Not Another Healing Story
Life In His Name
August 17, 2025
Rev. Tim Sharpe
Using the raising of Lazarus, the sermon teaches that Jesus — deeply moved and fully acquainted with human suffering — reveals that God knows us intimately and that, through faith, we can know God's power, hope, and fellowship, which calls us out of stuckness and into faithful participation in the covenant (including the Lord's Supper).
Summary
The sermon returns to the story of Lazarus to show that Jesus' delay and dramatic raising of the dead had a purpose beyond physical restoration: to reveal God's character. Jesus is portrayed as a sympathetic Savior who experienced hunger, temptation, homelessness, and grief without sin, and his deep compassion surprises others. Through this sign Jesus demonstrates that God knows us intimately and that we can know God — a knowledge that brings hope, freedom from feeling stuck, and the call to live by faith. The message includes a pastoral invitation to enter covenant fellowship with Christ and a sober reminder about receiving the Lord's Supper in faith and discernment.
Key Points
Context: Lazarus had been dead four days when Jesus finally arrived and raised him; the timing and manner of the miracle carry a deeper purpose., Jesus' emotion: Jesus was deeply moved and troubled, showing his genuine compassion and identification with human suffering., Jesus' experience: He knew temptation, hunger, homelessness, isolation, and grief without sin — making God sympathetic and able to identify with us., Primary revelation: The story teaches two truths — God knows us, and we can know God., Martha's moment: Martha had forgotten who Jesus is; Jesus responds by promising that amazing things are possible for those who believe., Practical application: Knowing God gives hope and frees believers from feeling stuck or beyond God's use., Covenant fellowship: To be known by the God of the universe is to have fellowship with him; this is the heart of the Christian call., Lord's Supper: Communion is a means to be strengthened in faith, but it must be received worthily and with discernment; unworthy participation brings judgment., Call to faith: The congregation is urged to accept God's invitation by faith — to be known by God and to live in the power of that relationship.
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