Alive and Feeling – sermon on April 2, 2017
Ezekial 37: 1-14 God took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. God led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then God asked me, “Can these bones live again?” “O Sovereign God,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” Then God said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of God, who says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
So I spoke this message, just as God told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
Then God said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign God says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’” So I spoke the message as commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
Then God said to me, “These bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign God says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am God. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, God has spoken!’”
John 11 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. The two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?” Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him.
Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Abba, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.
Sermon: Alive and Feeling by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Friends we have listened to some long scripture passages today. The reading from Ezekial – such a hopeful story – God tending to the dry lifeless bones and step by step bringing them back to life. To start, the prophet is invited to just look – to witness the devastation, to really take in this valley of death – bones scattered, lain there for years drying out. Then he is asked a question, “Can they live again?” Ezekial has had some experience with God, so is wise enough to rule nothing out. How many of us could hold onto those same possibilities – that God can bring to life that which looks long dead? Have we not had enough experience with God and her creative capacity? What is blocking such experience? I wonder if too often we don’t want to look at those places of lifelessness. We want to speed past them to something more pleasant. We don’t want to linger, to see how far and wide these place can be, how dried up. But what isn’t seen can’t be healed. God asks us to witness, to consider possibilities, and then to participate, serving as God’s voice of hope and promise.
And then we have another long story from the Gospel of John. Are you familiar with this story? If you had to tell this story in your own words, a summary perhaps, what would you say?…. Anything else you would add?…. And yet John takes 45 verses to tell the story. To unpack the whole story, to go into all the different themes and movements, well, the readings are long, we have Communion still to come, and it is going to be 50 degrees today. I’m sure no one wants to stay here that long. So I’m going to just briefly talk about what struck me about this reading – the variety of emotions that are expressed or inferred throughout.
Mary and Martha’s brother is sick, and they send a message to Jesus. What do you imagine they are feeling? (worried, hopeful, expectant) Jesus’ response is that Lazarus is not fatally ill, and he stays for a few days where he is. What feeling would you ascribe to that behavior? (confidence [common in John], ) Jesus also says it is happening for the glory of God – feeling? (excitement?) When Jesus says it is time to go back to Judea, the disciples point out that people are after him in Judea (fear). There’s some back and forth between Jesus and disciples about Lazarus’ condition – sleeping or dead (confusion). And then we have Thomas saying, “Let’s go die with Jesus.” (resignation)
Jesus arrives back in Bethany, and people have gone to comfort the sisters (grief, caring, love). Martha goes to see Jesus, and says her brother would not have died if he’d been there. (anger, resentment, sadness, disappointment) Jesus tells her her brother will rise again, and he himself is the resurrection and the life. (confidence, gentleness, caring, love) Martha says she believe, has always believed that Jesus was the Son of God, sent by God to this world. (comforted, faithful, love, peace)
Then Martha goes and pulls Mary aside (vulnerable? careful?) and tells her Jesus wants to see her. John tells us about Jesus being outside the village, and the people following Mary, so it seems that Jesus hoped his time with Mary would be private. Does that imply any particular feeling? (worry about Mary, fear of being discovered, mistrust of the others?). Mary says the same thing Martha did – that Lazarus would be alive if Jesus had been there – same feelings. Jesus sees her weeping and sees the crowd. He says nothing at all to Mary, but we are told what his feelings are – anger and agitation. He asks where Lazarus lay, and he went see. On the way there, Jesus wept. What do you think he was feeling? Some of the crowd were moved by his tears – attributing them to the love Jesus felt for Lazarus. Others were skeptical – if he loved him so much, why didn’t he save him? So, feelings of empathy, compassion and skepticism and resentment.
Now Jesus arrives at the tomb, still angry. He tells them to roll aside the stone. (determined, purposeful, energized) Martha protests, saying it will stink. (horror, surprise, confusion) Jesus insists, reminding her of his promise of glory. The stone is rolled aside, and Jesus offers up a prayer of thanks, saying he knows God knows, but he has to say it out loud for the benefit of the others. (contempt, impatience, frustration?) He calls Lazarus out, and Lazarus comes, bound in graveclothes, face covered. How do you think Lazarus felt? Jesus tells the crowd to unwrap him, and, we are told, many come to believe in him. Feelings – awe, shock, fear. Jesus – still angry, satisfied, grateful?
So what were the good feelings in the story? … What were the bad ones?… I’m going to claim that all of the feelings were good, and none of them were bad. The full range of feelings are of God, all of them. I went back to one of my favorite books when I was preparing this sermon – Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. In it, God asserts that feelings are the language of the soul. If you want to know what your soul desire, what your purpose is, go to your feelings. There is an acknowledgment that not everything you feel in every situation is of God. Feelings are influenced by other forces, so it takes some discerning situation by situation. But the feelings themselves are not ever wrong or bad. We need to experience them, witness them. If they are uncomfortable feelings, we can hear the question God asked Ezekial – can they live again, can they be used for vitality?
Which feeling do you most associate as coming from God, or being of God? Love, right? If there is love, God is revealed. The thing is, you can’t really have love without all the other feelings. Love is like the color white. Wait, is white a color? Not really. White is the combination of all the colors. All of them. Red is not white, but you cannot have white without it. Same with blue or green or purple. Obviously each of those are different from each other and different from white. Some colors may seem closer to white – pink, yellow, all the pale hues, but every color is needed to get to white. Love is not so much a feeling as the combination of all the other feelings. Some feelings may seem closer to love – compassion, joy, caring, generosity, strength, trust, etc., but we cannot have love with only those feelings. Anger, sadness, fear, jealousy, guilt, shame all are necessary for love to exist. Jesus was open to all his feelings, and we are so blessed to have this scriptural record of that. Our feelings will tell us the truth if we listen with an ear of discernment, with an ear for love. And what to do with our feelings once we accept them, well that’s a sermon for another day. Amen.
