2014 Lazarus Experiment - Day One

Each day I'll be posting a little devotional piece to help us focus on living like Lazarus. (Some of you may have read these before). Each will give a thought, a scripture to read, and some Lazarus suggestions. Feel free to read or not - it's just to assist us in these forty days. Here's the first one:

John 11:40

"Then Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?' ”

It's all a matter of perspective.

I know you may not believe this, my being a pastor and all, but sometimes my wife and I have disagreements. When that happens, it is always - ALWAYS - an issue of perspective. We see things differently, from different angles. In order to resolve the situation, we have to see through one another's eyes. We have to merge our perspectives.

Perspective is the direction, condition, health, and quality of your vision.

How do you think Lazarus' vision changed once the bandages were unwrapped and his eyes adjusted to the light? How did he see differently? What did he change about his approach to life, his approach to people, his approach to Jesus? How did being brought back from death alter his perspective?

This is the question we will spend the next forty days answering. We will dig through all of our lives to discover how new life in Christ Jesus changes the way we look at things and people and God.

It's just this simple: Putting trust in Jesus means you have a brand new life - all things have become new. Death is finished. Life is offered abundantly. Don't you think that should leak into every part of us to bring light and vitality? Of course.

Pray today that God would open the eyes of your heart, starting right now, today - Resurrection Day - to see life with Lazarus-eyes.

And do something today - just one little thing - that dramatically, intentionally, reflects your new vision.

Suggested Scripture For Today: John 11 - the story of Lazarus' new life.
Suggested Ideas:

1. Go outside and sing an Easter hymn loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
2. Tell three people why you're smiling so much.
3. Read John 11 out loud to your spouse and/or kids.
4. Invite ten friends to join our group with you.

Welcome to The Lazarus Experiment! I'm praying your perspective will never be the same again!

Ron

My day 1 response

Day one was bittersweet. My older boys weren't able to come for church or Easter Dinner but we were fortunate to be accompanied. My bff (one of two) passed away on March 28th from a very heroic battle with lung cancer. Her husband, who is like my brother, came to church with us. It was a blessing to have him with us as he hasn't been to church in about 20 years or more (for a service - that doesn't include weddings or funerals). God was gracious enough to share some of heavens great inhabitants with me during the service and it was phenomenal to see my sweet bff standing with her mom, my parents and my husband. Her smile was positively radiant as were the smiles of all my loved ones but what was so extra special was the way she appeared to be looking at her dear husband standing with us. It was truly truly ethereal and I don't think I'll be able to get that vision out of my heart for a very very long time. We ended up spending the day together and I don't think it would have been as fine an Easter had we not spent it together.

Then my little grandson came to see Grammie after seeing his out of town relatives for a special Kraven Only Easter Egg Hunt. His very first! He was precious!

I am so very blessed!

The Lazarus Experiment - Day Twenty- Two

Will you risk losing what he gave to you?

If you lose your cell phone, and you go for four days without it, and then your husband finds it in the planter by the front door, you will probably learn your lesson and keep better track of that phone. You won't let it get far from your purse.

If you lose your credit card, and you don't know where it is for four days, and you have to make all the calls, and then the barrista at Starbucks calls you and says you left it on the table, you will make sure you never do that again. You won't take it out of your wallet.

If you lose your kid, and he's missing for four hours, and you're frantic and panicked and about to lose you mind, and then a neighbor finds him walking with a stranger, and brings him home, you will tie a leash around his waist and make sure they're never out of your sight again.

If you lose your life, and you're dead for four days, and then Jesus brings you back to life, you may determine that you will do whatever it takes to protect yourself from disease, from ill health, from danger, and from anything that might threaten to take life away from you again.

And you'd be wrong.

I wonder if Lazarus ever thought about these words from Jesus: "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." I wonder if he thought, What if it's my second life? Does that count?

If you have been handed your life back after it was taken away, would you hoard it and protect it and keep it in a little bottle so that no one could ever take it from you again? Or would you give it up?

We're going to get real serious now. We've been at this thing for over twenty days. We've been celebrating new life. And it's fun, and it should be.

