William H. Willimon - "Lazarus, Arise!" (April 1, 1990)

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	(bright organ music)	0:00
-	Welcome to Duke Chapel on this fifth Sunday	3:05
	in the season of Lent.	3:07
	We call your attention to the schedule in the bulletin,	3:10
	beginning on Palm Sunday at Holy Week	3:13
	with our full round of services	3:16
	and we hope that you will join us for those services.	3:19
	And this afternoon at 4 p.m., the Duke Chapel	3:23
	Choir and Orchestra will present Haydn's Creation.	3:27
	Tickets are still available and can be purchased	3:31
	at Page Box Office beginning at three this afternoon	3:34
	for Haydn's Creation at four.	3:39
	The Annual Crop Walk leaves from the steps	3:42
	of Duke Chapel after the service today	3:45
	and winds its way through the city of Durham.	3:49
	This has become an important annual event	3:51
	here and will be today.	3:54
	Today in Duke Chapel, we honor the life	3:58
	and the work of James T. Cleland,	4:02
	Dean of the Chapel for many years and beloved presence	4:07
	of Christ and Christ's church here on this campus.	4:13
	And today's bulletin has an imitable statement	4:17
	that typified the humor and the thought of Jim Cleland.	4:22
	A number of years ago, friends of Jim Cleland	4:29
	established the Cleland Fund here at the Chapel,	4:32
	which is one of the major endowment funds	4:35
	that Duke Chapel uses.	4:39
	Over the years, the Cleland Fund has continued the work	4:41
	of Jim Cleland in providing funds for distinguished	4:44
	and world-renowned guest preachers,	4:48
	for special musical events, for student mission projects,	4:50
	and a wide array of ministry and a very fitting tribute	4:56
	to Jim Cleland and we're delighted to have Alice Cleland	4:59
	and friends with us in the service today	5:03
	honoring this great spirit who continues	5:07
	to pervade the life of the Chapel, Jim Cleland.	5:10
	Now, let us continue the worship of God.	5:14
	Stand.	5:20
	("Jesus, Priceless Treasure")	5:22
	(singing in foreign language)	5:41
	♪ Jesus, priceless treasure ♪	6:23
	♪ Source of purest pleasure ♪	6:30
	♪ Truest friend to me ♪	6:36
	♪ Long my heart hath panted ♪	6:43
	♪ Till it well-nigh fainted ♪	6:49
	♪ Thirsting after thee ♪	6:56
	♪ Thine I am O spotless Lamb ♪	7:03
	♪ I will suffer nought to hide thee ♪	7:09
	♪ Ask for nought beside thee ♪	7:18
	♪ In thine arms I rest me ♪	7:26
	♪ Foes, who would molest me ♪	7:33
	♪ Cannot reach me here ♪	7:40
	♪ Though the earth be shaking ♪	7:47
	♪ Every heart be quaking ♪	7:53
	♪ Jesus calms my fear ♪	8:00
	♪ Sin and hell in conflict fell ♪	8:07
	♪ With their heaviest storms assail us ♪	8:13
	♪ Jesus will not fail us ♪	8:21
	♪ Hence, all thoughts of sadness ♪	8:31
	♪ For the Lord of gladness ♪	8:37
	♪ Jesus enters in ♪	8:44
	♪ Those who love the Father ♪	8:51
	♪ Though the storms may gather ♪	8:58
	♪ Still have peace within ♪	9:05
	♪ Yea, whatever here must bear ♪	9:11
	♪ Still in thee lies purest pleasure ♪	9:18
	♪ Jesus, priceless treasure ♪	9:27
-	Almighty God, you alone can bring into order	9:41
	the unruly wills and affections of sinners,	9:46
	grant your people grace to love what you command,	9:50
	and desire what you promise.	9:53
	That among the swift and varied changes of the world,	9:56
	our hearts may surely there be fixed	9:59
	where true joys are to be found.	10:02
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord,	10:05
	who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit,	10:06
	one God now and forever, amen.	10:09
-	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	10:22
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	10:26
	by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that as the word	10:29
	is read and proclaimed, we might hear	10:33
	with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	10:36
	The first lesson this morning	10:42
	is taken from the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 37.	10:43
	The hand of the Lord was upon me	10:51
	and brought me out of the spirit of the Lord	10:52
	and set me down in the midst of a valley.	10:54
	It was full of bones.	10:57
	And God led me round among them,	10:59
	and there were very many upon the valley,	11:01
	and they were very dry.	11:04
	And God said to me oh son of man, can these bones live?	11:06
	And I answered oh Lord God, you know.	11:11
	Again, God said to me prophesy to these bones	11:15
	and say to them oh dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.	11:18
