Homily for March 9, 2008 Fifth Sunday of Lent

I read a poem the other day about how to read poetry and stories, and in it the author invited us to walk around inside the story, like it was a room and we were looking for a light switch, or to skim across the surface like we were water skiing and waving at the author. But he said sometimes we try to tie it to a chair and beat a confession out of it. And so I don't want to tie this Gospel to a chair and beat a meaning out of it. But I want to invite you to walk around inside the story and see what meaning is there for you.
I'll throw out a few things without trying to tie them down, and then invite your reflections.
I used to love to use this Gospel at funerals. And then one time I used it and a woman told me, “All the while you were reading that Gospel, I was angry, because I said, 'Well, he raised Lazarus from the dead, but what is he going to do for my grandfather?'” Well, I stopped reading this Gospel at funerals after that. The reason I read it was sentimental; I always wanted to point out that Jesus wept and it was okay for us to weep. That's true, but it's kind of a sentimental reading of the Gospel.
I read a commentary recently -- you're never too old to read new commentaries and get new meanings out of these stories. It pointed out Martha's complaint, and it pointed out that her complaint did not come from a lack of faith, but often, in the Scriptures, complaining and faith go hand in hand. And I thought that was interesting. Sometimes, you know, our image of faith is pretty insipid, and we think faith is going to make us calm, but often faith begins with complaint and with lament.
I was distracted reciting the Gospel today, because we just recently had a death in our parish. David Rangel, very young, 44, died unexpectedly Thursday. And Joan and his children are here, and so I was very distracted thinking of them during the Gospel.
And I read a commentary on the Gospel the other day that said if we only use this Gospel at funerals, then we fail to see its meaning, because it has to mean something for us in our day-to-day life. I thought of our Lenten series, where we're talking about the environment and the forces of death and destruction that are all around us. And this Gospel tells us that death and destruction is not the last word, but life is the last word.
On a very personal level, I can share 26 years ago when I was standing at the altar at the Easter Vigil, thinking of Easter. That's when I decided if this message of resurrection means anything at all, it means I can stop drinking. And so that's when I made a life-changing decision in my life. I think the message of the Gospel should mean life-changing decisions for us.
Another little interesting point of the Gospel: When it says Jesus was troubled, the real word in the Greek is, it says he was angry. Well, what was he angry at? I don't know. He wasn't angry at lack of faith. One interpretation I read was that he was angry that all those people were there, because he knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but he wanted it to be something he did with the family, and he knew that all of these people there was going to get him in trouble. And by the way, in John's Gospel it did, because his raising Lazarus from the dead is what led the authorities to decide to put him to death. So maybe Jesus knew that this was the end for himself.
Those are just some things I felt on the wall while I was walking around in the dark looking for the light switch. How about you? Anything in the Gospel strike you?
Joan (inaudible)
Thank you.
Maureen (inaudible.) So death can take part in our life in many ways. There can be death of relationships, death of fervor, death due to our selfishness, death due to addictions or other things, and the weeping of people over us can pull us...
Another thing, you notice when Jesus wanted to open the tomb, what did Martha say? It's going to stink, let it be. How many times, when something has died, do we say that? Let it be. And it's only when we have the courage to open it up that the resurrection can come.
Yes?
(inaudible). Okay, a dual nature of Christ. It's God, he knows what's happening, and yet he can weep, and he can deny even his friends, or this is going to go...
Yes? (inaudible) So Thomas's statement, let us go to die with him.
Yes? Jose (inaudible).
So death is evil, and it's Satan's domain. It'll be there, that yes.
Yes? (inaudible).
Good, thank you. So death reminds us that our life is finite, and that can lead us to invest more into our life, to value it all the more, and here we see that.
By the way, there is a beautiful story I read years ago from the Blackfeet Indian tradition about Mud Man and Rib Woman, the first humans, and how God used to walk with them. And one day Rib Woman said to God, "You know God, we take each other for granted. Maybe if we died we wouldn't take each other for granted and we'd love each other more."
And God said, "I don't want to do that. I'll tell you what. I'll let it be for a little while, and then you can come back."
And Rib Woman said, "No, it has to be for keeps, or it won't really make us appreciate each other."
And so God lets their son die, and they cry. And God comes down and he bawls with them, and he says, "I didn't want to do this, but you wanted me to." And anyway, I just remembered that when you were talking, and I thought it was a charming story. It was a wonderful book from the Blackfeet Indian tradition, Mud Man and Rib Woman, and so many of their stories paralleled our biblical stories.
Yes? (inaudible) Okay, so even though Jesus knew what would come, he was able to sit and weep with his friends.
By the way, Lazarus died again. And so this was a not the permanent answer. The permanent answer is the resurrection, and that's different.
(inaudible).
The going home, yeah. Often people in the hospital who are dying will say they're going home, and we misinterpret that as thinking that they think they're going to get out of the hospital and go home, but that's not what they mean. They do mean going home in a much deeper sense.
Finally there's a thing in the Gospel I want to share with you, the last words of Jesus, "Untie him and let him go free." Lazarus comes out of the tomb, but he still is bound by the burial cloths. Somebody has to cut them and set him free. And so maybe an invitation as we pray, as new life emerges within you, where does it need to be said? Untie it and let it go free.