Come on down!

Sunday 10th April 2011 (formerly known as Passion Sunday) you could read from the selection of readings which includes Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11;John 11:1-45 - The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Perhaps one of the hardest stories for modern Christians to come to grips with

because this story of the resurrection of Lazarus confronts us with a dead person

who is brought back to life

But when I think about it

I have had a number of resurrection experiences where a dead person has been revived.

We live, for example, in an era where the miracle of modern medicine

means life for any number of people

who a generation ago would have died prematurely.

I don't want to belittle what Jesus did for Lazarus;

that we don't fully understand it

is obvious.

Most of us would find that as our lives go on

our encounter with

the 'death event'

is a curious and mixed-bag

and is not easily described

either physically, spiritually or emotionally.

If we try to get straight just what happened

and to focus solely on the mechanics of the event

This is, I suspect, rather to miss the point of this narrative

that we read today.

Change of focus

The commentators on John's Gospel

often make the point

that this chapter 11 marks a point of transition

in the Gospel

it moves away from the miraculous signs

to the engagement with the resurrection

...what one writer says is 'the end of the Book of Signs

and the beginning of the Book of Glory'...

the two are connected of course

But we are reminded that the greatest sign of Christ's glory

is his death and resurrection.

Death is at least one of, and probably, the most important things

that happen to us

This almost seems trite to say.

Yet we can be in danger of not getting it right

and missing what is important.

We do this because we are fearful, sad, angry, guilty....and any other range of things

The Christian mystery is that

Death is the gate to eternal life.

This doesn't just happen

even for Martha and Mary

it has to be carefully teased out.

And the key insight that this passage reveals

is that death is transformed

when Jesus is brought to bear.

If we do nothing else

when confronted

with death

we need to be with Jesus.

I do not pretend this is easy.

It does not make the pain go away.

This is not what is on offer.

What is on offer is the transfromation of death

into resurrection and life.

We all have sneaking glimmers of what this might be like.

Not always someone standing outside a tomb

and shouting "Come Out!"

but the transformation is as profound.

We are to come to faith in Jesus

and hear Jesus says what he says to Martha

11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live"

This is not, I suggest, a formula

but rather an experience

How does Jesus speak LIFE

into your experience of DEATH?

If we do not listen

if we do not ask

if we do not allow Jesus to breathe life into the dry bones

then we are missing out

on the key transformation.

Death is, I suggest,

the most wonderful experience of life.

In it we encounter the fulness of Jesus.

It is, as we enter into it,

not without pain.

But also with the possibility of great hope.

Jesus stands at the door of our life

and shouts "Come Out"

We do not, and will not

fully understand what is going on.

There is not the promise of no pain

or no sadness

rather that the gate of death will become

the way to a new way of living.

This only happens

when we allow Jesus to transform it.

in the related story in Ezekiel 37 that we read today

the prophet speaks God's word

over a valley of dead bones

(It is almost a bizarre experience...but we are dealing in highly imaginal language here)

The idea is the same

God transforms what is dead

to a new way of living.

This week

Where am I beseiged by death? My own, someone else's or...?

Can I give a little time to allow Jesus to speak to this...what does he say?

Can I believe this.....pray for belief (Lord I believe...but help my unbelief?)

Can we prophesy over the death that surrounds us on every side..."I am the Resurrection and the Life says the Lord"

In the valley of darkness
surrounded by bones
speak the words I need to hear
I am the resurrection and the life.
Lord I want to believe
let my unbelief crumble in the face of your Word