I have a problem with stories like the one in today's passage out of John. A dead man - Lazarus - comes out of a tomb after four days. He's a cadaver. He's wrapped in burial clothes. He's essentially a zombie. Jesus simply looks to the heavens, thanks his Father for listening, and tells God that he wants the crowd around him to believe that God sent him.
I have problems with people who write books about how they spent ninety minutes in heaven.
I simply can't imagine it, personalize it, and get my hands or mind around it.
Not to mention, every time I hear the story of Lazarus told by a preacher, it's told in this monotonous, unappealing way that seems to make me think, Do you even believe this?
But, then there's this other side to it. There's the time when I was deemed dead from alcohol poisoning. There's this time when a co-worker came to me asking for prayer for her mom who had just received medical reports describing her breast cancer. There's the time when another coworker fell off a cliff and got a brain injury, placing him in a coma for weeks. And then there's the time when my other friend was in a car wreck and received a traumatic brain injury and went into a coma for two months. Then there's the countless stories of people who have been given several weeks to live, but lived years after.
In each of these cases, death was either present or standing right outside the door.
Another problem with the story of Lazarus is, the story ends there. He walks out of the tomb and we don't hear anything about him again. It's almost as if the story was about a dead guy being raised to life, but the story wasn't really about a dead guy being raised to life. It's almost as if the author was trying to convey something else to the audience.
It's almost as if the author was saying, This is a big deal, but this is a bigger deal.
Death to life. Life to death. The circle of life, right?
One of the common beliefs in our culture is that death is always at odds with life. Death is this thing we try to avoid and battle with life. We change our looks, we altar our bodies, we take fish oil, we go organic, we don't miss our doctor's appointments, we raise our boobs and lower our chins. Even at birth, we guys chop off our foreskins in the belief that infection is this default thing that happens as soon as we're born. From the moment we're born, death is against life, and the battle begins.
We've all heard, Put a jacket on. You're gonna catch a cold. But, does cold weather cause sickness?
Jesus is essentially using theatrics to show the audience standing around (mostly Jews), that death and life are not supposed to be these two entities that are constantly fighting each other. It seems that he's trying to convey something much deeper than what the eye can see. One moment the guy's dead, and the next he's wondering where Starbucks is.
What if, Jesus is trying to say, See how futile the idea is that death and life are at odds with one another? Those who believe in me don't see it this way. And, by the way, if you think this is crazy, just wait a week and you'll really get blown away.
There is this pervasive theology that threads through many religions that sets death and life against each other. It says that the point of life is to avoid death. But, it also continues. There is this idea that after physical death, the battle continues. There are these intangible, unprovable places called heaven (life) and hell (death). Depending on how well we live or or how bad we live in our time on earth, we will receive bus tickets to one or the other.
But, what if life and death were never intended to be at odds with each other? What if, the intended purpose of each was to compliment the other? What if life was considered just as much a gift as death?
Although the story of Lazarus cannot be proven, there is an underlying principle that is very interesting. Does belief affect the way we view life and death?
Jesus constantly repeats, Believe in me and find real life. Believe in me and find eternal life. Believe in me and find resurrection.
Is it possible that our beliefs can affect the ways in which we experience life, as well as death? Is it really possible that death can not have the sting that we think it does?
The ways in which we view life and death affect our beliefs in what happens after life. But moreso, the ways in which we view the afterlife affects the ways we live on this earth. Believing that life and death are at odds with each other in the afterlife affects the ways in which we view death in this life.
Heaven and hell have been used to describe the either/or that happens after we die. Essentially, good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. The good people believe one way, and the bad people don't believe at all, right?
But, what if this idea is one idea out of many possibilities? What if the ideas of heaven and hell were man's way of describing this inner tension, this supposed conflict between life and death. Someone writing down the scriptures long ago though, You know? Since death and life are such opposing entities, why not set them against each other in the afterlife? Hmmm. Heaven and hell . . . Bingo!
The principles behind Jesus's teachings are constantly threatening our accepted ways of thinking that life is always good and death is always bad. He raises people from the dead, but tells family members Don't worry, you're daughter's only sleeping. Don't be afraid, Lazarus is taking a nap.
Just because something is accepted by the majority doesn't mean it is in any way true. It just means that it's one idea out of many. When we believe, we suspend reality. We shoot for the stars. We ascribe meaning to the unseen, the intangible. But, at the same time it affects our realities. What we believe leads to how we live.
Today's Action: Think about our own experiences with death or hardship. Did we go about those situations with the idea that life was being threatened? Did we go about those situations with the idea that life was being complimented? Did we find "life after death"? What is one way that we could view life and death as compliments of each other, and not enemies?
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