	Thus says the Lord God to these bones	11:22
	I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live.	11:25
	And I will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh	11:29
	to come upon you and cover you with skin	11:33
	and put breath in you and you shall live	11:36
	and you shall know that I am the Lord.	11:39
	So I prophesied as I was commanded	11:43
	and as I prophesied there was a noise and a rattling	11:46
	and the bones came together, bone to its bone.	11:50
	And as I looked, there were sinews on them	11:54
	and flesh had come upon them and skin had covered them,	11:56
	but there was no breath in them.	12:00
	Then God said to me prophesy to the breath,	12:04
	prophesy, oh son of man, and say to the breath	12:07
	thus says the Lord God come from the four winds,	12:11
	oh breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.	12:15
	So I prophesied as God commanded me	12:20
	and the breath came into them and they lived	12:23
	and they stood upon their feet in exceedingly great post.	12:27
	Then God said to me oh son of man,	12:33
	these bones are the whole house of Israel,	12:35
	they say our bones are dried up	12:39
	and our hope is lost, we are clean cut off.	12:41
	Therefore prophesy and say to them	12:45
	thus says the Lord God, I will open your graves	12:49
	and raise you from your graves, oh my people.	12:53
	I will bring you home into the land of Israel.	12:56
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	13:01
-	Please stand as we join in singing responsively	13:09
	Psalm 116 found on page 837 in your hymnal.	13:11
	(Psalm 116)	13:18
	♪ I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice ♪	13:24
	♪ And my pleas for mercy ♪	13:28
	♪ Because he inclined his ear to me ♪	13:31
	♪ Therefore I will call on him as long as I live ♪	13:34
	♪ The snares of death encompassed me ♪	13:37
	♪ The pangs of Sheol laid hold on me ♪	13:41
	♪ I suffered distress and anguish ♪	13:45
	♪ Then I called on the name of the Lord ♪	13:50
	♪ O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul ♪	13:55
	♪ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous ♪	14:00
	♪ Our God is merciful ♪	14:05
	♪ The Lord preserves the simple ♪	14:09
	♪ When I was brought low, the Lord saved me ♪	14:12
	♪ Return, O my soul, to your rest ♪	14:18
	♪ For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you ♪	14:23
	♪ For you have delivered my soul from death ♪	14:29
	♪ My eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling ♪	14:34
	♪ I walk before the Lord in the land of the living ♪	14:40
	♪ I was faithful to you when I was suffering ♪	14:47
	♪ Though in my confusion I said I can't trust anyone ♪	14:53
	♪ What shall I render unto the Lord ♪	14:55
	♪ For all his benefits toward me ♪	14:57
	♪ I will take the cup of salvation ♪	15:01
	♪ And call upon the name of the Lord. ♪	15:05
-	The epistle lesson is taken	15:26
	from the book of Romans, chapter eight.	15:27
	To set the mind on the flesh is death,	15:31
	but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.	15:34
	For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God	15:37
	and does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot.	15:41
	And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.	15:44
	But you are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit,	15:49
	if in fact the spirit of God dwells in you.	15:52
	Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ	15:55
	does not belong to Christ, but if Christ is in you,	15:58
	although your bodies are dead because of sin,	16:03
	your spirits are alive because of righteousness.	16:05
	If the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead	16:09
	dwells in you, the one who raised Christ Jesus from the dead	16:12
	will give life to your mortal bodies,	16:16
	also through that same spirit which dwells in you.	16:19
	This ends the reading of the second lesson.	16:24
	(inspirational organ music)	16:48
	(singing in foreign language)	17:08
-	Today's gospel is from the 11th chapter of John.	21:25
	Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany,	21:32
	the village of Mary and her sister Martha.	21:37
	It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment	21:40
	and wiped his feet with her hair	21:42
	whose brother Lazarus was ill.	21:44
	So the sister sent to him saying	21:47
	Lord he whom you love is ill.	21:49
	But when Jesus heard it, he said this illness	21:52
	is not unto death, it is for the glory of God	21:55
