Accompanied by their parents, two boys were riding in the back seat of the family car. As they passed by a cemetary, the younger brother asked his mother, "Mommy, what are those square buildings out there?" The mother answered, "Those are called mausoleums." As you might expect, he asked the next logical question, "What's a mausoleum?" Before the mother could respond, the older brother gave his best attempt to an answer. Wanting to demonstrate his knowledge, but not having all the words he needed to describe it, the brother replied, "A mausoleum is a place where dead people live." 

Our mausoleums come in different shapes and sizes. We live in mausoleums when we regularly close ourselves off from others. When we bury ourselves in self-pity. When we torture ourselves with remorse and guilt. When we seethe with resentment and bitterness. When we see all life as meaningless.

Prior to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, he declares, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." Although this is a phrase that is declared on Easter Sunday and repeatead at funerals, I don't believe that Jesus uses it here to refer to his own resurrection or the physical resurrection that he offers Lazarus. Instead, I believe it represents Jesus' offer to help persons become spiritually alive during this lifetime.

Within the gospel of John, Jesus offers seven "I am" sayings which we have dealt with through our Lenten sermons.

I am the door of the sheep

I am the good shepherd

I am the bread of life

I am the true vine

I am the light of the world

I am the way, the truth and the life

I am the resurrection and the life.

Particularly as we look at the first six sayings, we realize that Jesus is using these terms metaphorically to describe a different aspect of his ministry. Jesus is not really a door, but is like a door to a sheep-hold that offers security. Jesus is not literally a shepherd - he was a carpenter. But like a shepherd, he cares tirelessly for those under his watch. Jesus is flesh and blood-not made of wheat. And yet he does desire to feed our spirits. Not a vine himself, Jesus is like a vine in that those who abide in him are nutured. As the light of the world he overcomes our darkness and as the way, the truth and the life, he offers us a new reality on which to base our lives.

So without comment on Jesus' own resurrection, or the occasions on which he raised others from death, we need to think of Jesus' declaration "I am the resurrection and the life" as an indication of what is available to us in this life, not the next.

When Jesus hears of Lazarus' illness, he reacts in a most curious way. He doesn't run to his friend's side and cure him. Rather he remains where he is for two days. Although he possesses the power to prevent Lazarus' death-a fact which Mary is quick to articulate-he pulls back. It's almost as if Jesus wants Lazarus to die, so that Lazarus can experience a new beginning. Whether we're talking of a physical or a spiritual resurrection, one fact remains, you can't experience resurrection without first experiencing death.

We see this theme in Ezekiel as well. When God grants his prophet the vision of the valley of dry bones, it is a symbolic assessment of the people of Israel. They have been removed from the land of their ancestors. They are held in captivity. They feel forgotten.

God recognizes their plight and feels their hopelessness. Wanting to restore them to their former lives, God grantrs the vision of the valley of dry bones to Ezekiel. This vision is God's way of saying, "No matter how bad your situation becomes, I can restore you to new life."

That's Jesus' message as well. When he declares, "I am the Resurrection and the LIfe," he is saying the exact same thing. "No matter how grim it looks, new life is possible."

That people, is our calling as the church-to help all persons discover the possibility of resurrection: the wounded, the forgotten,the neglected, the destitute, and the sinful. Just as Jesus instructed those at the tomb to free Lazarus from that which bound him, we too are asked to open the doors to our tombs of prejudice, hatred and envy within our power to lead people to a new life. This is the promise and the challenge of Easter.

May Christ lead us through the open door to new life.  

Rev. Ron W. Purser

lhchome@aol.com