I officiated at four funerals the week before last, and what a privilege to be able to share words of hope and comfort at such a difficult time. No funeral is ever ordinary, or course ... but I have to say one of them was out of the ordinary. I was late. I am a slave to the clock and I just hate to be late ... but I was. I could say the traffic was heavy, or that I lost track of the time: both would be true. But it doesn't matter the reason.

I was late to the funeral. There was enough stress among the mourners that they didn't need more to be added wondering if the preacher were going to arrive. When I did get there, the funeral director said with a twinkle in his eye, "Well, better late than...," and he didn't have to complete the cliché.

In a very superficial way, I can sense the anxiety and disappointment in the hearts of Mary and Martha, when Jesus arrives late for the funeral. Four days too late. But here's the difference: when I finally got to the funeral home, I could only offer words of comfort and hope, and the promise of everlasting life. When Jesus finally got to the funeral ... he offered much more! I said, "May he rest in peace." Jesus said, 'Lazarus, come forth.'" Turns out that when Lazarus took his final breath, it was no final breath by a long shot - just a lengthy ninety-six hours between exhale and inhale. That day in Bethany was LST - Lazarus Saving Time - and not an hour too soon!

Lazarus died. His body was properly prepared for eternity. He was placed in a tomb and a large stone was rolled into place. No soldiers were called upon to guard the tomb, but otherwise this sounds like a dress rehearsal for Good Friday - with an Oscar to Lazarus as best supporting actor, and he has no lines!

Jesus had recently crossed to far side of the Jordan. Ironically ... a metaphor for death is "crossing the Jordan." Some weeks earlier, the religious authorities in Jerusalem were stirring up trouble for Jesus. Knowing full well that "the better part of valor is discretion," Jesus retreated from a probable death by stoning. Make no mistake: Jesus was not running from death; merely preparing to embrace that final enemy with arms open wide. Jesus is on the far side of the Jordan. Messengers arrive from Mary and Martha, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." Not Lazarus is ill, but "he whom you love." Presumably Jesus loves a whole bunch of folks; what an especially close friendship he must have had with Lazarus.

Forget about losing track of the time or too many donkey carts on the road to Bethany, Jesus intentionally delays his return to Bethany. The man who began his ministry by turning water into wine wants to cap that ministry by turning death into life. He arrives four days after the funeral. Sister Martha runs and greets Jesus even before he reaches the "Welcome to Bethany" sign. All out of breath she says, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died." What a bold statement of faith. Jesus tells her that Lazarus will come back to life again and Martha gets a bit huffy, "I know that - on the last day!" But she's not really concerned about the last day - she's concerned about this day! Jesus tells her he is resurrection. He is life. And Martha accepts the Gospel truth of it all! "Yes, Lord, I believe."

Then she hurries back home to get her sister and she brings Mary to the outskirts of town. Mary echoes what her sister had said only minutes earlier, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died." If Jesus were moved at all with his Martha encounter, he was more deeply moved by Mary's grief. The upshot however, is this: Jesus was not there when Lazarus died. Purposely so. He was not there when Lazarus died, knowing he would be there to infuse Lazarus with new life, as well as new life for Mary and Martha and all the other witnesses that day in Bethany. It was a dress rehearsal for Easter ... and Jesus wins the Oscar for best Savior; there are no other candidates.

Now after Jesus is greeted in turn by Martha and Mary ... he begins the journey to the cemetery. They all walk to the tomb. It is now that Jesus weeps. Jesus hates death. Jesus weeps. As you and I weep, or fight to hold back tears, as we stare at the tombstone of a loved one. Jesus weeps. And Jesus acts, as he commands: "roll the stone back!" And Jesus prays: "Father ... hear me as usual; this time, so the crowd might believe." And then Jesus commands, "Lazarus, come forth!" Do you think when Jesus was a child, Mother Mary had to scold him for making too much noise? "Shhh, not so loud son; you'll wake the dead!" Well, there is no shushing this time, and on the fourth day of being dead, Lazarus came forth. As quick as you can shout, "Rest in peace" three times, even before you could finish the third time, Lazarus came forth. Sure, it was four days later, but whose counting? Except those who were counting on Jesus. Lazarus came forth, trailing his bandages behind him. Who applied those strips of shroud either did not do a very good job ... or did not expect Lazarus to be up and about any time soon. And Jesus issues one last command this day: "Unbind him and let him go." He could have been talking to friends of Lazarus. But just maybe, Jesus issued that command face-to-face with death. "Unbind him and let him go!" And if Lazarus did have a speaking part in the life-and-death encounter, he might have said, "Lord, better late than ... well, you know."

And what do we learn for this? Well, we learn that in faith we can go beyond talk of Jesus weeping to the fact of Jesus raising! We learn there is a power loose in the universe stronger than death, stronger even than our fear of death. A power to call us even into new life this day. A power that frees us from all that binds us, from the shrouds that hinder us; a power that free us from all our haunting fears. Without Jesus and what Jesus can do, we are just a loose collection of dry bones. But the breath of God's Spirit enters into us and we proclaim, "Yes, Lord, I believe." We learn from this text that Jesus calls out to you and to me, in the midst of our darkness, "Come forth. Experience new life. For 'I am the resurrection and the life. Not 'I will be ...' rather, 'I am!'" Jesus did not eliminate death. Each one of us shall one day die. However. However. Even though death has not been eliminated, death has been defeated.

A family of faith gathers at the font this morning. Alphonse Christopher, which means "Alphonse the Christ-bearer," comes to the water of the Jordan, represented by the tap water of Yorktown. But the promise of God is the same though the source of the water differs. And the promise of God is that everyone baptized into Christ Jesus is baptized into his death ... that he or she might one day share in his resurrection. And so what we are witnessing this morning as we observe Alphonse at the font ... is nothing less than A.S.T. - Alphonse Saving Time. Even as did Lazarus, Alphonse comes through the Jordan sound and safe. Better late than never and as always, not a moment too soon.

This is a marvelous story, the raising of Lazarus. And even as I preach to the person in the pew ... I know I am also preaching to the parson in the pulpit. And even as I proclaim the comforting faith of the Church that there is a life beyond death ... that same faith resonates within me. This text comforts me as I hope you are comforted. You see, Jesus loves each one of us as much as Jesus loves Lazarus. Therefore, for each one of us, death is nothing less than a dress rehearsal for Easter.