is the one true living God. He is Yahweh or Jehovah. He is the one who met Abraham at his tent before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He is the one who Moses talked with face-to-face like a man talks with a friend. He is the one who when Moses said, but when the children of Israel ask me, what your name is, what shall I say? Christ is the one who proclaimed, I am who I am. Tell them that I am has sent you. Jesus is God. And he wants to make that certain in Martha's mind and heart here. He says, he who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Only God can say something like that. None of the prophets ever dared to say something like that. None of the apostles ever dared to say something like that. No pastor or priest today ought ever to say something like this. But with Jesus, it was completely good and right and true. I wanna unpack that for a minute. This is verses 25 and verse 26. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. What Jesus is saying, first off, is if someone has faith in him in their heart, even though their body will experience death for a time, ultimately they will be raised from the dead imperishable. Death cannot hold any of Christ's children for very long. The Bible says our life is like a vapor in the wind, here today and gone tomorrow. Well, in comparison to the everlasting life we have in Christ, our bodily death is also like a vapor in the wind. Even if we lay in the grave for a thousand or 10,000 years, In comparison to eternity, that will seem like no time at all, just a brief stint. Death will be like a nap for our bodies from which they will rise more refreshed and ready for the next phase of life than we can even presently imagine. And Jesus also says, that's the first point he's making there in verse 25, but Jesus also says in verse 26, whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. So it's interesting, he was just talking about, but if you do die, you'll live. Now he's saying you'll never die. Well, in verse 25 of our text, Jesus is talking about physical death. He's saying, even if you die physically, you will nevertheless live physically after I raise you from the grave on the last day. Physical death, verse 25. Verse 26, Jesus is saying that he who believes in me while he is alive shall never taste spiritual death. So we have physical death in verse 25, spiritual death in verse 26. Jesus says, I'm the solution to both. I'm the undoing of that great curse which you received from your father, Adam. Everyone is conceived and born physically alive, but spiritually dead. but all those whom the Father has chosen for salvation at some point in their lives are born again. The Holy Spirit comes into their heart and unites them to Christ by faith. He gives his children a new incorruptible heart that will live forever. Now that person who receives this gift of the new birth of union with Christ, that person is spiritually alive. spiritually alive, never to die again. However, even though this person is already in possession of eternal life because they are united to Jesus, their bodies still do have to die. The effects of sin on our bodies are not completely done away with through Christ's death and resurrection. But the body passing away, Jesus tells us here, has absolutely no effect on the soul. When believers die, that's just their bodies dying. Their souls experience no interruption in life whatsoever. If you are in Christ, then the very moment your body dies, your soul goes to be with him in heaven. Your family's down here in the house of mourning. You are in the house of rejoicing. You're with Christ. Your soul can never die. That's a wonderful, wonderful word. And look with me again here at the context of John 11. Lazarus has died and Mary and Martha are distraught. Jesus says, your brother will rise again. Now the sisters don't know it yet at this point. The disciples have heard this, but they don't know that Jesus is referring to the fact that he's about to raise Lazarus from the dead, raise his body out of the tomb. But the resurrection that Jesus will perform for Lazarus isn't really for Lazarus's benefit. In fact, Lazarus, I can guarantee you would have preferred to stay dead. Because if Jesus raises him from the dead, that means two things. One, he's being brought back to a world of sin and suffering, and he has to die again. Lazarus had to die twice. So this doesn't benefit him. This isn't about Lazarus. Jesus is about to raise him from the dead instead because he wants to prove to Mary and Martha, to the mourners who are gathered at their home and to his disciples that he is the resurrection and the life. That's the whole point of this narrative. It's not to benefit the man who has died. It is to glorify himself and to benefit all those who are watching. Everything in this chapter is about glorifying Jesus and building up the faith, knowledge, and love of His children in Him. And this is the ultimate goal, in fact, of all of life. All of the suffering you will experience, all of the mercy you will receive, it is all for the sake of glorifying God through your life. And if you are one of God's chosen children, You glorify God most clearly when you grow in your affections for him and your trust in him and your knowledge of him. So Jesus turns to Martha at this point and says, Martha, do you believe this? Do you believe what I am saying about me being the resurrection and the life? And she says to him in verse 27, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is to come into the world. And we're not gonna spend time unpacking what those three things mean, that Jesus is Christ, son of God, the one who is to come into the world. All we'll know is this, Jesus asks Martha if she believes that he's the resurrection and the life, and she answers by saying, I believe you're all these other things. Jesus asks one question, but if you notice, he gets a totally different answer, seemingly unrelated to what he asks. Now, why is that? Why does Martha answer this way? It's not because she doesn't believe, it's because she doesn't understand. Though Christ has brought her comfort, she's still experiencing a great deal of grief. She's still seeing through a glass darkly. The Holy Spirit has not been poured out upon her as will happen at Pentecost. She's struggling in her present state to get what Jesus is saying. She answers the best way she knows how. The Lord says, Martha, do you believe in this doctrine? She says, Lord, I believe in you. I trust you. I'm not so sure to be honest about what you've just told me. But if you said it, I believe it. She knows Jesus is saying something good and true. And even if she doesn't get it yet in her head, she accepts it as true in her heart. And brothers and sisters, this is the attitude we all have to take to God and his word. There will be things in the Bible that you will not understand, but you can read the scripture and say, I believe though, Lord, that you are the Christ, the son of God, and that you came into the world. Maybe you read a passage that seems obscure. You think, why is this even in the Bible? It's just a long list of names or a long list of measurements or some super symbolic prophecy where every commentator I read says something different. You finished the chapter and you honestly have no clue in your mind what you have just read. Can you still say in your heart, but God, I believe you. I know your word and your plans are good. I know you came here to save me. Can you read something like Psalm 137? Happy shall he be that taketh and dashes thy little ones against the stones. Can you read that and say in your heart, Jesus, I may not understand everything I've just read. but I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, and you have come into this world. Can you say that in your heart? That has to be our approach to everything, everything that Jesus says. The question that Jesus asked Martha in John chapter 11 is the question that he asks every single one of us in this room. I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? And our answer has to be, yes, Lord. I believe your doctrine because I believe you. I believe everything you say, even though I don't understand all of it. I believe that you are the son of God and you came into this world to save sinners like me. Thank you, Lord, for showing me the truth of who you are and giving me the gift of everlasting life. Is that what you can say to your Lord? Let's pray. God, we thank you that you are a gracious and merciful God. We thank you that you are tender. We thank you that you are patient with us when we're confused, when we repeat our same questions over and over, when we can't answer what you're asking. We thank you that when we read your word and our hearts are dull and our eyes can't hardly see, that you still do your work in our life. God, we thank you that we don't have to have it all figured out to be recipients of your love. We thank you, Lord, that you reach down like you would to a little child and you pick us up and hold us in your arms and love us. God, we thank you that you are the resurrection and the life. Lord, that one day we will see our loved ones who have died in you. God, we thank you for your word that blessed are those who die in the Lord. We thank you, Lord, for the church triumphant right now that is praising you. God, I pray that as we are on this pilgrimage as we are running this race that seems so exhausting and confusing sometimes, that we will remember that we have a great cloud of witnesses that is cheering us on as we strive for the finish line, that Lazarus is looking down, that Mary and Martha are looking down, that our loved ones who we miss so dearly are looking down. and they are cheering us on as we fight the fight of faith. And God, I pray that as we reach the end of our race, we will be able to say with Paul that we have run, we have fought, and we have remained in your love. God, bless us now as we continue to worship you and receive from your mercy and grace. In Christ's name, amen.