(Ez.37:12-14; Ps.130:1-8; Rom.8:8-11; Jn.11:1-45) "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." "You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!" says the Lord God through the prophet Ezekial. "The one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through His Spirit dwelling in you," says St. Paul. And our psalm sings of the Lord's "plenteous redemption," that "He will redeem Israel from all their iniquities"; and so, "more than sentinels wait for the dawn, let [us] wait for the Lord," who dispels all darkness, all death, by His Word, by His presence among us. Let us but believe in Him, and we shall live. The dawn comes to Bethany, to Martha and Mary, and to Lazarus. It comes to us all in this powerful sign of the Lord's conquering of all darkness and death, "that [we] may believe." Wrapped in burial cloth is Lazarus, laying in the sealed tomb four days. The tears of a people are shed for the loved one who has died, and Jesus joins their weeping. Deeply human is the Lord, and so, "perturbed and deeply troubled" He becomes at the sorrow we all know when death is near. He longs ever to cry out to us not to mourn, but believe, and now we hear His voice call upon the Father's name; and now as He "crie[s] out in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'" we see that what He says is true: He is the resurrection and the life. And so, believing in Him, no longer does the Christian fear death. Death is of the flesh, but we are "in the spirit." "The body is dead because of sin," but "the spirit is alive because of righteousness." And so, as we rise from the graves opened by the powerful word of the Lord, as we rise from our iniquities unto eternal life, we know His Spirit at work within us, the Spirit of Christ that is only life. In Him let us take refuge; in Him let us believe. He is here with us to keep us from death, to release us from all darkness – to free us all from sin. Let us remain with Him and so have eternal life. Written, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by James Kurt. Music: "Be Well" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us live in your Son and so in you that we might do your works in this world and praise you forever in Heaven. YHWH, let us be built into and grow as the Body of your Son. Make us a royal priesthood, a holy nation – your Church. Into your House let us come and dwell, eternally praising your Name. Jesus is in you and you are in Jesus, and those who believe in Him and so in you become one with Him, and so with you, dearest LORD and God. O Father in Heaven, to Heaven let us come, to oneness with you. Let us do your works on earth and so find our way to your kingdom. Why should we be troubled when we have the promise from Jesus that He prepares a place for us? Why should we fear when He is near in the power of the Holy Spirit? Let us follow closely the way He leads, that indeed we might exult in your presence forever.