The Most Noble of Quests

Scripture: John 12.9-16; Philippians 2.5-11


Fezzik the giant and Inigo the Spaniard have rescued the Man in Black because they need his help. Their only problem is the man they have rescued is dead, or so they think. They need to resurrect him. So they carry the dead man to a guy named Miracle Max. If anyone can help them, Miracle Max can. They tell Max that the man is dead and is there anyway to bring him back to life? Max tells them the Man in Black is not dead, he’s only “mostly dead.” And there is hope for revival if the man has a cause or quest noble enough to come back to life for. What is it, Max shouts to the dead man, that is so worth coming back for?

And through the muffled expiration of his breath the dead man miraculously manages to say, “Truuue Luuuuuvvvve.”


Miracle Max is initially unconvinced. But after some coaxing Max comes around and gives them a miracle pill to bring the Man in Black back to life. The Man in Black comes back because True Love is the most noble of quests.

That’s a fantasy story – if you liked The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia then you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, then listen to the geek speak for a few moments. Fantasy literature, from King Arthur to King Aragorn is about pursuit of a quest. It’s about dedicating your life to fight for good against evil. That’s why it has always appealed to me I guess.

We don’t live in fantasy literature. It’s not always so easy to tell the good guys from the bad. The world is constantly changing around us. Reality is complex and complicated. Our noble quest may not be a physical journey as much as it is a journey of our minds in how we view our lives and our world. It’s been suggested that by the time we are adults our minds have a default setting, like a computer’s, whereby we process stimuli and information by these standard settings – humor, anger, melancholy, joy, etc. Our minds are shaped and conditioned to our particular defaults by our experiences.

For example, A Jewish man who was the only member of his family to survive the Nazi death camps explained that before the camp, he had been a happy person with a positive view of life. Afterward, though, his outlook was never the same. His mind now defaulted to sadness, pessimism and a sense that life had no meaning. The death camp had reset his mind.

This can happen in a more positive direction as well. I have performed two weddings in the last month and I am doing counseling with a third young couple. They don’t know pessimism. They don’t know problems. They are in love! Their mind default is probably each other right now. And that is all good. Love is a noble quest.
St. Paul tells in Philippians chapter two that the author of Love, God himself, has showed us the Way of Love. His Son, Jesus, came on the first Love Quest. What’s more, Paul tells us, we can be like Jesus by setting our minds to be like Christ’s mind. What is that like? What is Jesus’ mind default?

“He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. . .he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Jesus mind was on serving and obeying his Father, no matter what the cost, even if that cost was death!

What we have to be convinced of in our minds, is that, though we may not be asked to die a martyr’s death for God, we are asked to live a servant’s life for God.

Is your life noble in its quest? June Carter Cash, wife of Johnny Cash used to tell people when they asked her how she was doing, “I’m just trying to matter.” How are you trying to matter in your life today? In business and in the church leaders sometimes talk about BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Organizations that thrive make it a regular practice to set, along with their smaller immediate goals, bigger more ambitious goals to stretch and grow toward. BHAG’s have a way of keeping us focused and energized and on the growing edge. What’s the big idea in your life these days?

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of your own efforts, so that no one may boast. For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works which he prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Ephesians 2.8-10)

We often think about the purpose and meaning of our lives in the context of our eventual funeral. What will my family and friends say about me when I’m gone? Who will stand up and say a few words on my behalf? Who will tell a funny story, share a touching moment, tell how I inspired them to live a better life? Who will make the potato salad? All these important questions come to mind.

“They say such nice things about people at their funerals,” Garrison Keillor once declared, “that it makes me sad to realize that I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.”

As far I know, our man Lazarus was the only person in history who actually attended his own funeral. Lazarus’ sisters and friends are all there at their home in Bethany. And many people were there with them at the wake. Jesus and his disciples arrive and Jesus’ invites Lazarus to join them. “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus came out.

I remember last year when our brother Cloyd had laser surgery on his eyes. I remember his joy in worship that first Sunday back with his “new eyes.” “It’s a brand new world!” Cloyd exclaimed to our delight. If Cloyd felt that way after eye surgery, what was Lazarus feeling after resurrection?

I wonder what Lazarus thought. I wonder was he said in private conversations with his sisters and his friends. That would’ve made a whole book right there! How did Lazarus’ priorities change in his second life? What was Lazarus’ big hairy audacious goal? What was his noble quest?

It’s kind of an interesting sidelight to note that Lazarus life was soon in danger once again. He was a dead man walking. Lazarus was a walking, talking testimony to the truth and power of Jesus of Nazareth. They said of him and Jesus, we can’t touch them yet, “the whole world is following after him.” To the politically and religiously powerful Lazarus was really trouble. They wanted him dead (again), this man that wouldn’t stay dead.
They would kill him and Jesus too.

We don’t know how long Lazarus lived. We don’t know what his “second life” was like. We don’t know what he thought or what he changed about himself. But we do know this – his was not the last resurrection. Through faith in Jesus all share in resurrection. Our lives become resurrection stories. So we can know this: we can know what happens in our “second lives.” That’s what it means to be a Christian. It means to become a new creation, with a new life and a new mission. It’s to have the mind of Christ to serve God with all we have and all we are. When the world sees resurrected people, they will follow.

The next time you go to a funeral, you should ask yourself: Why, today, is this not funeral? For what reason am I still on this earth, a walking, talking testimony of resurrection through faith in Jesus Christ? What noble quest has the Father prepared in advance for me to do?

For God’s sake, let us make our lives worth something, let us aim high with the confidence that one day we will reach our destination.