Sermon of 27 March 2007, Tuesday of Lent 5
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Readings: II Kings 4:18-21, 32-37, Psalm 17:1-8, John 11:1-7, 18-44


The Strong themes of resurrection in today’s readings send us the clear message that the time of Lent is drawing to a close.

In this final week of preparation before we arrive at Palm Sunday and Holy Week, we are given two amazing stories of resurrection that foreshadow Christ’s death and resurrection in the coming two weeks. It is a profound and timely opportunity to reflect on God’s healing power reaching even beyond the grave to restore us to life and a right place with God, and it is a remarkable opportunity to continue this past Sunday’s themes of God doing something new as we reflect on the agency of prophet and messiah in the resurrection of the Shunammite woman’s child and of Lazarus in comparison with God’s own direct agency in Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning.

I have always loved the story from second Kings. One of two resurrection stories in the Hebrew Bible, it is a powerful example of God’s presence with Elijah and Elisha. I have also been fascinated by the description of Elisha’s actions in this story as it so closely resembles our modern practices of mouth to mouth resuscitation and chest compressions associated with CPR.

The story of Lazarus is similarly amazing, particularly the raw physicality of Martha’s warning of the stench associated with a body’s decay after four days in the tomb. This is also one of the few times in the Gospels that we really see Jesus’ humanity portrayed through his own emotional response to events around him. That Jesus is said to be greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved, to the point of weeping, gives us a very real sense of the love he feels for Lazarus, Martha and Mary, as well as giving us that rare glimpse of the human person of the Christ.

The physicality of these stories is, for me, part of their importance as we move into Holy Week next week. The foreshadowing of Christ’s very human response to Lazarus’ death will be mirrored in his despair in the garden of Gethsemane when he pleads with God to remove the cup from his lips just as his powerful faith in resurrecting Lazarus will carry him in the garden to conclude “yet not my will, but yours be done.”

God’s will is a tricky thing to discern, especially where our healing is concerned. We believe very deeply that God wants us to be happy and healthy, but to what extent is that a spiritual reality and to what extent a physical one? We’ve all known people who have an extraordinary faith and a profound and inexplicable happiness and spiritual health while in the midst of a most debilitating and sometimes terminal illness. We’ve also known, many of us first hand, of the awesome healing power of God on our physical bodies as well, and we believe in the power of prayer to aid our bodies in the healing process. But where is that line?

I think Christ points us pretty directly to that place with his resignation to following God’s will. Our two stories both remind us that we are always to bring our cares and concerns to God, especially our prayers for healing and wellbeing. The Psalmist today demonstrates the spirituality of our faith in prayer, asking God to “give heed to my cry; listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips.” The Shunammite woman pleads for her son’s life with God and with Elisha, Martha and Mary both plead with Jesus, knowing that Lazarus would have survived if he had been there, and venturing to believe beyond hope that Christ could yet comfort them. Christ surprises them with his willingness to bear the physical stench of deteriorating flesh and demonstrates God’s amazing providence through a miracle that went even beyond what their faith taught them to expect. As Jesus will so beautifully demonstrate next week in the Garden of Gethsemane, we are to bring our prayers of hope and even hopelessness before God, knowing that God’s will prevails in all things and seeking God’s comfort and healing wherever God wills. Where it sometimes may not be God’s will for us to find physical healing, we clearly see through Christ that it is always God’s will to sustain us and give us spiritual health.

I have two stories of my own today to help illustrate what I think I mean =o)

When Fuego was about five years old, she drowned. She had a particular love for ducks, and while out playing with her sister by their Aunt’s lake, she was feeding the ducks some bread. Seeing that one duckling in particular wasn’t getting any bread, Fuego leaned out further and further over the bank to try to get the bread out to the little one, until she lost her footing and fell into the water. She remembers struggling to the surface twice before she lost consciousness. Her sister froze in shock and could only stand watching in horror as her little sister drowned. Thankfully, Fuego's dad checked in on the girls at just the right time and came running to pull Fuego out of the water. By God’s grace, he was able to expel the water from her lungs and resuscitate her. Much as Elisha was able to raise the Shunammite woman’s son back to life, Fuego was given another chance through her dad.

Another friend of mine, Designgirl, was stricken with a rare disease that few survive. While she miraculously survived the illness, her kidneys were destroyed in the process and she was placed on the transplant list. For three years she did an abdominal fluid exchange two to three times per day. She was constantly at risk of infection and was limited in what she could eat and drink and do. During that time, she remained one of the most positive and uplifting people you could hope to meet. She spoke openly about her condition and her hopes and dreams for the future, and went on living her life to the fullest she was able. While this particular story also has a happy ending, many similar examples of the amazing ability people have within physical illness to achieve a profound spiritual vitality and peace end more abruptly. As for Designgirl, after three years of waiting, she received a kidney from her own mother, which her body accepted. She lives a fairly normal life now and hers was the first wedding I performed after being ordained a priest last June.

As we approach Holy Week and Easter, let us take some time this last week to examine our own miracles of both flesh and spirit. I know God has given me more second chances than I could possibly deserve in my life, and while I am profoundly grateful, I am constantly mindful of those around me who, though they may not have been given the same physical second chances, have yet been profound examples to me and to others around them of spiritual health and vitality. Given the option of questioning why or just praising God for giving me the opportunity to continue serving God’s will in this world, I will take the road of Praise.

Christ demonstrates to us today in Lazarus’ resurrection that God’s healing power has no limits. At the same time, we’re given the unique opportunity to witness God’s own grief through Christ at the suffering we experience at the loss of a loved one. Whether in sickness, health, or even in the grave, we are given the opportunity in today’s readings to truly see and believe that God is with us. As the Psalmist pleads with God today, so too we can be assured that God hears our pleas and cries.

May we too be kept as the apple of God’s eye, hidden under the shadow of God’s healing, loving, and compassionate mothering wings. And as we close our Lenten season this week, may we take those final moments of reflection to truly praise God for hearing our prayers and for being with us always as we continue to strive to discern and do God’s will in the world.

Amen.