What a great time to STAY HOME! All the more so as our governor tells us that STAYING HOME is helping to slow the spread of the you-know-what. So let’s everybody double down and STAY HOME!
Now get ready for a life-changing revelation. I’ve included a picture because I myself could hardly believe my eyes: 6 = 11. SIX EQUALS ELEVEN. Here I’ve always thought – and was taught, mind you, by teachers who now appear to have been misinformed – that 6 = 6 or possibly 3 + 3 only to find out that 6 actually equals 11. And to have to find out by means of a package of paper towels? (WAIT. PAPER TOWELS? YOU HAVE PAPER TOWELS!?) Is this something that everyone else has known all along? Or is it part of a code? You know: 6 =11; 123 = ABC; 94 = &. If so, how many paper towels do I have to buy to get the rest of the code? Oh, now I see: Apparently I need ONE MORE ROLL. That’s what it says. OK, but do they realize how hard it is to find paper towels?
Can we talk about Lazarus? We heard about him this past Sunday in the latest in a series of very long Gospel passages. Brief recap, from John 11:43-44: “When he had said this, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’”
“Unbind him, and let him go.” Six (eleven!) words, easily overlooked. But why would Jesus ask those present to remove the burial wrappings? Surely he could have done so without help. That’s not what happened. Instead, Jesus invited his friends to participate in the miracle. And it was more than token participation: Those present were asked to complete the work of bringing Lazarus to freedom. Powerful, and powerful for us, for we share in Christ’s invitation: “Unbind him, and let him go.” Think of some of the things that bind us. Here’s but a partial list: Fear, isolation, anger, prejudice, injustice, resentment, poverty, hardness of heart, narrowness of vision.
Brothers and sisters, Christ is at work in the world, bringing light, life, and healing. Christ’s work is the Church’s work is our work – our collective calling, if you will. Grace abounds, love is real, and we are loved into mission.
