Preaching and Lazarus

"Unbind him and let him go..."

If you enter the chapel at New College at Oxford, England the first thing you will see in the narthex is this life-sized statue. The figure is bound from head to foot. Jacob Epstein, an American sculptor created this masterpiece. It is called "Lazarus." When I first saw this stone figure I was struck by its power. The head of the carving faces toward the high altar and the face is marked with fear and confusion and perhaps wonder. Jesus has called Lazarus forth. He linger there bound and uncertain.

I took photograph after photograph of the stone Lazarus standing there in the church. I was so moved by the piece because I saw myself standing there bound up by many things. Since that time I have come to think that Lazarus represents all of us.

I keep the picture of Lazarus in the front of my Bible. As I stand on Sundays to preach some days the picture just slips out. Why do I keep it there? The photograph is a reminder that all of us are tied down by a multitude of things. And the Jesus of the Gospels calls us to break free and find new life. I look out on Sundays on a multitude of bound-up folks. Some come angry, some afraid, some smiling, some bored or sleep or just wishing they were somewhere else. And what I hope is that some good word will address them wherever they are.

Our sermons are filled with musts and oughts and shoulds. There are not many of those phrases, if any, used by the Lord Jesus. He did say, "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden..." He came for all the Lazarus' out there.

Wouldn't it be something if we could hear the loving command of Jesus and let go of all those things that cripple and bind us down. I guess that's why I keep this photograph in my Bible.

(When I first started this blog I wrote this piece January 7, 2009. I don't usually reprint anything that I have written here. But as I preached last Sunday I saw the picture once more and as I looked out at the congregation, I wondered what they brought when they came. And so I print the photograph and column once more. I guess it is a prayer that what I say and others say behind the pulpit will help somebody out there who needs a graceful unbinding.)