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
Look each day into your heart.
ReplyDeleteWhat Lazarus must depart
for new life to thrive,
for your saint to come alive?
Wonderful verse and interpretation dad! Love this piece.