by Fr. Bill Garrison
Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.
John 11:32-44
Lazarus Come Forth - Harold Copping (Public Domain)
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
As you know I often start our talks with a joke. But today, All Saints Day, doesn’t feel like the right time for a joke. Instead, how about a very short little story? It’s a story that could be the whole sermon truthfully.
A nine-year-old child lived next door to an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
‘Nothing, I just helped him cry.’
As a priest of some experience, I can tell you we do nothing more important in our lives than what that little boy did. We can sit with people that are hurting, and be there with them as they cry.
As I get older, I get softer and softer. It seems sometimes that I cry at everything. I cry at the end of books. I cry during movies. Wherever people are hurting I cry. Maybe they don’t know it, but I do.
Right now, I am thinking about the movie “Gladiator.” I am sure most of you have seen it. The ending gets me every time. I know it’s coming, but I just can’t stop myself. When Maximus lies dead on the floor of the coliseum the sister of the emperor says these words that ripple through me. I can hear her now.
“He was a soldier of Rome. Honor him.”
It gets me every time.
Or in “Field of Dreams”. That movie wasn’t five minutes old and I knew I was in trouble. The scene in which the son asks his long dead father to play catch with him moves me every time. It reminds me that I would give anything to play catch with my father once again. I am sure some of the folks here today would like to do that too, wouldn’t you? Or at least do something like it that means much to you.
Right now, I can see my grandmother sitting in the corner of her living room at the farm working a crossword puzzle. Oh, how much I would like to see her one more time, to hear her voice speaking to me. I’m positive you know what I mean. Maybe it moves you to a tear or two?
The gospel today is fascinating, isn’t it? Jesus and Lazarus have a date to do something special. Jesus is going to raise him from the dead. The fact that it actually happens overwhelms the rest of the story. In my book we overlook some really special things as a result of this fabulous miracle. Let me reread the part that echoes through my mind every time I think about the story.
“When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep.
We ask ourselves why was he weeping? He knew he could and would raise Lazarus from the dead, so he isn’t crying because Lazarus was gone. And so since he could resurrect Lazarus, he wasn’t crying for either himself or Lazarus. So why was he so deeply moved?
The obvious answer is that he was deeply moved by the pain being suffered around him, by Martha and Mary and the others who were crying. Their suffering moved him to tears. Jesus was crying for them, not for himself. He was feeling what they were feeling.
And then, out of his compassion, Jesus gave Martha and Mary their brother back. Their pain filled him and he returned their brother to them. Lazarus walked out of the grave and back into their lives.
Jesus cries with us, and not for himself. Jesus suffers as we suffer. He feels our pain deeply. Like the little boy in the story, he helps us cry. And, as you know, because of the resurrection, suffering isn’t the end of the story. Life goes on.
Today we celebrate All Saints Day. It’s the day we remember those that have gone before us. We are invited to think about our time with them. We are invited to cry a little bit in our loss and in their stories.
And it is also time to think about the future when because of Jesus, we will see them again. Just as Martha and Mary were reunited with Lazarus, we will be reunited with those that have gone before us. We will see them again. Think about that. What a joyous day that will be.
Why don’t we take a few moments to quietly think about that day? Who do you want to see? What would you like to say to them? Let’s take a few minutes in our imaginations to think about what is coming. I will let you know when it’s time to move on. So go in peace to be with those you love for a little while.
Thanksgiving in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen