“…Lazarus come out!” – John 11:43
I can think of few snapshots of grace as powerful as Jesus standing at the opening to the tomb that held Lazarus. The days leading up to Jesus’ arrival at the opening of this grave were filled with sickness, death, mourning, and a deep questioning about where Jesus was and just what he was planning on doing. The family of Lazarus and the disciples were all concerned, and they were looking to Jesus for help.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus arrives at the home of Lazarus only to find the family mourning the loss of their brother. Jesus leads the family and the crowd to where they had laid Lazarus to rest. It was a dark cave with a stone covering the entry. The imagery in the story is clear. There is no life to be found on the other side of the stone that covers Lazarus’ grave.
Jesus has the crowd remove the stone and he speaks into the dark, lifeless tomb, “Lazarus, come out!” To the absolute amazement of the crowd, Lazarus does indeed come out of the tomb… alive!
I believe that grace is the presence and power of God at work in our lives. As John records, when Jesus arrives at the tomb and speaks into the lifeless cavern that holds Lazarus, resurrection takes place. There at the opening of the grave, in the presence of the Son of God, the people witnessed grace at work. The presence of Jesus changed everything; mourning turned to amazement, questioning turned to wonder, and death turned to life. This is the power of grace!
The past month has been challenging, to say the least! We have seen our way of life change dramatically. We have gone from an active, busy society to being asked to stay at home. Soccer fields and baseball fields are empty, even on a beautiful, warm spring day. Our businesses are quiet where once they were filled with the hustle and bustle of work. Our schools are closed. Life is different. What is not different is the grace of God. God is still present. God is still at work. This gives me hope that one day, soon, we will come out of our homes, reconnect with one another, and find life filled with joy and peace, because our God is a God of grace.
– Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
