Old Testament Reading Ezekiel 37:1–14

¹The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ²And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ³And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’ ¹²Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Epistle Romans 8:1–11

¹There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Holy Gospel John 11:1–7, 14–16, 32–40, 41–45

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.

Worship Bulletin

Children Bulletin

Grace to you, and peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I. When Waiting Turns Into Loss

For some weeks now we have been standing with the prophet Habakkuk in the dark. We’ve heard his questions and cries to God. We felt the weight of waiting when God is silent. We have learned faith sometimes looks like standing watch while nothing seems to change.

There sometimes comes a moment when waiting shifts into something heavier. The clock keeps moving. The silence stretches on. Hope no longer feels delayed. It feels expired. Time to just give up. Give up on faith. Give up on hope. Give up on God.

II. Habakkuk and the Silence That Hurts

Habakkuk stations himself on the watchtower because he has nowhere else to go. God has spoken promises of redemption and restoration, and the world remains broken. Violence continues. Suffering goes on. Wars break out. Churches empty. Some of them close. Where is God?

We know what it’s like to pray and still bury our dead, ‘cuz it looks like God didn’t show up. We know what it is like to trust God and still feel abandoned, ‘cuz it looks like God didn’t show up. Silence does more than just test patience. It can wound hope. Faith under that weight stops shouting. It waits. It aches. It wonders whether the answer, even if it comes, will arrive too late.

Habakkuk knows that moment. The prophet waits for justice, waits for God to act, and wonders whether God’s answer will come too late, or at all. Times like that strain faith. That same strain stands at the heart of of what we heard with Jesus today.

III. Jesus Arrives After Hope Is Gone

Jesus hears His friend is very ill. He’s in trouble. Jesus waits two days before starting to walk to the town of Bethany where Lazarus lives. By the time He arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. The stone is sealed. The reality of death and the desert heat on a body has begun. Whatever hope remained is gone. He showed up too late.

Martha and Mary speak words that sound painful: We prayed. We called. “Lord, if You had been here…” Faith is still present, but it’s wrapped in grief. Jesus does not correct their theology or give them plastic platitude of artificial comfort. He doesn’t hurry them toward optimism. He weeps with them.

That’s something too often missed, too often forgotten. God doesn’t stand at a distance and watch us hurt and suffer from our loss. He enters right into it. On that day the Son of God stood before a grave and allowed death to break His heart. No matter what comes in life never forget that.

God may test your faith to grow it, or to show you a strength you didn’t know you had. He may be getting you ready to help someone who will need to know you understand because you’ve already walked where they are going. Just like we know Jesus did for us.

IV. Dry Bones and Sealed Tombs

That vision given to Ezekiel sounds impossible. A valley filled with sun baked, bleached white, dry bones receives the Word of the Lord. What is dead beyond repair is commanded to live, and it does. That same Word now stands before Lazarus’ tomb. The command to roll away the stone confronts human reason. We know how death works. We know when hope is ended and gone.

V. The Word That Gives Life

Death should know better than to mess with God. Jesus speaks and Lazarus comes out. God’s word is spoken and dry bones stand alive. Not because death gave them up willingly. It is because Jesus the Holy Christ of God commanded it. God gets what God wants.

Paul tells us in the book of Romans the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead already dwells in you. I want you to hear that. Especially those coming to the Lord’s Table today. Who do you think you are to come to this table? From this table you will receive the very real Body and Blood of the one who beat Death down. Who are any of us to come near?

The answer is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead already dwells in you. That is true because of your Holy Baptism where your body became a temple of the Holy Spirit. You don’t walk up here alone. Jesus meets you here. The Holy Spirit is carried within you here. You leave here with your heavenly Father’s approval.

Come here remembering you mess up all the time. This Table is set to clean up messes. Come sorry for sin. Come in repentance and humility. A holy thing happens here. You are made holy and return to your seat better than you came.

When it feels too late know Jesus is still Lord. Time does not bind Him. Death does not defeat Him.

VI. Hymn Anchor – Confession at the Grave

We confess that truth with the verse from our Lenten hymn:

LSB 439, v. 10

Yet unrequited, Lord, I would not leave Thee;
I will renounce whate’er doth vex or grieve Thee
And quench with thoughts of Thee
and prayers most lowly
All fires unholy.

That’s pretty cryptic English. There probably a few folks who don’t really know what that means so how about:

Though my love often falls short, Lord, I will not leave You.
I will turn away from whatever brings You sorrow.
With thoughts of You
and humble prayer,
I will quiet every sinful desire within me.

That is how you come to this Table, no matter what is happening in life.

VII. Hope That Does Not Lie

Habakkuk is told that the vision will come and will not lie. The waiting when life is challenging can feel difficult, but God’s promise stands. Lazarus steps out of the tomb. The One who calls him out will soon walk into death Himself. The silence will deepen. The night will grow darker, but the Word has already been spoken. He will be victorious.

God is never too late. He meets us where we are and speaks life. That is what Easter is about a shout of life and victory forever.

Next week we will take our next step on that journey.

Amen.

As We Gather

Today’s message, When It Feels Too Late, speaks to moments of grief, loss, and waiting when hope seems expired. Through Habakkuk’s struggle with delay and the raising of Lazarus, we hear the promise that Christ is never too late. Even where death, sin, and despair appear final, God speaks life and forgiveness.

Prayer Before Service

Almighty God, You have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications to You; and You have promised through Your well‑beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in His name You will grant their requests. Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of Your truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

Historical Background:
This prayer comes from the liturgical tradition associated with St. John Chrysostom (c. 349–407), Archbishop of Constantinople. It has been used for centuries as a prayer before worship, emphasizing God’s presence among His gathered people and His gracious hearing of their cries.