Lazarus - An Encounter With Jesus and Bethany’s Gravedigger - A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 26, 2023

P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 11th chapter.

C Glory to you, O Lord.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.  3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."  4But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,  6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  8The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?"  9Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.  10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them."  11After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."  12The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right."  13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.  14Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."  16Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.  18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,  19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.  20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.  21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him."  23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  24Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."  25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,  26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"  27She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."  29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.  30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.  32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.  34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."  35Jesus began to weep.  36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"  37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days."  40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"  41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me.  42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me."  43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

I hear you’ve been sharing some stories,

some encounters with Jesus,

Well, I had my own, grave encounter,

pardon the pun.

Yeah, you guessed it, I’m the grave digger,

not exactly the most graceful job.

It is hard work, dirty.

I don’t know why I do it.

I mean, I hate death.

Plus the hours stink:

I work the graveyard shift, literally,

almost every night.

I shouldn’t complain though.

I would much rather dig these graves

and roll these stones,

than be a slave,

or collect taxes

or be a fisherman.

Some people like being out on the water – not me.

Still, it’s weird; I hate death,

and here I am in the graveyard.

It gets hard working here,

surrounded by death,

seeing so many people in grief.

The crying,

the wailing over loved ones.

It can be so sad.

So draining.

Being surrounded by death is no way of life.

Death is especially tough when a young person,

like my friend Lazarus, dies.

It is just so foreign

to how we understand life.

Sure, life’s tough and then you die:

that’s how it goes for everyone.

Death is more certain than taxes.

But death is so much easier when someone dies

at a ripe old age

than when a young person dies.

Actually, I take that back,

death is the worst,

no matter the age.

I’m sure, by now,

You’ve heard the story

of my friend Lazarus’s death.

I kept the grounds at that burial place in Bethany:

I carved out the cave where we laid him.

There was so much pain in my heart,

getting the cave ready,

how do you dig a grave for a friend?

I hate death.

So many people came when we laid him in the tomb.

People kept coming by:

just to touch the stone,

to say their goodbyes,

to wail, to cry.

Mary and Martha, his sisters,

sent for help from the Healer,

Jesus of Nazareth.

‘Rabbouni’ they call him.

You know, I had met this Jesus of Nazareth before,

and, I mean, he looked all normal and stuff,

But, words cannot express

this person’s aura,

and energy.

It is as if life flows out from his pours.

Each word he utters is like flames on gold:

burning away what does not belong

and leaving the metal purified

and beautiful: precious.

There really is something about this Jesus of Nazareth.

He’s a controversial guy:

people had been keeping tabs on him for some time.

The Pharisees don’t like him.

The Romans don’t like him.

You know, I used to think it was too bad

that Jesus wasn’t here when Lazarus was sick:

maybe he could have kept him from dying.

But Jesus always has a reason

for doing what he does.

I can still remember the look on Jesus’ face

when he came to the cave that day.

He looked just awful:

sadness so deep,

so angry,

distressed.

Lazarus’ death hit Jesus right down to his core.

Man, I hate death.

Seems like Jesus hates death even more.

And Jesus, he was … particular.

He asked “Where have you laid him?”

I remember thinking:

“Um, Jesus, you must know.

You knew everything about the

Samaritan woman at the well,

you knew the nature of the blind man,

you knew from a distance that Lazarus was dead.

Surely you know where we laid Lazarus.”

But still, Jesus must have had a reason for asking 

where we laid him.

So I showed him.

And then Jesus says, “Take away the stone.”

Take away the stone?????

I was just shocked:

after all, Jesus was talking to me –

I am the gravedigger,

I till the grounds,

I put the stone there

and I sealed it.

One does not simply roll away the stone.

I had two thoughts:

First, I was thinking,

“but Jesus, you turned water into wine at Cana,

you healed the royal official’s son

from a distance,

you fed 5000,

you walked on the water:

surely you can remove this stone.

Why do you need me to do it?”

But still, Jesus must have had a reason

for asking us to move it.

The second thought was

“Take away the stone?”

“Oh Jesus, no.

I know you love Lazarus,

you must want to

see him for yourself,

but, no, please.

He’s been dead four days now.

You really don’t want to see Lazarus like this.

I mean, the stench alone…”

But still, Jesus must have had a reason

for asking us to move the stone.

Jesus declares, “If you believe,

you will see the glory of God.

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.

Do you believe this?”

Despite all this doubt,

this uncertainty about what Jesus is doing,

consumed by a death that I didn’t understand,

something inside me said:

“Jesus, I do believe.

Help me with my unbelief.”

