Lent 5A
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
March 26, 2023
Ezekiel 37:1-10
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-44
Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Today’s readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the Gospel are among those that arguably are among those best known by Christians, and perhaps by others as well. The raising of Lazarus from the dead along with the shortest verse in the Bible – Jesus wept – and the valley of Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones.
Today we find ourselves in the Gospel of John again – another very long reading with a lot of narrative detail and interesting conversation. Think back over what you have just heard -- it almost seems like we were right there watching this all unfold doesn’t it. Jesus is drawing ever closer to Jerusalem where he knows that he will be crucified. An ugly humiliating excruciating death. But before that happens, Jesus is back at the Jordan River where his public ministry began, where he was baptized by John. And he gets word that the family of Mary and Martha and Lazarus in the town of Bethany in Judea –about two days’ journey away – had very bad news. Lazarus was very ill. Jesus then tarried for two more days and then he and his disciples set out for Bethany. On the way there, he learned that Lazarus had died. And on he journeyed – to be with Mary and Martha to be sure.
So Jesus arrives in Bethany and has a talk with Martha in which he made this claim: I AM the resurrection and the life, and then he talked with Mary. And then went to where Lazarus was buried. And the Jewish leaders and authorities who tried to have Jesus stoned just a short time ago are there “mourning” with Martha and Mary. Jesus gets to the tomb – a cave, actually, with a stone rolled in front of it. Jesus tells those gathered to roll the stone away. And into that hole of death, Jesus speaks words of life – Lazarus, come out! And Lazarus came out still bound up in his burial cloths.
Lazarus – big as life! Lazarus lived.
And then, Ezekiel’s vision. We need to understand the context of this vision. The defeated nation of Israel has been drug into exile after enduring a multi-year siege. Marched to a place about 500 miles away. Ezekiel was one of the first to arrive. And he was to minister to the other thousands who came and were coming. I can imagine him saying, “Lord give me a word for them”.
And by the power of the Spirit Ezekiel is brought to a visionary place – a valley full of dry dead parched ashen bones. And he was led all the way through and around these bones. And God said to Ezekiel – will these bones live again? And Ezekiel said, God, only you know.
And as Ezekiel watched in the midst of this vision – bone came to bone, tendons and cartilage connected them together, muscle came upon all of this and then behold – these bones lived!
Both of these stories are amazing, if not incredible. For Lazarus, dead means dead. Buried means dead. Four days stench means dead.
For the people of Israel, conquered means death. Destruction of the land means death. Marched into exile means the death of a people.
Death. Nearly all of us have experienced the physical death of someone we know or love or are close to. And the world would have us believe that dead means dead.
But you see, in Christ, dead doesn’t mean dead. Dead means there’s more ahead! Of course, as Christians, we hold on to the blessed hope of eternal life. This hope sustains us in times of loss, encourages us when life gets difficult. But I also think that there is more to it than that.
We have seen death in any number of ways as changes come. We have seen institutions change – the digital age has shifted the way we receive information – the daily delivery of the newspaper in many places is a thing of the past. Checking out library books has changed with the option of e-books. And the way that we worship has changed – from the red hymnal to the green hymnal and now the cranberry hymnal; discussions about “traditional” and “contemporary” worship styles. We have seen relationships change and even die through distance or anger or neglect.
But after each of these deaths, there is the opportunity for new life. I was talking with a friend about today’s readings and she said, “Oh the Valley of Dry Bones! That’s my favorite!.” She went on to tell me how it was that she prayed for those dry bones to come to life in her first marriage, her first very unhappy marriage. And God gave her new life but not until that marriage was ended and she found and married a new life partner some years later. Death followed by life.
There’s the downtown church, a flagship church at one time. Pews teeming with people of all ages. But that was years ago. What to do? Well, this church looked for new things to do, new ways that their space could be used. And now it is a thriving community center with worship, a health center, recreation for all ages, meeting space for community activities. Death followed by life.
A few verses later in the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks these words: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Change, even death, is necessary for there to be new life.
Jesus called for Lazarus to come out of the tomb, after four days. Lazarus heard the call, “Lazarus come out.” Know this – Lazarus could have stayed in the tomb. Could have stayed where it was safe, where he was resting in the arms of God following his physical death. Could have stayed hunkered down. “Lazarus, come out!” called Jesus. And he did. He came out wrapped in grave clothes, his eyes maybe blinded by the sudden light after those days of darkness. He came out with his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped as well. And then Jesus said, “Unbind him.” Remove that which impedes him. Take off the grave clothes so that he may be dressed for life.
(Romans 6:1-3) In our baptisms we cast off the grave clothes of sin and death and we are clothed with garb of new life, a life lived in relationship with God and one another. A life in which we too are called to bear fruit. A life of hope. Thanks be to God.
