Return to Our Roots Early Christians and Early Friends
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Beth Henricks
May 3, 2026
Good Morning Friends - Our scripture reading this morning is John 11:33-44
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
This is our first Sunday of Bob’s sabbatical, and we hold Bob and Sue in the Light as they head into this time of rest and renewal. I know they both appreciate this generous gift from the Meeting.
This is also the beginning of a time for First Friends to take a sabbatical, rest in each other, explore renewal for the Meeting, learn more about each other and continue to build up this incredible community. Our small sabbatical planning group (Barbara Oberreich, Norma Wallman, Mary Blackburn, Vicki Wertz, Patrick Jendryzak and myself) have been meeting for several months to thoughtfully plan out this summer, talk about some hopes and dreams for the Meeting and create opportunities for developing deeper relationships with each other. I am excited to enter this journey with all of you.
I love the theme of our renewal period from the gospel of John …”I have Called you Friends” where Jesus calls us into a friendship with God. In the ancient world in all cultures, God or gods are viewed as controlling the world and Gods needs to be appeased and worshipped to ensure rain comes for the crops, the family and community is safe, enough food is available, all things for our survival. The relationship to God was one more of slave and master. Jesus is offering a new relationship with God that is intimate and personal – a friendship. This is a new relationship in the Jewish community and one that dramatically changes the dynamic between humans and God. While God cannot be named and words are never enough to describe God, Jesus shows us that we can also be in friendship with God and that God will use us to impact lives and communities.
During these months we want to explore our friendships with each other. This community is so important to me, and I know important to many of you. This Meeting has been a lifeline through many times in my life. I remember when I was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 1994 and when I shared this news with First Friends, I received so many messages of love, so much support that I believe this community made a difference in my outcome. That is the power of community.
Our collective body is created of many parts, many beliefs, many callings, and that makes this fabric strong and a community where we can explore and learn from each other. To understand and appreciate each person, to begin to trust each other, we must go deeper in our friendships. We know developing a friendship takes time and we have tried to create spaces and opportunities during this sabbatical to learn more about each other.
You may be wondering why I chose this scripture when I am talking about friendships and getting back to our roots as early Christians and early Friends. Last Friday evening I joined an online lecture where Noah Bishop Merrill (general secretary of New England Yearly Meeting and a friend) gave a message to Quakers about how do we revitalize and renew our Quaker faith. He utilized this scripture in describing the crucial role community plays in all aspects of our lives.
This passage starts with Martha and Mary asking Jesus to come to their beloved brother who is dying, and they are seeking a healing. Jesus waits for a time and then travels to Galilee, and he weeps when he hears the news that Lazarus has died. My favorite verse of the New Testament is Jesus wept. It says so much about the character of Jesus and the character of God. Weeping with us is full of humanity, care and friendship.
The first big miracle of the passage is raising Lazarus from the dead. But I would pose there is a second miracle that occurs in the last verse in the passage – “Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go.” Who is Jesus addressing to unbind Lazarus? It’s the community. His community is faced with a man that has been dead for 4 days and now seemingly alive and they are unbinding him of the wrappings of his dead body and freeing him from the shackles of death. While Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, it’s his community that frees him. And then embraces and rejoices with him in this miracle of new life. That is indeed another miracle.
This is how God utilizes community. And early Christians and early Quakers understood this and lived within it with fervor. We are the instrument, the hands of God in this world. When we deepen our relationships and learn more about each other, we build a web of connectivity that takes care of each other, supports each other in how we serve, unbinds each other from our chains, and come together living within the Divine.
When we talk about revitalization, renewal, or rebirth we don’t need to focus on new programs, a new small group, new marketing materials, new technology or other suggestions that many church growth experts suggest. Not that those things are bad things to experiment with, but there is no formula for deepening our spiritual growth. What we need to be is the type of community that is all about small talk, budling relationships , deeply participating in worship together, receiving guidance from others and living in the testimony of those that have come before us. We need to go back to the basics of focusing on worship, exploration, service, relationship and guidance.
I pray that our intention during these 3 months is to step expectantly into how God will move through us and our community. I love the James Taylor quote from one of his songs “wild with expectations on the edge of the unknown.” I pray that we enter this time willing to be playful, experiment and consider the ways each of you will connect in a deeper way with several in our community. The early Christians and the early Quakers stepped into many new and unexpected experiences together, full of God’s spirit moving among them. This is how we all live into our callings and experience the best life that God wants for us. We do this together in community. May we enter this time with wild expectations.
As we now enter our time of waiting worship, I offer the following queries to consider.
How do I enter a period of uncertainty with wild expectations?
How can I personally deepen friends with others at First Friends?
How can I deepen my friendship with God?