John 11:1-45
March 22, 2026
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, CA.
When we do a funeral at First Chinese Baptist, not only do they compose a brief history of their loved one for the bulletin, enlarge a portrait to display in front of the coffin, create a slideshow capturing baby pictures, teenage years, vacations, hobbies, ultimately and hopefully matured years, the family also visits a stationary store in Chinatown to buy little red and white envelopes.
These envelopes, called lisees will be given to each person as they leave the service. In the red envelope, there will be a coin, like a quarter and in the white envelope, a piece of candy. Since red is the color of happiness, the coin is a sign of prosperity to bless the visitor as they go on with their lives. Since white is the color of memorials, the candy is a sign that inasmuch as they have experienced a bitter occasion, go with a blessing of sweetness from this point onward. These Buddhist originated customs have become adopted into our Christian funerals as signs of blessings.
At funerals, there may still be weeping and sadness, but funerals and memorials are times when we celebrate a life that was well-lived. In a way, we called them, “Celebration of Life” because the emphasis is on living rather than on dying.
Raising of Lazarus
In this Lenten season, as we look forward to Easter, the raising of Lazarus is about the meaning of resurrection for us today.
This is the story of Lazarus, whom Jesus loved—his illness, death, burial and decay, and emergence from his tomb, upon being recalled from death to life, with burial wrappings still dangling around him, is a story of resurrection.
Today we recognize within us that there is a tension between the hope of resurrection and the finality of death in this season of new life. We find ourselves amid painful circumstances of challenging physical health conditions and the relentless process of aging. I have often said when someone asks me how old I am, I would say, “I have lived more years than I have years to live.”
In addition to our own individual lives, we are faced with death-dealing social realities happening in our country as well as in other countries that have been created by our own country. The thousands of deaths simple become a number that means nothing to us.
In this story, Jesus and the disciples heard that something bad has happened to Jesus’ friends, Martha, and her sister Mary and their brother, Lazarus. Lazarus has died.
The disciples struggled with the idea of returning to Judea after they narrowly escaped from being stoned a few days earlier. What is more, by Jesus’ own admission, Lazarus is already dead. But Jesus insists in going leading to Thomas and others, not necessarily convinced, that if they went, they may also die with Jesus. But they were also intrigued by the possibility of resurrection.
As Jesus and the disciples approached Mary and Martha’s home, the tension between death and life intensifies—grief in weeping and lament. The family gathered to mourn Lazarus’ demise and final sleep. It’s been four days, marking Lazarus’ journey from life to death complete. His soul is no longer lingering near his body and there would be a great stench.
Acknowledging that death has happened, Mary and Martha told Jesus their disappointment. In fact, each of them said this to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary and Martha said this because they not only considered Jesus as their friend but they believed that God would have honored their requests. If Jesus had arrived sooner, their brother would have not died.
While they believed in Jesus as a teacher, healer, a miracle maker, and believed him to be the Messiah from God, they thought that surely in the Day of Resurrection in the future that they will see their brother again. They believed on that last day, the resurrection of the dead, will happen. Like the dried bones in the valley in Ezekiel, the Lord breathed life into the dead, to bring them up from the graves and bring them back to the land of Israel.
As a kid, I still remember singing the Easter hymn, “Up from the grave, He arose!”
But Jesus was speaking about resurrection in the present moment. When Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” Mary and Martha and the rest of the household didn’t fully understand what Jesus was saying. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
They followed him to the tomb, instructed them to move the stone in front and called out, “Lazarus, come out!”
Resurrection Today
On this Fifth Sunday in Lent, this text invites us to consider the possibility of resurrection in the lives of the many persons and communities who deeply need God’s presence in the now-ness of our existence.
There is no doubt in the finality of death that when we focus on these death-dealing realities, we become distracted from dreaming about what might be beyond the boundaries and experiences of new life, life anew. We are called to dream beyond the boundaries is to imagine a world in which wholeness, well-being, health, and prosperity are normative expressions of human existence.
We are called to partner with the God of life, the Bread of Life, in making that dream a reality.What is resurrection like today, not someday, far, far away in the future.