But it's not yours. You've been handed a life, one you didn't deserve, and it belongs to the one who gave it to you. And in order to keep it, to hang onto it, to make sure it's not ripped away from your hands by the Ultimate Enemy, you can't keep it; you're going to have to give it up. You're going to have to give it back to the one who gave it to you. It's the only way to make sure you will keep it.

Yeah - it doesn't make sense.

When Lazarus finally got around to asking the question -- What now? -- I think he must have considered the options. Keep it safe, don't take any risks, use a lot - A LOT - of hand sanitizer, and never, ever hang out with those Jesus fanatics who are just looking to get themselves killed. Or . . .

Or lay my life down; surrender it, sacrifice it, call it done, and give it over completely to Jesus.

One way you'll save it. One way you'll lose it. Again.

Suggested Scripture For Today: Matthew 16:21-28

Suggested Ideas:
Give something precious away.
Make a plan to give time to a stranger or a needy person. Don't make it easy. Pick something to do or someone to help that you don't really like.
Do something embarrassingly silly and childish.
Express your love for someone in a way that is uncomfortable for you, but is easy to see for them.

Question of the Day: According to traditional accounts, Lazarus became a missionary, spreading the news of Jesus. Have you felt God's tug to completely change the course of your life and do something risky and outrageous for him? How did you respond? If God were to call you today, how would you react?

His grace is good enough,
Ron

I gave in........ I have a hard time with my daughter in laws sister.  She has proven herself to be untrustworthy and has caused a lot of drama in my life and in the relationship I have with my daughter in law.  I have every reason in the world to not allow this girl in my house..... but I caved.  After careful consideration after careful thought, I caved in and let her back in.  It took everything in me to say this was okay but I think Lazarus would have given her another chance.  God forgives.  I must also forgive.  My daddy used to tell me, "Sweetie, think about the Lord's Prayer.  Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  You have to forgive sweetie so you will never be deprived of your entrance into heaven."

Daddy's not wrong.  I'm okay with it all.  I'm okay with forgiving and doing the right thing because I know I've done what God would want me to do.  And I know it came from my heart and that, I know, is good.....

The Lazarus Experiment - Day Twenty-One

Your worst day with Jesus is better than your best day without him, and your worst day alive is better than your best day dead.

Lazarus gained a working heart, a functioning brain, and five or more senses that worked when Jesus re-issued his permission to live. But he also gained one amazing view - the panoramic vista of abundant life.

Do you have a picture in your mind of a scene that changed your life completely?

I have several burned into my memory. The first time I saw the Grand Canyon as an adult. Looking out from the Capital Building in Washington D.C. at the space between there and the Washington Monument filled with hundreds of thousands of men. Holding my daughter, April, in my hands on the day she was born. The breathtaking sight of my wife, Linda, coming around the corner of the doorway on the arm of her father on our wedding day. To say these moments were life-changing reduces them to a cliche. They leveled me, and I have never recuperated.

They also have framed my life and my perspective. Every moment of my life is cast with the color of these scenes, like lights on a stage play.

Now, translate all that to Lazarus and the bandages removed, the eyes open. He would never forget. And everything else is sawdust.

We here at TLE 2013 have already seen this perspective alive and active in the hearts of our participants. Lissa and Kimberly have shared their Lazzie perspectives. And Debora is right now going through what is without question one of the worst possible experiences life could throw at you.

And there are others, some whose stuff we know, and many whose stuff we will never know, but they're hanging on to this central truth - I have today, and I have Jesus, and that is enough.

THAT IS ENOUGH.

Debora used these words: "living in the now." Now can be brutal. But you have Grand Canyon eyes. You have new baby eyes. You have wedding bliss eyes.

YOU HAVE LAZARUS EYES.

The rest? Sawdust.

Suggested Scripture For Today: Psalm 116

Suggested Ideas:
When the ebb and flow of your day brings you to the lowest point, stop and be Lazarus in that moment. Tell us about it.
Share some of your life-changing moments with someone who's never heard them before.
Write a thank-you note to Jesus for the life-altering Lazarus perspective.
Dance with someone you love. Or a stranger.