	so that the son of God might be glorified by means of it.	21:59
	Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,	22:04
	so when he heard that he was ill,	22:08
	he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.	22:09
	And then, after this he said to his disciples,	22:13
	let's go to Judeah again.	22:16
	The disciples said to him rabbi,	22:19
	they are seeking to stone you and you're going there again?	22:22
	And Jesus answered if anyone walks in the day	22:26
	he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world.	22:29
	But if anyone walks in the night,	22:34
	he stumbles because the light is not of him.	22:35
	And then he said to them our friend Lazarus	22:40
	has fallen asleep but I go to wake him out of his sleep.	22:43
	The disciples said Lord if he's fallen asleep,	22:48
	he'll recover.	22:50
	Now Jesus has spoken of his death	22:52
	but they thought he meant taking rest in sleep.	22:54
	So Jesus said to them plainly Lazarus is dead	22:57
	and for your sake I am glad that I was not there	23:01
	so that you may believe, but let us go to him.	23:04
	Thomas called the twin said to his fellow disciples	23:08
	let us also go that we may die with him.	23:11
	Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus	23:16
	had already been in the tomb four days.	23:18
	When Martha heard Jesus was coming,	23:21
	she went and met him while Mary sat in the house.	23:23
	Martha said to Jesus Lord, if you had been here,	23:27
	my brother wouldn't have died.	23:30
	And even now I know that whatever you ask	23:32
	from God, God will give you.	23:34
	Jesus said to her your brother will rise again.	23:36
	Martha said to him I know that he will rise again	23:41
	in the resurrection at the last day.	23:44
	Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life	23:48
	and he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.	23:54
	And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.	23:59
	Do you believe this?	24:04
	She said to him yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ,	24:06
	the son of God, he who is coming into the world.	24:13
	When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary	24:17
	saying the teacher is out here and he is calling for you.	24:21
	And when she heard it, she went to him.	24:24
	Now Jesus had not yet come to the village	24:27
	but was still in the place where Martha had met him.	24:29
	Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was,	24:32
	saw him and fell at his feet saying Lord,	24:34
	if you had been here my brother would not have died.	24:37
	Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came out with her	24:41
	also weeping and he was deeply moved in spirit	24:44
	and said where have you laid him?	24:47
	They said Lord come and see, and Jesus wept.	24:50
	So the Jews said see how he loved him?	24:55
	But some said could not he who opened the eyes	24:59
	of the blind have kept this man from dying?	25:03
	Jesus, deeply moved, came to the tomb.	25:06
	A stone lay upon it, Jesus said take away the stone	25:09
	and Martha, the sister of the dead man	25:12
	said Lord by this time there will be an odor	25:14
	for he has been dead four days.	25:17
	Jesus said did I not tell you that if you would believe,	25:19
	you would see the glory of God.	25:23
	So they took away the stone and Jesus	25:26
	lifted up his eyes and said Father,	25:28
	I thank you that you have heard me.	25:30
	I knew that thou would hearest me always	25:33
	but I said this on account of the people standing by	25:36
	that they may believe that you sent me.	25:39
	And when he said this, he cried out in a loud voice,	25:42
	Lazarus, come out and the dead man came out,	25:44
	his hands and feet bound with bandages,	25:48
	his face wrapped with a cloth	25:50
	and Jesus said unbind him and let him go.	25:51
	The chief priest and pharisees gathered	25:57
	the council and said what are we to do?	25:59
	This man performs signs and if we let him go on thus,	26:03
	everyone will believe in him.	26:07
	And so from that day they took council	26:10
	how they might put Jesus to death.	26:13
	We're in Lent, the season of the cross, that season	26:21
	when we move inexorably toward the death of Jesus.	26:26
	Which makes it all the more surprising	26:33
	that the church should have put this story	26:35
	about the raising from the dead of Lazarus	26:38
	here on this fifth Sunday of Lent.	26:43
	And makes surprising that John should put the story	26:47
