Removing one another’s grave clothes
The Rev. CeCe Armstrong leads worship at the outset of MidWinter Lectures at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
LOUISVILLE — From the pulpit earlier this week in Shelton Chapel at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong wondered aloud about the bonds among Jesus’ close friends, especially Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Armstrong, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024), was the preacher for the MidWinter Lectures, now in its 81st year at Austin Seminary.
“They probably did ministry together,” Armstrong said of the four, drawing on John 11:38-44, the raising of Lazarus, as her preaching text. “Whatever others thought, they were friends, and they did the work God called them to do together.”
Earlier in John 11, Martha goes to meet Jesus and tells him that he waited too long to make his appearance. Jesus reminds her who he is — the resurrection and the life. “She relied on their long-lasting relationship and agreed with Jesus’ claim, but is disappointed in the timing of it all,” Armstrong said. “How many times have we neglected to see God at work because it didn’t turn out like we had planned it?”
When Mary finds Jesus, she kneels at his feet, weeping, and tells Jesus that Lazarus would be alive if Jesus had only arrived sooner. “God is compassionate and loving, and so Jesus cries,” Armstrong noted. “Isn’t it strange how those outside the situation always seem to have a solution to your problem? They are always talking about how the situation could have been different.”
Lazarus is entombed and a stone blocks the entrance to the cave. When Jesus calls for its removal, Armstrong, quoting Martha, says, “there may be a stench.”
“Jesus was not concerned about that stinky smell,” Armstrong said. “Smell or no smell, she would see the glory of God.”
When Jesus prays, it’s “not a plea for a miracle” or a “woe is me” prayer, Armstrong said. “Jesus’ prayer was a prayer of understanding that the glory of God would be revealed. It was a prayer of thanksgiving. Jesus says, ‘I know that you always hear me, but I have said this so the crowd would believe that you sent me.’”
Instead of asking Lazarus, “would you like to come out now?” Jesus speaks “with conviction and power,” Armstrong said. When Lazarus emerges still bound, Jesus instructs those nearby to unbind him. He was speaking to “the nosy folks standing nearby,” Armstrong said.
“Friends, I don’t know if anybody has told you: you are the ‘them’ Jesus was talking to,” Armstrong said. “We are the ‘them’ in this text.”
“Could Lazarus take his own strips of cloth off with his hands and his feet bound? No. It is the requirement of the beloved community,” she said. “It is our responsibility to take grave clothes off, to tend to the ones who are bound.”
“We get so caught up in the miracle of the dead man coming to life,” she said, “that we don’t hear Jesus’ command to take the grave clothes off.”
“We must be willing to be on this journey to serve,” as Armstrong and her fellow Co-Moderator, the Rev. Tony Larson, are. “We can’t see something without saying something.”
Turning to the recent protests in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities, Armstrong said Jesus “is expecting us to care for ourselves and to help others when we can. Now would be a really good time to revisit the Matthew 25 text. Helping those in need is being obedient to God and upholds your responsibility as the beloved community.”
“Wouldn’t you want help taking your grave clothes off?” she asked. “Why wouldn’t you do that for someone else?”
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