Forgive me, a Sinner.
Today is Lazarus Saturday.
We always begin Holy Week with this commemoration because we are reminded that, at the end of all things, Christ Jesus will do for us what he does for His friend, Lazarus. He will call us forth from the tomb; our souls and our bodies will be reunited, and we will be resurrected.
That should bring us comfort and peace and hope and joy. But even though resurrection is something that isn’t going to happen to us until history has run its course, we can experience a foretaste of that glorious blessing right now, because, on this day, Christ Jesus is already calling out to us. He is calling us to come forth from the tomb.
Many of us are buried in tombs of hatred and resentment. There are people towards whom we are so bitter, we can’t even think about them without grinding our teeth and clenching our fists. We re-live old arguments; we rehearse what we are going to say to them if we ever get the chance; we fantasize about horrible things happening to them. But today, Christ Jesus is calling us to come out of that darkness; He is giving us the power to forgive.
Many of us are entombed in a bad habit. It may be an addiction to alcohol or certain kinds of food or pornography or drugs. We may tell lots and lots of lies. It could be that we spend way too much money or we invest way to much time in video games or sports or social media. But today, our Lord and Master is calling out to us. He’s giving us the power to walk away from all that.
And, of course, all of us know what it’s like to be buried under trauma and anxiety—especially right now. We are wondering if our job or our business is going to survive all the shut-downs. We’re wondering if the people that we love are going to get sick. We’re wondering if we are going to be the same on the other side of all this isolation. But today, Christ Jesus is calling us out of all that. Our Lord and Master is extending His healing power to us.
Mothers and Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, each and every one of us have a bright and glorious future because each and every one of us will be resurrected by Christ Jesus. But that blessed future can start today, because our Lord and Master is calling to us even now. He’s calling us by name; He’s calling us from death to life. So as we offer this service together on the first day of Holy Week, let’s do in response to Christ Jesus, as with one mouth and one heart, we praise and glorify the honorable and majestic Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.