The falcon cannot hear the falconer…

Even an enthusiastic follower of the news like me has become a bit jaded with the constant conversation about the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. The stunning and inconsolable grief of families has been airbrushed into the background as we are offered images of earnest politicians deferring to armed services personnel who search what appears to an empty, endless ocean.
The conversations which ensue, wherever I am, have been about the hugeness of the task and the awfulness of the event. This is part of the associated fear we have, because if we have not flown on a plane, we all love someone who has and the idea of them being “lost” is beyond our worst imagination. Everyone expresses their disbelief that “we can’t find the plane”. This is, I think, the heart of it.
We have shared stories about miraculous medical procedures and scientific discovery. Some of us have cars that can be located by GPS and opened by their manufacturer, wherever we are. Most of us have mobile phones which can send emails, surf the web, text everyone and even make phone calls. Everyone knows how advanced we are…and we can’t find a jumbo jet?
This appalling event reminds us of our powerlessness, even our insignificance. With all our considerable resources, the world is searching and we are lost.
Jesus arrives in town and everything has gone wrong. If you had been here, this would not have happened. One of his best friends has died, and it appears that Jesus has dawdled on the way. Unlike Mark, who would have relayed the story in five verses, John tells us almost everything – Martha and Mary’s grief and accusation, Jesus’s profound grief and his equally profound response.
The miracle is a symptom of God’s wonder, just as death is a symptom of our world. We have no power over death, despite everything we have achieved. When Lazarus is brought back to life, Jesus names God at the heart of creation – do you believe?
We bear witness to a God who is always more than we can imagine – more justice, hope, healing and forgiveness. This is a God to whom we are never lost, whether ignorant, outcast, disregarded, even dead.

I am the resurrection and the life!