5th Sunday of Lent
Death is not very comfortable for us. It’s something that we would rather not talk about. We avoid it. Distract ourselves from it. But, in the readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent it becomes unavoidable. We enter right into it, in the first reading, and the second, and the Gospel.
In our first reading in Ezekiel the Lord says “I will open your graves and have you rise from them” A very dramatic sentiment. But God isn’t just talking about physical graves here, He is speaking of other graves we might face too, in our spiritual lives. Have you ever felt dead in your spiritual life, hopeless, stuck, cut off from God? Like you’ve lost motivation, you’re tired of trying, like you’ve messed up so bad you can’t fix it, maybe you’ve just felt numb before. Those can be graves too. And God tells you I will open your graves. He doesn’t say you can do it on your own. He doesn’t say we need to try harder. He says He will open them and have you rise from them. Lean on Him.
In our second reading Peter tells the Romans “…the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…[it] will give life to your mortal bodies also.” Do you need to read that again? Do you realize what it says? The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. The Spirit of God is not a small and polite presence; it is a resurrection power! Your worst moments are not your identity. Your struggles do not define your future. But it requires our cooperation. St Paul compares living “in the spirit” to living “in the flesh.” One will lead us to death and the other to life. But be careful, because you might not notice. Sometimes death isn’t obvious, it can be very subtle. It could look like constant comparison, or choosing bitterness, giving into negative habits, or believing the lies of the devil, thinking you are not enough. But life in the spirit offers something different. Something alive.
Finally, we have our famous Gospel story. Jesus didn’t prevent Lazarus’ death, the Gospel tells us when He found out Lazarus was ill Jesus “remained for two days in the place where He was” before He began His journey to Judea. He arrives when it seems too late. Four days too late. Martha says what we have all thought before: “Lord, if you had been here…” If You had shown up sooner. If You had fixed it. If You had answered my prayers differently. And Jesus doesn’t deny her grief, in fact, He weeps with her. Before He calls on His Father to perform this miracle, He enters into the sorrow. But then, He stands in front of the tomb and shouts “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man walks out of the tomb. He is still wrapped in burial cloths. He is bound. But he is also alive.
Sometimes we can fall into the hope that Resurrection means everything is perfect. But that isn’t true in our lives. When Lazarus walks our he is bound and he needs help from others. Sometimes new life can be messy, it takes time, it is a process, it takes community and accountability. But it is always good. Maybe Jesus is somewhere in your life standing outside and calling out your name, not in anger, but in an invitation, in love. “Come out!” Come out of the darkness, come out of shame, come out of isolation, come out of pretending everything is okay, come out of your belief that nothing can change. This Sunday, our readings remind us that God opens graves. The Spirit gives life.