[Our Lessons were Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:6-11, and John 11:1-45.
I refer to "our Sister Tribby". We said a requiem mass this morning for Tribby McQuaig, a member of our parish, who died Thursday morning. She was an example of God's power to turn death into life. After the death of her adult daughter several years ago, she started a ministry to parents who lost their children. Each December, we now have a inter-denominational prayer service for parents who have lost children. Clergy from several local churches participate and we have people attend from all local churches. It will be strange to assist with that service without her physical presence, but she will be there anyway.]
Our lessons today highlight themes of rebirth, resurrection and renewal. They are a foreshadowing of Easter two weeks from now. They have a special poignance to us as we remember our sister Tribby, whose requiem mass was today.
Ezekiel’s story of the valley of the dry bones is a famous one that we include in the stories of salvation history in the Easter Vigil service. It even resulted in a song we may remember from childhood:
The toe bone connected to the foot bone,
The foot bone connected to the ankle bone,
The ankle bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
and so forth. We don’t usually recall the song’s beginning:
God called Ezekiel one morning,
“Go down and prophesy.”
Ezekiel taught the Zion the powers of God,
And the bones begin to rise.
We’re going to walk around with-a dry bones.
Why don’t you rise and hear the word of the Lord?
Ezekiel has a vision of a valley full of skeletons. This valley may have been the site of a battle or it may have been meant to be Jerusalem after its fall; we can’t be certain. The fact that these bones are very dry—or long dead—may represent just how deep was the spiritual tragedy which had befallen Israel.
At God’s command, Ezekiel tells the bones to be enfleshed and they are, but the bodies are not alive. Then, God tells him to “prophesy to the breath” to bring them to life. (As an aside, the Hebrew word, ruach, translated here as “breath”, can also refer to the Spirit or “wind”.) So the Spirit entered into the bodies and they lived.
This story dates from shortly after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon’s temple in 586 B.C.E. and it urges the people of Israel in captivity in Babylon to look forward to a future that vindicates God’s justice and promises redemption. The resurrection is not just meant to be a resurrection of individuals, even a “vast multitude”. It is the restoration of the whole community of Israel. God will not only raise Israel from the dead and gave them a new life; He will return them to their homeland.
As you may have recognized, the song I quoted came out of the experience of African-Americans in the South during slavery. This story spoke powerfully to them as it tells of an enslaved people forcibly taken far from home and as it promises hope of future release. The slaves understood, like no one else in our history, what the people of Israel had experienced.
In St. Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, he distinguishes between the way of the “flesh”—focusing on the physical experience that we see here—and the way of the Spirit. Focusing on the physical existence is the way to the death that is ultimately being separated from God. To Paul, the spirit-filled life is one which is full of energy and intimacy with God now and forever. If we have the Spirit in us, God will give our mortal bodies new life just as He raised Christ from the dead.
Our Gospel story is another familiar one—the resurrection of Lazarus. But, within its familiarity, there are many critical points.
Jesus does not come immediately in response to Mary and Martha’s plea. He recognizes that Lazarus’ illness can be used for the glory of God. God works in His time and to His purpose, not ours. Also, being faithful doesn’t prevent pain and suffering. God isn’t there to take away our pain; He is there to help us through our pain. But also, even if Jesus seems slow in coming, He is never too late. Nothing can ever place us beyond God’s redemption.
Jesus, when confronted by Martha’s grief, shows human emotion. He doesn’t react to Martha’s and Mary’s accusation that if he had come sooner, Lazarus would have lived. He weeps. (By the way, in some translations, that verse is the shortest in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”) Jesus shows that he is a sensitive human being. In fact, the story as a whole shows honest emotion. Martha warns Jesus there is a stench—in the King James’ version—“he stinketh”.
We also see the revelation granted to Martha: “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” She also refers to him as "Lord." To a Jew, the title of "Lord" was reserved to God, so Martha is saying that Jesus is God.
Finally, Jesus tells them to unbind Lazarus as he comes out of the tomb. “Unbind him, and let him go!” That task is appointed to us all—unbind those in bondage or any kind. Don’t hold on to the past, or to sin or to death! That is the commandment to the Church today. Release someone!
No comments:
Post a Comment