More in the same vein

Yesterday's gospel reading was the raising of Lazarus. There's much to discuss in it, and here are some really good thoughts from our associate pastor. I was struck by something else about it; I'm sure its seeds were planted elsewhere, and it is also related to my last post. I found these thoughts then echoed by our pastor, as well - I love getting two good homilies on the same set of readings - though perhaps not in this much detail:

When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus commanded those nearby to unbind him, as he was still wrapped in his burial cloths.

At first glance, this might not seem to bear much in common with the nostalgia shown by the children of Israel following their delivery from slavery. The analogy of being delivered from death and from slavery to sin is pretty obvious, but what does this have to do with Lazarus burial cloths?

Recall how the Israelites continually grumbled against God in the desert, often because they feared for their basic survival needs. Rather than ask God to provide for their needs, they longed for a return to their slavery. After all, their old lives had at least provided for their basic needs of food, drink, and shelter.

Lazarus' death and the Israelites' slavery are both metaphors for our sinfulness, which God has delivered us from through Christ, the Resurrection and the Life. In abundant and incomparably costly compassion, God has delivered me from death, from being dead to or enslaved in sin. Considering the depth of my sin, it is no less a wonder, really, than the wondrous delivery of the Israelites or the raising of Lazarus. Each of us has been set free from the slavery and death of sin.

So why do we still cling to our grave clothes?

Even after accepting Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, we often continue to embrace parts of our life - our "old" life - that we know, deep in our hearts somewhere, are not God's will for us. If we were to be honest with ourselves, we'd likely grant that these flaws to which we cling generally fall among the capital vices, which pretty much cover all the bases. Some of these are things which we consider minor, unimportant habits or attachments. We consider others deeply central to ourselves. In both cases, we rarely think of them as obstacles to God, or consider asking God to help us part with them.

These are our grave clothes, and if we're fortunate enough to be surrounded by those who've witnessed the miracle of our rising, still we resist their attempts to remove these trappings of death from us. We too often cling to them. They are the call of Egypt, beckoning us to remain enslaved. These things become that which keeps us from growing into the abundant life God dreams for us to embrace in its fullness.

As I've mentioned before, I think this is usually for lack of trust in God. We still think God wants to limit our fun. Or, we're so enamored with who we are that don't fully believe in the person God dreams for us to become. We fail to believe that God's plan for us is really all that much better than what we must surrender - our slavery, our grave clothes - to be fully transformed in Him.

In the words of a long-ago desperate father, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"