Question of the Day: Do you think Lazarus outlived Mary? Martha? If he did, how would he have experienced the death of someone he dearly loved? How would his experience with Jesus re-frame his outlook on loss, death, and grief?


Do something outrageously loving tomorrow!

Ron

Talked about my mom's passing with a darling young lady who has had a terribly tragic life with her own mom.  She asked me how I can believe in a God who has let such didficult things come to pass in my life after hearing my story.  I told her that it wasn't about the difficulty of the things that have transpired as much as it is the lessons I was able to learn and the things I was able to accomplish in spite of having been knocked down time and time again.  The beauty of my mom's story is that it was the full circle of God's love for me, bringing me back home to a complete understanding of His love and living with Him as my very best friend.

The conversation was hard.  Tough to really say and experience with someone who was searching for a  reason to continue believing.  Fortunately she has a pretty good foundation and a pretty strong faith but like most young people who have suffered some of life's harsh realities, she is struggling to hold on.  I feel very blessed to have been received well and to have been taken seriously enough to have made a difference.

Indeed God puts us in the right place at the right time - what wisdom!

The Lazarus Experiment - Day Twenty

You're half way through this experiment! How are you doing?

I don't know some of you. I may know your name, but I don't know your life. But I can be certain that right about now some or all of these things are true:



You're wondering about what you got into with this whole Lazarus thing.
You're feeling guilty because you're not keeping up.
You've had some kind of major upheaval or life problem.
You've run out of ideas for The Experiment, and you're just looking back on your day and trying to come up with something that seems like something that maybe Lazarus would have done.
You're tired and weary and worn out and you don't have any energy left.
You wish Lazarus was around so he could try The [insert your name here] Experiment and see how he liked it.
If Lazarus was really alive, and you met him in the street, and he started in about how wonderful life is and how everything was just going great and that if your life is with Jesus then you have the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in your heart -- well, you might just have to punch him in the nose.
This will not help, but you may want to know that this happens to me every year. That's why I want you to do one thing.

Don't give up.

Here's what I've noticed: if I keep at this thing and get through to the end of the forty days, something amazing happens. Lazarus gets into my head. The whole idea of looking around me and seeing things through the eyes of a resurrected person takes hold and begins to be a more permanent thing. Each time I do this Experiment, my life gets reoriented a little more, and I get a better hold on what abundant life is engineered by Jesus to be.

So keep at it. Determine that you will hold on to the end. Cut loose of all the guilt and pressure. Sit with Jesus a few minutes. Read John 11 again.

And then tomorrow, set about to do one thing that gives dramatic evidence to your life in Jesus.

You can do this. I'm with you. You'll be happy you stuck with it.

Besides, punching Lazarus in the nose would only hurt your hand.

Suggested Scripture For Today: John 11

Suggested Ideas: 
Take the day off TLE.
Grab a song book or hymnal and sing for 30 minutes to yourself.
Write a love letter you didn't intend to write.
Call a friend and take them for an ice cream sundae.

Question of the Day: Would Lazarus have anything to be embarrassed about after he came back from being dead? Would he have more inhibitions or less? Would he have cared about what other people thought of him?

May God back up his dump truck of grace and unload it in your front yard,

Ron

Just a short response today - I just want to say I'm thrilled to have been able to share conversation with someone who knew and loved my husband.  He said that he missed Kevin and he and Kevin had had many opportunities to discuss spirituality.  He was relaying his beliefs to me (or lack thereof really)  and why.

I told him about a recent experience I had and then started talking about Lazarus.  We ended up in a 30 minute conversation about living a life of faith.  It was awesome...... He hugged me and thanked me for not being judgmental but showing him how to remain firm without a being a thumper and making him feel like he was (in his words) a lower form of life.  Then he followed that with, "I love you Lissa!"  I just smiled winked and told him I thought he was really "getting it".   It was a great conversation! 