	of Lazarus right before Palm Sunday,	26:49
	when Jesus was going to the cross.	26:54
	And we wonder why it's here in Lent, the season of death.	26:58
	But no matter, it's a good story.	27:05
	Lazarus is living over in Bethany with Mary and Martha,	27:08
	and you remember Mary just before Palm Sunday,	27:12
	she anoints Jesus with sweet-smelling oil	27:16
	and lets down her hair, but it's Lazarus who is the center	27:20
	of this story even though, interestingly enough,	27:25
	Lazarus never mutters a single word in the gospels.	27:28
	And that tips you off that, though Lazarus is the center	27:34
	of this story, that Lazarus probably functions here	27:38
	to tell you something about Jesus	27:41
	rather than to show off Lazarus.	27:44
	And John goes to great lengths to show you	27:47
	what good friends Jesus and Lazarus were.	27:50
	And maybe Jesus liked Lazarus because like a lot	27:54
	of preachers, Jesus enjoyed hearing himself talk	27:57
	and quiet Lazarus enjoyed listening, well John doesn't say.	28:00
	All he says is that Jesus loved Lazarus	28:05
	and his sisters Mary and Martha.	28:09
	When Jesus got to the tomb where Lazarus was buried,	28:13
	he wept and the people standing round	28:17
	know what those tears mean, see how he loved him.	28:20
	But the beginning of the story finds Jesus out somewhere	28:27
	working and Mary and Martha send Jesus the bad news.	28:31
	Lord, the one whom you love is sick unto death.	28:37
	Well Jesus plays down the news,	28:43
	he says this isn't a sickness unto death,	28:45
	it's for the glory of God that the son of God	28:47
	might be glorified by means of it.	28:52
	Now we don't know whether it made Lazarus feel better	28:55
	to know that his sickness would provide	28:58
	a good sermon illustration for Jesus.	29:00
	All we know is that upon receiving the news	29:03
	of Lazarus' illness, that Jesus sort of plays down the news	29:06
	and stays there wherever he is a few days longer.	29:12
	He doesn't rush to Lazarus' bedside,	29:16
	no matter how close a friend they are.	29:19
	And finally, Jesus says to his disciples let's go	29:23
	back to Judeah because Lazarus, our friend,	29:27
	has fallen asleep but I'm gonna wake him out of his sleep.	29:31
	And typical of the disciples in John's gospel,	29:37
	they misunderstand what Jesus is saying.	29:40
	They think that Jesus means that Lazarus	29:44
	is now resting comfortably after his recovery.	29:47
	But no, Jesus says, Lazarus is dead.	29:51
	Well off they go, but not before Jesus' disciples	29:57
	remind him that in going back to Judeah,	30:01
	there may be one more corpse other than that of Lazarus.	30:05
	Lord, it was in Judeah that they're trying	30:09
	to kill you, they say to Jesus.	30:11
	Do you wanna go back there?	30:16
	And Jesus replies by saying those who wander around	30:18
	in the dark stumble a great deal, whatever that means.	30:22
	But death, darkness be damned, off they go.	30:27
	Now when Jesus finally gets to Bethany,	30:32
	Martha runs out to meet him and she lets Jesus have it.	30:34
	Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.	30:39
	And Mary doesn't even come out of the house	30:45
	she's so mad at Jesus.	30:47
	And Martha then adds that she thinks Jesus might help,	30:50
	since it appears that anything Jesus asks, God will grant.	30:55
	But Jesus isn't interested in what Martha thinks,	31:00
	he's more concerned with what Martha is able to believe,	31:04
	her faith.	31:09
	And so Jesus reassures her,	31:11
	your brother is going to rise again.	31:13
	Your brother will rise again.	31:19
	So, says Martha, so what?	31:23
	Let's say that maybe Mary and Martha and Lazarus	31:28
	were members of the Jewish sect called the pharisees,	31:33
	who believed in the relatively new Jewish notion	31:39
	of a general resurrection of the dead in the future.	31:42
	And so, when Jesus says that Lazarus is going to raise	31:48
	from the dead, Martha repeats what she already knows	31:51
	about the resurrection, yeah yeah yeah, I know.	31:56
	I know all that, I know that in some day,	31:59
	sometime, somewhere, he's gonna be raised on the last day.	32:02
	She's just repeating something she learned	32:08
	in the creed, something they taught her in Sunday school.	32:10
	But you see, that isn't a whole lot of help	32:14
	for Martha right now because she wants	32:16
	life for Lazarus today, not someday.	32:20
	And you can try this yourself.	32:26
