Living like Lazarus

Have you heard the story of the Lawn Chair Pilot?

In 1982, Larry Walters, in an attempt to fly, tied 45 weather balloons, filled with helium, to his regular, run-of-the-mill lawn chair. He soon soared to 16,000 feet in the air, disrupting traffic patterns at Long Beach Airport, and caused a 20-minute blackout as he descended into some power lines.

It is often hailed as a tale of achieving your dreams and accomplishing what you set your mind to. It is an inspiring story. However, it has a tragic ending.

Walters never made any more off his endeavor. He had a bit of fleeting fame. He appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Late Night Show with David Letterman. He tried his hand at being a motivational speaker, but it never panned out. With his fine and costs for the equipment, he never even broke even until he appeared in a Timex ad in 1992.  A year later, disillusioned with his life, he committed suicide in the Angeles National Forest.

Larry Walters did something extraordinary that many of us will never have the guts or gumption to do. He flew in a lawn chair. It was the greatest achievement of his life. From that point on, he chased an experience that could never be duplicated. He struggled to live after the biggest moment of his life had passed.

Lazarus faced the same dilemma. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It was the greatest thing that would ever happen to him on Earth. Nothing he did would top that event. Instead of melting under the weight of that fact, Lazarus owned it. He walked among the people. He had dinner with Jesus. He was very public in what he did. John 12:9-11 tells us that because of Lazarus, many people were believing in Jesus. So much so that the Jewish leaders decided that Lazarus needed to die too. He couldn't live because his life continued to point to Jesus and the miracle of resurrection.

His very life made people believe. Does yours? Too often, we shy away from sharing the Gospel. We keep our religion to ourselves, as to not offend anyone at work or school or even in our own family. We go to church and tithe and serve, but we don't take our faith outside the walls of the church building. That's not the way Jesus intended things to go. He calls us to make disciples. He gives us the example of Lazarus, who faced the possibility of death to promote the power and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Our lives should point to Jesus. That includes our actions, our words, our deeds, and our attitudes. We need to live like Lazarus in order to win people to Jesus. Why? So that they may believe in him.