John 11:43 - "When [Jesus] had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out.'"
I love going to Target, ya know the store with clothes and food and stuff.
Generally speaking, people aren't shopping there for extras. They're buying necessities. And because they're buying necessities, there isn't really too much to get excited about. And it shows.
Boy oh boy, have you seen the look on people's faces while they're shopping for necessities? It's not a happy sight. 99% of the people look like they're the proverbial "this far" from being wrapped in grave clothes and sealed in a tomb. Like Lazarus was in today's Bible verse.
But Jesus had something to say about that. And so do I. Hey, you can join in too, if you want. Jesus said, "Lazarus, come out." Well, actually he didn't say it. What Jesus did was he said it like he meaned it. Yes, meaned it, which, in my experience, is Southern for Jesus said it like he expected it was gonna work. Yes indeed, the Bible says, Jesus "cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out.'" To be sure, Jesus was speaking to his dear friend, named "Lazarus." But since the name "Lazarus" means "God helps me," then we can responsibly say that Jesus was preaching an invitation to "come out of death and come instead to Jesus" to anybody who looks dead and needs God's help. Ya know, anybody who needs to come to life! To abundant life! To stop focusing on how hard life can be (because it can be hard), and focus on the one who can help. Y'all, God helps. And I can see it when I'm focused on him and not on my attitude of I-still-walk-20-miles-uphill-in-both-directions-in-the-snow-to-school. Jesus calls us out of that weary existence into new life.
And I can do that too, when I believe in the strength of Jesus workin' through me. I just pick me out a person who looks spiritually dead at Target (and there are many to choose from), and I shout at 'em in a loud voice.
Like a couple weeks ago, I said to this employee, "Where are the greeting cards, please?" And she said, "Come right this way." And the next thing I know she's got me walkin' through the women's delicates. And I shouted out in a loud voice, "Lord, lookee where I am, please get me outta here!" And that employee, she just like instantaneously went from death to life. She started laughin'. And I said, "Well, God tells us to be fools for Christ. And I'm lookin' like a fool, so I might as well sound like one too." And we hugged. And she thanked me for makin' her day. And I thanked her for pointin' me toward the greeting cards. And I greeted some other dead people on the way. Really! And most of them came to life too.
See! You can do that! Anybody can act like a fool. All it takes is a little faith, a little silliness, and the ability to say, "Hey!" I mean, who cares if people think you're a fool? If they don't think that, they'll just think that you're dead, just like them. So who cares if they think you're a fool. After all, that's what the Bible people thought Jesus was when he hollered into something like Dixie Caverns to a man who'd been dead for days and told him to come out. They thought Jesus was a fool for thinking that the dead could come to life.
Well, obviously he wasn't.
And neither are we.
So, see ya at Target or Walmart or some necessities store! I shouldn't be hard to spot. I'm the one lookin' and soundin' like a fool for Jesus Christ! Won't you join me?
Praise God!
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