Dates: November 4th and 7th, 2021
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm: Psalm 24
Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6a
Gospel: John 11:32-44
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
This is the proclamation offered in our reading from Revelation this week. I find it apt to recognize that in our current world, we are not strangers to the mourning and crying and pain mentioned in this passage. We have been, and still very much are, living in the midst of a Global Pandemic, and constantly learning about the many societal barriers that stand in the way of people living the abundant life we are called to live in Jesus. This promise of an existence free from mourning, crying and pain, though wonderful, can sometimes feel so far away from the world we live in today. Sometimes this distance can make these statements feel like they are improbable for our current lives, or feel like they are a way to dismiss our current grief and pain, because someday it will be no more. But I find that this promise rings abundantly clear when we consider two things that Jesus does consistently in our Gospel message for this week, that show us our own call in the midst of our current world. First, Jesus shows himself mourning, and second, Jesus breaks down the barriers that stand between people and abundant life.
Jesus shows himself mourning in this passage, and also his acknowledgment of the mourning of those around him too. The reading begins in a provocative place, where Mary has knelt at Jesus's feet and accuses him. Saying, “Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died.” When loss is so close to us, so new, so strong, this is a common reaction even for us here today. We question and blame God for the death and suffering we see around us. God, if you had been here, this would not have happened. It is reminiscent of the Psalm Jesus himself quoted from the cross, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” It is a very human thing to question God in the midst of our mourning and grief. And so when Jesus hears Mary's question, when he looks around and sees not only Mary but others around her all weeping, he is disturbed and deeply moved by the grief they are experiencing together. And he himself gives into his own grief, and weeps. Jesus knew Lazarus himself. This is not some stranger to Jesus, this was his friend. Those around him notice, they say “see how he loved him” as they watch the tears slide down Jesus's cheeks.
We can learn from Jesus's example here, knowing that when there is mourning happening in our lives, we can weep, we can show emotion and vulnerability, we can allow our emotions to take place outside of ourselves. We can be a community in mourning together just like the group that had gathered outside the tomb of Lazarus. In doing this we follow the first example Jesus sets for us in this passage, we do not let pain and suffering isolate us from those around us. We acknowledge how interconnected we all are as humans, as children of God, as siblings in Christ. We accept that these burdens do not have to be carried alone. Which brings us to the second example Jesus sets for us in this passage, and that is the example of calling out the barriers that stand in the way of people living life abundantly.
First, he arrives at the tomb and says, take the stone away. Jesus calls for the removal of this barrier. Martha protests, she says he has been dead in there for four days, significant for the Jewish people because they believed that on the third day the person's soul or spirit has departed, and they are considered fully dead, and this was the fourth day. And yet Jesus insists that this barrier be removed, and so they move the stone. Next, Jesus turns his attention to God the Father in prayer. He says that he knows that God has heard him, but that he wants those around to believe too. Jesus wants the barrier of their disbelief to be removed. After this prayer he calls into the tomb, loudly, telling Lazarus to come out to the people outside the tomb. This could have been done inside the tomb, Jesus could have been standing right next to Lazarus, but instead calls to him, and invites him out into the world, through the barrier of the tomb's threshold, into the world of the living once again. And so Lazarus hears Jesus and steps out into the world, but he is covered in strips of cloth and bound by them. Then Jesus offers the last destruction of barriers in this passage, the ones binding Lazarus, keeping him from moving and living freely once again. Jesus calls to those around them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
All of these instances of Jesus destroying the barriers around him allow each one to be defeated. The stone, unbelief, the threshold of the tomb, and the bindings of Lazarus are all made powerless in the wake of Jesus's mourning. Today on All Saints as we remember those among us that have died and now reside in God's kingdom forever, we follow Jesus's example through our commemoration. We remember those who have died, we speak their name aloud, we light a candle for them, and we mourn that they are no longer with us, all the while knowing that Jesus destroyed the barrier of death once and for all. The final barrier in this world has been defeated, and so we know that in this promise there is space for us to mourn, and then in the same breath, we are called to do as Jesus did and break down barriers in the world here and now.
Throughout our Gospel today, Jesus continually tells the obstacles of this world that they have no power. We then know deep inside that this is the Good News that frees us to get rid of other barriers around us every day. Because oftentimes these barriers end up harming and killing people in this world, rather than offering them abundant life, and we are all interconnected as children of God. These barriers can take the forms of various -isms and phobias in our world, like sexism, racism, or homophobia, and they can also take the form of things like healthcare systems that are not made to support all people. In our world right now, healthcare is vital and literally life-saving, and yet often comes with so many barriers for people to fight through. These are only a couple of examples of the barriers in this world that we get to break down as a community just as Jesus worked against the stone, the disbelief, the threshold of the tomb, and the bindings of Lazarus in our gospel today.
As we continue our commemoration of All Saints today, we are invited to take this time to mourn or grieve as we each need to, just as Jesus did, and then we are invited to go into the future fortified and encouraged to destroy the barriers around us in this world that harm us, our neighbors, and our community, knowing that Jesus has defeated the final barrier of death, once and for all. I will end my sermon today with the same passage from our Revelation reading that I opened with, may you find comfort and strength in the message that God is with us in our mourning and barrier breaking now and forevermore.
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”