Let Yourself Loose                                                                                              Doug Holtz, intern pastor

John 11:1-45                                                                                                          Zumbro Lutheran Church

5^th Sunday in Lent                                                                                                                     March 9, 2008                                                                                                                                               

 

A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick."

When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son."

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."

They said, "Rabbi, you can't do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you're going back?"

Jesus replied, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn't stumble because there's plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can't see where he's going."

He said these things, and then announced, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up."

The disciples said, "Master, if he's gone to sleep, he'll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine." Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap.

Then Jesus became explicit: "Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. You're about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let's go to him."

That's when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, "Come along. We might as well die with him."

When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.

Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you."

Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up."

Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time."

"You don't have to wait for the end. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world."

After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."

The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?"

"Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept.

The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him."

Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man."

Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone."

The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!"

Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone."

They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."

Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.

Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."

That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him.

The gospel of our risen Lord.

Thanks be to God!

 

 

It wasn’t just Lazarus who needed to be freed from what had him bound. Everyone at the scene had their own fears and misgivings to break through. They doubted the power of Jesus to raise Lazarus after those four long days of mourning. The hopes and dreams of the sisters Mary and Martha had dried up just like those bones in Ezekiel’s prophecy. Even the disciples were seeing the doom and gloom of the situation, tied down by fear. They didn’t have confidence in the power of Christ over death.

And much like Lazarus waking up from the dead, each day that we are brought back to life through repentance we still need to be let loose as well. We need to be unbound from the gloom and sadness we put on ourselves by wallowing in self-pity, holding onto those sins that have long since been forgiven. We have to believe with confidence that God can take the dry bones of our faith and bring them together for a new day and a new purpose.

The new Lutheran Handbook gives us this simple test for seeing if we are in bondage to sin. We can all try this right now.

Step One: Using the index and middle fingers of one hand, find your pulse. If a pulse is detected, your will is in bondage. In no pulse is found, immediately stop this exercise and dial 911.

 

Step Two: Look for these symptoms.

helplessness and hopelessness after reading the 10 commandments, like there's no way you can do it.

You constantly want more or better stuff, clothes, money, cars, etc.

You experience envy of those with more or better stuff than you

You find it easy to neglect the needs of others to take care of yourself

You do (or desire to do) things you know you should not

Even at your best you find it impossible to break the cycle and become truly “good”

 

The Apostle Paul knew this well. He wrote in Romans 7, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

 

How do we break the chains?

Admit that you are in bondage to sin—this will open us to the promises, forgiveness, and surprises God has for us.

Confess in public. "I am in bondage to sin. I need Christ."

Listen actively for God's promises. After admitting your sin listen to the words of God's forgiveness.

Move forward as the new Adam or Eve Christ made you through baptism. Get over it and get on living. We might be in bondage to sin, but God gives us the power to be children of God and live a godly life.

Repeat daily: living in bondage to sin is not easy, requires constant confession and forgiveness.

 

So what does being unwrapped and let loose feel like? Nobody has confidence in the presence of Christ like a young child. Take my son Karl, who when at age three unknowingly provided a great statement of faith. You see, Betsy and I were out in the yard doing yard work, while Karl was riding his tricycle up and down the driveway and around the sidewalks. In the midst of weed pulling or whatever we were doing, Betsy and I both looked up and panic set in: where was Karl?

We checked the side yard. We checked the wooded back corner of the lot that Karl named the Hundred-Acre Wood. We checked the neighbors’ yards. No sign of Karl. Where had he gone?

Just as we were getting ready to enlarge the search, call in the National Guard, and send up the helicopters, the lady from the daycare across from the park one block away walked up with Karl in tow earnestly pedaling his tricycle. We felt great relief and embarrassment, and thanked her for bringing him back from the play park.

After we had hugged and loved him, telling him never to do that again, I asked a rather simple question: “Weren’t you afraid of being at the park by yourself?” At which point Karl looked at me, smiled, and said, “I wasn’t alone! Jesus was with me!” Wow. The first question in my head after recovering from that response was, “Now what do I do?” He was fully confident that Christ would guide him no matter what.

You see, for Karl those bindings, the thoughts and fears that hold us back, hadn’t yet been developed. He had faith and simply knew that he wasn’t alone! He had not yet been enslaved to the bonds of sinful life. I wish we could all have that simple unwavering faith. Have we all lived too much, strapped ourselves down with too many bindings to be truly free? In all our worrying, trying to keep up with society, needing to look good, have we lost sight of what is really important?

“Unwrap him and let him loose!” Those words aren’t just for Lazarus, not just for the disciples to hear as they still had doubts. Those words are instructions for all of us. We all let things stand in the way of the true freedom Christ offers. The things that bind us keep us from helping others get beyond their struggles as well. Jesus’ death on the cross loosed all the chains of death. Jesus’ love for us broke the bonds of sin for eternity. Unwrapped and let loose we are free to be confident as we “go in peace and serve the Lord.”

Please pray with me:

Heavenly father, we thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. Remind us each day that as we repent and through the promises of Holy Baptism that you free us from the things that keep us from living in your grace. Help us to let go of these things too. Strengthen us with your Holy Spirit that we can truly sing with confidence, “Jesus lives, the victory is won!” We pray in the name of the one who gives all of us victory over the grave, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.