Dwelling in Dissonance: Grief, Glory, and Resurrection

If we have wealth, we spend it to live. If we have power, we leverage it to protect. If we have privilege, we use it to open doors. If we have influence, we share it to give the silence a voice. We don't just stand back and admire miracles. We remove rain clothes. And third, it means that we dwell in the tension between what is and what will be. We live between Lazarus' tomb and Jesus' cross, [00:59:14] (30 seconds)  #PrivilegeToOpenDoors

The raising of Lazarus isn't merely a private miracle. It's a public sign, and it reveals something about the character of God's love. That fourth piece of the resolution that we read earlier is a truth that unsettles the structures of the world. It said that God's love and favor always act to moderate the inevitable distribution of wealth, power, religion, prestige, [00:54:59] (23 seconds)  #LoveThatModerates

between tears and triumph, between grief and glory. The final note has not yet resolved, but we've seen the conductor. We've seen him weep. We've seen him call the dead by name, and we've seen him spend his life for the sake of the world. So this Lent, we will dwell in the dissonance, not as people without hope, but as disciples who trust that love will have the final word, [00:59:43] (33 seconds)  #DwellInDissonance

love and grief, glory and belief. May we be a community that weeps honestly, believes deeply, and loves generously so every stone is rolled away and every bound life is set free. [01:00:17] (19 seconds)  #WeepBelieveLove

John tells us that Jesus is deeply moved. And after that, we can get the shortest verse in scripture. Jesus wept. The son of God stands at the grave of his friend, and he doesn't offer some theological explanation. He doesn't correct their grief. He doesn't shame their tears. He joins them. This story refuses easy harmony. [00:53:28] (32 seconds)  #JesusWept

Lazarus' death isn't only it's isn't only an emotional life of loss. It's a destabilizer of loss. But Jesus doesn't remain distant from that vulnerability either. He moves forward. He enters their grief and then he acts. When he commands take away the stone, he invites the community to participate. He shows that in this case, resurrection isn't a solo performance. It's a communal work. [00:55:49] (30 seconds)  #ResurrectionIsCommunal

This passage that we read told us that Jesus loved Martha. He loved Mary. He loved Lazarus. And that detail is repeated. It's emphasized. It's just underlined. And then we're told something that unsettles us a little bit. Almost there. Skip to it. He says the the scripture tells us, so when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer [00:52:09] (28 seconds)  #LoveAndDelay

in the place where he was. He loved them, so he stayed. Love and delay. Care and absence, faith and confusion, this is where Lent lives, in the space between what we believe about God's love and what we experience in our world. When Jesus finally arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days. Martha meets him first, [00:52:37] (26 seconds)  #LentInTheInBetween