My family and I made a special trip to the Holy Land. I remember getting there and being absolutely exhausted from travelling all night. When we got out to walk around it was literally 106 degrees Fahrenheit, and we weren’t dressed for the heat. When we arrived, the first thing I wanted to see, was the gates…Graceland sprawled right across the drive. The holy land, Memphis Tennessee.
Memphis is considered the holy land of the South and the primary reason is of course because it is the home of Elvis. Like many pilgrim families, we visited the shrine at Graceland. While waiting in a 4 hour line up, my scientist husband Bill, dared to ask the guide assigned to our group, “So, how long did Elvis live here?”. An audible gasp ran through the group of about 20 people. The guide, with a look of horror on her face, said, “We don’t use the past tense here” and pointed to her t-shirt which read, “Graceland, where Elvis LIVES.”
It didn’t matter that she had never actually seen Elvis, or that Elvis stopped walking the earth over 30 years ago. She didn’t care. She and other Elvis fans believe he lives!
The King lives!
The Story of Thomas is a familiar one, but maybe it is time to listen again and pull out some ideas we haven’t thought of before. Instead of thinking about Thomas the Doubter today, I’d like to speak about Thomas the disciple.
So the disciples are together in the upstairs room, but Thomas wasn’t among them. The windows were closed with shutters and the doors were barred. They are still caught in their own tomb behind the locked doors of the house, after long eight days. Without peace, they are as good as dead. Jesus visits them and twice says, “Peace be with you,” having to repeat it in case they didn’t hear it the first time. We don’t know where Thomas is. He has missed the opportunity to visit with Jesus and see the wounds on his hands and feet, when the other disciples had the chance. I’m guessing he was out getting on with his life, figuring out what is going to happen next and just getting on with things. Because first and foremost Thomas is a realist…but oh, it is hard to believe something as outrageous as a resurrection from death, when you didn’t witness it yourself. It’s hard to visualize the wonderful instance, or the steps to take to make a wonderful miracle happen. Thomas is not the only disciple to doubt the resurrection. When disciples when they first receive the news of the empty tomb is doubt. Peter and the other disciples doubted the women when they returned from the empty tomb. They had to go and see for themselves and even then all they saw was the empty tomb. The didn’t know what to make of that.
Being able to believe in something you haven’t seen takes a very special person.
Sixty years ago, a small 42 year old woman took a decided step, or rather seat, toward something she had yet to see, and still believed with her whole heart. Dog tired and on her way home from working all day as a seamstress at a department store, at about 6 PM, Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery, Alabama bus to go home. She paid her fare and sat down in the first row of seats that were reserved for blacks. When the front of the bus reserved for white people filled up, the driver removed the “colored” sign and told her and three other blacks to move to the back of the bus to accommodate the white passengers. Her 3 seat mates moved; Rosa Parks did not.
“When the white driver stepped back toward us”, she later recalled, “He waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats. Rosa felt the gift of God’s presence, which gave her the courage to fulfill the purpose she was given. Suddenly, Rosa was inspired and she said, “the only tired I felt, was tired of giving in, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter’s night”. When he saw me still sitting he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, “No, I am not” and he said, “Well, if you don’t, I’m going to have to call the police and have you arrested.” I said, “You may do that.”
“Peace be with you”, Jesus repeats it a third time, a week later but because of fear in their hearts, the disciples have no peace and remain locked up. Jesus is calling Thomas and the disciples to a new kind of discipleship, but because of their quarrelling or even just not being present- they miss what He is saying. Christians have from the very beginning been prone to be at odds with each other. Can you imagine the disagreements going on in that upper room. The disciples were still a hot topic and should they be identified on the street, they assumed they might be put to death like Jesus. Fear can do ugly things to people, but Jesus came to bring peace you say. But the peace that Jesus gives is not freedom from discord, verbal or physical. It is rather an inner calm in the midst of strife. Jesus did not call them out of their tomb because there would be no catastrophes in their lives. Jesus came to bring peace that surpasses understanding. Peace to live calmly when living on the edge, betwixt and between the ups and downs of life. Who can be at peace when the world is turned upside down? Certainly not Thomas, the other disciples or us! Believing when you haven’t seen – now that is a difficult one.
