Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 Psalm 24 Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44
I once read a news feed from MSNBC that captured my attention with the headline, “The biblical Israelites may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant when Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from
Jesus raising Lazarus from the death is a story that defies our scientific understanding of the world. I once believed that science held all the answers. Mysteries were simply scientific problems not yet solved. Miracles did not happen; there were logical explanations that had not yet been discovered which could explain miraculous events. But at some point, I began to question this belief. I came to understand that scientific proof merely indicates a high probability that something will or will not occur given certain conditions. A scientific fact is a fact until it is proven wrong. My complete faith in science had left my life empty. It left no room for religion, for religion was too mystical. I didn’t understand that faith in God and science could co-exist. I didn’t understand that religion could include scripture, tradition, and reason. Scripture, tradition, and reason are considered the three legs of our three legged stool we call the Episcopal faith. Once I finally opened my mind to the possibility that science may not have all the answers, I was able to open my heart to God. And, when I began to apply reason to the scriptures, I began to comprehend their meaning.
The Old Testament is not a historical account written by 21st century historians. It is not a collection of true stories, but rather a collection of stories that are true. Let me say that again. It is not a collection of true stories, or said another way – it is not an accurate account of events. But it is a collection of stories that reveal the truth – the truth of God’s love for us. The MSNBC article was more concerned with facts than truth.
I no longer have a need to know if it was possible for the people of Israel to have literally heard trumpets sound as Moses brought them the Ten Commandments in order to believe the scriptures contain all that is necessary for salvation (as I said at my ordination). I no longer need to know if the story of raising Lazarus from the dead was a story with a message or an actual account of what happened. I accept both possibilities and look for what God is revealing to me in this story. Bible stories are often caulked full of messages for us, and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is no exception. One of the most powerful messages contained in the whole Bible is contained within this story.
Mary comes to Jesus and she is grieving. She says, “if only you had been here…” She has lost hope. Grief can have that kind of power over us. It can take our hope away. He sees her and all who were with her are all weeping and he is deeply moved. Then Jesus begins to weep. The scripture says he actually wept! In this one verse we know that Jesus was truly human. He felt the pain of others and he wept – even though he knew that they were grieving the loss of a man who was about to be returned to them. Knowing what he did, he still wept with them. Those around him think he too is grieving the death of Lazarus – but no. Jesus’ love is like that of a parent who sees her child suffering. Seeing Mary, and the others grieve, grieved him.
By the time our daughter was a year old, she had been in the hospital a number of times with her asthma. Her asthma attacks were rarely acute emergencies. Instead, like the one she was currently experiencing, they made it difficult for her to catch her breath. She would have to stop and rest frequently, even after just toddling across the room. My wife was working as a nurse, and I had been working in the hospital a couple of years by the time of this latest admission. Round the clock breathing treatments for three days had failed to ease her labored breathing and we were exhausted. It was time for more aggressive treatment – it was time to start her on IV medications. Now the hands that held her when she was frightened, the hands that comforted her, were holding her down, pinning her to the table so the nurses could stick her with a needle. As her parents we knew she needed the IV, we knew it was necessary to restore her to health – but as a toddler she knew it as torture and betrayal! It still hurts me to remember holding her and hearing her scream in pain and fear. I knew the medicine would make her well, but hearing her cry, knowing it her hurt her, hurt me. She might not even remember that moment, but it is permanently etched in my memory.
I wept that night, Jesus wept that night. Jesus wept. I can relate to this story in John when I read that Jesus wept. Over and over again, I have found Christ in my life when I have suffered. I know that when I do, Jesus suffers with me – even thought he knows what is to come. Yesterday we conducted a memorial service; we shed tears of grief – and Jesus wept along with us.
On All Saints Day we remember those who have gone before us, those who have touched our lives. I was recently asked why we pray for the departed. We pray, because we grieve. Yet, in our celebration of Holy Eucharist we say that we join our voices with Angels and Archangels and all the company of heaven – and we trust that all can be reconciled to God, for God is the power and the glory for ever and ever. As we see in today’s Gospel, death does not have the final word, it is not the end. We also pray for the departed because Christ is our mediator and advocate and Christ sits at the right hand of the Father reconciling us in all our brokenness to God. Christ gives us life in him, life that is eternal.
In our baptismal covenant that we will renew is just a few moments, we say that we believe in the communion of saints, and life everlasting. So today we remember those who have departed this life. Then we share our voices with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven – and we share in the communion of saints as we do this in remembrance of Christ. Amen.