	A family emerges from the intensive care unit	32:29
	at the hospital, they are met by their pastor.	32:32
	They say to their pastor she's gone,	32:34
	mama's gone, she's dead.	32:39
	And the pastor says why those tears?	32:43
	Don't you believe in the resurrection?	32:47
	Haven't you repeated the words of the creed?	32:48
	Well mama's dead and we don't want her back	32:54
	2,000 years from now, we want her living back now.	32:57
	But what Jesus says to Martha is more radical	33:04
	than what the pharisees had in mind	33:08
	by the general resurrection of the dead.	33:10
	He says to her no, your brother is not going to rise	33:14
	on the last day, your brother's gonna rise now.	33:19
	Because you see, I am the resurrection	33:24
	and I am the life and he who believes in me	33:28
	is gonna live.	33:33
	And then Jesus puts it to her,	33:37
	"Do you believe this?"	33:41
	You see, he's challenging Martha to put her trust	33:45
	not in something somebody else has told her,	33:49
	not in some words of creed,	33:52
	not in some theological proposition, but in him.	33:55
	Do you believe this?	34:02
	And Martha comes through.	34:05
	"Yes Lord, I believe.	34:08
	"You are the Christ, the son of God,	34:12
	"he who is coming into the world."	34:16
	Old radical F.D. Maurice said that this little exchange	34:21
	between Martha and Jesus depressed him	34:25
	because 2,000 years after this conversation,	34:29
	most of us Christians have not yet got beyond the pharisees	34:34
	to the point of Martha's confession.	34:39
	We still think like the pharisees,	34:43
	that resurrection is some time in the future,	34:45
	something that happens to you later in the sweet by and by.	34:51
	But Jesus brings Martha to the radical, stunning confession	34:56
	that resurrection is now, present, in the flesh	35:00
	standing toe to toe, face to face with her.	35:04
	I am the resurrection, he says.	35:06
	And it's not some wild theological idea	35:09
	just concocted in the gospel of John.	35:12
	In Luke 7, Jesus raises the widow's son,	35:15
	followed in Luke 8 by the raising of Jairus' daughter.	35:20
	And then we get to John's gospel and there's Lazarus.	35:25
	Because that's the kind of effect Jesus had on people.	35:30
	They all rise.	35:34
	That's the effect Jesus has on the dead.	35:37
	They rise, they rise months, years before we ever	35:40
	get to Easter while we're still deep in Lent	35:44
	because they are face to face with Mr. Resurrection,	35:47
	even before he gets resurrected.	35:51
	Jesus is the in the flesh presence	35:56
	of the kingdom in which everybody rises.	35:58
	No matter whether they meet Jesus in Lent	36:04
	or they wait until Easter, whenever Jesus gets	36:06
	out to the cemetery, everybody rises.	36:10
	Well, Martha goes in and tells her sister,	36:16
	Jesus is out here and he's looking for you.	36:18
	You might as well come on out.	36:22
	And Mary comes out and says bitterly	36:25
	Lord, if you'd managed to get here on time,	36:27
	my brother would still be alive.	36:31
	But Jesus doesn't reply.	36:35
	'Cause maybe he's as angry and as upset	36:39
	about Lazarus' death as Mary.	36:41
	Because we learned that being Jesus	36:44
	doesn't mean that he's not angry over death	36:46
	and he lets Mary vent her anger	36:50
	because he understands, he shares her anger.	36:52
	He hates death as much as anybody else, he weeps over it.	36:56
	But then Jesus moves on.	37:02
	Because you see, he's here not to just wring his hands	37:05
	over a deadly situation, he's not here just to blame	37:07
	or transfer or to deny or resignedly accept,	37:12
	'cause that's the way we deal with death.	37:15
	But he moves on out to the cemetery,	37:18
	he leads a great procession out there	37:20
	and then he orders that the stone,	37:22
	the door to the tomb be rolled away.	37:25
	And ever practical, good old down to Earth Martha	37:29
	notes that Lazarus has been in there	37:34
	for a good four days and in the elegant words	37:36
	of the King James English, he now stinketh.	37:39
	Jesus simply reminds Martha of what he said,	37:45
	he lifts up his eyes towards Heaven,	37:47
	he prays and then in a voice loud enough to raise the dead	37:49
	says, "Lazarus, come out of there!"	37:54
	And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound	37:59
	with bandages, his face covered with a cloth.	38:03
	And Jesus commands again unbind him and let him go.	38:06
	And that was so much for dead Lazarus.	38:12
	And in a way, it was also so much for Jesus	38:16
