Lent with Lazarus - Unbound

 

What was Lazarus’ side of the story?  What were his feelings when Jesus lingered?  Was he grateful for being raised from the dead or frustrated to be put through such an emotionally draining experience?  What it was like to be in a tomb, to awaken with a jolt bound tightly/wrapped by a shroud, feel the cool breeze when the stone was rolled away and light flooding the darkness, and to shuffle out of that space bounded up and feel the sweet release of being set free?  There is such profound power when I set into Lazarus’s sandals.

I wonder, where do you feel like Lazarus?  Are there places that feel lifeless right now?  Of if we borrow the image from Sunday’s Gospel of the vine and branches, are the branches of life that no longer bear fruit? 

Is there something binding you?  Are there obligations, “shoulds”, “have tos”, demands and decrees others are placing upon your life?

Where is there a refreshing and replenishing breeze?  Are there any promises of new life where you thought there was only dead ends or decay?

Are you shuffling toward an opportunity?  Perhaps you are inching toward it because you are uncertain or unclear; perhaps afraid because you don’t have everything plotted and planned out. 

I love that when Jesus asks for the stone to be rolled away the crowd says, “But Jesus, the stench!”  Where is the aroma of life right now less than pleasant?

 

Where do you long to be unbound? 

 

This story ends on such a powerful image: Unwrap him, let him loose!  Resurrection is about being set free.  Free from the obligations that confine and constrain us.  Free from being treated as less than a beloved child of God.  Free from fear, deception, and hatred (what Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman called, “Three Hounds of Hell).  Free from relationships that wound you.  Free from addictions that numb you.  Free, free at last. 

 

Where does your soul right now cry out to be unwrapped and let loose?!

 

One final question is freedom for or toward what?  Freedom just for the sake of doing whatever we individually want, I don’t think is realistic.  It isn’t just about meeting my own needs or having it my way all the time.  For example, when I went to college there was a freedom. I ate junk food, stayed up too late, and didn’t keep a schedule.  Soon my body and grades reflected the unhealthy way of life.  All those things (like broccoli, a decent bedtime, and having a routine) suddenly didn’t seem demanding or difficult after all.  There are things we chose to carry and somethings that we feel forced to hold.  I encourage you today to ponder the difference.  You may write down something today that feels like a burden or as binding you, only to eventually see this as a blessing.  Some obligations are holy and life giving (like family, being your pastor, caring for those who have their backs against the wall, and tending God’s creation).  While not everything that binds us is a blessing, we can’t live every day footloose and fancy free.  Let’s hold this beautiful tension as we let Lazarus’s story sing to our story today.