Thomas was a devoted disciple of Jesus and one whom Jesus enjoyed teaching. Three times including this time , Thomas is mentioned in the Gospels and each time for his wanting to learn to do more.
Why then does Thomas seem different this time? Maybe it is because Thomas and the other disciples are displaying an initial response of fear because of the Judeans. Letting the world, rather than the risen Jesus, control their actions and attitudes. Jesus however, breaks into their locked up, fearful lives and bids them peace as fulfillment of his promises.
Although Thomas had to see Jesus for himself, Jesus did not condemn him for that. However Jesus did say “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Doubt is an obstacle that when overcome can cause us to have a deeper, more meaningful faith. In that struggle for meaning, the wise person learns to doubt his doubts.
Thomas echoes our own fear. Fear of not being heard by Jesus or God. Thomas is wondering and trying to make sense out of all that he was taught these past 3 years but now in the shadow of the crucifixion. I believe he was not so much a doubter, as someone who just needed confirmation to back up his decisions. We are tied up in our need for an answers, for proof. Because it justifies our deepest desire for evidence of an empty tomb. Like Thomas’ struggle to believe. Faith, I believe, the kind of faith that will see you through dark nights of the soul each one of us must endure from time to time, rarely comes without questioning and doubt. In fact, it usually comes as a result of questioning and doubt. Doubt may be one of the most important tools that God uses to produce mighty men and women of faith.
Jesus calls us for discipleship - He recognizes our need for confirmation –He knows our need for validation today too. We seek to establish the terms by which we will respond with faith. If I have historical proof…If I have a sign…If near-death experiences can verify…If God would do…If Jesus would cure…Then I will believe in Christ…Then I will know that God exists…Then I will know that there is life after death…Then I will make a commitment of faith. Maybe if we can slow down the work, society and just listen to the silence we can hear the answer back. The proof is there, if we can but listen.
Let me use an analogy from the world of commercial fishing. Years ago Seafood companies had a perplexing problem with a shipment of codfish to consumers who lived in land. Shippers discovered that frozen codfish loses its flavour in the shipping process. Shipping live codfish was no better though. Inholding tanks they become soft and mushy and later tasteless.
So somebody came up with the idea of throwing in some catfish into each of the tanks of the live cod. Catfish and cod fish are natural enemies. In a quest for survival, the codfish are kept in constant motion as they seek to escape the catfish! Then these cod are kept in peak condition from the ocean to your dinner table. (1)
In a sense, doubt and frustration and other such obstacles are the catfish that God has placed in our tank to keep us swimming, to keep us at our best.
There is far more hope for the honest doubter than for the person who says ”of course, I believe” and never struggles with the meaning and the misery of life. Knowing the way all the time isn’t possible, even in the Acts of the Apostles
The wonderful writer Frederick Buechner put it this way, ”Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep us alive and moving.” Doubt is one of God’s most effective tools for producing mighty men and women of faith. However, in order to experience the true joy that God intends for each of us, His children, there comes a tie when we begin to doubt our doubts.
The driver did call the police, who arrested Rosa Parks for violating the Montgomery segregation laws. She was jailed and when she was bailed out she was immediately fired from her job. Rosa Parks’ quiet act of civil disobedience jump started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The non-violent protest lasted 381 days, until the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal. All of this because Rosa Parks believed in something she could not see. She believed in equality. She believed that if she fought for equality, that others would follow and a new order would come to pass. Her political activism and civil disobedience was rooted in her Christian faith. She remarked,” The Lords power was within me, to do what I have done.” Rosa Parks knew the King lives.
We know Jesus lives and helps us to believe. Gosh, it makes me want to put on a sequin jumpsuit and sing “How Great Thou Art”! The Gospel is a living vibrant force that makes us move towards each other in love and compassion.
Remember, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” for if we believe He lives we will change. We will search for him and we will proclaim his message.
Sometime this week, amid LRT debates and Stanley Cup playoffs, BBQ and Elvis music, ask yourself, “Do you believe”? and the answer back will be “I believe the King lives” Alleluia. AMEN
King Duncan, Dynamic Preaching, Collected
Sermons.
(Sermon preached on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017, at Church of the Ascension, Hamilton, Ont. Text: John 20: 1-18.)
