{"id":1122,"date":"2011-04-06T21:48:17","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T04:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1122"},"modified":"2011-04-29T09:38:08","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T16:38:08","slug":"pastors-pen-for-april-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1122","title":{"rendered":"Pastor\u2019s Pen for April 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days\u2026he said, <\/em>\u201cTake away the stone\u201d\u2026and he cried with a loud voice, \u201cLazarus, come out!\u201d <\/em>The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. <\/em>Jesus said to them, \u201cUnbind him, and let him go.\u201d<\/em> – John 11:17, 39, 44<\/p>\n

Beloved of God,<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m as eager as ever for Easter to arrive.\u00a0 The tragic and depressing news that dominates the headlines these days\u2014from Japan to Libya and points between\u2014only increases my appetite for good news\u2026and not a diversion or a fantasy, but the real thing.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that I expect suddenly on Easter that all that ails the world will magically be cured.\u00a0 The gospels themselves testify to the fear and disorientation that attended the disciple community when they first heard news of an empty tomb.\u00a0 It\u2019s simply that when I look at all that\u2019s happening around the world, and when I visit the bedsides of those, closer to home, for whom death draws near, my soul longs for the affirmation that this is not the end of it all.\u00a0 I know I\u2019m not alone in that hope.<\/p>\n

During the three Sundays before Palm\/Passion Sunday (April 17), our gospel lessons from St. John\u2019s help us move toward that hope.\u00a0 Each story\u2014Jesus and the Samaritan woman, Jesus and the man born blind, Jesus and the raising of Lazarus\u2014gives us insight into who Jesus is and how God\u2019s work in him brings new hope and possibilities to skeptical, world-weary minds. \u00a0Each story speaks to the process of transformation that attends our lives in Christ.\u00a0 And each story has profound baptismal significance.\u00a0 Together they have served as the church\u2019s \u201ccore curriculum\u201d for centuries for those preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil.<\/p>\n

The last of these texts comes from the 11th<\/sup> chapter of John: the raising of Lazarus<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 In the climax of this story, Jesus stands before the tomb, calls for the entrance stone to be removed, and calls Lazarus out by name.\u00a0 Miraculously, frightfully, Lazarus comes out, still bound in his burial clothes.\u00a0 This is no trick but the raw power of God.\u00a0 Jesus has performed many signs: water into wine, sight for a blind man, healing of lepers and paralytics, loaves and fishes for multitudes; but this act of raising Lazarus is beyond them all.\u00a0 And it\u2019s too much for some people to take!\u00a0 In the verses immediately succeeding this story, John tells us how the raising of Lazarus galvanizes those who oppose Jesus.\u00a0 His act of wringing life from death is an act that will ironically lead directly to his own death.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 instructions to \u201cunbind Lazarus and let him go\u201d<\/em><\/strong> are meant for the church to hear. <\/strong> Like Lazarus, we need both<\/span><\/em> to be freed from the deadly powers of sin that form the walls of our tombs, and<\/span><\/em> to be the ones Christ calls upon to unbind others and let them go.\u00a0 The words we speak; our interactions with friends, family, stranger; how we respond to the binding forces of evil in our community and world\u2014all these provide testimony on the question: are we living as those who have been freed by Christ and liberated to be agents of hope and service in his world?<\/p>\n

As we accompany Christ on the journey toward the cross in these final weeks, as we see him being lifted up on the cross for the sake of the world, and as we enter into the astonishing surprise of his resurrection, we are called to place all our trust in the one God who has the power to bring us from death to life; to unbind us and let us go.<\/p>\n

While the disaster in Japan and the burgeoning conflict in Libya trade headlines.\u00a0 While Egypt\u2019s transformation and continued calls for democratic reforms echo within the Arab world.\u00a0 While enemies of light stalk each other in Israel, Afghanistan and Iraq.\u00a0 While the sinkhole which is our state budget claims more victims, and while we continue to haggle over the Tunnel, tolls, and taxes, Christ\u2019s faithful community celebrates the true life\u2014the only life\u2014which has the power to interrupt the litany of death.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait for Easter; for the privilege of proclaiming: CHRIST IS RISEN!\u2014HE IS RISEN INDEED, ALLELUIA!<\/p>\n

Blessings on the way.<\/p>\n

Pastor Erik<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days\u2026he said, \u201cTake away the stone\u201d\u2026and he cried with a loud voice, \u201cLazarus, come out!\u201d The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, \u201cUnbind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-newsletter","category-pastors-pen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1122"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1143,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions\/1143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}