The Lazarus Experiment - Day Nineteen

Do you think Lazarus ever got tired of telling his story?

The first week was probably exciting, and I would assume that Laz told anyone willing to listen all about his real-death experience. Scripture makes it sound like word about Lazarus spread quickly, and there were probably loads of people who were gathering to touch "The Man Brought Back From Death."

I'm sure Lazarus was asked hundreds of times, "So, how did it feel when you were dead?" and "Did you know right away that it was Jesus calling your name?" and "What was the first thing you wanted to do when you came back to life?" (How do I know that people wanted answers to these questions? WE'RE STILL ASKING!)

I wonder if the thrill wore off. After countless questions about the same thing, and press conferences covering the "Amazing Events at Bethany," and the conspiracy theorists hatching plots about zombies and cannibalism and "The Dead Amongst Us" - I think Laz must have tired of the whole thing. At some point, maybe he just answered every question with "Jesus - it was Jesus."

And then, of course, Jesus himself died. What would that have meant to Lazarus and telling his story? Would he hole up at Bethany, pulling into the countryside to hide for fear of the Jewish leadership and the Roman cross?

We have fair evidence that Lazarus eventually told his story again. He became a prominent advocate of the gospel - the good news - and was responsible for helping get that news out to the world. And who better to do that than Lazarus? He knew first-hand - literally first hand - what it meant that Jesus came to save sinners from the devastating consequences of sin.

If you know Jesus enough to have tasted the same death-to-life experience, you know the gospel first-hand, too. Your story may be tired and old to you. Or you may not think it's especially exciting or germane. Lazarus may have come to the place where he considered his story weary and worn. "You don't want me to tell you that whole thing again, do you? Really?"

But I think people genuinely wanted to hear it. I want to hear it!

So to, your story needs to be told.

There's a great old gospel song that starts with this phrase: "Sing them over again to me - wonderful words of life."

This story - the one where Jesus makes you all new - this story never gets old.

Tell someone. Tell everyone. God did something great with you, and he deserves the credit.

Suggested Scripture For Today: John 9:1-25

Suggested Ideas:
In two or three paragraphs, write your story, then mail it to five people who've never heard it before.
Ask someone you know as a Christ-follower to tell you their story. We may know several believers, but we may not have ever heard their story.
Arrange to take a meal to your neighbor, or mail a treat to a distant friend.
Take one hour to spend with Jesus alone, with the express purpose of thanking him specifically for all the things he did to hunt you down and love you into his family.

Question of the Day: Do you think Lazarus got discouraged and frightened when Jesus died, or did he have more awareness of Jesus power than the disciples?

Please continue to pray for Debora and her husband. It sounds very bleak. But Martha said that about her brother, too, and Jesus turned that whole thing around. He can do the same here, if he chooses. Let's ask him for that.

Ron

Today I shared... I shared a lot.  I shared the word of God, I shared my testimony.  I shared through prayer, I shared through conversation.  It felt good to share and have conversation filled with similar testimony, testimony that was not the same, testimony of a few who don't believe the same testimony of some who have no faith, testimony of some who are learning to have faith...  What a blessing to be having that kind of conversation and be able to participate and seemingly to make a difference.  No matter what I saw with my eyes today.  I know what hearts saw as opposed to minds and I know it made a difference.  God is so very good....

The Lazarus Experiment - Day Eighteen

There may be no surer evidence for grace than friendship.

I love the descriptions, scant as they are, of Jesus' relationship with the Lazarus family. It sounds so easy, so warm. I like the eating and the relaxing and the hanging out. I think it would be great to have dinner with Jesus and just occupy with each other for a couple hours.

But that's probably not going to happen soon, unless Jesus decides to return this week or call me home. Until then, it could get lonely - very lonely - and I need the flesh-and-blood evidence of his grace and acceptance. So do you.

That's what friends are for.

It would be a Lazzie thing to do to connect with your friends. To say a random "Hello!" without warning. To send a card or a token of love. To hide a surprise or to plan a trip. To share coffee or tea or a beer. Those connections are grace-fuel, and we dare not go too long without tanking up. We're not made to run on fumes.

