Good Grief
Lent 5A
March 29, 2020
Grace, Waseca, MN
John 11.1-45
I was called to the hospital because Dorothy was dying. Dorothy was an elderly woman with medical problems, so it was no surprise. The surprise was that she’d held on as long as she had. Gathered in the room were her daughter, Laurie, son-in-law Tim, and granddaughters Angie and Jenna. We said our prayers together and our goodbyes to Dorothy. It was a good death as deaths go. Dorothy was surrounded by family, she wasn’t in any pain, and everyone had the opportunity to say what needed to be said before she died. I was prepared for her death and I was even prepared for the family’s grief. But I was not prepared for the grief I felt as I experienced theirs. I had a very close relationship with Dorothy’s family and I grieved for them.
In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus finally makes it to Lazarus’ tomb, four days late we are told, a detail John includes that assures us Lazarus is really dead. On the way, Jesus has endured tongue lashings from Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary who berate his tardiness in coming. But we also hear an amazing confession from Martha, who believes that Jesus can do whatever he asks. Soon after, we also hear Jesus’ claim, “I am the resurrection and the life” and we expect something special to happen. What we don’t expect is Jesus’ breakdown at the tomb, his weeping and even his anger.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus is almost incomprehensible at times. With some of his statements sh leaves his disciples and us going, “Huh?” We see a little of that here as Jesus talks about hours of light and darkness, a favorite theme in John. But we also see Jesus at his most human, weeping and grieving. But we wonder: why Jesus is weeping if he knows he is going to raise Lazarus, and why is he so angry? The best explanation I’ve seen is that first, like me with Dorothy’s family, Jesus grieves for them. He cares deeply for Martha and Mary, and he grieves at their grief. Second and related to the first, Jesus is angry about the powers of sin, death and the devil that hold sway over the world. He is angry at the forces that keep people from the abundant life that God intends for us.
Truth be told, I like the almost incomprehensible Jesus because he stretches my thinking about who God is and how God works in our world. But I also like the human Jesus who meets us in our grief and walks with us through it. Jesus doesn’t deny the reality of suffering and death. Rather, Jesus meets it and even enters it. In fact, if you read just a bit farther in chapter 11, you see that Jesus sets some serious wheels in motion. By going to Judea and raising Lazarus, Jesus forces the hand of the religious leaders. They begin to plot his death, which we know will be successful.
We are in a very uncertain time as we deal with COVID-19, and we wonder where Jesus is in the midst of all this. Perhaps, as it has been suggested by some, Lent is an appropriate time for the pandemic as if forces us to think about our mortality and what’s important to us. But even more so, the story of Lazarus (and Martha and Mary!) reminds of us of God’s faithfulness in the midst of our most difficult times, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life. God be with you, my sisters and brothers, in the days ahead. Know that God has entered the chaos and uncertainty. God is with you always. Amen.
You can also view the sermon in its entirety here.
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