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead is one of the defining events of Christian faith. The tragedy of Good Friday – humanity taken into God in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s revelation of perfect humanity, executed on the Cross by the Roman state under pressure from his religious enemies – the tragedy of Good Friday is reversed and divine power overcomes death with life. Christ is risen from the dead!
The women, some of Jesus’ most faithful followers, make the discovery; the tomb is empty and they begin to see and hear (but not yet touch) the resurrected Christ. The marks of suffering are still there; continuity with the past is still there. But death has been transformed into life. The resurrected body is not Jesus coming out of hiding after someone else died on the Cross (as some came to claim) nor a zombie-like revived corpse, nor an insubstantial ghost or poltergeist but a new kind of body: a divinely and spiritually resurrected body; a body beyond our human experience, prefiguring the resurrection bodies of our deaths.
Death has been overcome, transformed, indeed, even given meaning. Therefore, Christ’s resurrection is a summing up, a culmination, of all that has gone before. God has taken all of humanity into the divine with the revelation of his divine and human son, Jesus Christ. Part of being human is dying. And so Jesus, in his full humanity, takes on death; he suffers a cruel, unjust and excruciating death on the Cross, what we would call today torture by the state, egged on by corrupt religious authorities not afraid to use the state for their own ends. But God triumphs over earthly powers; divine life triumphs over earthly death, and Christ is risen.
So here is one result of Easter morning: No death, no tragedy, no sorrow (past, present, or future) is beyond the loving power of God. Nothing is beyond God’s capacity to bring life out of death. Therefore, we set our face forward to life, not backward to death. Like Jesus, we all bear the marks of death: perhaps a dearly-loved one who died much too young, perhaps a deeply-regretted mistake of the past, perhaps a disappointing or failed relationship, perhaps ill-health or ourselves’ moving closer and closer to death. But the message of Easter, Christ’s Resurrection is this: “You are still alive! You are being brought back to life! Even in the midst of death is life! Christ is risen! You are risen!” And so we sing and ring our bells, we greet one another with good cheer, we put on our best clothes, we shell out too much money for the Easter dinner lamb, we celebrate with friends and bring in and welcome the stranger. Christ is risen! We are risen!
Thus, the three days from Maundy Thursday evening, though Good Friday to Easter morning (sometimes called the Triduum) are a unity, not to be picked apart and treated alone. One of the dangers of the liturgical year is the temptation to confine certain themes and emotions to certain times of the year and not to others. It is not the case that in Lent and on Good Friday we are sad and on Easter Sunday and in Eastertide we are happy, end of story.
Rather, Christ’s death and resurrection, the Paschal or Easter mystery, are present with us every day, indeed, in every hour and minute of our lives. We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection; the Eucharist is a re-presenting of Christ’s death and resurrection. All of the sacraments, including marriage, are an experience in death and resurrection, In our daily lives, happiness and joy are intermingled constantly with sorrow and disappointment. Death can come any moment. But the message of Easter, “Christ is risen!”, means that in the end, life triumphs over death, and though there will be tears, in the end resurrected life triumphs and “all tears will be wiped away”.
Resurrection is a gift of God; it is God’s action that raises Jesus from death. But our receptivity to life and resurrection, rather than letting ourselves sink into death, this receptivity itself a grace of God, helps resurrection spread. If I act like I am being crucified on a cross every day, I will not be a very pleasant person; but if I let resurrection take over, always looking forward to the future hope, joyful resurrection will spread.
This immediacy, this living of death and resurrection every day, extends to other themes of the Christian year. In the Anglican hierarchy of holy days, Easter comes first, then Christmas, then Pentecost (or Whitsunday). They were the days the faithful were expected to receive communion. If we understand Easter as the overarching Pascal mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, rebirth and resurrection in and from suffering become a daily reality in our lives, not just celebrated on Easter Sunday. And so it is with the other great holy days of the church, and they are all interconnected.
In the John Donne poem about Good Friday that I read on Good Friday, I was struck by the invocation of the Incarnation, that is, of the Annunciation and Christmas, toward the end of the poem:
If on these things [that is, Christ’s death on Good Friday] I durst not look, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,
Who was God’s partner here, and furnish’d thus
Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom’d us?
