When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So, they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried 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.’ John 11:32-44
All Saints' Day celebrations are often transferred to the following Sunday. It is one of the feasts days when baptisms are appropriate. And for all of us who have suffered great loss, who ache for those no longer here, we take time to celebrate them and remember how Jesus loved Lazarus, weeping at the tomb before raising Lazarus. And we remind ourselves that our loved ones who have passed over are loved equally as much as Lazarus. We trust in that love, claiming it for our loved ones and for ourselves.
Holy and Wondrous Creator, our Alpha and Omega
you know us from our beginnings and love us always
you breathe on us and animate our lives and spirit
and draw us close when our lives came to an end.
Our hearts are on the ground in this troubling time
we feel abandoned, angry and full of anxiety
we thrash and cry in our loss and our misery
forgetting you are shedding tears with us now.
Surround us with your healing and eternal love
help us to know those we have lost are with you
give us your spirit so we might walk with joy
and lead us beyond this tumult to holy ground. Amen.