If you know me, you realize that I am a devout proponent of Facebook. I think it is amazing, and one of the most innovative and radical technologies in the last decades. It promotes connection for me and it's been so very good to make friends across all kinds of barriers - space, time, relational. It's easy.

And that's why I would say that if your relationships - especially those that are grace-rich - are on Facebook only, and if that's the only way you're making the connection work, you need to step it up. Sure, you can pull grace from that. But you need more. You need face-to-face. Somehow, Jesus lives in those moments.

We've already seen that one of the first things Lazarus did when he was up on his feet was to throw a party and be with his friends. He knew they needed to see him, to touch him, to talk. He needed it, too. And I think that, once Jesus was removed from earth and caught up into heaven, Lazarus probably hosted many more gatherings.

Need grace? Jesus is the source, but he often uses other people as his delivery system.

Suggested Scripture For Today: I Corinthians 12:12-26

Suggested Ideas:
Connect in a surprising way to a friend. Go out of your way to show grace.
Take a loaf of homemade bread to your neighbors.
Take a lonely person to a ball game or shopping for groceries.
Carry a pack of post-it notes everywhere you go today and write encouraging notes - could be for specific people you know will find them, but could be for anyone who might wander by and see them! Leave them everywhere!

Question of the Day: What political involvements would Lazarus have had? Did they change after his sure-death experience?

Have a great day,
Ron

This is a good one for me today.  I have recently met a young lady who, through no fault of her own, is so very damaged in her heart but she clings to a powerful hope that He will never leave her and will always walk beside her no matter what.  We had an occasion to talk while lunch was being prepared and it was so obvious she is searching for validation from a woman - a mother figure because she never had that.

I'm in a position to afford little, but time I have to spend.  We spent the entire day together.  We did things and talked about things and shared things.  She asked me my thoughts on things and though I really didn't validate or invalidate things to her, I tried to gently direct her to decide for herself what should be right or wrong based on her faith and not on her experiences.  We had such a blessed day and I felt so amazing after having had so much wonderful time with this young lady.  She is a darling and wonderful girl and I really admire her.  We have both come to understand that thinking with our experiences closes doors to some really special and awesome opportunities because we think in terms of consequences rather than in terms of the rewards of living through Jesus.   It's a fear driven thinking rather than being based on the faith that Jesus will walk beside us through anything we do with Him first.

If she had not stepped out in faith, we would have never met.  I hope she continues to take the risks her faith will allow and not take the risks that her experiences have taught her are fun in the moment but have lasting repercussions with self recrimination and discouraging consequences sometimes.  God is so good to have put us together today!

The Lazarus Experiment - Day Sixteen

Joyous and happy, Lazarus floated through the first week of his post-death existence with a smile on his face and a dance in his heart. He woke up smiling, and he didn't stop with that silly grin all day long. He would catch himself shaking his head in full-out wonder, and then offer praise to God audibly and in front of anyone who happened to be close. He did not blush to praise Jesus; to tell the story. He must have told that story a thousand times if he told it once. He could not come down off his new-found abundance. Life was full, faith was energized, joy was abounding, and then he sinned.

Not a another single person knew. It was Tabitha again, with her cloak pulled back just so and her shoulder bared for just a fraction of a minute. And that look. THAT LOOK! Martha had to poke Laz in the ribs to get his eyes back to his work, but later that day he nursed the glimmering memory, and it became sin.

Do you remember the first time you sinned after you came to Jesus? How did that make you feel? What did it do to your new life?

I think Lazarus may have been blown away.

"All things new" and all that--sounds peachy keen--but this is not new. This is old. This feels as familiar as a stick in the eye. I've been here before. I thought all this was over, that I was a "new man," that Jesus was enough. And now I've spoiled it all. My new life isn't so new after all. It's back to the same-ol', same-ol'. So much for a new and improved Lazarus. Crap.

He may have become physically ill at the thought that he had betrayed everything Jesus had just accomplished. The awareness that sin was still possible and probable and that guilt still smelled just as foul as before crushed him.

