Psalm 130; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:6-6:11: John 11:1-45

Some years ago I adopted the discipline of preaching from the Lectionary so the congregation and I would have to deal with a broad range of Scripture and not just our favorite texts and topics. The problem is that this can sometimes lead to deep theological waters where I= m not confident of my understanding. As I have said in the past, I am not a theologian or the son of a theologian. Like today, when the subject is resurrection. I took the title for this sermon from Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51, his great discussion of the subject, A Behold, I show you a mystery.@

Paul= s Greek word is musterion. Linguists warn us that the term has nothing to do with the modern meaning, where a mystery is solved by somebody like Inspector Morse or Sherlock Holmes. It got into the vocabulary of religion with the Greek mystery religions, where they tell us the usage goes back to the root meaning, to shut. And they say it means A shut up,@ A shut your mouth@ because secrets were revealed to the initiates that they weren= t supposed to talk about. But when it is taken up in the New Testament A mystery@ has the meaning of something that you could never figure out or even guess. You have to be told. And as you can plainly see with Paul it is no secret doctrine, but something that he wants to announce to everyone. You might say it is God= s surprise that he wants to share with everybody.

Our lesson from Ezekiel has been described as a national rather than a personal resurrection. The prophet in his vision finds himself in a valley filled with dry bones. Some have suggested that these were victims of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, cast unburied into a valley outside the city. Ezekiel prophesies as God had commanded and the bones came together and were clothed with sinew and flesh. He prophesied again and they received breath. Can you hear the Mills Brothers singing, A Them bones, them bones, them dry bones?@ And God told Ezekiel that this symbolized the restoration of Israel. Ezekiel was active during and after the Babylonian war. An oracle in Isaiah 26:19-21 which we cannot date precisely brings the emphasis down to the individual. In Daniel 12:2-3 and 12:13, which were written around 165 BCE promises a resurrection to life. By the time of Jesus this notion had become a popular belief among Jewish pietists (but not the conservative old Sadducees). It is reflected in Martha= s confident assertion that Lazarus would rise on the last day (John 11:24). But Jesus had something much more dramatic in mind.

Back in Genesis 2:7, God created human beings as organisms. Not spirits trapped in a material body or souls imprisoned in a body As the philosophers would say, but living organism, living selves. So I guess it was a natural conclusion, one of God= s mysteries or surprises, that people would be recreated as living selves to share in God= s kingdom. If you read Paul= s discussion in 1 Corinthians 15, it is more than a recreation; it is a transformation, as we would also gather from the accounts of Jesus= resurrection appearances.

So now to John 11. Jesus deliberately dallied when he was told of Lazarus= (Heb: Eleazar) illness, so that by the time he reached Bethany, Lazarus had been dead and buried four days. In that climate, decomposition would have been well advanced, so Martha= s warning about opening the tomb was practical advice., But there was method in Jesus= madness. The point of the narrative is that Lazarus didn= t just seem to be dead. He really was good and dead. And this crazy prophet stood at the entrance of the tomb and called loudly, A Lazarus, come out!@ And wonder of wonders, he did come out, restored to life. Imagine the hugs and kisses and shouts and tears of joy that Mary and Martha and their friends lavished on Lazarus and on one another. It is too bad that Dr. Elizabeth Kuebler Ross, who made a career out of studying near death experiences couldn= t have been there to interview a person who had really been dead. But as far as we know, Lazarus left no memoir .But the story of the raising of Lazarus became one of the favorite themes of early Christian art.

Some commentators say that the raising of Lazarus is included by John to foreshadow the resurrection of Jesus. But there is much more to it than that. Jesus told Martha, A I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.@ That is, the very power of life is in Jesus the Messiah.

I have been vexing myself the last couple of weeks, ever since I learned I was to preach today, over how to deal with this important material. I couldn= t afford to mislead you. I had to get it right. (Or, as right as possible.) But could I? Then I realized that sometimes we sow confusion by trying to be profound when in fact a simple answer is better. Last Monday night Alabama Public Television ran a special on Johnny Cash. Right at the end of the show Johnny was singing a little Gospel song with the words, A I= m just an old lump of coal. But I= m going to be a diamond some day.@ And it struck me that these simple words summed up the mystery, the surprise, that God offers his people in the teaching of resurrection just about as well as it can be done.