WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:05.679 The Lord be with you, and with thy spirit, let us pray. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.480 Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:32.000 Grant your people grace to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that among the swift and varied changes of the world our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:32.960 Amen. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.600 A reading from the book of Ezekiel. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:45.759 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and God brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the middle of a valley. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:47.920 It was full of bones. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:50.320 He led me all around them. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.679 There were very many lying in the valley, and they were dry. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.679 And God said to me, Mortal, can these bones live? 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.159 I answered, O Lord God, you know. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:07.200 Then God said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:13.040 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:23.120 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.879 So I prophesied as I'd been commanded, and I prophesied. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:32.719 And suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:39.920 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:51.599 Then God said to me, Prophesy to the breath, Prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:59.280 I prophesied as God commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and they stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:03.920 Then God said to me, Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:09.439 They say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, we are cut off completely. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:20.240 Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:25.520 And you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:30.400 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:34.960 Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.879 The word of the Lord, thanks be to God. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:44.240 Psalm 130 is read responsively by half verse. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.159 Please join me if you're following online with your bulletin. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.919 Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:53.680 Lord, hear my voice. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.439 Let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:07.840 If you, O Lord, were to denote what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand, but there is forgiveness with you, and therefore you are feared. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:14.400 I wait for you, O Lord, my soul waits for you, and your word is my hope. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:20.879 My soul waits for the Lord more than centuries for the morning, more than centuries for the morning. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.439 O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:31.039 There is plentious redemption with the Lord who shall redeem Israel from all their sins. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.319 A reading from Paul's epistle to the Romans. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:42.960 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.719 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.159 It does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.120 And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:58.960 But you are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.560 Any one who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.520 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:20.399 If the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then God who raised Christ from the dead will give you life to your mortal bodies also through the spirit that dwells in you. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:22.959 The word of the Lord. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:24.879 Thanks be to God. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:30.959 The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to John. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:33.759 Glory to you, Lord Christ. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:39.839 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:47.519 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and her brother Lazarus was ill. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.240 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, Lord, the one whom you love is ill. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:05:01.600 But 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 Man may be glorified through it. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:11.600 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.160 Then after this he said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:21.040 The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.040 Are you going there again? 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.680 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours of daylight? 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:35.920 Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world, but those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:42.079 After saying this he told them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake awaken him. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:46.560 The disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will be all right. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.920 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:55.519 Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.399 For your sake I'm glad I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:06.720 Thomas, who was called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go that we may die with him. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:11.360 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:18.720 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:23.600 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him while Mary stayed at home. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:28.240 Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.680 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.519 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:40.160 Martha said to him, I know he'll rise again in the resurrection on the last day. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.920 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:49.839 Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and every one who lives and believes in me will never die. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:51.439 Do you believe this? 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:57.759 She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:04.319 When she said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, The teacher is here and is calling for you. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.959 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:11.279 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:16.000 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up and quickly go out. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.600 They followed her because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep there. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:27.600 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:34.399 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:37.279 He said, Where have you laid him? 