	because Lazarus' new beginning was the beginning	38:20
	of the end for Jesus because after he raised Lazarus,	38:23
	the powers that be, the authorities, the death dealers	38:30
	at last got their act together and they stopped pussyfooting	38:35
	around and, says John, from that day on they took council	38:39
	as to how they might put him to death.	38:45
	It was just a little too much resurrection for one day.	38:50
	It was just a little too much Easter set loose.	38:54
	The folks up in the Pentagon just can't stand	38:57
	so much life bubbling up, even in Lent.	39:01
	The powers that be, the defenders of the status quo,	39:08
	the watch dogs who keep everything in place	39:11
	and everybody tied down,	39:14
	they just love darkness rather than light.	39:20
	They always choose death over life.	39:24
	And so they immediately set at work	39:28
	to find a tomb for Jesus, but this time with a stone bigger	39:31
	than the one that they used to seal Lazarus shut.	39:35
	And so it's all downhill now,	39:39
	down towards darkness, down towards death.	39:41
	A little later, Jesus comes out of hiding	39:48
	just long enough to have a meal with Mary	39:50
	and Martha and Lazarus over in Bethany.	39:53
	And during the meal, Mary comes out and lets down her hair	39:57
	and she anoints Jesus with some sweet-smelling oil	40:00
	and Judas rebukes her, saying she shouldn't do this	40:06
	act of extravagance, she oughta take that money	40:10
	she spent on that oil and use it to feed the poor.	40:13
	And Jesus tells Judas to back off	40:19
	because he knows that her act of extravagance	40:23
	is in response	40:28
	to his coming act of extravagance on the cross.	40:29
	You see, she is anointing Jesus for burial	40:36
	with the same oil with which she anointed	40:41
	the body of Lazarus for burial.	40:44
	And Jesus leaves Martha's table	40:50
	still smelling of the sweet oil, the sweet funeral oil.	40:53
	And he moves on toward Palm Sunday,	41:00
	on to the cross, on to death,	41:04
	which is of course where you and I are also headed.	41:10
	In that, like Lazarus, none of us	41:14
	is going to make it out of here alive.	41:18
	But in the meantime, on the way to the cross,	41:24
	to death, deep in Lent,	41:30
	I want you to ponder what Jesus told Martha.	41:35
	Resurrection is not something	41:41
	that you have to wait for until we get to Easter.	41:43
	It's not some forthcoming day	41:47
	in a still undetermined future.	41:50
	Resurrection is now, it is a present reality,	41:54
	not just a coming one because any time	41:59
	Jesus arrives, the dead are set loose.	42:03
	You see, if resurrection and raising of the dead	42:11
	and unbinding corpses were events just for Easter,	42:15
	then that overlooks a number of places in the gospels	42:20
	where Jesus raises the dead and kicks death in the teeth.	42:24
	The resurrection of the dead is not just confined to Easter,	42:29
	it's here at all times and places.	42:33
	Not just an isolated event in some distant past	42:36
	or not just some hoped for event in a distant future.	42:40
	What God did in Jesus and Easter	42:45
	is what God was busy doing all the time,	42:48
	bringing the dead back to life.	42:51
	The same God who reached down and brought creation	42:55
	out of nothing brings life out of death.	42:59
	The same God who breathed life into those dead bones	43:02
	that Ezekiel speaks about, this is the same God.	43:06
	This God,	43:15
	for whom all creativity is required, is nothing.	43:17
	And all his resurrection needs is death.	43:24
	Now look, death is death.	43:30
	Lazarus wasn't asleep like the disciples thought,	43:33
	he was dead.	43:36
	He was dead as dead could be.	43:37
	When we say resurrection, we Christians aren't talking	43:40
	about some pagan drivel about the immortality of the soul	43:43
	or that some there's some eternal flame	43:48
	within each of us that keeps burning on and on.	43:51
	No, in a sense we do agree with those non-believers	43:54
	who say that	43:59
	when you're dead, you're dead.	44:04
	Death is death, and when you're dead, you're dead.	44:10
	But the joke is that it's the dead	44:16
	that Jesus just loves to raise.	44:20
	All he needs to get real creative is a bunch of nothing.	44:24
	He is most glorious when things are most hopeless.	44:30
	He is most alive when things are most deadly.	44:35
	This past week in troubled little Lithuania,	44:44
	life squared off against death.	44:51
