[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, March 26, Fifth Sunday of Lent JOHN 11:1-45 As I told Martha, you know that I am the resurrection and the life and the person that believes in me will have eternal life. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus was friends with Lazarus, Mary and Martha. As a human being, Jesus both needed to have friends and wanted to have friends. In my acquaintances right now, there are many friends. Do I treat them with the respect that they should have? b. What kind of a friend am I to others? What are the three most important characteristics of “friendship” in my mind? c. Jesus delays going to see Lazarus and his sisters. We do not understand why. Maybe he wanted to teach his disciples that death is not something to be feared. In our lives right  now, do we fear death or do we see it as a time to return to our God? d. Martha was action-oriented. She was someone who made things happen, while Mary was more reserved. I am a certain type of personality. In terms of my own personality, what is the best way for me to approach the spiritual life? e. We readily answer the Lord that we believe that he is the resurrection and the life. How  can I show that belief a little more? f. We also agree with Martha that Jesus is the Messiah who came into the world. If Jesus would meet me right now at this time of my life, what do you think he would say is the most important thing for me to do? g. Jesus both wept and was perturbed. Jesus was human in his emotions. What are my strongest emotions and do I have them under control? h. Jesus raised Lazarus. As I think of my own death, what will I want to have accomplished before I die? i. My prayerthoughts… Today I will read Romans, chapter 8, and write an important thought from it.   Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  AFTER-DEATH ARRANGEMENTS            The liturgy today gives us an opportunity that does not happen very often. We get the chance to think about death without someone dying. Usually we think about death only at a funeral or wake, and it’s tough to talk about it at that time because of the sorrow and the emotions of the moment. But here we have a rather neutral setting. There are some who have recently lost a loved one, but for the most part, we can talk and think about death without the emotions of painful loss.            In the Gospel, the Lord takes to task the subject of death. It is a good time for us to think about it as well, and, in particular, our own deaths. We are all going to die, and according to the law of averages, some of us are going to go through it pretty soon. Now, that may be a disturbing thought, but we should listen carefully to the Lord today.            The whole incident with Lazarus is nothing more than a proof that God is in charge of all life and death. The key to the Gospel story is not the raising to life of Lazarus, although that is what catches attention. The key is Jesus’ words to Martha:           I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.           The important thing is the type of belief that we have in Jesus—whoever believes in me. We must choose to believe in Jesus. God never forces us: therefore, it is up to us—totally. We are in the hot seat, so to speak. No one else can do this for us: we either believe or not.           Now, it is at this point at a funeral that we would say: we know that so and so did that, and then talk about that a little. It is the place where one would never bring up the possibility that so and so may not have believed too well because that talk is painful to people. But not being at a funeral, we can say some rather straightforward things without making people feel badly.            The person who is next to die is around us at this moment. That person—and indeed all of us—are determining right now what kind of a future life we are going to have, either eternal life, or eternal death. And the criterion is very simple: does that person believe in Jesus or not.            Believing in Jesus means primarily two things: loving God and loving neighbor. Put negatively—if we are placing other things above God in our lives and interacting with other people in a negative way, then we are not really believing in Jesus.            It is a good spiritual exercise to write your own eulogy—what you think your friends will say about you at your funeral, and what you would like them to say about you. Things like:           – on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is high, how do you score your prayer life;           – on that same scale, do you think about other people in a good way;           – or how would you score your taking care of those less fortunate than you are?           – and so forth…            There will come a time when you and I will have our funerals in a church. The Lord’s message today is one of hope: you’ve got time left: use it well. We are often told that we should make some funeral arrangements ahead of time. Well, I think that it is much more important to make some after-human death arrangements. We have the time right now. May we use it well. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Love Me Like You Do” — Ellie Goulding EMOTIONS AND THINKING STRAIGHT The Gospel MARK 6:30-31 The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.

Gospelthink: In the early days of ministry, I talk my disciples to pray even though there was intense activity. Do I take the necessary time for prayer?

“You’re the light, you’re the night, you’re the color of my blood, you’re the cure, you’re the pain, you’re the only thing I wanna touch. Never knew that it could mean so much.You’re the fear, I don’t care ’cause I’ve never been so high. Follow me through the dark. Let me take you past our satellites. You can see the world you brought to life. So love me like you do, touch me like you do. What are you waiting for? Fading in, fading out, on the edge of paradise. Only you can set my heart on fire. Yeah, I’ll let you set the pace ’cause I’m not thinking straight. What are you waiting for? Love me like you do.”

Beginning romantic love is always challenging. It is challenging because we often do not know enough about the other to determine whether the love is real yet. Often the couple in love do not want to admit such a drawback, however, because the initial love can be so fulfilling. It is sometimes described as “head over heels in love.” Such is the feeling of the lady in Ellie Goulding’s song “Love Me Like You Do.” The problem with it is that it is still too early to tell whether the love is present or not, but it certainly feels like it is love even if it is early. And when we feel this way, human nature being what it is, at times we will not think correctly, and we may do things that we regret later on. When we look at love from a more general point of view, and take it out of a romantic context, the same is true. The emotions of love often keep people from thinking correctly. The love of Jesus and the sheer excitement of being able to perform incredible things on behalf of others overcame the Apostles as they came back to Jesus after a missionary journey. In fact, the evangelist Mark parenthetically remarks that they were so much taken up in the love of the moment that they did not even have time to eat. There is a lesson here for both the people caught up in deep initial romantic love and for people who are dealing with the emotions of life. Emotions cloud judgment. Whether our emotions are from the highest love or from the feelings of utter despair, our thinking is often compromised by how we feel. Strong emotions then demand strong discernment. We must realize that any serious emotion can mess with our normal thinking process. That fact should mean a couple of things. Primarily, we will need time to discern the reality of the emotion. Secondly, we must have deliberate objective thought concerning the way we feel. Time and objective thought will allow for the good feelings connected with romantic love in Ellie Goulding’s song or the intense love that the Apostles felt in Mark’s Gospel. It will also allow for the necessary analysis of why we have such strong feelings.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, our human feelings are often quite strong and overwhelming. Give us the grace to understand our feelings more so that no matter how we feel, we will always do the correct thing. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: The emotions of love often keep us from thinking correctly.  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. The context of the Gospel passage is the return of the Apostles from a missionary journey in which they were able to cure the sick, expel demons, and preach the Kingdom of God. In your opinion, what effect would this have had on the Apostles? What effect would it have had on the people they ministered to? 2. Scripture scholars interpret the “resting” of the Apostles to be a time of prayer. Why is prayer so important in any ministry? 3. Text analysis: “You’re the pain.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 4. Text analysis: “You’re the fear.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 5. Text analysis: “Fading in, fading out, on the edge of paradise.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 6. Text analysis: “Thinking straight.” In a love relationship, what does “thinking straight” mean? 7. What is your understanding of being “head over heels” in love? 8. What are some things in early romantic relationships that could happen that a person would regret later on? 9. Name some times in people’s lives when love other than romantic love can be overwhelming. 10. In what way do emotions cloud judgments? Give an example. 11. Why is the passing of time so necessary to understand our emotions? 12. Why is objective thought so necessary to understand our emotions? 13. What does the song “Love Me Like You Do” teach young people?