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:40.399 They said to him, Lord, come and see. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.959 Jesus began to weep, so the Jews said, See how he loved him. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:50.399 But some of them said, Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.600 And then Jesus again, greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.160 It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:58.399 Jesus said, Take away the stone. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:05.360 Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, already there is a stench, because he has been dead four days. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:10.480 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:15.839 So they took away the stone, and Jesus looked upward and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:22.639 I 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. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.879 When he said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:32.799 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:37.200 Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let us go, and let him go. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:42.879 Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:48.159 The gospel of the Lord, praise to thee, Lord Christ. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:09:01.919 Acknowledge we somebody beseech you a lamb of your own fold, a sheep of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:02.879 Amen. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:12.320 This story is rich and offers, I think, several things for us to think over, especially at this tumultuous time that we're living in. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.360 And I want to offer you at least three takeaways. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:19.440 The last one's going to seem like a bit of a stretch, but I hope you'll hang on with me. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:28.320 The first one is there is a lot of hope for us as we worry about our faith, or as we have our doubts or uncertainties. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:34.000 Please notice that the disciples really don't understand what Jesus is saying. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:36.639 And they live with the guy for three years. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.840 They thought he was leading them to a premature death. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:45.120 They thought he was talking about Lazarus being asleep and getting his strength back that way. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:56.879 And that means that if there's ever points where we scratch our heads about what Jesus might mean for us, we're in pretty good company because it is, after all, the apostles who gave us our heritage. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:05.679 So don't be worried about not understanding the first time, or the fifth time, or the fifty-fifth time. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:18.879 I think this story tells us, assures us that Jesus does not get worn out with our lack of understanding, with our confusion, but rather he gives us all the more grace. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:21.759 Thomas is called the twin here. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:32.960 And Thomas is called the twin, interestingly enough, so the tradition goes, because he was so akin to Jesus that he was of the same spirit. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:38.799 And even his twin thinks Jesus is leading him to his death. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:44.399 And what's interesting about Thomas is he's willing to follow him even unto death. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.159 And I want to come back to that in the next thing I think we have before us. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:11:02.399 The other bit there to say is that the prophet Ezekiel, who has seen images of God and heaven being pulled around by a psychedelic chariot, who has done prophetic acts and deeds, is asked by God, can these bones live? 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:06.720 And Ezekiel says, Lord, only you know. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:13.200 He doesn't say probably, maybe, he says, God knows. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:20.559 Again, there's hope for us, I think, in the middle of our doubts and uncertainties. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.039 The next bit of the story. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.519 Can dry bones live? 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:46.320 And um can people who we know who have utterly disappointed us or been disappointed, who have been abused or injured, or wrapped around with mental illness, can those people live again in this world? 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:59.440 Are there parts of ourselves, like our capacity to connect, to forgive, to live outside of fear, even though we live with anxiety? 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:04.000 Can those parts of us live again when they're parched and dry? 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.919 Can we regain what it means to hope? 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.320 Jesus comes, he comes late. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:15.440 Now we hear in the story, he shows up four days late. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:18.879 If he'd gone right immediately, he would have only been two days late. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:27.600 That actually matters a little bit because, according to the thought of the time, your spirit hovered around your body for three days, but after three days it was gone. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:40.000 If Jesus got there two days in, his work would have been miraculous, but it would not have been the miracle that it was, bringing back the completely departed spirit to Lazarus. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:42.720 This is like the dry bone story. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:48.639 Lazarus isn't just kind of dead, he's completely dead. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:50.159 He stinks. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.639 He's been put in a tomb. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:58.000 And he has this very interesting banter, it turns out, with Martha. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.840 Martha says, Jesus, if you'd been here, he wouldn't have died. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:05.840 But I know you can do whatever it is you ask. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:06.960 God will do. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:10.000 It's almost like she doesn't even pause. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:18.639 She says this moment of disappointment, maybe even accusation, and just moves right on to some theology. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:20.879 Your brother will rise again. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:21.919 Oh, I know that. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.120 He'll do that later, though, in heaven. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:27.120 We know he's dead now. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.399 Well, look, I'm the resurrection and the life. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.440 Whoever believes in me will have life. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:36.000 I know you're the Messiah. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:43.759 It's helpful to hear that in this theological banter, the Messiah had nothing to do with resurrection and Jewish anticipation. