The 5th Sunday in Lent – Pastor Ellen Mills

Good morning!  I am offering you two ways to receive this.  In print, you will need to read the scriptures for yourself, and then the prayer and reflection that follow in this post.  If you click on the audio link below (below), you can hear all of it, including the scriptures.

The 5th Sunday in Lent

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 130

Romans 8:6-11

John 11:1-45

The Lord be with you!

Let us pray.

Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us from sin and death.  Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

     In the Old Testament reading and the gospel, we have death and life intertwined.  In both of two very different stories, we have the visible signs of death, we have the word of God, and we have life and hope.  In Ezekiel, the question at the beginning is haunting.  “Mortal, can these bones live?”  What a question!  Ezekiel was in a valley of dry bones.  Hundreds upon hundreds of bones so old that they were dry.  How could they live?  And Ezekiel answers very wisely, “O Lord God, you know.”  What a fitting word for so many situations today.  Those words could be said in despair, or in deep hope.  God ordered Ezekiel to prophesy to them, and the bones first became clothed with flesh, then filled with breath or Spirit.  And when filled with Spirit, they lived.

     In the gospel, this is the reading on the Sunday before Palm/Passion Sunday.  And in John’s gospel, the raising of Lazarus puts into motion the decision to arrest Jesus and put him to death.  Why?  Because he brought Lazarus back to life!  First, we had hope in the midst of a valley of dry bones.  Now, we go to a tomb where the body of Lazarus has been for four days.  Lazarus is thoroughly dead, past the three days when Jewish custom said the soul still lingered.  The door to the tomb is shut.  Yet, Jesus comes.  Jesus comes into the presence of Mary and Martha and other mourners, who are weeping in grief.  Jesus shares that grief, yet he still comes.  He comes to the door of the tomb, and speaks the words of life.  “Lazarus, come out!”  In the presence of a stinking corpse, Jesus calls out, first that Lazarus should come out, then that he should be freed from what binds him.  Words of life, in the midst of death.

     When I was reading these, words of a hymn came to mind.  I tracked it down, and it is from an Easter hymn from 1050 AD, chanted in plainsong, an ancient practice.  “Death and life hath contended, in that combat stupendous.  The prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.”  It is part of a hymn I sang in youth choir many, many years ago.  And somehow the very ancient words are still fitting in this modern time.

     What is so meaningful to me is that Jesus came into the presence of death and pain and grief.  He did not avoid our situation.  He did not deny its reality.  He came, he grieved and he spoke.  And even that wasn’t the final word.  The act of Jesus giving one person additional life on this earth resulted in Jesus being put to death for us all.  And that death led to eternal life, which begins now and continues forever.  We have hope now, not just for the time after we die.  In the midst of bewildering suffering, there is Jesus.  There is and will be new life.  What it will look like, we do not yet know.  AMEN

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord’s face shine upon you with grace and mercy.

The Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace.