This story of the "Raising of Lazarus" is one of my favorite Gospel stories. What I DON'T like is that it has been relegated to funeral readings, where it is awkward. In fact, I hate to have to preach on it at a funeral. I'll tell you why: Jesus chose to raise Lazarus, but not the other dead in his town that day. Why not? Come to that, then, "Why are we here at this funeral, burying this Christian? Why didn't Jesus raise him, too?" It's nice that He can do this "raising from the dead" thing, but it would be even nicer if He did it more often, like NOW!
But, that isn't the point of the story. The point of the story is about "awakening" from the dead to live. The scriptures know that we are, really, sleepwalkers in the world, if not the walking dead. We move through life with so little consciousness. Our words and our deeds are leaving corpses in their wake, and waking no one to life! We kill with our tongues, instead of bringing life to the world.
This Gospel reading is a plea to use your speech as a means of bringing life and hope to people, not shame and hurt. Shame and hurt and rage are all things that bring the death of possibility. If our kids hear from us constantly that they are useless and stupid, they believe it! Their hope for doing something great with their life slowly dies. Spouses are the same. We can kill love with a constant battering with words of anger and frustration. This Gospel begs us to use our words to call forth life.
Now, I want you to consider the end of the Gospel story. Jesus went to the tomb, had the stone rolled away, and called, "Lazarus, come forth!" And, sure enough, this shrouded figure stumbled forth. Jesus said, "Untie him and let him go free." Those are perhaps the words that best describe the message of the entire Bible, both the Hebrew Scripture and the Christian texts included—isn't it the essential meaning of the Book of Exodus? Loose their chains of slavery and let them go free!
Life is the process of awakening, and seeing that we had been dead. And , it involves the process of being cut loose and freed for living--truly living. This Gospel calls to us. It says, "Don't be the walking dead in the world!" WAKE UP! You can be filled with life and hope and you can share that life and hope with those around you, too.
As we draw near to the altar of the Lord of Life, today, let us pray for the Grace to be "life-giving" people—positive people—and let us pray that our lives may be benedictions of peace and goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +
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