Donne’s reference to Mary reminds us that the Cross would not have made sense had Mary not contributed her humanity to the divine in bearing Jesus as her son.
In the Incarnation, God is perfectly present to us in the humanity of Jesus, born of Mary. That presence – being present to one another as God was perfectly present to us in Jesus Christ – is also enjoined upon us every day, not just at Christmas. Being present to one another means listening, encouraging, not giving each other lectures, celebrating, trusting, and growing together – all in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Likewise, Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has not be hiding in all this salvation history, suddenly to pop out of the box fifty days after Easter. The Holy Spirit, who St. Augustine describes as the perfect mutual love of Jesus and his Father, has been present all along, infusing the story, from creation to the prophets to the Annunciation, Jesus’s baptism, Jesus ministry, his death and his resurrection. On the first Easter night, in John’s Gospel, the resurrected Christ sends out the disciples with Holy Spirit and the power of forgiveness. Out of Resurrection come mission, lead and directed by Holy Spirit.
And so our lives are infused daily with the Cross, Resurrection, Presence and the Holy Spirit, leading us into all truth. That should be an attractive mix which should draw others to ourselves. But, alas, there is still sin in the world and we sometimes fail: we snap, we are grumpy, we like to be right, we like to be the centre of attention, we are reluctant to share and be generous.
Yet this day addresses all these sins and many more: “Christ is risen, we are risen!” – our sins, even our day-to-day ones (which are sometimes more difficult than the big ones), are forgiven, we are given the power and gift to overcome our failings, we are called to forgiveness, reconciliation and new friendships, we are given the power to forgive and forget and move forward in love. Hope is an offspring of resurrection.
Finally, Christ’s Resurrection is cosmic. As human flesh is renewed, so is all of nature; and there is a call for Christians to work towards social and political institutions that reflect the resurrection values of God’s rule. As we are sent out to work for justice and peace – a just social and political order, fair treatment of those on the margins, peace around the world – we shall experience death, suffering and violence; yet in the end resurrection and new life will triumph. We may not have much opportunity to work directly on the international stage: but at least we are called to support resurrection, peace, justice and loving presence in our political decisions, in our charitable giving, in our local advocacy and in our friendly and helpful relations with “the other” who is present among us.
May God strengthen us in our commitment to work for resurrection for those who live in violence and poverty, for those why have only known suffering, displacement and death in their lives. May we take up (or continue to bear) the Cross, may we be genuinely present to others, may we be open to the Holy Spirit, that Resurrection may spread.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Tonight we join together, just as Jesus and the disciples joined together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast. A “ceili” sort of dinner feast where once again, Jesus is going to use an everyday or at least a once-a-year experience to teach significant lessons.
Did you know that the Gospels record over 20 instances of Jesus at meals? It was there Jesus deepened friendships, heard stories and challenged assumptions in the getting and receiving of hospitality. So it is in the context of this table companionship the Last Supper was celebrated and in this sense of hospitable community that we draw on this evening in the sharing of music, story and song.
Psychologists tell us that in order to learn something integral to our life, it is best to associate it with something ordinary that we repeat often. When I was a singing teacher, I used to tell my students to try out a new breathing technique every time they left the bathroom. That way I was sure they would practice it quite a few times everyday and the new technique would become part of them.
Jesus beat me to it, so to speak. He taught the disciples some of the biggest lessons and he associated them with food. But before we get to the food tonight – we embrace the water and towel – and what’s with the towel anyway?
The bowl of water and the towel are signs of leadership.
Leadership? How can that be? They are symbols of a very beautiful and significant form, called Servant Leadership that I think is relevant to all of us here, whether you coordinate a ministry, a committee or not.
In Servant Leadership, Jesus offers Himself as a model for the disciples to follow. Let’s look at tonight’s example of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet.
It was the Passover and Jesus and His disciples gathered in an upper room to share in the meal. It was customary, and an expected act of hospitality, to have someone there to wash the feet of those who had come. But there was no servant present, and the disciples were busy jockeying for the preferred positions in the coming Kingdom (and for dinner). They all wanted to be pre-eminent in the Kingdom, so none was willing to lower himself to such a menial task. However, it needed to be done, so Jesus Himself took a basin and a towel and began to wash the feet of the disciples. In a Jewish household, this was the job of the lowest servant! The disciples had come in with dusty and dirty feet and no one was willing to lower himself to such a menial job – except for Jesus. Giving them a practical demonstration of “Servant Leadership”, Jesus washed their feet.
