Looking Ahead to March 22, 2026 -- Lent 5

 The Scripture Reading this week is John 11:1-44 (the raising of Lazarus)

At Children's Time we will be hearing about Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones.

The Sermon title is Death, Grief, Life

Early Thoughts: Jesus wept. He came to the place where Lazarus had been laid and Jesus wept. As one of our Communion hymns (Eat This Bread and Never Hunger verse 3, #471 in Voices United) puts it: "Weeping for his friend at graveside, Jesus felt the pain of death".

Source

This is a well-known, maybe even beloved, story from John's Gospel. It is also a challenging story. Why does Jesus not respond faster to the news that Lazarus is ill? Is talking to a woman in fresh grief (who has already questioned why you did not get there in time to make a difference) really the best time to engage in theological discussions about resurrection and the end times? Sometimes reading the story I get the sense that Jesus wants to make it all about him, that Lazarus (and his death and his grieving family) are just props for Jesus to show his/God's Power and make a theological point about the Messiah.

But then we meet the raw emotion of it. Jesus weeps. Jesus who has already said he is on his way to re-awaken Lazarus, Jesus who knows what he plans to do next, Jesus who is about to call Lazarus out of the tomb, he weeps. Because Jesus knows the reality that when death visits grief is always along for the ride.

This is a story about death and grief and how we respond. At least that is part of the story. It is not the end of the story. The end of the story is life.

It is a roller coaster after all. Lazarus is sick. Lazarus is "asleep". Lazarus is well and truly dead (4 days i the tomb dead). There is great grief. Then Lazarus comes out of the tomb and, presumably sine the text does not tell us, there is great joy and relief.

Paired with this story in the lectionary is the story of Ezekiel and his vision of the valley of dry bones. Ezekiel is told by God to speak  to the bones and the become re-articulated (toe bone connected to the boot bon, foot bone connected to the leg bone...) and covered with flesh. Ezekiel speaks again and the Spirit of God blows into these bodies and they become alive again. Where there was only death and grief and loss there is once again life.

But the life never really removes the reality of death and grief. They remain as echoes, they remain to change how we see the world.

So it is, so it always has been. Death and grief are part of life but in the end, faith tells us, life will win.

An we weep with Jesus and still find the promise that life will emerge? Can we look at a valley of dry dead hopes and dreams and feel the wind of God blowing around with the promise of new life? Can we look at a world where illness and death and destruction seem to have the upper hand and still look for signs of new life?

The last line of that verse I quoted earlier is "yet he knew God's power to waken; living water, living breath". In Christ, with God, in faith, life and love will win in the end. If they haven't won yet then the story has not yet ended.
--Gord