5th Sunday of Lent
Cycle A
April 1-2, 2017 9:30am
and 11:15am
Saint
Mary Parish, Pylesville
Resurrection
on the Last Day
There is one sentence in this gospel story that I have never
before highlighted in any way.
It is a significant sentence, but easy to overlook. The context is that Martha says to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died.”
Jesus replies: “Your brother
will rise.” And Martha responds with
the sentence that is significant but easy to miss.
She says: “I know he will
rise in the resurrection, on the last day.”
Some Jews, in the centuries right before the birth of Christ, had come
to believe in a resurrection.
They believed that this would happen on the last day, at the end
of time. They believed that the Messiah
would come and all who had died would be raised back to life.
So Martha says: “I know Lazarus
will rise in the resurrection, on the last day.” Martha’s statement is significant because it
sets up Jesus for declaring something dramatically new.
“I Am the Resurrection”
Jesus says: “I am the
resurrection and life.”
Notice: Jesus says: “I am”
– not I will be “the resurrection.” This means that resurrection is a present
reality, and not only something in the future.
Jesus’ statement means that we can live resurrected life right now
through a relationship with him. This is
why he says: “Whoever believe in me, even
if they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never
die.”
By the way, the word “believe”
is used eight times in this story. So
there is a message here.
Jesus invites us to believe in him and then to live out of this relationship. If we do that, we will be living in resurrected
life right now.
This happens for us in the same way that it does for Lazarus. Jesus calls us and empowers us to come out of
the tombs we are in right now, just as he calls Lazarus to come out.
In coming out of these tombs, we live Jesus’ life – resurrected
life in the present time. I want to
share two examples of what this means – there are others and I am sure you can
think of them.
The
Tomb of Grief
Sometimes we can be in the tomb of grief. From my experience, I know that our personal
losses, especially the death of a loved one, can be very difficult.
It takes time to emerge from grief and feel as if we are alive
again. It takes time to find our spark,
our joy, our hope and our energy again.
Jesus calls and helps us to come out of this tomb. I think that the sacrament of the Eucharist
is especially powerful here.
The Eucharist is a visible way for Jesus to be present to us
especially in our loss and loneliness.
It draws us, little by little, out of the tomb of grief and back into
the current of life that God must still want us to live.
The
Tomb of Self-Absorption
Another example: in our culture, there can also be the tomb of
self-absorption. Some insightful authors
say that self-absorption, even narcissism is fairly prevalent in our culture.
This means that we can get into thinking only about myself and my
appearance and my concerns. This
self-absorption can become so dominant that it becomes narcissistic, that we cannot
even enter into the world or viewpoint or feelings of others and don’t consider
the effect of our actions on others.
Jesus calls and helps us to come out of this tomb. He moves us to a life of relationship with
others, with those whom we personally know and with those in the larger
community.
Jesus moves us to find life and fulfillment in this
connectedness. He moves us little by
little to come out of the tomb of self-absorption, even narcissism, and come to
the awareness that our true happiness is connected with the well-being of all others.
So, “Do You Believe?”
So, the real issue today is: do we believe that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” right
now?
If we do, then he can raise us and call us out of the tombs we are
in right now.
