Wednesday, October 28, 2015

All Saint Sunday
November 1, 2015

John 11:32-44 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Commentary:  This seems like an odd Gospel for All Saints Sunday.  Yet, what does it mean to be a saint?  John is giving us a preview of the Resurrection.  However, Lazarus must die before resurrection can happen.  Resurrection is not about rescue from death, but rather transformation into a new life.  That happens to each of us throughout the stages of our lives.  The poem ‘To Be a Saint’ is an attempt to share that process.

The Death of Lazarus

32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.”

All Saint Sunday
November 1, 2015
A Poem a Sunday
St.. John 11:32-44

To Be a Saint

Lazarus must die.
Your Lazarus must die,
whether you are Mary or Martha,
Jekyll or Hyde.

Your Lazarus of youth
from innocence to truth
will die to live
and live to die.

Tombs of middle age
become wombs for the next stage.
This Lazarus must die,
must die, must die.

Old age, too,
evolves into a new age you.
Your Lazarus must die,
must die, must die.

Many a ‘Lazarus’ on the way
hobbles wrapped in old decay.
New life from the old,
new stories to be told.

Look each day into your heart.
What Lazarus must depart
for new life to thrive,
for your saint to come alive?
                                                                           
Christ waits for Lazarus to die
then with a primal cry
calls forth each Lazarus in us
- unbound – a deeply saintly sound.



‘A Poem a Sunday’ – October 27, 2015 – Kenn Storck

1 comment:

  1. Look each day into your heart.
    What Lazarus must depart
    for new life to thrive,
    for your saint to come alive?

    Wonderful verse and interpretation dad! Love this piece.

    ReplyDelete