We are called to recognize that our world is not as it should be and that any of the things that prevents anybody from experiencing God’s presence in their lives are contrary to God’s loving heart for creation. As Christians, we believe in the power of resurrection which means that life is worth living today and when we get to the end, life is promised to continue forever.
When Mary and Martha were consumed by the death of their brother, Lazarus, Jesus redirected their attention to a life worth-living by raising Lazarus and in turn, Mary and Martha began life again in their village by telling their neighbors what new life is all about.
Resurrection and living life are central in the meaning that we make for our lives, informing our sense of Christian vocation. Resurrection confronts us as an urgent call, beckoning us to see the world that needs redeeming; all those who are socially, physically, spiritually, and emotionally dead might live into a new reality.
We pray for the power of resurrection in the lives of persons and communities bound by the grave clothes of war and genocide, the grave clothes of poverty and disease, the grave clothes of dis-ease, systemic racism and abuse, the grave clothes of systemic oppression. Might I say more?
Releasing persons and communities from the clutches of death also demands something of us, as did Lazarus’ resurrection from his community. Though Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, he urged those who were alive and well, “Unbind him, and let him go.” While Jesus returned Lazarus to life, it was the rest of his community who did the rest—unbinding him and welcoming Lazarus back into their living situations.
It’s like getting the little red and white envelopes after a Chinese funeral is to say that life is still worth-living.
Unbinding
Who in our reality need unbinding from us so that they may have life again? There may be those who need nurturing and strengthening so that they can walk on their own again. There may be those whose grave clothes have led to self-doubt or social isolation, marginalization, and oppression. There may be those who have no or little hope in life whose grave clothes are dark and gloomy because they have given up.
We are called to tear away the wrappings of fear, anxiety, loss, and grief, so that unbound women, unbound men, and unbound children might walk in dignity and become the whole persons they were created to become in God’s own image.
Who at Lakeshore need unbinding that can become a sign for us that life is worth-living and become anew again? We pray for you and if you feel that you are all tied up, suffocating from life-draining concerns, this loving community, known as Lakeshore Avenue in the name of Jesus Christ, are ready to unbound you to be freed.
As a church community, we may also feel bound tightly as the results of our history and traditions. While no history is wrong or no tradition is bad, they can become restricting reasons from becoming a revitalized church again. We feel that we too are in a tomb, dark and damp, and God is calling “Lakeshore, come out!” And when we unbind all the burial wrappings of a stagnated church and can now see the light of a new future, we become anew again.
Jesus gave Mary, Martha, and the disciples a sign that he is the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in him, even though they die, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die.
This is truly good news for Lakeshore and for each and every one of us.
Signs of Life
At Lakeshore, we see signs of renewal when we envisioned our future two weeks ago. There are now people and groups working to follow up on what we discovered. We felt signs of relief when we purged the church of unused and old things that have no longer significance for us. Over a coffee hour, we interacted with signs of a new chapter in the history of the Children’s Center when we called Anahita Bakhtiary as our new director who has deep experience and confidence in this ministry. We expect to see signs of growth in our church membership when those who are attending the Inquirers Class may decide to join our church through Baptism and membership.
Signs of life are beginning to be seen at Lakeshore as we just peer outside our windows and doors and see the marvelous display of new life in the blooming flowers, verdant grass, and longer sunny hours in our day!
We may still have questions about life and death as we probably should. But we also have been blessed with signs of life in Christ Jesus when he said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans when he said, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
He continues by saying, “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” (Romans 8:6-11)
On Easter morning, another Mary, weeping at another tomb, asks the question, “Tell me where have you laid him?” (20:15). But on this day, the Day of the Resurrection of Jesus, the burial wrappings will be left behind neatly folded in the tomb. The face cloth rolled up in its place—no longer required for the one whom God has raised. On that day, the disciples will see a sign even greater than the raising of Lazarus.
On Easter Day, at the tomb of Jesus, death is overcome for good. Christ has unbound our burial wrappings once and forevermore.
Let us pray.
Lord God, may our fears of death be replaced by the assurance of resurrection joy as we have seen in Lazarus, Martha and Mary. We pray that we welcome a life that’s worth living and to dedicate our lives to unbound, to free, to liberate all those who are caught up with doubts and fears of a future. In Christ, who has conquered death himself, may we believe in eternal life. In the name of the Resurrected One, Amen.