{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Sermon - 3\/21\/26","description":"Year A \u2013 Fifth Sunday in Lent\u2013 March 22, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd John 11:1-45 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who liberates us from our bindings, and redeems us through God\u2019s love and grace. Amen. *** \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.\u201d  \u2026both sisters launch this statement at Jesus\u2026 this accusation\u2026 this plea. Did you not care\u2026 did you not love him enough? Did we not love you enough? Why\u2026 why did you let him die? Their words cut into my heart\u2026 I feel their grief\u2026 and I imagine you do, too.  None of us need reach very far to grasp the pain of a loss that we wished our Lord could have prevented. This past week, I learned that the father of an old high school friend died after suffering for many years with cancer. They are devastated and broken\u2026 and yet, clinging now to the promise that Jesus gave us\u2026 that her dad is now rejoicing with God, free of his earthly pain. But\u2026 four years ago\u2026 when he was first diagnosed, they were sure that their faith would deliver him from his illness. \u2026and I was angry at their pastor for having the audacity to proclaim that if they prayed the right way\u2026 loved God the right way\u2026 that if they could somehow have the most perfect faith\u2026 that his cancer would go away. That kind of theology\u2026 is cruel and abusive\u2026 and I wish it wasn\u2019t so prevalent in our American spiritual culture\u2026 It adds a layer of shame and guilt on top of the bodily suffering that one is already enduring and creates impossible standards. \u2026yeah, I was angry, and I grieved for them. But this text is tricky\u2026 Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and whatever he asks for will be given. So, the temptation is there\u2026 to hope that we can somehow compel Jesus to take away our illness\u2026 or to prevent the death of our loved one\u2026 or to reverse the accident\u2026 or to repair that which was lost. We focus on the sign\u2026 on the miracle that Jesus performed of bringing Lazarus back to life\u2026 something he did so that those who witnessed and testified to it would understand and believe that Jesus was sent from God. But if we are so focused on the miraculous raising of Lazarus\u2026 we may miss the beautiful truth that Jesus was there with them\u2026 he was with them in their sorrow\u2026 very much so\u2026 just as Jesus is with us in our pain\u2026 and in our grief\u2026 Jesus, in his compassion and empathy... weeps with us when we weep. Jesus, who is sent from God\u2026 who is God\u2026 came to share life with us\u2026 all of our life experiences\u2026 our joy and our love\u2026 as well as our pain and our grief. And we all know\u2026 that love and loss are intertwined, and that grief is a natural part of our lives. In the face of grief and loss, it is also tempting to rush into the promised joy of eternal life with Christ\u2026 to gloss over the pain of death and skip into rejoicing\u2026 but does that honor the source of our grief? At this point in Lent\u2026 in our steady march toward Jesus\u2019 betrayal and the cross\u2026 we, too, might be tempted to skip past the hard parts and move directly into our Easter celebration. \u2026but does skipping the discomfort of Holy Week honor Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us? Does that honor the fullness of life that Jesus spent with us? Can we not dwell for a time with Jesus\u2026 in his grief? When Jesus went to Bethany, he knew what he was going to do\u2026 he knew that he would raise Lazarus\u2026 not so that Lazarus could have more earthly life, but so that we might believe in Jesus. And yet, even knowing what he went there to do\u2026 Jesus was still deeply moved\u2026 by their grief\u2026 and he wept with them. We don\u2019t know exactly why Jesus wept\u2026 I imagine it was complicated, as our tears so often are. Perhaps he was angry at death itself\u2026 and the pain it always brings\u2026 or perhaps he was feeling the weight of his own impending death, and how this sign of raising Lazurus would be the act that would set things in motion for his arrest. Just as the crowd speculated on his tears, we do not have a clear understanding of his grief\u2026 only that he grieved. But you know\u2026 grief does not need a clear explanation to be valid. Jesus, our God with us\u2026 grieves with us in the face of death and suffering\u2026 Jesus shares our sorrow that we must face this pain as part of the cycle of life. And yet\u2026 Jesus is still Lord over all that binds us, including death\u2026 but also\u2026 so much more. And so, just as Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out\u2026 he calls to us\u2026 Jesus calls to us not only at the end of our earthly lives, but he calls to us every day\u2026 to leave behind the things that bind us and chose life with Christ. Jesus calls to us who are dead and bound in our sin\u2026 calls to us when we are crippled with guilt and shame\u2026 he calls to us when we feel isolated and alone\u2026 he calls to us when we turn a blind eye to the pain of our neighbors\u2026 and invites us to actively participate in our own renewal. Hear the words of our Lord calling to you\u2026 come out\u2026 and\u2026 Unbind him\u2026 let him go\u2026 Unbind her\u2026 be free from the power of sin\u2026 Unbind them\u2026 be liberated to see the Glory of God at work in yourself, for you are deeply loved. Let your bindings go\u2026 so that you might be fully present in God\u2019s love and light\u2026 and feel it\u2019s warmth. Let your bindings go\u2026 so you are able to fully receive the grace and mercy Christ has freely laid before you. Let your bindings go\u2026 and know that you are always and forever, forgiven and redeemed. Christ is calling to you\u2026 to come out and join him. And yet, he knows\u2026 we all know\u2026 this life is a work in progress. Some days are better than others, and my friends\u2026 that\u2019s why there is grace. Jesus\u2019 love is not dependent on you praying the right way, or loving Jesus the right way, or having the perfect faith\u2026 Jesus loves you. Full stop. And because of that love, he calls you to come out and live your life with him\u2026 This world around us will still have brokenness and failing\u2026 we will still have pain and grief\u2026 and Christ weeps with us in our grief, and we place our pain in God\u2019s loving care and know that on the other side of death\u2026 there is life. It can be challenging to let go of that which binds us, for sure\u2026 to let the old pass away and trust our God who calls to us into something new. But hold fast to the promise that our journey is not just to the grave, but through it\u2026 and there is new life on the other side. Amen. ","author_name":"Your Faith Journey","author_url":"http:\/\/faithlutheran.libsyn.com\/podcast","html":"