by Marcia Mount Shoop
John 11:1-45
“Perhaps the most important line in this story is not “Lazarus come out,” but maybe it is “Jesus wept.”
What does it mean that Divine Love weeps with us in the grief of all the death we walk around with–even as Divine Love breathes new life into death, even as Divine Love wants us to glimpse at the ways we participate in eternity–the ways nothing is lost, nothing is wasted–the ways our losses can fold into new possibilities, new life?
We focus on Lazarus being brought back to life in this story, but Lazarus is just given a little more time–he’s still going to die some day. We don’t know how much time he gets–and we don’t know what life was like for him after he came back.
Kinda like the man without sight last week not asking to be healed. We have no indication that Lazarus was asking for Jesus before he died. We have not indication that Lazarus was hoping to be raised. His sisters wanted it.
But Lazarus’ disease was not meant for death, Jesus said, just like the man not having sight since birth–was something Jesus said “was not caused by sin, was not meant to punish” but was to reveal the Glory of God.
Divine Love wants us to be able to work with these parts and pieces–these sharp edges, these shattering moments, these times when life turns on a dime and something we never expected or didn’t even ask for is what ends up happening.
When things fall apart, Divine Love weeps and then calls “get up from the grave” and find the life, the future that unfolds from here.”
Watch the full GCPC service on 3/26/23 here
(Scripture and sermon begin at 40:55)