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:54.240 The Messiah was the military leader that was going to deliver the Jewish people from Rome, not somebody who was going to bring death, life, into places that were full of death. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:01.840 And so when Jesus goes to the tomb and he says, roll the rock away, Martha says, God, he stinks. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:03.679 Why would I do that? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:08.240 And Jesus does this very interesting thing. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.440 He calls Lazarus out. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.519 Lazarus gets his life back. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:17.600 And then he says to the people, unbind him and let him go. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.960 There's one other piece that's really important in the story. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.759 John in his gospel uses the phrase, come and see at the beginning. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:30.240 John the Baptist's disciples see Jesus. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:36.320 They hear John the Baptist say, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:41.600 They come up to Jesus and they ask him, possibly a very innocuous question. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.559 They say, Where are you staying? 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:47.440 And Jesus replies, Come and see. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:52.799 Now, if you read some of the morning devotions, I think this is a really, really significant phrase in John. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:59.279 I think what's happening in John, what's happening by Jesus here, is people are coming to size him up. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.440 Are you a Democrat or a Republican? 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:03.440 Do you believe in social distancing or not? 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.480 Are you going to the grocery store or you're just calling on deliveries? 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.600 Tell me your position so I can understand you. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.879 Tell me your opinion so I can define you by it. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:25.039 And instead of Jesus giving them what they ask for, allowing them to reduce him to simply a box that he checks, he says, not going to tell you the flattening answer. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:26.320 You come and see. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:28.720 You come and see where I'm staying. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.360 You come and experience my context. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.519 Don't try to fit it into your own. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.279 You come visit me. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.200 Well, this phrase gets used here again. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.480 Jesus asks, Where have you put the dead Lazarus? 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:46.639 And the people say, Come and see. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:49.200 They don't say the town cemetery. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.080 They don't say in the family grave. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:55.840 They say, You come and see what we've done with this dead guy. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.480 And this is when Jesus weeps. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:04.639 Now, he could be weeping because Lazarus is his friend and he's dead. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.360 That's probably true. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:18.720 But I want to suggest to you that Jesus might also be weeping because he sees what people do with the dead among them. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:27.039 And that could be literal, but I want to suggest in John this is really about what do we do with people we're done with figuratively? 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:32.080 People who we've forgiven six times that we can't forgive a seventh. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:37.039 People who have so much chaos going on in their life that we can't abide it. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:52.480 Parts of ourselves that are so injured and threadbare that we dare not put resources back into them and hope that they'll live because there's just too much disappointment and death. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:55.919 What kind of people do we wrap up? 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.679 I think you have to fill in the blank. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:03.759 Socially, though, I'm pretty sure that we have a really hard time with people who commit crimes. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:13.519 We put them in prisons in which they're treated terribly and then expect them to come out and be model citizens, and of course, that rarely happens. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.279 Jesus goes to those places. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.480 He goes to people who are on Megan's list. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:38.640 He goes to those parts of ourselves that have reached out and been and loved and tried and hoped and been rebuffed and have been buried away, have been covered up, those parts of our heart that we have closed off all hope for and says, come out. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:39.920 Come out. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:43.839 And then he tells the people also, unbind them. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:47.759 Jesus doesn't just bring Lazarus back from the dead. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:53.200 He tells the town that they have to approach him once again. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.519 And maybe this is the scariest thing. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.119 They have to live with him. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.480 The miracle's not over when he comes out of the tomb. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:11.200 That's the beginning of this miracle, of this real miracle of people who were hitherto for dead now having to live in community. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:17.279 For community to having to give life after their labels and their disappointments and their hurts. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.880 And I think that matters to us right now. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:31.279 Where are the dead places in your spirituality, in your faith, in your relationships? 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:36.160 Who are the people that you are completely done with? 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.200 Where have you put them? 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:45.759 And might God be asking us to unbind them and let them go. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:53.200 I think there's something really, really lovely about this big idea. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:05.440 But they're still lifeless. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:10.720 All the flesh and tendons and blood is there, but the life isn't. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:18.480 They're just sort of there and not full of any depth or mystery. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.680 No breath of life that they can pass on. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:26.559 And I wonder if there isn't the opportunity for us to hear in this. