Wake Up and Get Going
AM Psalm 137:1-6(7-9), 144 • PM Psalm 42, 43
Jer. 31:27-34 • Rom. 11:25-36 • John 11:28-44 or 12:37-50
I love Spring. Yesterday morning the sun peeked through the trees, and I glimpsed a tiny hint of green. You could not see it looking at one tree but viewed as a whole, there it was. My soul leapt.
Spring reminds me of the importance of rest and rejuvenation. After a long nap, seemingly overnight our world of cold and dark explodes into life and light. There is a cascade of green and spring bloom colors and the birds explode in a cacophony of rejoicing. It seems most of God’s creation understands the need for time to recharge. We humans just don’t quite get it. We are constantly heeding the call of “the urgent.” Electronic devices have succeeded in filing what little space we had left for quiet and reflection. However, God not only calls us to action; God also calls us to slow down and pause, to rest and renew ourselves for God’s service and a full and meaningful life. During his ministry, we often see Jesus remove himself to a quiet place where he took time to rest, renew and talk with God. There is no better example.
Spring is also a reminder to awaken and get going. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus called out in a loud voice, a commanding voice, a voice that had the power to overcome death itself, “Lazarus, come out!” Oftentimes I need a commanding voice to rouse me from my tomb of inaction. I need the stone separating me from the will of God to be rolled away and for the bonds of fear and doubt to be taken off. I am called to get on with the work of the Lord. Jesus is commanding me to release the death grip I have on my life and to let go of the everydayness of my planned existence. He wants me to step outside my comfort zone and to have faith that God has plans for me, and that they are more important than the plans I have for myself.
I often wonder what great things Lazarus did with the rest of his life.* He was literally raised from death to life, the ultimate of second chances. I can imagine he was telling his resurrection story to anyone who would listen. Wouldn’t we? We too have the opportunity to do great things and perhaps small things with great conviction. Every time we heed the call to “come out” our whole life is before us. Let us not waste a single moment of it.
Happy Spring!
* We know that he returned to the home he shared with Mary and Martha and that he was present when Mary anointed Jesus’s feet with expensive perfume. After that, the Bible is silent on his fate. Church history records that he and his sisters fled to Cyprus to escape the Sanhedrin’s plans to murder him. He remained very active in the Church until his death.
Written by Dennis McKinnie
Dennis is happily retired and filling his time with new things.