	A group of young soldiers, about the age of Duke students	44:55
	fled the Red Army into a hospital.	44:59
	And when it became apparent that there are limits	45:04
	even to Gorby's glasnost, when it became obvious	45:06
	that our country was once again	45:11
	willing to let Lithuania perish.	45:13
	After all, we so want to sell burgers and fries in Moscow.	45:17
	The president of little Lithuania told the frightened	45:22
	young men look, go to the churches, it's your only hope.	45:26
	And so they can call out the National Guard	45:36
	and they can sew you back up and shake their heads	45:38
	and send you from the oncologist to the mortician.	45:42
	They can send in the tanks and they can seal the borders.	45:46
	They can go ahead and try to entomb you	45:50
	in sarcophagi of race and color and gender and class.	45:53
	They can tell you the game's over, the jig is up,	45:58
	you can't fight City Hall, they can tell you	46:01
	we've done all that medical science can do.	46:04
	But once resurrection is cut loose, unbound,	46:09
	then your only hope is if Mr. Resurrection	46:17
	will again do his life-giving thing	46:22
	and snatch life from the jaws of death.	46:26
	Because the powers of death that so trap us,	46:31
	so defeat us, are little more than just a good excuse	46:38
	for Jesus to show off his glory.	46:44
	Amen.	46:50
-	The Lord be with you.	47:02
	Let us pray.	47:06
	God of the living and of the dead,	47:11
	as we feel the power of your word proclaimed,	47:15
	we sense the movement of your spirit	47:19
	which is beyond our capacity to explain.	47:21
	We acknowledge your power to set us free	47:25
	from bondage in the present as Lazarus himself	47:28
	was raised from the dead 2,000 years ago.	47:31
	Trusting in your eternal goodness,	47:36
	confident in your desire to save us,	47:38
	we offer these prayers for the entire creation	47:41
	that we may be reconciled to you and to one another,	47:45
	able truly to live.	47:49
	Let us pray for the Church of Jesus Christ	47:52
	that begun, maintained, and nurtured by your spirit,	47:56
	it may be strong, engaging, grateful,	48:00
	and true, ever doing your will.	48:03
	We thank you for faithful servants of the church,	48:07
	especially Dean James T. Cleland.	48:10
	Let the church be always faithful, dear God.	48:13
	Let us pray for people who do not believe,	48:18
	who are tormented by doubt or have turned against you.	48:21
	Open their eyes to see the wonders	48:26
	of your love revealed in Jesus of Nazareth	48:27
	and to follow when he calls them to arise.	48:31
	Conquer their doubt with faith, oh God.	48:34
	Let us pray for those who are sick,	48:39
	for all who suffer with pain or struggle	48:42
	with demons of the mind, that their valley of dry bones	48:44
	may become a place of healing and renewal.	48:48
	Heal the sick and troubled, oh God.	48:52
	We pray for peace and reconciliation in our world.	48:56
	Resolve ancient conflicts, silence weapons,	49:00
	create goodwill among every race and nation.	49:04
	Especially we pray for the people of Lithuania	49:08
	and the government of the Soviet Union	49:11
	in their time of struggle.	49:13
	Bring peace to all the Earth, oh God.	49:15
	Let us pray for people who are alone and lonely,	49:19
	who have no one to call a friend.	49:22
	May they be remembered, befriended,	49:26
	and know your care for them.	49:28
	Visit lonely people, oh God.	49:31
	We pray for the dying who face the final mystery.	49:34
	May they enjoy light and life intensely,	49:39
	maintain their dignity, and greet death unafraid.	49:43
	Have mercy on the dying, oh God.	49:48
	We pray for those whose tears refuse to dry,	49:52
	who listen for a comforting word	49:56
	and look for a familiar face in their time of loss.	49:58
	May they affirm all that you promise in Jesus	50:02
	who prepares a place for us within your spacious love.	50:04
	Comfort those who sorrow, oh God.	50:10
	We pray for families, for parents and children,	50:14
	brothers and sisters, may they enjoy each other,	50:17
	honor differences, and forgive as happily	50:21
	as we all are forgiven in your great mercy.	50:25
	Shelter families with your love, oh God.	50:28
	We pray for people everywhere,	50:32
	that they may come into their own as children of God	50:34
	and inherit the kingdom prepared in Jesus Christ,	50:38
	the Lord of all and savior of the world.	50:41
	This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ	50:45