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:33.440 Sometimes we're allowed to approach God with our deepest, deepest doubts. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:34.799 Can these bones live? 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:36.000 God only knows. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.880 Can alcoholics really, really recover? 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:40.400 God only knows. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:46.319 Can that person who broke my heart, can I ever have a meaningful relationship with them again? 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.079 God only knows. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:55.759 And then God says to Ezekiel, okay, you've got your uncertainty. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:58.240 So speak my words to them. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:04.799 Give your uncertainty to me, and then speak my words to them. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:12.079 And I wonder if at a minimum we aren't being offered this model in which we can say, God, I'm hurt. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.920 I don't know that I've got hope left in me from reconciliation. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:18.480 I don't know if I want that person out of the tomb. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:24.319 I don't know if I want to try to put the paddles on that piece of my heart I'd buried a long time ago. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:26.079 I don't know if I want that. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.400 This is what I love about the Episcopal Church and the liturgy. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.039 Our feelings are very real. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:40.319 We make room to express them to God, but we don't leave with our feelings. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.160 We leave with God's truth. 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:47.039 And God says, in the middle of all your unrest, speak my words to them. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.279 Hear my words in yourself. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:57.359 The third thing I think I want to offer from this story has to do with how the two sisters interact. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:02.400 And I didn't want to put Martha down as if she's inferior to Mary in any way. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:05.920 And maybe this is going to sound like a stretch to you. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:14.480 But as I read the story over and over and over again this week, I couldn't help but hear a lot of Martha and myself. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:18.640 She comes to Jesus in the middle of or just after a crisis. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:20.559 Times are really, really tough. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:25.359 She starts to say, I'm really disappointed. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:26.880 I'm really upset. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:28.720 I'm even mad that you're late. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.279 You could have done something and you didn't. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:40.240 But then she switches immediately to some theological platitude so that she doesn't have to feel those feelings she doesn't want to feel. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:45.440 She switches to saying things like, One glad morning when this life is over, I'll fly away. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:49.039 Or hey, this side of heaven, it's all gonna be tough. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:55.440 In the middle of her anxiety, she doesn't know what to do. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.519 And so she starts doing what I want to suggest to you. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.000 Is meaningless work. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:15.759 She starts getting on a treadmill of trying to hustle and make herself busy so that she can feel better at the end of the day about the deep-seated doubts that she'd rather just ignore. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.279 You know, this happens after any kind of major catastrophe. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:24.880 We want to know what we can do for somebody. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:26.240 And I've mentioned this before. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.960 Hey, I'm calling you to see if there's anything you need. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:34.480 At that point, the call is either going to be, yes, I need something, here's what it is, can you do it? 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.079 Or no, I don't need anything. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:38.720 Thanks for calling, and it's over. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:49.200 Sometimes we get so quick about I need to help, I need to help, I need to do something that we don't stop for a moment and think about where we are. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:57.359 And when we're able to stop and think where we are, we're actually able to connect meaningfully with other people and do what's called meaningful work. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:01.759 I want you to know that the treadmill's been tough here at St. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:02.480 Thomas. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:08.000 I had this expectation that I'm going to be working 40 hours a week at a minimum. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.799 And this has been really tough the last couple of weeks. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:17.599 I've tried to do things like make videos and make drive-thru Eucharist available and make communion available for people of eight. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:22.880 And I'll tell you, I have tried to fill my schedule like usual. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:28.559 And sometimes I'll get a phone call after five o'clock and I think, listen, I've already worked. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.319 Leave me alone. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:38.240 And it's because, in some ways, out of my anxiety, I've looked to work and not always meaningfully. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.960 There's people who are doing things like collecting bottled water to be distributed. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:49.920 And that's great to build up a cachet of bottled water, except that's not apparently the need that we have right now. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:24:00.160 So imagine that we hear about bottled water collection and we think, oh, that's something I could do, and we spend hours and hours and hours of our time trying to collect water. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:03.119 And then the question is, where will it go? 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:15.359 Is there an agency that has said it needs it, or is this just something we heard about that we can put our anxiety into so that we don't have to feel, well, uncomfortable. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:26.640 For me, it's the temptation to create high-resolution, really slick-looking videos about the services I'm trying to offer like this one. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:31.359 I don't believe though that's meaningful work, and I'm trying to avoid it. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:42.799 I think that offering drive-through communion, I think that offering the ability to come and receive communion in groups of eight has been meaningful work. