Delivered by Rev. Ellen Brantley

Sunday, March 9, 2008

SERMON: Resurrection Hope… Before Easter?

TEXT: John 11:32-45 Ezekiel 37:1-5

Here we are on the fifth Sunday of Lent, and the lectionary gives us scriptures about resurrection: The dry bones of the house of Israel given flesh and breath by the power of God; and Lazarus being called out of his tomb by Jesus, his friend and his Lord. These are wonderful stories, I’ll admit, but the timing is all wrong. Lent is about walking with Jesus along the way of suffering, the road to Calvary. But we’re not there yet.

It’s like being awakened at 4 a.m. when you don’t have to get up until 7. It’s like putting up the Christmas tree right after Halloween. It’s like Daylight Savings time starting in March. It’s like the groundhog that gets scared by his shadow and crawls back in his hole for six more weeks. I’m not ready to talk about resurrection yet. It’s not time for Easter yet.

Of course, the resurrection of Lazarus isn’t THE resurrection. But that’s another thing. Shouldn’t the resurrection of Jesus be the original, the one and only, an event unique to him? Doesn’t this story kind of steal some thunder away from Jesus and Easter?

As many times as I’ve heard the story of Lazarus, I guess it never occurred to me until now that he had a resurrection as well. And there were others before him, for Jesus raised a little girl in the Gospel of Mark (ch. 5) and the son of a widow in the Gospel of Luke (ch. 7). Furthermore, Jesus was not the only one to have ever brought a dead person back to life. In the Old Testament (1 and 2 Kings), there are stories of the prophets Elijah and Elisha both raising to life sons of widows. And the story of the dry bones from Ezekiel is an obvious resurrection image that brings the whole community of the Israelites the promise of new life.

So the resurrection of Jesus is NOT an original, one-and-only, exclusive event. But before I completely take the wind out of your Easter sails let me assure you that Good News lies ahead.

You see, there’s more to the Lazarus story than we read today, and we skipped perhaps the most important verse. Previous to going to the tomb where Lazarus was, Jesus had a conversation with Martha, the sister of Lazarus. “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’”

The resurrection AND THE LIFE. How often do we remember Jesus as the resurrection, but forget that Jesus is also the life? The Jews believed that the resurrection was a corporate event to come at the end of history. Even after death, it was something they had to wait for. But we who know and love Jesus don’t have to wait. We don’t have to wait until the end time, we don’t even have to wait until Easter or until we die. Jesus offers us new life now, today.

There is a story of two garment workers in New York City. One was a cutter and one was a stitcher. They were working side by side and got to talking about vacations. One said he was looking forward to his vacation, and the other said he was not taking a vacation this year. “Why?” the first man questioned. “I went to Africa last year. I went elephant hunting.” “Did you get any elephants?” “No, I found an elephant, but he charged me. My gun was jammed and I was killed.” A little stunned, the first man looked at his friend and said, “What are you talking about? You aren’t dead. You’re sitting here living.” The other man looked down at his scissors, looked across at the needle and fabric in his friends hands and replied, “You call this living?”

We can understand getting bogged down in the mire of our day-to-day lives. Sometimes we feel like we’re just going through the motions, just hoping to get through another day without too much trouble. And when you go home and watch the evening news, you feel even worse. The economy is slumping, a record number of homes are in foreclosure, the war is still raging, and global warming is a constant concern. Our current condition isn’t so great, and the future doesn’t look very promising either. You call this living?

But the words Jesus spoke to Martha on the death of her beloved brother are his words for us, too. “I am the resurrection AND THE LIFE. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

Listen to this poem by Ruth Hunt titled, “I am the resurrection.”

I am dawn instead of midnight…

I am light as opposed to heavy, a feather instead of stone.

I am bright as opposed to dreary, sunshine instead of rain…

I am hearty laughter and the giggles.

I am morning with sun and flowers.

I am the energy to complete great tasks of immense importance and small tasks of personal importance.

I am a nameless seedling beginning to grow.

I am the birth of living things from bees to birds to babies.

I am genesis – the beginning of the world, the creation of new ideas, and new inventions.

I am expectation, an unopened gift,

I am future and fantasy and idealism.

I am wakefulness after restful sleep.

I am the warmth of spring when the memory of winter has not yet been shaken.

I am the beginning of a book with expectations.

I am the impossible coming true.

I am joy.

When we’re feeling dead and lifeless as dry bones, Jesus is the life. When we wonder where God is and whether God is listening or even cares, Jesus is the life. When winter seems endless and the storms of life don’t cease to blow, Jesus is the life.

Just as he did for Lazarus, Jesus takes away the stone and calls to us, “Come out of your tombs!” He unbinds us and sets us free. He breathes life into our dry bones. He opens our graves and brings us back home. Jesus gives us RESURRECTION HOPE, EVEN BEFORE EASTER.

We need not wait any longer. May we believe and may we live…to the glory of God!

AMEN.