Dive In
Lean In
Speaker: Chris Nation
Lean In
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13
Hope can be an anchor for our souls. We are meant to grieve, but not like those who have no hope.
Grief is how we respond to the beginnings and endings of life.
Discussion: How can we, as a community of believers, allow others to grieve? What does it look like to enter grief with others?
"Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand." John 10:25-28
Jesus had been showing them who he is. Here he reveals to them that life is his to give. He is about to prove it. It starts when he receives an important message from the town of Bethany.
"Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick." John 11:1-3
Discussion: What does this statement reveal about Jesus' relationship with these sisters and with Lazarus? What do you think they expected to happen when Jesus receives this urgent message?
"So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days" John 11:6
Discussion: How might they have interpreted Jesus' delay in coming to them? Knowing the whole story from our perspective, why do you think Jesus delayed?
"'Lord,' Martha said to Jesus, 'if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'" John 11:21
"When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'" John 11:32
Both sisters make the same statement when they get to Jesus. This statement is packed with many emotions, but Jesus is not thrown by their pain or the expression of their grief. He does not tell them to stop being upset. He does not reprimand them for their intense emotion. He pauses and enters the grief with them.
Discussion: When you feel deep emotion, do you feel free to express that honestly and openly to God? Do you feel the freedom to express it to others? Why do we hesitate to be honest with God and each other? How can we "show up" (enter the grief) for others when they are overwhelmed with deep emotion? What do you need from your community when you enter a season of grief?
"Anger is the emotional response when something of great value is taken from you or when something is given to you that you do not want." Fleet Rand
Discussion: What does healthy anger look like? How can we express and deal with this response without getting stuck? How can we move forward when we get stuck in any stage of grief?
"Jesus wept" John 11:35
We have a God who enters grief with us to the point that he weeps with us? He feels anger with you. He feels pain and sorrow with you..... He is not a God who watches from a distance, but comes to us in all of our emotions.
Discussion: What does this revelation from Jesus mean to you?
"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face." John 11:43-44
God always gets the last word!
"'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Discussion: Is there something you are living right now that feels like a death? How can you cling to the truth that, regardless of how it feels and the emotions you are experiencing, God will get the last word in your situation and in your life? You will never be left alone or forsaken. Death, disappointment, nor loss ever get the last word.
Be people of the resurrection.
Be a foretaste of heaven in this world now.
Live with hope and offer hope to others.
"However painful, sorrow is good for the soul."
Jerry Sitter
Do
Find your people! Find those who you can trust and will enter in with you with out fear.
Allow us to walk with you. Let us help you find a trained counselor if needed.
Read the book A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser