Resurrection Hope

Beloved in Christ, 

In the gospel lesson appointed for Sunday, Martha comes rushing out to meet Jesus on the road after her brother Lazarus has died. She carries with her the crushing weight of sadness, the disorientation of having a loved one suddenly not there, and the real anger that always goes with loss: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother Lazarus would not have died.” 

Jesus lands the brief exchange that follows by insisting: “I am the resurrection and the life. . .” Resurrection hope isn’t some thin wishful thinking for a vague and unseeable future. Resurrection life begins right here and right now, in the very depth of the world’s pain and suffering, by abiding in and with Jesus. Christian hope is not just the expectation of life beyond death, it’s the promise of real, full, loving life before death, that extends beyond the grave, and joins God in renewing the whole world. 

And just like Martha, to catch that hope and live that life, we must bring the full depth of our grief, our sadness, our rage at the injustice and needless suffering that is all around, to our abiding with Jesus. Hope that does not fully and squarely reckon with all the good reasons for despair is cheap. A promise of life that does not squarely reckon with the hard fact of death is a thin veneer that changes nothing. 

When Jesus eventually raises Lazarus, his command is, “Unbind him, and let him go.” His command is the same for us. We are a people whose work is unbinding the bands of grief with the unhinged joy that knows God’s love is more powerful than death, unbinding the bands of despair with assurance that love’s victory has already been secured, unbinding the bands of oppression with the justice that affirms God is always found on the edges, in the small places and the forgotten, cast aside people. 

So bring your bone deep sadness to Jesus, bring your rage at the state of the world, bring your can’t take one more step feeling of despair, and let him unbind you with the balm of love. Then let us get on with the work of unbinding, and letting go. 

Grace and Peace, 

The Right Rev. Craig Loya