Sermon; Lent 5A; John 11:1-45

Unbind him and let him go.

Lazarus has died. He died four days ago due to some unknown illness. After he died he was wrapped in sheets of linen as was the burial custom and placed in a tomb that was then sealed with a large stone. And then Jesus shows up and commands Lazarus to come out of the tomb.

Within this story we have Jesus delaying in coming to Bethany, a typical misunderstanding between Jesus and the disciples, a discussion about resurrection, a recognition of bodily decomposition, and the recalling to life of Lazarus. But the most important part of this gospel story is Jesus saying, “Unbind him and let him go.”

Unbind him and let him go.

We are bound by many things in our lives. We bind ourselves by roles and careers. Our roles of husband, wife, mother, father, friend, bind us to living and acting certain ways. We are bound by images – either self-invented or placed on us by others. Sometimes marriages fail because one spouse, or both, binds the other spouse to unrealistic expectations, or can't change over time because they are bound to the past.

Clergy are often bound by expectations of parishioners and others. For instance, I never wore jeans to the office in my last parish because that's not how a priest was supposed to look. People who see me in a bar are surprised I'm allowed to be there. There are a variety of expectations clergy need to navigate.

A young boy died last week when he shot himself in the family bathroom. He was bound by pressures and demons that eventually drove him to take that action. His parents, sister, grandparents, and friends will be bound by the memory of this event for the rest of their lives.

At last week's BBQ we were discussing this passage and the issue of shame came up. We talked about people who use the Food Pantry for the first time and how they almost always feel ashamed to be there. Maybe they're bound by feelings of judgment or inadequacy or failure or whatever.

We get bound by a great many things which are dangerous and unhelpful.

Unbind him and let him go.

How might we help unbind people?

Maybe we start by relieving them of unrealistic expectations. Who are the people in our lives whom we've put on a pedestal, binding them to our expectations to such an extent that if they fail or don't live up to those expectations we make sure to knock them down?

Are there people in our lives bound by pressures and demons? Taking time to check in on them or help find resources can go a long way to help unbind someone. Bullying binds people in very painful ways. Recognizing that and constantly working to put an end to it can help unbind people.

Continuing to think about the Food Pantry and those people who are bound by shame, I've seen how Cindy and the volunteers work hard to treat people with dignity and respect, as if this were no different than showing up at the library to check out a book. The attitude displayed by the people working at the Pantry goes a long way to unbind people from shame.

Unbind him and let him go.

But there's another aspect to this freedom in unbinding, and that is freedom in being bound.

Jesus tells us to take his yoke upon us, for it's easy and his burden is light. Paul talks about clothing ourselves in love, which binds everything together. Hymn 370 says, “I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity,” and goes on to talk about being bound to the faith, the angels, the virtues, and God. Clergy bind themselves to the Church, Spouses bind themselves to each other.

Being bound is not always a bad thing.

For instance, binding ourselves to the Church gives us a different perspective and rhythm. The rhythm of the year moves us from expectation to joy to revelation to sacrifice to resurrection to discipleship. Each season allows us to focus on a particular aspect of our lives and how we are joined with Christ. The Church also has ways to bind us daily through Morning and Evening Prayer.

Lazarus was bound by outside forces to death and the grave. That binding rotted his body. In Christ, though, he's unbound from that and set free. It was this binding to Christ that led him to life and freedom.

There are good bindings and there are bad bindings. Let's make sure we loose the bonds of things that take us away from Christ or isolate us from others, and begin to put on that which binds us to Christ and others in love.

Amen.