In this week’s Gospel story, Jesus speaks to Martha, reminding her that he is the resurrection and the life and asks her if she believes this. She says she does, yet she is still hesitant when Jesus asks to have the stone removed. “But Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” She resists the possibility of life because the process could literally stink.
I’ve been on this journey with people many times. We often want to experience new life, fuller life, to live into new possibilities; yet even when we see new options as very real possibilities for ourselves, we hesitate. We become afraid. It could be difficult. It may stink. We may have to face things we’d rather keep avoiding. I can say this about my personal life as well, so I get it. Despite recognizing where change is needed, I resist and keep doing things that simply aren’t good for me. It’s that stench—facing the decaying parts of self—that prevents growth. Yet, I also know that the best fertilizer stinks too. But it’s out of stench that real growth can happen.
I’d even say that the dead and decaying parts of our lives—the rotting resentments, blistering wounds and festering fears—are the points where we’re most likely to experience something new. It can only happen when we bring them out into the light of day, unbind them, and set them free—just as Lazarus was unbound and set free. Doing that takes faith in the process itself, a faith that Martha confessed, doubted, and then lived out—a faith firmly grounded in resurrection and life.
It’s much like the story of Ezekiel and the valley of the dry bones. God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel replies, “Only you know!” God responds by telling the prophet to speak to the bones, to preach words of life and hope. The bones, with an assist from the Holy Spirit, are raised to new life.
These stories are important ones for our faith. They challenge our understanding of what it means to be fully alive. They are stories of resurrection that point to Christ’s own resurrection, with its promise of new life—abundant and eternal—defying logic and challenging us to be more than we are—all that we have been created and called to be.