Throughout the gospel texts we find examples of Jesus choosing the time and place of his response to situations – none so obvious, perhaps, as in the story of the raising of Lazarus. When the sisters send Jesus a note telling of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus delays going for two days – saying the time was not yet for him to go. ... I wonder how often I am able to do that – how often am I able to respond out of my sense of what I should do rather than react out of a desire to fix or do or be who you want me to be. How often, when we see a need or someone approaches us with a need – how often am I able to seek first where God is leading me, where God is calling me to go and to do... seeking first God’s leading so that I am responding from the love of God? ... I am a “fixer”. Bring me a problem, and I want to fix it. I have to be careful when I counsel others to remember that it is not my job, not my place to “fix” things... I know myself, and I know that all too often I react wanting to fix, cure, or stop what is wrong – whatever that means in the situation – rather than offer love and healing (which often is not the same as fixing would be). I can’t stand to see you in pain so I want to help stop the pain, but perhaps the pain is only a symptom of something deeper that needs to be healed, or perhaps the pain is something that you need to heal yourself with God...
In Jesus’ time there were “professional mourners,” people who attended to the families of the dead to weep and wail for the dead in order to remind the living to rail against the forces that oppress. It is likely it was these same mourners who were in the house with Mary when Jesus arrived in Bethany following Lazarus’ death. It was possibly these people who followed her to the tomb to catch up with Jesus, these same people whom Jesus saw “weeping” and became disturbed/angry. The text is unclear but seems to indicate that Jesus’ emotion at that point was not anger or sorrow because people were grieving – but rather that he was disturbed or angered by what he witnessed in the crowd of mourners. Perhaps it was these people who are not concerned for the victim, but rather who, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, come with their own agenda. ... Who do you know who are “professional mourners” today? Who are the friends, or people around us who encourage us to weep and wail as one who has no faith, to respond as the world responds rather than to trust in God’s promises? Certainly, when bad things happen to us we mourn – it hurts because we are interrelated and when a tie is hurt or severed in some fashion we hurt. But our faith should make a difference in how we mourn – we have that certain hope that life continues beyond the grave, whether it is a grave of death or the burial of some part of a relationship. And that is a hope that should bring us comfort and strength, knowing that God is in all and through all. Does your faith make a difference in your grief? ...
Before calling Lazarus from the tomb, Jesus offered a prayer of thanks acknowledging that God listens and hears. He didn’t offer a prayer asking God to listen; rather he thanked God for listening and responding. I wonder – how often do I approach prayer in that fashion, not asking God to hear me but instead believing and then acting that God listens to the prayers of my heart? What about you? ...
I wonder, as well, what Lazarus might have thought/felt at being brought back from death? The text doesn’t address Lazarus at all; it simply leaves him exiting the tomb... I wonder what the rest of his days were like... Did he live a changed person, knowing that every day was a gift? Did a second chance at living and loving make any difference in the depth of his relationships and the way he viewed the details of daily living? And what effect did it have on his sisters, his friends and family? ... And why do we need to physically die and be reborn to look at life as a gift daily?
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