Soul Food Ministries

Please begin by reading John 11:1-3, 17-44 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided the text for you at the end of this reflection.

This little reflection was originally written in March of 2002, the 6-month anniversary of that terrible day we’ve come to know as 9/11. I think it bears repeating. There are spiritual lessons from that time we should not forget.

Rev. Clay

Last night I watched a film called “9/11,” aired on CBS. I was apprehensive about viewing it; wondering what emotions it might stir up and mindful that some of the families of victims were against showing film footage that had been shot inside the World Trade Center. I am glad I got past my apprehension to view the film. It was a powerful story of tragedy and of the human spirit and hope.

Two brothers had been in New York for several months filming a documentary about the experiences of a rookie New York City fire fighter as he learned the ropes and proved himself . The rookie, Tony, was assigned to a firehouse in lower Manhattan. A routine call that came in on the morning of September 11^th turned out to be a false alarm about a possible gas leak, but answering that call put Tony and some other firemen from his firehouse near the World Trade Center.

Filming was in progress as the first plane hit. It continued as the firemen proceeded to the disaster site and as others arrived to set up a command post inside the lobby of one of the towers. It was still going on inside that lobby when the tower collapsed. The camera followed the firemen as they worked their way out of the rubble to safety.

The resulting film captured the gut-level courage of the firemen in ways the brothers never could have imagined when they began the documentary. Many poignant moments were captured. There was a shot of Fr. Mychal Judge, a fire department chaplain, praying in the lobby and a later shot of his boots as the firemen found and carried out his lifeless body following the collapse. The narrator reported that they later took his body to a nearby church and laid it on the altar. I thought again of a prayer found in Fr. Mychal’s pocket, “Lord, take me where You want me to go; let me meet who You want me to meet; tell me what You want me to say; and keep me out of Your way.” He died doing what God called him to do.

It is appropriate that today’s text from the Gospel of John comes at such a time. Even though we may mourn the loss of human life, there is hope, and perhaps even some joy, when we contemplate the death of those like Fr. Mychal who have Jesus’ words etched in their souls: “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.”

A simple story currently in circulation on the internet tells of a terminally ill man who was seeing his doctor. He expressed his fear and asked his doctor what it would be like when he died. At that moment, the doctor’s dog scratched on the office door. The doctor decided to let in the dog, who ran to the doctor with great joy. The doctor told the patient that the dog had never been in that room before. Nevertheless, he entered eagerly without fear, because he knew that his trusted master was on the other side of the door.

The doctor said that he had the same confidence about going through life’s final door. He could not describe what he would find on the other side, but he had complete trust because he too knew that his Master would be on the other side of the door.

There is magnificent freedom in accepting, deep in our bones, the truth that Jesus is the resurrection and the life! While none of us looks forward to the process of dying, we can be unbound and set free of the fear of what we may find at the end of that process.

How would you answer the question that Jesus asked Martha: “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?” I hope that your answer is an unqualified “yes!”

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him."

Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

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?"

She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.

Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 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?"

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 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 upward 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." [NRSV]