So, I went out on a limb,

I took a leap of faith.

I said to myself, “I trust you, Jesus.

I don’t know what you’re up to,

but okay.

If you ask me to roll away the stone,

then we will roll away the stone.”

And it was hard work,

It took four of us,

with ropes and all,

to move it.

Sure enough,

Jesus cries with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”

I thought to myself, “this is do or die time!”

but really, looking back on it,

it wasn’t do or die time…

it was believe and live time.

I saw it,

and I still can’t believe he came out.

Don’t tell anyone,

but I thought he looked kind of funny,

tied up in the grave clothes,

bouncing back and forth,

waddling like a penguin,

trying to get out.

Anyhow,

Then Jesus told us to remove the grave clothes,

to remove the wrapping of death

that was keeping him bound,

and let him go.

Once again, I was thinking

“Jesus, you must be able to unwrap him yourself”

I didn’t want to touch Lazarus;

he had been dead for four days.

But, Jesus has a reason

for asking us to remove the grave clothes.

So we did it.

Looking back on this whole thing,

I am convinced that

Jesus could have done it all

without any help.

He could have found Lazarus on his own,

he could have moved the stone on his own,

he could have removed

the grave clothes on his own,

but that’s not how Jesus operates.

Jesus didn’t do much all by himself.

He just… spoke.

and then it happens.

It’s kind of like the creation story we’re taught,

Genesis,

in the beginning.

God speaks, and it happens,

and it is good.

Every-time I see Jesus,

Jesus speaks,

and it happens,

and it is good.

He could have done it all himself,

but Jesus chooses to work though people,

I guess, even me,

the local gravedigger.

It’s like, when he turned water into wine at Cana,

the stewards did the heavy lifting,

they filled the stone jars with water,

they did what Jesus said,

and the miracle happened.

I suppose with Lazarus,

it was my turn to do the heavy lifting,

and the miracle happened.

And, like everything Jesus does,

there’s some kind of deeper meaning.

I’m thinking it’s about how much

Jesus hates death,

And chooses to give life in the face of death.

Maybe it’s like Jesus is saying that

Deep down,

we are all like Lazarus in that grave.

On our own,

we lie in the silence, darkness

and stench of the cave of death,

unable to “Come out.”

On our own,

we do not have life,

we only have death.

Despite this,

Jesus comes and finds us,

when we are dead and lost.

Jesus removes the stone

that separates life and death,

Jesus removes the grave clothes

that keep us bound,

and Jesus gives us new life.

And for some reason,

Jesus invites people like me

to do the work.

He could do it all himself,

but maybe that’s not how God works.

You know,

I asked Lazarus what he remembered

about that day,

and he said that he couldn’t hear Jesus clearly

until that huge stone was rolled away.

he said being bound tight in the grave clothes

felt normal to him,

almost comforting.

It’s like,

maybe we have stones

that separate us from God,

Stones that keep us from hearing God’s call to us.

It’s like,

Without Jesus,

we all are bound,

captive in the grave clothes

of sin and death,

unable to move freely.

And then Jesus finds us,

Jesus speaks to us,

and we are unbound,

and set free to live a new life:

not captive by death,

not waiting for some cosmic heaven,

but a new life,

a new resurrection, right now

today.

When hope is gone,

when the stone is sealed,

and there is nothing but darkness,

loneliness,

silence

and decay,

Jesus renews hope,

and invites us to come out of that cave

from death into life.

I believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

I know Jesus hates death,

but Jesus turns death into life

with word alone.

And now I’m hearing rumblings.

The Pharisees,

those religious guys,

they did not like the resurrection of Lazarus,

one bit.

Even the Romans don’t like this.

No one rises from the dead!

Now they’re conspiring to kill Jesus.

I bet they want also Lazarus dead for that matter.

But, you know, this is nothing new for Jesus:

Jesus knows what awaits him.

Jesus knows his death is coming,

he’s talked about it before.

I could be wrong,

but I don’t think Jesus

is going to avoid death.

Jesus hates death,

but I’m sure he’ll find away

to even turn his own death

into new life.

Well friends,

I need to get back to work…

Jesus said “Let the dead bury their own dead,”

but these graves wont dig themselves!

Let me just say this;

my advice after this encounter with Jesus…

I hope we can all take a leap of faith

like Martha

and say “Yes, Lord Jesus,

I believe that you are the Messiah,

the Son of the Living God.”

I hope that we can all hear Jesus speak

and just do what he says.

Jesus always has a reason

for what he asks.

And, I hope, like Lazarus,

Jesus will free us from our graves

so we can truly live.

Thanks be to God. Amen.