The Table of Requirement
A Sermon by the Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on The Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 26, 2023.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me, will never die. Do you believe this? (Martha) said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. “ John 11: 1-45
Our Gospel for today is usually referred to as the “raising of Lazarus” and it is indeed a story about Jesus restoring one of his closest friends to life. But the real focus of the story is not Lazarus, but Jesus. The raising of Lazarus foreshadows Jesus’ own death and resurrection. His life was already at great risk when he got word about Lazarus. Jesus had angered the religious authorities by healing the man born blind and then claiming to be the Son of God, which was considered blasphemous and punishable by death. He and his disciples had escaped to the other side of the Jordan River just as Jesus was about to be stoned. When he hears about Lazarus, they return to Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, and when the religious authorities get word that he restored a man to life, it is the last straw. So the pressure is mounting today as the story begins, and when it ends, the temple power brokers have vowed to have Jesus put to death. They even planned to put Lazarus to death since he was a constant reminder of the power of God working through Jesus.
Betrayal is lurking, death is close at hand, and yet Jesus, fully aware of the risks, decides to return to Bethany to demonstrate God’s glory one last time before the ultimate glorification of the cross and resurrection, which for the Gospel of John, go hand-in- hand. Death is the necessary precursor to Resurrection, both for Jesus and for us.
Whenever we come together for a funeral, the service opens with Jesus’ words spoken to Martha, when she goes to him, distraught about her brother’s death. Jesus reminds her and he reminds all of us when we gather in grief to remember someone near and dear to us. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me, will never die.” During the opening procession of a funeral, instead of having a normal beginning as we do on Sunday mornings, when the choir and altar party come in singing a hymn, along with the congregation, everyone stands quietly while the altar party processes and the celebrant speaks these words into the silence. It always feels like a great privilege to me to give voice to Jesus’ words. There is a rhythm, a cadence to them that is profoundly grounding. It is a summary of Jesus’ entire ministry and the alpha and omega of our life in him that guides us each and every day of this life and takes us into eternity.
I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord.
Whoever has faith in me shall have life,
even though he die.
And everyone who has life, and has committed himself to me in faith,
shall not die for ever.
It just doesn’t get any better than that. When we look at death and see life, what a gift. That is the heart of Christian faith. We need not fear death, when we see death as the door to eternal life. The fear of death no longer controls our lives. I often joke with RevMo Crystal and Ben and our worship leaders, as we prepare for a funeral, that we are all going to end up on “the table of requirement” one day. If any of you is a Harry Potter fan, you know about the “Room of Requirement” that appears to the characters whenever they are in desperate need of something; it contains different things according to each person’s needs. The “table of requirement” here at Saint George’s, is the little table that normally sits by the acolyte seats and holds the offering plates on Sundays. But it serves many other purposes as well. Like the “Room of Requirement”, it gives our community what we need when we need it.
On Ash Wednesday, the day that begins the Lenten season that we are in now, it holds the ashes, which remind us of our mortality. “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” On Palm Sunday, which is next Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week, the table will be outside at the beginning of the service and it will hold the palms that we will bless and then distribute to everyone to remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey before his betrayal and crucifixion. During the Easter Vigil, the table will be outside again and hold the tray that we will make the fire in and light the Christ candle from. Whenever we have baptisms, it sits by the font and holds the ewer of water and the candles that we give the newly baptized when we welcome them into the life and community of faith. And then when we die, our cremains are put on that same little table in front of the altar, and the words from today’s Gospel will be said for each of us as we are remembered by family and friends. “I am resurrection and I am life says the Lord. Whoever has faith in me shall have life, even though he die.”
As we reflect on Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead today and Jesus’ impending death and resurrection, we remember that life and death go hand-in-hand in our walk with Christ. Our lives are wrapped up in his.
Jesus’ disciples did not want him to return to Bethany because they knew they were all at great risk of being killed. They could not see that something larger was at work. Sometimes we have a hard time seeing that as well. When we look at our lives and feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, Christ is there, helping us to hold on. When we look at our world and see all of the injustice and poverty and violence, we know that Christ is with us and is at work in ways seen and unseen. When we are tempted by cynicism and despair, we claim hope. When we are encompassed by darkness, Christ is there, shining the light, enabling us to say with Martha, “Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”