Dr. Dale Miller

April 29, 2007

Unwrapping the Bandages

John 11:43-44

This morning we have heard the story of Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Jesus. Our thanks go out to the Wesley Choir and Melvin Rookus for their presentation. The part of the story I want to follow up with is Jesus walking up to the tomb and crying out, "Lazarus, come out!" Then scripture says, "The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth." That had to amaze everyone that was standing outside the tomb!

We can think of all kinds of reactions the crowd might have when they see the dead man walking. Do you see that? Can you believe this? What are we suppose to do? Amazingly, Jesus says to the crowd, "Unbind him, and let him go." Hey, folks, take the bandages off and let him be free again!

None of us have Jesus' power to defeat death, but we can be present to people to help them take the bandages off, to loosen the bindings that keep them living in a tomb, and to help them experience the freedom of Christ's love in their lives. By reaching out to others in need - physically, emotionally, spiritually - we can help defeat the tombs of despair and dread that debilitate so many of our loved ones, as well as society's "unloved" ones.

We need to incarnate the ministry of Jesus in our lives. Jesus came down so that we might come out. The power of God releases us from whatever tombs we may have found ourselves buried in, from whatever prisons we encased ourselves in. This is big stuff! This is where we really can understand that the Gospel is about the power of bringing the dead to life. The Gospel takes aim at the deadness in our lives and says, "No more! Your life, my life, is now going to be vibrant and alive in Jesus Christ!"

Several of the biblical commentaries question that when Jesus said to Lazarus, "Come out," how could he comes out when he was wrapped head to foot. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking, "If Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, what's the big deal about a few bandages?" What also comes to my mind is that over-thinking such minor details keeps me wrapped up in a tomb, unable to free myself from seeing the bigger picture, namely that God wants to free us and gives us life!

Also a part of that bigger picture is when after Lazarus is raised Jesus says to his disciples, "You unwrap him." God frees us from the grave, but we have to free each other from the grave clothes. God gives us breath; we give each other mobility. Here is our challenge: Are we failing or succeeding in helping to unwrap each other for ministry in this world.

Through this story of Lazarus, I hear Jesus telling us that God wants to work with us, to work in us, and to work through us, but that God will not work for us. Rather, Jesus calls us to work for God.

What are you wrapped up in? How tightly wound are you? How can we unbind each other for ministry in this world? What is holding us back from fully engaging in the unwrapping of each other and of this world? Are we involved in helping to free people for living, or are we trying to jam them back into a lifeless tomb?

I once heard someone say there were two kinds of people in this world - "skull" people and "ear" people. The size of our skull never grows from birth. Our ears grow until we die. Do we deaden our souls, maintaining the status quo, and become "skull" people, or do we shake our lives up, seeking what God wants for our lives and for the life of this community, so that we become an "ear" person?

Just like our ears, an alligator will grow until the day it dies. It will grow everyday unless it is kept in a box. The body of the alligator will sense the boundaries around it and will never grow bigger than the box. How many times do we box ourselves in as disciples and as a church? I'm afraid that the number might be higher than we care to admit. The question becomes, "Are we going to unwind and unwrap each other so that we can do ministry that really counts in this world?" Jesus said, "Come out!" And the church said, "Yes!" Jesus said, "Unwrap!" And the church said, "Yes!" And new life began to sprout up everywhere! Amen and Amen.