John 11:43
"...[Jesus] cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' 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, 'Unbind him and let him go.'" (New Revised Standard Version)
Many times when I've heard this passage from scripture, of Lazarus being raised from the dead, I wonder to myself, "how did a dead man have the capacity to HEAR Jesus call him out of the tomb?" I guess we chalk it up to one more miracle of Jesus' earthly ministry. But it also begs a bit more of our attention. Here was Lazarus, DEAD and LYING IN A TOMB for the duration of four days. Lazarus' sister, Martha, even complains to Jesus about the stench of her dead brother. In human terms, what was Jesus thinking when he spoke to dead Lazarus?
Jesus was thinking new life and that's exactly what he spoke to Lazarus who was lying in the tomb.
Where in your life are you experiencing death, pain, hurt? Where do you need Jesus to speak the sweet words of healing, a sweet word of new life to you? I refer again to the small group studies that are happening on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. The study urges us on to speak words of healing to one another. And as Jesus speaks to Lazarus, we need to speak them loudly. So often, we are like Lazarus, we are bound with the burial cloth of old wounds, bitter feelings, relationships gone bad, immaturity and anger that resulted in unhealthy outcomes. And we get stuck there, in a tomb of sorts. We dare not utter a kind word about 'that person' because of the hurt they've caused us and vice versa. Jesus encourages us to speak sweet words of life to dead situations. Go figure! What I love about this story is that once the sweet words of new life are spoken, Lazarus is freed from the bonds of death. The mental image that comes to mind are the strips of grave cloth that are taken away by those who witnessed this awesome healing. Lazarus is set free by the sweet words of Jesus.
Challenge yourself this weekend, before you attend worship, to speak sweet words of healing to a dead or deeply wounded situation. These words could be spoken out loud or perhaps your write a notr, send an email or text message. Be creative. How can you speak the sweet words of healing and give a verbal embrace of love and healing?
And just so you know, these email devotions will resume on Monday morning. Please find a worship time this weekend to discover the next portion of what it means to "Live Like You Were Dying..."
-Pastor Rhonda
