In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is one. Amen.

On this Saturday we remember the raising of St Lazarus from the dead. This event happened more than 2,000 years ago around Jerusalem. However, over the centuries the meaning of the raising of this close friend of Jesus Christ from the dead has become clearer and clearer as we seek to understand how Jesus Christ expressed His love for the Apostles, for Lazarus and for each of us. Let’s consider how the Church Fathers and St John the Theologian saw the raising of St Lazarus from the dead.

In the Gospel reading for this morning from the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of St John, Jesus Christ does not hurry from Galilee to Bethany, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, when He learns that Lazarus is seriously ill. The fourth-century Bishop of Ravenna in northern Italy, St Peter Chrysologus preached; and I quote: “Death had already exerted its full power over [Lazarus], so that in him the sign of resurrection [would shine] out in all its fullness…. For Christ it was more important to conquer death than to cure disease. [Christ] showed his love for his friend not by healing him but by calling him back from the grave. Instead of a remedy for his illness, [Christ] offered [Lazarus] the glory of rising from the dead,” concluded St Peter Chrysologus.

We each live our own lives in the shadow of the experience of St Lazarus. Christ does not heal us from every illness, yet He does draw us to eternal life. As St John the Theologian wrote in the First Letter of St John, chapter 1, verse 5; and I quote: “This is the message that have heard from [Jesus Christ] and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all,” concludes that important message. If God permits the “darkness” or “shadow” of serious illness to come into our lives, it does not mean there is “darkness” within Him.

The Epistle this morning from chapters 12 and 13 of the Book of Hebrews offers a warning that there will be consequences for how sincerely we each choose to worship. The Epistle that we have just heard begins; and I quote: “Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire,” conclude the opening two verses of this morning’s epistle. Those words—“our God is a consuming fire”—are a direct quotation from the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verse 24.

As Origen preached on this verse; and I quote: “Hear what is written: ‘Our God is a consuming fire.’ What does the God of fire consume? … The God of fire consumes human sins. He consumes them, devours them, purges them, as he [told the prophet Isaiah in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 25], “I will purge you with fire for purity,” concluded Origen. Furthermore, in addition to purifying us from our sins, St Paul points out in First Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 13, that in the End Times, “the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.”

    Today’s Epistle from the Book of Hebrews tells us how to avoid God’s fire through loving others. The Epistle reads; and I quote: “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honour among all; and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have; for he has said [in Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verse 6:] ‘I will never fail you nor forsake you.’ Hence, we can confidently say, [in the words of Psalm 117/118, verse 6]: ‘With the LORD on my side I do not fear. What can man do to me?’” Then St Paul concluded: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.” Amen.