Ezekiel 37:12-14 / Romans 8:8-11 / John 11:1-45
In life there are many decisions to make. And when it comes to making a decision, there are at least two choices.
A decision between two choices can be, for example, as simple (or as difficult) as to whether to come to Church or not. Your presence here already says what your choice is.
Also the more the choices, the more difficult the decision will be. For example, going to a food court with its great varieties of food, we can spend more time deciding what to eat than eating. But as it is, having to decide between two choices can be difficult enough.
At this point in time, a particular group of people is going to make a decision about their future, and perhaps it is a decision about their eternal future.
They are the Elects of the RCIA, and there are 16 of them in our parish.
By now, they should have made their decision about baptism, which is just two weeks away. But it cannot be denied that there can be doubts and uncertainties.
I remember this man who was in the RCIA and coming towards baptism.
Although he has acquired much knowledge about the faith, he has not quite reached a conviction about Jesus and so he was hesitant about baptism.
He consulted me about this and I told him to ask Jesus for a sign.
He asked me what kind of sign should he ask for, and how would he know if it is from Jesus. I could only tell him that when Jesus gives the sign, he will know. He ended off by saying that it would be difficult to believe if he can’t “see” the sign.
About two weeks later, he came back and told me that he had seen the sign, and of course I asked him what it was.
First, it was an email that he opened when he got back to the office after talking with me. As he read the email, and as he came to the end, the sender signed off and then below the name was this scripture verse: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
He stared at the verse and the verse also stared at him. He went on to read the other emails, but he just can’t get that verse out of his mind.
A few days later, he accompanied his wife to the shopping mall, and as his wife did her shopping, he wandered around and he came to a Christian bookshop. And there on the display window was this painting of the Risen Christ with St. Thomas putting his hand into the wound of the side of the Risen Christ. And below the painting was this scripture verse: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” It was like a thunderbolt in his heart and he stood there like almost frozen.
And two signs were enough for him to make his decision about baptism and come to a conviction about Jesus.
Yes, we have to make decisions in life, and it is not so simple as coming to a decision with the toss of a coin.
Because we are unsure and uncertain of what will be the consequences of our decision. And as a people of faith, we have to turn to God and ask for His help so that we can make a decision that we are at peace with, and that it will also give glory to God.
In the gospel, we heard of Jesus making a rather intriguing decision when He heard that Lazarus was ill. Instead of hurrying over to see him, Jesus stayed where He was for another two days.
And Jesus made an equally intriguing statement when He said: This illness will not end in death but in God’s glory, and through it, the Son of God will be glorified.
The sign that Jesus gave to prove that what He said is true is when He called Lazarus out of the tomb.
The raising of Lazarus was indeed a profound sign that points to who Jesus is and many who had seen what He did believed in Him.
And Jesus will also give us the signs to help us make our decisions.
Because the sign will give glory to God and also for us to come to a deeper faith in God.
And of course, the signs help us to make our decision about our immediate future as well as for our eternal future.
In about three weeks’ time, there will be a major shuffle in our Archdiocese as a number of priests take up their new postings.
One of those priests was sharing with me about that day when the Archbishop called him and asked him to take up the post of parish priest in another parish.
He was stunned as he did not expect this, and he was also quite happy being an assistant priest. He told the Archbishop that he need some time to consider it and then he started to think of how to decline the offer and he spent the whole day thinking.
Then the next day, as he was preparing for Mass, and as he looked at the gospel, it had to be that gospel passage where Jesus said: Why do you call me “Lord, Lord” and not do what I tell you?
What clearer sign can there be, and so he said “Yes” to the Archbishop. He had to come out of his own interest so that he can say “Yes” to God.
But like Lazarus, it was like coming out of the tomb and into a new life.
Today we hear Jesus calling out to us: Come out. He is calling us to come out of our tombs of anger, resentment, failure, disappointment, in a word, the tomb of sin and death.
Jesus is calling us to come out of our tombs and to come out to life and to give glory to God.
And if we are still hesitant and uncertain, then let us ask Jesus for a sign, and Jesus will give us that sign, and it will be an unmistakable sign.
And with that unmistakable sign, we must make a decision to say “Yes” to Jesus and “Yes” to life.