Mtr Mary Trainor

Take Off those rags Lazarus.
Take Off those rags Lazarus.
Don't need those rags now Lazarus,
You're Alive! You're Alive! You're Alive!*

Dear friend,

“Lazarus, come out!”

When I first heard these words, it was not in a church where a reader might try to emulate how Jesus spoke them at Lazarus’ tomb.

Rather, these words spewed from my mother’s lips, who yelled them down a long hallway in a mostly futile effort to get her teen-aged children to rise from their beds.

“Lazarus, come out!”

While it was a pretty impressive way to summon a couple of teens, I must say it only took second place to the cherry bomb our mother tossed down that same long hallway another day.

Martha and Mary they sent for the Lord,
our brother is dying they cried,
But Jesus he lingered for three days and more,
and poor old Lazarus he died.

While the cherry bomb had more reverb, the story of Lazarus—once Mother shared it—captured us completely. Dead for four days assured, they believed, that he was not simply unconscious. No, Lazarus was dead and brought back to life.

In John’s Gospel today, this miracle is witnessed by far too many people to be ignored. Religious authorities are outraged. So this wonderful demonstration of God’spower leads ultimately to Jesus’ death on the cross.

Take Off those rags Lazarus.
Take Off those rags Lazarus.
Don't need those rags now Lazarus,
You're Alive! You're Alive! You're Alive!

What does the story of Lazarus say to me, one among millions who still face death? It suggests that one day yonder I may hear my own name called: Mary, come out! And it will be a day of celebration.

Mtr Mary

*Take Off Those Rags Lazarus, words and music by the Nelons.