It has of late become fashionable to talk and teach about Servant Leadership. We are talking about leaders who are invested in their team and their team’s growth and development and not just results. Servant leaders invest themselves in enabling others to do their best, allowing teamwork to move their ministry. A true Servant Leader allows those alongside to grow into a great servant leader as well. They are committed to serving with a humility and concern, having a forgiving and giving heart. They are willing to sacrifice personally for the well-being of others. They are willing to do humble tasks, but as a leader, they always have in mind a larger vision.
A serving attitude does not imply willingness to be abused by others or the toleration of exploitation. Servant Leaders are not enablers to those who should be helping themselves. A true servant leader knows their first responsibility is to serve God and then to serve others. Servant leaders must first of all please God; they are not moved solely by the need to please others.
In Titus 2:6-8 Paul exhorts Titus, a young leader, saying “In your teaching show integrity”. When a leader’s character is marked by integrity, then respect and cooperation follow and he or she has a positive Godly influence on others – this is real leadership.
Jesus could have done a lot better or more, if he had not had his disciples with him. However, he chose to work together with them and to build a team. He taught them, gave them on-the-job training, heard their reports, prayed with them, corrected them, gave them opportunities to see Him in action and ended up investing most of His time and effort on them. Therefore, I believe Christian leaders should be great team players and builders. Without neglecting their own tasks and goals, they give adequate attention to the collective tasks and goals and invest in empowering others.
But there is something else going on here that is not to be missed – my meatball minute that happened many years ago.
I used to do Homecare nursing too, and as one of my many nursing experiences everyday for 2 years I had to visit this gentleman and his wife. Everyday I worked, I saw him at the beginning of my shift and at the end. We laughed and cried and he accepted my nursing ministration. You could say we bonded well, but I knew there was still something missing in our relationship – that what the meatball was to provide.
You see, one day, as the elderly wife was making Ukrainian meatballs, she asked me to try and taste one. Well, it was delicious and I raved about it. Suddenly, at the end of my shift, there appeared 2 hot meatballs ready in a little bowl for me - that day – and everyday (especially on the very cold Winnipeg winter days)…what was missing was found - RECIPROCITY!
And here it is right here in our reading when Jesus says to Peter, “If I do not wash your feet, then you will have no part of me”. Jesus was saying that the willingness and ability to receive is essential to relationships. If Peter refused to allow Jesus to give him something, there could be no meaningful relationship because relationships require giving and receiving.
In the scripture from Acts, Paul reports some words of Jesus that are not included anywhere in the Gospels. We get these words only from Paul. He reported Jesus as saying “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. I have heard that scripture quoted all my life and almost always the emphasis is on the importance of giving but Jesus does not say that we are only to give and not receive. By implication Jesus says “However blessed it is to give, it is also blessed to receive”. Have you ever thought about that? It isn’t an either/or – it is both/and. Clearly in the totality of life we are to receive as well as give and that is just as sacred.
I got “it” the other day. Every female clergy has a “father’ story of when she has been called Father and I got my first “Good Morning Father” last weekend out in the community while wearing a clerical shirt. I was thrilled but it made me think of others who are hurting because of this phrase. I was thinking of other clergy who minister to people so hurt that using the term “father’ with reference to God is discouraged because as children they had such bad experiences with their fathers. So many children have difficulty giving love to anyone. For most of their lives they have not been loved, so they were incapable of loving. Do you get it – you can’t love unless you have been loved. You can’t give unless you have first received.
That’s why it is so important for Christians that we gather together for worship, prayer and study to nurture one another. You can not live as an authentic Christian out there unless at the same time you are gathering with other Christians to receive all that God has to give. Our giving will soon exhaust our supply unless we are actively receiving.
I don’t know about you but I have far more difficulty in receiving than in giving. My giving feeds my ego. It makes me feel like a worthwhile person and there is nothing wrong with that, but what is a little messed up is that it is far easier to help someone than to receive help from them. I find it very difficult to ask someone to do something for me. I don’t know if it is just because I don’t want to impose on them, or I don’t feel I am worthy of their time and effort – or – I just don’t have enough humility to put myself in a receiving position.
