Lazarus Isnt Easter April 6, 2014 Mary Luti Jesus cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out… - John 11:43-44 A distraught Jesus stands at the grave of Lazarus and bellows for him to come out. And out he comes, still trussed in his shroud. Mary and Martha are thrilled, of course; but I wonder what Lazarus thinks. Jesus has raised him, but the life he gets back is his old life. Lazarus has to die again. We all undergo many deaths before were finally raised to the life that lasts. And thats hard, isnt it?—to die and die and die again. A line from Lief Engers Peace Like A River sums it up: Drat, thought dying Lazarus—this part again. A man opens another overdue bill. A soldier dives for cover as an bomb blows up his friends. A doctor spots new tumors on a childs MRI. A dieter steps back on the scale. A teenager stares at his report card. A spouse shouts things she cant take back. Drat, theyre all thinking, this part again. We know what they mean. Were no different from a newly living Lazarus. If the people who flocked to Jesus because of Lazarus were hoping to get what he got, they were bound to be disappointed. It sounds great, but it isnt the gift it appears to be. It comes with a drat attached. Lazarus isnt Easter. Easter has no this part again. For us who die and die and die again, it cant come soon enough. Prayer Holy One, its not that we dont love our Lazarus lives. Even with their many deaths and drats, we do. But we long for Easter to flower in us, no drats attached. We long for lasting alleluias. Meanwhile, this is our hope—in life and death, we belong to you.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 16:10:58 +0000
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