A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. Patricia Gillespie

Ezekiel 37:1-3(4-10)11-14
Romans 6:16-23
John 11:(1-17)18-44
Psalm 130

The gospel today could be a pretty scary story. People gathered around a closed up cave. A rotting, stinking dead man coming out still wrapped up in grave cloths. It's like a late-night horror movie. You've probably seen them: The mummy steps out of the grave and begins walking toward the weeping people.

Lazarus was wrapped up in grave cloths like a mummy, though apparently without the elaborate Egyptian preparation that might have kept him from stinking. At least his hands and feet and face were wrapped up.

He is bound. All tied up in knots. It makes it kinda difficult to do much of anything.

Lazarus is alive, but not free. Even when Jesus gives life, it seems that there are still constraints in this life.

Many of us, like Martha, claim faith in Jesus, or like Mary, have met Jesus when our lives were full of tears. In Jesus we may have found new life and healing, But, in what ways are we also, like Lazarus, bound hand and foot and face, unable to live our lives in freedom? What is it in your life that has you tied in knots. Or what is it that ties you down? What keeps you from living life abundantly? It may be health or finances or too many responsibilities. Perhaps it is psychological leftovers from a dysfunctional family (or even a functional one). It could be that your life is all tied up and enslaved by an addiction .

We've talked often about the gifts God gives us and that it is sometimes necessary to let go of some things so that our hands are empty to receive those gifts.

Sometimes the things we cling to most dearly keep us from God. And we struggle continually to let them go so we can give God first place in our lives. That is something we might choose to do.

But what if we are all tied up, bound hand and foot? This is something different, something worse. In bondage we just can't fix it alone. We cannot free ourselves from the knotted tangle of our lives. We need help to be free.

Remember Jesus said, "Lazarus, come out." Jesus brings his dead friend back to life in this world but Jesus does not untie his bonds. Instead Jesus says to those around him, "Unbind him and let him go."

Jesus has given him life. But it is Lazarus's family and friends who enable him to live, releasing him from whatever holds him back.

Jesus reminds us that life in its fullness cannot be found alone. We need community, family, and friends. The spiritual life is not just "God and me" but "God and us." To have abundant life we need not only God but our neighbor. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and tells others to unbind him. We see it other places in the Bible too: Jesus raises Jairus's daughter from her death bed, and tells her parents to get her something to eat. We need each other.

Whatever it is that has your life tied up in knots, Jesus is asking someone, somewhere to unbind them. You may find healing in a counselor's office or at a friend's kitchen table. You may find forgiveness here in church or in the smile of a child. You may find acceptance and hope in a twelve-step group. We need each other.

In the sometimes deadly, tangled mess of our lives Jesus calls us to live. But we have to set each other free.