"Hey, Jesus and the boys will be coming back from their camping trip today, and I've invited them over for a little get-together tonight," Mary announced. "Hope that's OK."

No. Not OK, Lazarus thought. What will I say? Where will I go? How can I hide?

Visit the scene. Lazarus is lounging, visiting with neighbors as the party gets going. Jesus walks in, surrounded by his disciples. Lazarus moves away a little. He avoids eye-contact. He finds a corner and munches on some grapes, head down. But Jesus manages to get back there without being noticed.

Before Laz can dodge him, Jesus grabs his elbow and pulls him around. The eyes of these two close friends lock, and Lazarus searches there. It is clear that Jesus knows. There is sorrow and pain. But there's more. Jesus' eyes brighten, a smile forms, his face lights. Jesus wraps his arms around Lazarus and pulls him tight and whispers into his ear.

I've already taken care of that, Lazarus.

Sin lurks around, waiting for a chance to bring death back, to resurrect guilt and shame and fear, to repaint the blackness of our hearts. Jesus' gift of new life powers the battle to fend off sin's advances and deliver them empty.

Lazarus had a choice: believe that Jesus had accomplished what he could not do for himself, or go back to the losing battle and cycle down the familiar path of guilt.

You have that choice. What will you do when you sin?


Suggested Scripture For Today: Psalm 51

Suggested Ideas:
Creatively express the truth about sin and your new life using words, music, art, or photography. Be sure and share the results with us.
Take time out of your day to sit with Jesus and confess what he already knows.
Tell a close trusted friend that you need them to sit in for Jesus today. Tell them that you just need to have Jesus present while you tell about some things that are tempting you, tripping you up. Explain that sometimes you long for Jesus to be physically present, but you know that's not really possible yet, so your friend will have to do. Then spend an hour unloading your junk.
Cheer and clap all day long for anyone who does anything remotely good and right -- the checker in the grocery store, the McDonald's drive-through worker, your kids, your spouse, the bank teller, the customer. Holler and clap and draw genuine attention. (People will be suspicious - try to do it in a way that is authentic or someone may thing you're being facetious.)

Question of the Day: Was Lazarus present at Jesus' crucifixion? What was he feeling? What was he thinking? Would his thoughts and feelings be different than anyone else's?

Here's a special note to you - you know who you are:

I know you're still wondering what this crazy thing is all about. You may just feel like you don't have time for this thing. You may feel like you have nothing to offer and nothing to say. You may feel like you're already 15 days behind and you can't catch up. You may be wondering - when will all these posts stop showing up in my Facebook?

I get it. But can I encourage you to just jump in? Maybe just for a day, or the next several days. Just try it, give it a little time, interact a little bit, and see how it goes. I'd love to know your impressions--positive or not.

If you don't try it out, that's OK. There have been participants in TLE who never post at all, but read all of it everyday and tell me later that God used this little band of former zombies to change things in their hearts. So please, lurk on and keep reading. It's OK.

Have a great day you Lazzie peeps,

Ron

Well my goodness this is a great one.  How do we hold our heads high when we know we are wrong?  How to do look people in the eye?  How do we move forward when sin can drag us down so badly we can't even move much less move Forward!

I gave this one some long long thought.  I'm not perfect by any means.  Not even close.  That being said, I'm also pretty good about recognizing what I've done and taking steps to NOT do that again or at the very least to modify my behavior so I don't consciously do that "thing" what ever it was.  I realized, while giving this some serious thought, that I have a few things that I do over and over, not really consciously but I do them, that I really shouldn't.  It is time to bury a few things.  It is time to just rid my life of a couple actions that really need to be eradicated from my days.  They don't come up every day.  They come up occasionally though and need to change so, today I will begin being more aware of my words, my actions, my thoughts and try had to make sure those things that are frequented that need to go away do just that.  Go Away!

I know it's a process and I know it takes time.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither did my little habits become habits in a single moment.   How blessed am I that God is patient with me because I am human and as long as I am "working on it", He is pleased?  I am very very blessed...