SPEAKER_00: There's a moment in today's gospel that changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus stands in front of the tomb, a sealed, dark, hopeless place, and he cries out, Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_00: And the dead man walks out.
SPEAKER_00: If you hear this just as a miracle story, you've missed it.
SPEAKER_00: This is not just about Lazarus, this is about all of us.
SPEAKER_00: For the past three weeks the church has been leading us somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: Not randomly, not accidentally, very intentional.
SPEAKER_00: Two weeks ago you'll remember we heard about the Samaritan woman at the well.
SPEAKER_00: The theme was thirst.
SPEAKER_00: A woman trying to satisfy everything in her life and still came up empty.
SPEAKER_00: Last week the man born blind.
SPEAKER_00: The theme was blindness, a man unable to see what was right in front of him.
SPEAKER_00: And today the rising of Lazarus, the raising up of Lazarus.
SPEAKER_00: The theme is death, not physical death, spiritual death.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the uncomfortable truth.
SPEAKER_00: Most people we know, maybe someone here, most people, they're just existing.
SPEAKER_00: They're functioning.
SPEAKER_00: Day to day one day bleeds into the next.
SPEAKER_00: They're busy, but are they spiritual?
SPEAKER_00: They could be dead, alive on the outside, but disconnected on the inside, going through the motions, but no real life of God within them.
SPEAKER_00: And we become very good at hiding it.
SPEAKER_00: We dress it up, we distract ourselves, we fill our schedules to the brim.
SPEAKER_00: We are constantly scrolling through social media.
SPEAKER_00: We work hard, we achieve, we entertain, but underneath it all there's this silence, almost a numbness, a distance from God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus walks into that reality today and he does something shocking.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't avoid the tomb, he goes straight up to it.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says something that should shake us, take away that stone.
SPEAKER_00: Do you hear that?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't try to remove the stone himself.
SPEAKER_00: He tells them to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Because before resurrection there has to be exposure.
SPEAKER_00: Before life there has to be honesty.
SPEAKER_00: And Martha resists, Lord, by now there must be a stench.
SPEAKER_00: He's been dead for four days.
SPEAKER_00: What that translates into is don't go there.
SPEAKER_00: It's too far gone.
SPEAKER_00: It's too embarrassing, it's too broken.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, that's all of us.
SPEAKER_00: There are areas of our life we don't want God to touch, at least not yet.
SPEAKER_00: Old wounds, hidden sins, patterns we've made peace with.
SPEAKER_00: We say, Lord, not that.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing, you can't experience resurrection if you keep the tomb sealed.
SPEAKER_00: And then comes that line, Lazarus come out.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not negotiate with death, he commands it.
SPEAKER_00: And Lazarus comes out.
SPEAKER_00: But notice one thing.
SPEAKER_00: He comes out still bound.
SPEAKER_00: Hands are tied, feet tied, face covered, alive, but not yet free.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is something most people overlook.
SPEAKER_00: Untie him and let him go.
SPEAKER_00: That's the spiritual life.
SPEAKER_00: Christ raises you, but then you have to be freed.
SPEAKER_00: Because it is possible to be alive and still live like you're dead.
SPEAKER_00: Still bound to habits, still bound to fear, still bound to those sins.
SPEAKER_00: And here's where the gospel becomes very direct.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is not just showing his power, he's asking for your response.
SPEAKER_00: He says to Martha, do you believe this?
SPEAKER_00: Not, do you understand this?
SPEAKER_00: Not do you somewhat agree with what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: No, he says, do you believe this?
SPEAKER_00: Because belief is not intellectual.
SPEAKER_00: Belief is surrender.
SPEAKER_00: This is where everything comes together.
SPEAKER_00: From the last three weeks, thirst, blindness, death.
SPEAKER_00: We are thirsty for meaning, and we search and search and search.
SPEAKER_00: We're blind to the truth.
SPEAKER_00: He's standing right there in front of us.
SPEAKER_00: And without Christ we are completely dead.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not one option among many.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a helpful addition to your life.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a spiritual upgrade.
SPEAKER_00: He is the answer that you are searching for.
SPEAKER_00: The only one who can satisfy the thirst.
SPEAKER_00: The only one that can give you clear sight.
SPEAKER_00: The only one who can tell you to come out of that tomb finally.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the church gives us this gospel just before Easter.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you cannot celebrate the resurrection if you're still living in that cave, in the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: Not theoretical, but a real challenge.
SPEAKER_00: What is that stone in your life that's blocking you from exiting that tomb?
SPEAKER_00: What have you sealed off?
SPEAKER_00: What are you avoiding?
SPEAKER_00: What are you justifying?
SPEAKER_00: What have you decided, well, this is just how I am?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ is standing there right now saying, take away the stone.
SPEAKER_00: And then he's saying, come out.
SPEAKER_00: Not tomorrow, not when it's convenient, not when you have all the answers, not when you feel ready.
SPEAKER_00: No, right now.
SPEAKER_00: Come out.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe for some of you, that first step is going to confession.
SPEAKER_00: The confession you've been putting off, avoiding, making excuses.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can just confess my sins to the big man upstairs.
SPEAKER_00: But you can't stay in that cave, in that tomb.
SPEAKER_00: Can't stay in that tomb and expect to feel alive.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe for others it's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Real prayer.
SPEAKER_00: A real connection with the Lord, spending the time that the Lord asks of you in communion with Him.
SPEAKER_00: Not on the surface, but actually letting in and dedicating the time to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe for others it's a relationship that you've let go, a relationship that you know that you should heal and you don't.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe for you it's that habit, a bad habit that you keep falling into over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe a pattern that is killing your soul.
SPEAKER_00: That one sin that you go to that is killing your soul.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what it is.
SPEAKER_00: And whatever it is, this gospel's not asking you to admire Lazarus, it's asking you, will you come out of the tomb?
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ is calling you.
SPEAKER_00: Not in theory, not in general, but by name.
SPEAKER_00: And if you respond, if you actually let him in, your life will change.
SPEAKER_00: Not slightly, not gradually, I promise you, your life will drastically change, radically change.
SPEAKER_00: Because when Christ enters the tomb, death does not get the final word, he does.
SPEAKER_00: So don't just stand there.
SPEAKER_00: Don't delay.
SPEAKER_00: Don't pretend not to hear him.
SPEAKER_00: Come out.
SPEAKER_00: And once you're out, don't go back into the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: Because the life he offer you offers you is not survival, it's resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_00: Hear your name.
SPEAKER_00: And today he's calling you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.