The Rev. Erin Hensley April 2, 2017 The Fifth Sunday of Lent, John 11:1-45

Resurrection Now1

In the 90’s sitcom Seinfeld, a character named Kramer uses the mantra “Serenity now.” Joey Sanfino and some of the neighborhood kids ambush Kramer with a box of grade A eggs; he says, “Serenity now” and shakes his head with a bit of a twitch. A few days later, children roll his front porch and turn over his flowerpots. Jerry accidentally steps on Kramer’s last rose and quickly apologizes. Kramer calmly responds with “Jerry, don’t be so upset about it. There’s always next spring. Forget about it. Would you excuse me for a moment?” Kramer then goes into his home, and throws all sorts of things as he yells “Serenity now! Serenity now!” Now is not the time when Martha and Mary feel serene. They are angry and rightfully so. They wanted Jesus to come “now” four days ago and now he finally arrives. She runs to meet him and give him a piece of her mind "Lord, if you had been here, this would not have happened. If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus promises that Lazarus will rise again. Martha is a woman of faith and she knows this truth. “Of course, Martha says, that will happen in the resurrection on the last day. What about now?” Jesus affirms the promise in the present, not only in the future; Jesus says to her, "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?" She believes, she gives her heart and mind to this, goes to get her sister, and Mary kneels and echoes Martha, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Friends of the family gather round to be there for Mary and Martha. They end up witnessing the tears of Jesus. They wonder, “If he could open the eyes of a man born blind to see, certainly he could have kept this man from dying?" Faithful friends reluctantly roll away the stone at the front of the tomb. Jesus prays aloud and then cries out to his friend who knows his voice,2 "Lazarus, come out!" Burial clothes and all, Lazarus stands before them. Jesus then cries to the gathered community, "Unbind him, and let him go." Revival now. Life now. Release now. Or as one commentator says, “Open every dark place to light and air; this is the time to uncover and unbind!”3 Out of the depths, we cry to the Lord. From the depths, the Lord calls us by name. The Lord revives us daily from dreams that keep us in the dark. He calls us by name so that the ties that bind us from our true selves and from one another are seen in the light of day. Insane as it might sound when we think we’ve been buried, may we find ourselves planted for a new beginning here, now, and in the age to come.4 We find ourselves compelled into new life, called

1 Karoline Lewis title of her article on workingpreacher for this Sunday. Given the biblical text and the Seinfeld reference, I couldn’t resist. 2 They know the voice of the shepherd. 3 www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/03/fifth_sunday_in.html 4 “Serenity now. Sanity later” from Seinfeld

1 back out into the land of the living, giving ourselves and one another an experience of God with us in life and in death. We find the glory of God where we least expect it; we find the glory of God finding us in the depths of the dark and the cacophony of community. And then, even more miraculously, Jesus commands the gathered community of the faithful to uncover, unbind, to participate in the transformative act of God. The resuscitation and revival of Lazarus is all Jesus. The work of release is something those in the land of the living partner with Jesus in with those from the land of the dead. This business of unbinding is God’s business through us. What if we believed that being calm and cool was overrated? What if we believed that we can make a difference in how things are in this country? What if we believe that the Lord choses this gathering of friends to his work of renewal in written off peoples and places? What if we stop saying serenity now and start saying resurrection and life now? Perhaps we are the one who needs to be called out from a dark night of the soul. Perhaps we are one of many who are called upon to help someone else breathe and move again in a wide space.5 Either way, Jesus is on his journey, courageously going to the edge of the living and the dead, and reviving us here and now. I wonder what tomorrow will bring as we wake up from our sleep, greet a new day, and listen for Jesus to call us. Will we be the one revived? Will we be the one to help release another? Lord Jesus; help us listen to your call. Give us strength to trust that we shall all be changed. Give us courage to act as part of your life giving, liberating movement. Resurrection now. Resurrection now. Amen.

5 Psalm 17.

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