When we refuse the gifts of others, we are depriving them of something very important to them, and although it is not intended it is really a “put down”. Can you see now how it gets in the way of a real relationship? The channel through which love can flow has been cut off. There can be no meaningful relationship unless we are able to receive as well as give.
I’m going to close with a story of an American woman name Elizabeth Byrd who was vacationing in Scotland. While traveling through the countryside, she met a local farmer named Mrs. Helen McIntosh and the 2 women hit it off so well, Mrs. McIntosh invited Mrs. Byrd back to her house. Soon after a storm blew in out of nowhere and it was a big one too. It wasn’t very long before the power went out and the women busied themselves lighting the candles. There was a knock at the door and when Mrs. McIntosh opened it, it was a teenage boy from the neighbouring farm. He had been born with a deformed leg and walked with a serious limp. He explained that his father had tried to call to check up on them but the telephone lines were down, so he sent the boy to see if they were alright.
The American woman began to talk about how much she liked wind and rain and a roaring fire, “Then, you’re not scared?’ he asked. Mrs. Byrd started to say, “No we’re not frightened. Everything is just fine,” but before she could open her mouth, Mrs. McIntosh broke in saying, “Of course she was scared, and so was I. But now everything is fine. We have a man about the house!”
The boy broke into a big grin “I’ll see that everything is snug” he said, as he moved towards the door. He felt like he was ten feet tall. He felt very special indeed as he left the farm house that night, all because a very wise Mrs. McIntosh had been willing to receive his gift.
Do you understand now? We need to receive and other people need the experience of giving.
So I guess it is true then, as blessed as it is to give, it is also blessed to receive and THAT’s what is up with the bowl and towel on Maundy Thursday.
The usual calm, dignified Procession with Palms that we are used to is not how it was in Jerusalem when Jesus entered the city.
In 2010 I attended the Passion Play in Oberammergau. What an amazing event! The Passion is divided into two parts and takes most of the day - morning and afternoon, or afternoon and evening. The performance we went to was afternoon and evening so it started in the day light and ended at night.
The Play begins with the entry into Jerusalem. The stage is huge and it was filled with hundreds of people - men, women and children; soldiers, priests; animals - live camels, sheep, goats, chickens, doves - all milling around. And they weren't waving palm fronds - they had huge branches of trees.
Mary Oliver - The Poet Thinks About the Donkey
On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.
How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight!
But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.
Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.
I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.
The only calm spot was Jesus on the donkey.
He is who they had come to see, their Saviour! The one who was going to save them from Rome! The prophet from Nazareth! They are looking for the One who will bring salvation and hope.
They were not looking for "Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild". They wanted the political activist. The one who would strike down their enemies and lead them with power. Actually they didn't get either of those figures.
They got the Son of God who came to save them in God's way, not their way.
And so they turned on him. And we move on through Holy Week through the Last Supper, the Garden, the betrayal, the trial and the Crucifixion.
The Resurrection is the realization that Jesus was right. He had not come to change the world, but to change us.
Amen.
(Sermon preached by Bishop Terry Brown at the Church of the Ascension, Hamilton, Ont., on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, April 2, 2017. Text: John 11: 1-45.)
Having raised Lazarus from the dead, as Lazarus emerges from his tomb, Jesus exclaims, “Unbind him, and let him go!”
Insofar as we are bound by death, that command is for each of us: “be released from the wrappings of death, be free”.
We are each of us wrapped by the clothing of death in different ways: perhaps a trauma, old or new, that paralyzes and depresses us; perhaps learned patterns of behaviour that neither help ourselves nor others; perhaps an egoism that makes us not very interested in other people; perhaps anxiety or loneliness from the daily pressures of life or our personal situations.
When Lazarus is still bound, he cannot return to the fullness of life that Jesus has intended for him. He cannot reach out, he cannot walk, he cannot be reconciled to his sisters. He needs to be unbound.
One starting point of reflection on this Gospel, then, is its very end: for each of us, where are we still bound by death and sin, and are we willing to be unbound? Lazarus, I am sure, was more than happy to be unbound, to be back with his sisters again. But how are we to be unbound from the wrappings of death?
