SET FREE FOR NEW LIFE - March 9, 2008
John 11:1-45
Have you ever felt trapped, bound up, stuck in a job or situation where you were absolutely sure there was no way out -- no solution?
A story in the Chicago Tribune in the early 1980's told about a man named Ed Greer. Ed had a good white-collar job with Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, California. Nevertheless he was miserable. He hated his work and he was feeling pressure from his wife and father. At one point he told a coworker, "Never become too good at something you hate. They'll make you do it the rest of your life."
Greer wasn't willing to do that, and on September 10, 1981, he disappeared. Without telling anyone his plans, he got on a plane and flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He lived there on the beaches and fixed boat engines. After a while he assumed someone else's name and moved to Houston, Texas, getting a regular job with a small oil exploration firm.
Meanwhile, his wife divorced him in absentia. In an odd twist, Greer became somewhat of a fantasy hero to some yuppies who felt trapped in corporate America. Some said they wished they had the guts to do what he had done -- simply leave. His former coworkers at Hughes Aircraft even began holding annual celebrations in his memory, with many wearing Ed Greer masks.
Finally in October of 1988, seven years after Greer abandoned his family and career, he was found. In an interview [which I assume is where the Chicago Tribune got this information], Ed Greer explained his actions by saying, "I felt trapped. I didn't like my life."
Ed Greer said he felt trapped. Another word might be that he felt bound, which means he felt the limitations of his life and his job. Being bound meant that Ed Greer had obligations, and his life had boundaries.
It was a different time, a different culture, a different situation in the gospel story about Lazarus, but Lazarus, like Ed Greer, was trapped -- bound! Lazarus was trapped in a time and place when there was little or no medical care. He was bound to his family, to his work, to his culture and to his religion just as much as any of us are today. The story takes us to Lazarus death, right into the tomb -- a cave. It was a tomb that might have had several bodies in it, placed on shelves cut into the sides of the cave. Lazarus was bound in strips of white funeral linens wrapped tightly around his cold, lifeless body.
The mourners had arrived from Jerusalem. The Jews needed at least 10 mourners to come, friends who would rotate their mourning duties for the next 30 days. The belief was that the soul of the departed loved one stayed around for three days, and then would leave, so Jesus' arrival in the midst of the mourning ceremony when Lazarus had been dead four days was all the more poignant.
After speaking with Martha, and then Mary, Jesus joins in the mourning. For just a moment, he is overcome with sadness, and we see his humanity. But we have heard the promises of Jesus, who told Martha that he is the resurrection and the life. And we have shared in Martha's testimony -- one of the great statements of faith in the gospel -- when she said to Jesus, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."
Jesus then speaks to the crowd so that they would know that the power for what Jesus is about to do comes from God and is to glorify God, and then he commands in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
When Lazarus comes out, imagine the pandemonium and the incredulous looks of the mourners. Imagine what Lazarus must be experiencing! Jesus tells the people, "Unbind him, and let him go." Jesus sets Lazarus free.
My friends, that is Jesus' word and message for us today, too. Amidst the pandemonium of all the voices we hear each day, we head Jesus' voice loud and clear, "Unbind him, and let him go." We are all set free -- today!!
But there is a catch. We are called to come forth, to be unbound, and to freedom, but it is all to give God glory.
We might feel like running away like Ed Greer, but we are called into relationships. Jesus called Lazarus forth not to run away, but to come forth into the community, into relationship, into new life. Jesus told the people to unbind Lazarus so he could be with his sisters Mary and Martha, not to run away from them. Jesus calls us forth into relationship, not just with each other but with God. We are not to run away, but to stay, because Jesus knows that we can't run away from ourselves, our true self, or from God.. It is Jesus who first loved us who calls to us to come forth and to be unbound so that we can receive the blessing and the healing that comes from God.
Jesus' word for each of us today is that we, too, are called to new life -- which is possible through the power of God to call us forth from whatever binds us, whatever holds us, whatever keeps us from being our true selves.
It is anger that binds us? Through the love of God we can be healed and be unbound.
Is it disappointment that binds us?
Is it fear of the state of the economy, of the military, of the world?
I went to a session on Contemplative Prayer yesterday, which is an ancient method of silent prayer in the Christian tradition. I asked one woman how she had started the practice of Contemplative Prayer, and she said, "I was bound in the busyness of my life . . ." The words jumped out at me, since I had been thinking of Lazarus and ways that we are bound, held in, trapped. For her, there was nothing specific that bound her, but simply the busyness of life and all her responsibilities taken all together.
But Jesus healed her, through the practice of Contemplative Prayer. Jesus can heal us. It will take time. It will take prayer. It may take reprioritizing our lives, taking some time for quiet, or different activity. Jesus calls us forth from whatever binds, whatever holds us back, to be unbound. And in so doing, we give God glory
Jesus calls us to be unbound into freedom, but not into the abuse of freedom.
In The Grace Awakening, Charles Swindoll recalls the sense of freedom he had when as a teenager he first received his driver's license. His dad rewarded him. "Tell you what, son . . .you can have the car for two hours, all on your own." Only four words, but how wonderful: "All on your own."
I thanked him. . . . My pulse rate must have shot up to 180 as I backed out of the driveway and roared off. While cruising along "all on my own," I began to think wild stuff -- like, This care can probably do 100 miles an hour. I could go to Galveston and back twice in two hours if I averaged 100 miles an hour. I can fly down the Gulf Freeway and even run a few lights. After all, nobody's here to say 'Don't' We're talking dangerous, crazy thoughts! But you know what? I didn't do any of them. I don't believe I drove above the speed limit. In fact, I distinctly remember turning into the driveway early. . . . I had my dad's car all to myself with a full gas tank in a context of total privacy and freedom, but I didn't go crazy. Why? My relationship with my dad and my grandad was so strong that I couldn't, even though I had a license and nobody was in the car to restrain me. Over a period of time, there had developed a sense of trust, a deep love relationship that held me in restraint." [Contemporary Illustrations by Craig Larson # 66]
The story of Lazarus is the last story before Jesus enters Jerusalem in the triumphal procession on what we now call "Palm Sunday." The story calls us to confess our faith as Martha did, and to kneel at Jesus' feet at the Last Supper. The story calls us to new life and freedom, but freedom that is guided by our relationship with Jesus, who will be raised to new life on Easter morning.
The story prepares us so that we will not give up even in the face of death, especially Jesus' death on Good Friday. The story prepares us to look beyond the cross to Easter morning, and to join in a joyous celebration of new life that truly gives glory to God.
The miracle is that we are free -- today -- free to love, free to be compassionate, free to care about one another, free to support one another, free to be in relationship with each other and with Jesus, the Christ who will rise again.
Hear the words of Jesus for you today: Unbind him. Unbind her. You are set free for New Life.
Amen
Pastor Fran