	who prays with us and for us to whom be praised forevermore.	50:47
	Amen.	50:53
	As a forgiven and reconciled people,	50:57
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves to God.	50:59
	(bright organ music)	51:05
	(singing in foreign language)	51:56
	(singing in foreign language)	53:59
	("Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow")	57:35
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	58:16
	♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪	58:24
	♪ Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ♪	58:32
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	58:40
-	Almighty God, we offer you thanks and praise	58:52
	for your promise of resurrection to all who believe.	58:55
	Now we pray that you would bring new life	58:59
	to the mission of the church, which we support	59:01
	through our prayers and our offerings.	59:03
	As Christ sacrificed life for us,	59:06
	so may each of us commit ourselves to carrying forward	59:09
	the work to which we are called in our own day.	59:12
	Bless us and all the gifts we bring	59:15
	in the name of Jesus Christ,	59:17
	who taught us to pray with confidence.	59:19
	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	59:22
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	59:26
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	59:29
	Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us	59:32
	our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.	59:35
	And lead us not into temptation,	59:40
	but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom	59:42
	of power and the glory forever, amen.	59:45
	Go forth into the world forever changed.	59:51
	Share God's gift with all who are in bondage,	59:55
	longing to be set free, and may the blessings of God,	59:57
	creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit be with you all	1:00:01
	now and forevermore.	1:00:05
	("Amen")	1:00:09
	("The God of Abraham Praise")	1:01:10
	♪ The God of Abraham praise ♪	1:01:52
	♪ Who reigns enthroned above ♪	1:01:57
	♪ Ancient of everlasting days ♪	1:02:02
	♪ And God of love ♪	1:02:07
	♪ Jehovah, great I am ♪	1:02:13
	♪ By Earth and Heaven confessed ♪	1:02:18
	♪ I bow and bless the sacred name ♪	1:02:23
	♪ Forever blessed ♪	1:02:28
	♪ The great I am has sworn ♪	1:02:35
	♪ I on this oath depend ♪	1:02:40
	♪ I shall, on eagle wings upborne ♪	1:02:45
	♪ To heaven ascend ♪	1:02:50
	♪ I shall behold God's face ♪	1:02:56
	♪ I shall God's power adore ♪	1:03:01
	♪ And sing the wonders of God's grace ♪	1:03:06
	♪ Forevermore ♪	1:03:11
	♪ The heavenly land I see ♪	1:03:18
	♪ With peace and plenty blest ♪	1:03:23
	♪ A land of sacred liberty ♪	1:03:28
	♪ And endless rest ♪	1:03:33
	♪ There milk and honey flow ♪	1:03:39
	♪ And oil and wine abound ♪	1:03:44
	♪ And trees of life forever grow ♪	1:03:49
	♪ With mercy crowned ♪	1:03:55
	♪ The God who reigns on high ♪	1:04:01
	♪ The great archangels sing ♪	1:04:06
	♪ And holy, holy, holy cry ♪	1:04:11
	♪ Almighty King ♪	1:04:16
	♪ Who was, and is, the same ♪	1:04:20
	♪ And evermore shall be ♪	1:04:26
	♪ Jehovah, Lord, the great I am ♪	1:04:30
	♪ We worship thee ♪	1:04:35
	(bright organ music)	1:04:58

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Lazarus, Arise!" (April 1, 1990)

Description:

Sermon start time: 26:21. Sermon end time: 46:52.
Interpreting the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, the preacher argues that resurrection is not confined to Easter or to a future place and time; resurrection is right here, right now through the incarnated God, Jesus Christ. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Resurrection is not something you have to wait for until we get to Easter. It’s not some forthcoming day in a still undetermined future. Resurrection is not, it is a present reality, not just a coming one, because any time Jesus arrives, the dead are set loose.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r48p5vq9f

Date:

April 1, 1990

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Lent

Biblical Book:

John

Chapter and Verse:

John 11: 1-44

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0173
ref8759_kes
uachapelsermaud
duke:321482
dcrmv001168
ark:/87924/r48p5vq9f
37917429-5db7-41a4-b5cf-5e039fc03746

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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William H. Willimon - "Lazarus, Arise!" (April 1, 1990)

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Duke University Archives