Sermons for the Month
Odd Ball Laughter
DATE: March 16th, 2008
SERVICE: Palm Sunday
TEXT: John 11:1-27, 38-45; Matthew 21:1-11“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
The label "odd ball' may be forever transformed in your minds. That's because we've been meeting odd balls throughout Lent. They are people who, for one reason or another, are on shaky footing with God. First we met Adam and Eve who were showered with God's grace and yet were tempted to question it, choosing instead to trust them selves. It proved to be an odd ball choice. Then there was Nicodemus, a religious leader who snuck around at night in order to have a conversation with Jesus. His fellow Pharisees would have shunned him and put him in the odd ball camp had they known about this encounter. Oh how Nicodemus struggled to accept that being "born from above" required nothing of him but was the result of God's grace! Now, that's an odd ball idea. Next we were introduced to the Woman at the Well and the Man Born Blind, real honest-to-goodness odd balls, she for being a woman, an alien and a serial sinner and he for being disabled, which was deemed to be punishment for sin. They encountered Jesus, at his initiative, and each became a new kind of odd ball, one who was transformed by the grace of God. Last Sunday, had it not been for the snow storm, we would have met the oddest of all the odd balls, Lazarus. What happened to him led to the Odd Ball Parade that is the focal point of Palm Sunday, which we observe today. So, let's remember Lazarus before blessing our palms and moving into Holy Week. Lazarus acquires the odd ball label at the end, not the beginning, of the story. He really fits into no category as this account begins, he's not an Odd Ball, but neither is he holy; he's dead. Or is he? One would think that after four days in the tomb there would be no question about that. Even his sister is a bit squeamish at the thought of the tomb being opened. She should have realized that Jesus specializes in the unexpected. He keeps "messing" with the rules, replacing the law of exclusion with the law of grace. Now Jesus takes on the power of death, replacing it with the promise of life. The odd twist of events, though, is that Jesus will be put to death because he brought Lazarus back to life. And, although Lazarus comes forth from death, he soon is threatened with dying again, this time not due to disease but because of fear. After this miracle the Jewish leaders not only plan to kill Jesus but also Lazarus. (John 12:9-11) Given all that, it occurs to me that Lazarus was REALLY an Odd Ball not just because he lived again, but possibly because of how he responded to his second chance at life, and death. Evidently that's how play write Eugene O'Neill imagined it too. According to John Claypool, O'Neill created a play titled "Lazarus Laughed" that picks up where the Biblical story leaves off. As the curtain goes up, Lazarus is seen stumbling out of the dark tomb, blinking into the sunlight. After the grave clothes are taken off of him he begins to laugh a gentle, soft laugh. He embraces Jesus with gratitude, and then he embraces his sisters Mary and Martha, and the other people gathered there. He responds to the world around him as if he's seeing it for the first time. He reaches over and pats the earth very affectionately. He seems overwhelmed by his surroundings, and mutters, "Yes, yes, yes", as if he's discovering everything again. As he makes it back to his house, the whole village is in a state of wonder. Finally, somebody asks him what was on everybody's mind. "Lazarus, tell us what it's like to die." Then Lazarus begins to laugh even more intently and he says, "There is no death, really. There is only life. There is only God. There is only incredible joy." He announces that death is not an abyss into which people go into chaos, but a portal through which they move into everlasting growth and life. "Therefore," he says, "there is nothing to fear. Our great agenda is to learn to accept, to learn to trust. We are put here to learn to love more fully." With those words his laughter began to fill the whole house in which he was staying. The play progresses and Lazarus goes back to his daily tasks, yet there is something different. He is no longer vulnerable to fear that diminishes the vitality of life. That "there is nothing to fear" spirit spread through the whole village, and an amazing thing began to happen. The quality of work improves. People live more humanely and more generously. Joy settles over the community. Isn't it astounding that this play illustrates the very thing that we've been talking about for five weeks? When our lives are touched by the grace of God, we are transformed. And, as we disperse that grace on others, they are transformed. Before you know it the good news of the Gospel is good news for everybody, not just those who believe it. However, as the play progresses, not everyone is happy about the change. The Roman authorities realize that Lazarus is a threat. Since they controlled through intimidation, and fear of death was a key component in that, this man who said there is no reason to be afraid is a problem. So, they move in on Lazarus. They tell him to quit laughing. They arrest him. They take him to high officials in Caesarea, but nothing seems to phase him. So, he is taken to Rome. The play ends as he stands face to face with the Roman emperor, the most powerful man on earth. He says to Lazarus, "You have a choice. You'll either stop this infernal laughter right this minute or I'm going to have you put to death." And Lazarus continues to laugh as he says to the emperor, "Go ahead and do what you will. There is no death. There is only life." (1) Now, those certainly are odd ball words from a real Odd Ball who became the oddest of all when the words, "Lazarus, come out!" echoed through the tombs. When Jesus spoke those words he knew that the way God would be glorified in this miracle was through his own death and resurrection. Calling Lazarus out of the tomb means he must enter it. (2) It had to be that way; otherwise grace would have been only for a single time and place. It would have died when Lazarus died the second time. The laughter would have been silenced and Jesus' words, "I am the resurrection and the life", would not have reached our ears. But that bold proclamation did reach our ears, along with the shouts of "Hosanna!" offered by a Parade of Odd Balls who welcomed Jesus, riding on a donkey, to the Holy City. Who was there, do you suppose? The willful descendents of Adam and Eve were present, no doubt, perhaps in the bodies of Nicodemus, the Samaritan Woman and the formerly Blind Man. There were a variety of odd balls - children, women, tax collectors and other sinners. The diseased shouted from a distance and the poor gave him their hearts. They were celebrating him. Some had hopes that did not fit the reality, but I'm guessing that they all knew this Odd Ball King lived and spoke a transforming truth. Just how transforming, and how odd, will become clear as Holy Week unfolds. In the meantime we see the oddest oddball of all - Lazarus - laughing in the crowd, repeating that odd ball refrain, "There is no death! There is only life!"
AMEN
(1) "Easter and the Fear of Death" by John Claypool, Chicago Sunday Evening Club:30 Good Minutes, Program #4024, March 30, 1997, www.csec.org
(2) "The Twofold Death and Resurrection" by Fred B. Craddock, The Christian Century, March 21-28, pg.299, www.religion-online.org