Jesus words, “Unbind him, and let him go!”, were directed, presumably, at Mary and Martha. They do so and become agents of Lazarus’ freedom.
We are, in short, through the grace of God, agents of each others’ release from the wrappings of death: through genuine friendship, listening, acceptance, encouragement, not being too quick to judge, forgiveness, refusing to regard those different from ourselves as an enemy “the other”.
Jesus’ words are directed to the plural “them”, Mary AND Martha: even the meditative Mary is put to work unbinding her brother from death. And they work together, not individually. And if there were others around, I am sure they pitched in too. And after such an adventure, I am sure Lazarus would have wanted to eat; and one can imagine the excitement of both Mary and Martha preparing that meal with Jesus and Lazarus.
Because the story is about Jesus’ raising an individual, Lazarus, from death, I have begun with ourselves as individuals and as a parish. Within this community, all of us are broken in one way or another; and all of us have the capacity to offer healing to each other in one way or another. No one is a lost cause. But we also need self-awareness of what is possible and what is not; and what is God’s call to us, discerned both by ourselves and the community of faith.
Healing may simply be a kind and encouraging word, or a small gift, or an embrace, or just a presence: saying to another: “You are important; it is important that you and I be freed from death”. And all that goes not just for ourselves but for our relations with all our visitors, and all whom we meet day by day. Warm hospitality to all unwraps the clothing of death and returns us to life.
I believe this story can also be extended beyond the relationships of individuals and the Christian community to all of global human society, including our political life. Unfortunately, much of the world seems fixated on greed and death: massive profits that disregard unemployment and the effects of excessive wealth by a few on the rest of the world; massive degradation of the environment for the sake of the wealth of a few; warfare often based on quick or eventual acquisition of natural resources; and corrupt governments around the world often based on the principle of resource-extraction. The effects all around the world include child labour, poverty, homelessness, human-made natural disasters and armed conflict.
Yet amidst all that global death, Jesus says to the world whom he loves, “Lazarus, come out!”. Come out from this death-centred way of life to new patterns of life-giving human society and behaviour. Support those who are seeking justice. If you invest, support companies and enterprises that are environmentally and socially responsible, not just those with the highest profit. Put pressure on corporations, such as banks, that have obscene profits but treat their employees poorly. Support political and social movements for justice and environmental sustainability, both locally and globally. We also have the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, which we do not support as well as we should, to address these justice issues.
Canada’s indigenous peoples are in a Lazarus-like situation, emerging from the grave, brought back from the death of colonisation to new life, but in many cases still bound by the wrappings of death. Jesus declares, as he declared to Mary and Martha, “Unbind them, and let them go”. Often our political structures seek more binding rather than freedom. Having learnt our lessons as a church about binding and death with the residential schools, we should now be on the side of freedom.
Finally, one has only to walk through Jackson Square, or hang around King and James Streets, to know that Hamilton has major problems with poverty, health, homelessness, drugs and racism. The steady stream of people at our John Street door for food vouchers, bus tickets and other assistance only makes it clearer. Gentrification intensifies many of the issues. The whole situation is an enormous challenge to our government and social institutions.
As Christians, put in Jesus’ place, we are called to offer life rather than continued death; and where people or organizations show signs of life-giving, to give support. Our political decisions are to reflect life rather than death. And where we can help others free themselves from the wrappings of death, let us do so. It may mean being present at City Hall to advocate for fair wages, good health care, low-cost housing, good public transit, responsible police and safe neighbourhoods.
Finally, following from the Gospels from John over the past few weeks, life is not just survival, just enough to get along on, but rich and abundant eternal life. As a parish, perhaps God’s call is to open our doors wider and offer, for example, a regular good free meal for those who are often short of food, perhaps just once a month. We have been very good with our food collection for St. Matthew’s House, that contributes to an abundance of life. But fellowship and eating together is also important. And the invitation needs to go out, simply to share and offer life, not just to think about the numbers of our congregation. If we flourish in abundant life with the poor of our neighbourhood and city, we shall flourish as a parish. Like Lazarus, freed from the wrappings of death, we shall be free to offer freedom and eternal life to others. We pray that God will grant us the strength to do so. Amen.