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.640 I've tried to embrace it. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:51.759 The directives we're getting are that we can no longer do those things, and I want you to know I have a little bit of grief of that, about that. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:25:10.480 Because in the middle of making lots of podcasts and products and thinking about how to make a slicker video maker, the connection I found that's the deepest has been in those moments of offering parishioners communions and a drive-thru, or even here in the sanctuary in a group of two. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:15.039 I've been able to see people, which has been the most meaningful part. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:18.799 And I can't do it anymore. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:21.680 Our directives are that we can't. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:36.480 And so now in front of me is this opportunity to wind myself up trying to do something that's slick and great, or just to be open in the middle right now, that we're all grieving something that we've come to love. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.920 The ability to take the Eucharist every Sunday, or even on a daily basis. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:44.880 And we're going to have to grieve it. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:54.480 And what I think is really great about this story is that when Mary comes in no rush, like Martha was, she says, Lord, if you'd been here, he wouldn't have died. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.559 And then she just stops. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.559 She doesn't get on any kind of treadmill of theology. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:02.720 She doesn't try to escape the moment. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:05.279 She voices her disappointment. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:11.680 Maybe it's even accusation, and it's at this moment that Jesus weeps. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:20.240 God shares the grief we feel right now about not being able to do the things we want to do. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:26.240 God shares the grief we feel that community as normal is having to be rearranged. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:36.640 God is sharing, I am positive, the grief we have, and hey, this connective work we were doing that we thought we were doing really safely in small groups or in drive-throughs. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:39.039 Can't do that anymore. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:50.000 And here's where I think we get to hear Anne Lamotte say, God did not come to take our suffering away, but to fill it with God's presence. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:27:04.880 And we're offered, I think, this other option here from this story, one that I heard when I was a child, but was never really allowed to believe, which is that if God is truly all-powerful, God can handle any doubt or fear or concern or anger you may have. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:07.359 And Mary in the story speaks it. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:13.359 And Jesus doesn't defend himself and he doesn't defend God, he just sits with her. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:24.000 I think this story offers us a real opportunity right now in a time of uncertainty, and we don't know how long this is going to be. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:26.160 And of course, that's the hardest thing. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:31.920 If we knew how long the race was, we could train for it and portion for it, but we don't exactly know. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:40.720 So I think Jesus offers us this opportunity to say, in the middle of your anxiety and doubt, and disappointment, what kind of work are you doing? 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:43.359 Meaning, full work? 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:49.359 Or work that just ratchets up your anxiety and gets you off of this feeling? 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:57.920 And God is big enough to feel the feels with us and won't abandon us to them if we'll take the time to express that. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:15.039 My spiritual discipline from this story is not only including people or offering visions of hope for people I've written off, but how is it that I can sit in moments of vulnerability and despair and disappointment? 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:20.559 How can I embrace those moments instead of trying to run away with them? 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:37.440 Because Jesus ultimately promises in this story that even the deadest places are only tombs, are only binding if we make them so, but he offers us instead a hope of new life and resurrection. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:39.759 Now, folks, I think two more thoughts. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:49.039 One is my theology has lately grown into the idea that God will take care of our toughest bits of reconciliation after we die. 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:57.759 But Jesus invites us to consider salvation happens when we embrace it now and that we don't have to wait. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:04.480 The other thought is, hey, I don't always know how to get off the treadmill of hustling in the middle of my anxiety. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:08.640 So maybe the reflection is just to think, why am I doing this? 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:14.640 Is it because someone else can use the connection, or I've just got energy, I need to get out. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:21.920 And maybe, listen, it's not bad to just do things for ourselves when we're anxious, as long as we're just honest that that's what we're doing. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:23.680 I don't know what to do. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:29.920 I don't know if I need to make cloth masks or whore bottled water to distribute to other people. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:31.920 I don't know if there's a real connection. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:34.640 I don't know if anybody's collecting those, so I'm just gonna do that. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:41.279 I think if we can have that conversation right now, we can do like Mary does and be honest and just stop. 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:49.200 And then I think when we're honest, hey, I'm acting out of my anxiety, the question is, do we want to continue to do it? 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.680 Do we want to continue to hustle? 00:29:53.920 --> 00:30:09.039 And is there a moment where we can just rest and meet God in these places of disappointment and uncertainty, knowing that God is able to make new life precisely in those places? 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:19.279 This is difficult and holy work, and um, I am here to virtually support you however I can for the indefinite future. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:35.680 But my prayer is that sometime this week or in the weeks to come, you will hear in your life, and in at least one of your relationships you've given up on long ago, you will hear Jesus say, Come out, Lazarus. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:38.799 And you'll listen. 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:47.680 Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.