LET HIM BE RID OF HIS STRIPS!

As I meditated on the resurrection of Lazarus in the gospel of John 11:1-44, it came to my mind that even RELIGION can be a killing machine. As a system, indeed, Religion is a bit like an iron box that too often strangles God and shrinks him rather than revealing him.  Gospel is quite the opposite: it open boxes, it awakens, resurrects, "reveals" (i.e. "removes the veil"); it frees from frames, it opens paths, brings to light what is hidden; it takes you out of the grave.

Lazarus was a very good boy and a great friend of Jesus, but he lived sunken since ever in things of religion. He did not have a personal life. He was «dead to the world». For him, the world smelled bad. For the world, however, he was the one who did not smell good ... 

Upon learning that Lazarus' situation had reached a critical point, Jesus was perturbed by that. He approached the place where his friend had locked himself up like in a tomb, and shouted to him, "Lazarus, get out of there! ». He went near the tomb of his friend and shouted: «Lazarus, come out!»

Lazarus rose up, breathing in the fresh air with his lungs full. But he couldn't walk. Strips were holding him from head to toe. Every strip that bound him was a fear: the fear of displeasing God, the fear of making a false move, the fear of not observing the commandments to the letter, the fear of not carrying out the religious duties in an exemplary way, the fear of not repeating exactly the same sacred gestures, the same sacred words, the same sacred thoughts and the same sacred mission programmed from time immemorial by religion; and, above all, the fear of deviating from the standards set by the religious morality that the cult sanctified. The fear of not always obeying religious authority in every detail. The fear of getting out of the ranks established by the religious order. The fear of what could exist outside the walls of religion. In short, the fear of the «world», the fear of being a human being, the fear of the human adventure, the fear of freedom, the fear of the unknown, the fear of the other. Lazarus had become a religious mummy, a plaster statue, an embalmed living creature.

Because sometimes Lazarus could have had in a flash a personal thought or a hint of doubt, or could have taken a quick look over the fence and enjoyed it a little bit, he had about himself a strong feeling of being a trash. Remorse was gnawing at him. He was full of feelings of guilt. His face was ashen. The ulcers perforated his stomach. He loathed  being a human. He was dead. Let's just say he had fallen into a coma.

 « Lazarus, come out! » shouted Jesus at him...  « Let him be rid of his strips!»… Right now, fear is over and, in spite of everything,  trust begins: trust in yourself, trust in the human being, trust in life and trust in God!

For us today, who is this Lazarus in the tomb, who stinks for the world and is entangled in his strips?... This Lazarus is simply the old Church; the Church of the Law, the Church of Fear, the Church of Death. It is that old Church which, nowadays, by the grace of God, is falling to dust. 

But the Lazarus who listens to the voice of Jesus over all the other voices, the Lazarus who comes out of the tomb alive, Lazarus who gets rid of his strips, this Lazarus, as beautiful as a spring, is the eternally new Church, the Church of the Risen One who gently grows on the ruins of the other.

The voice of Jesus is the secret.

The voice of Jesus, indeed, is not any kind of voice. It is not the voice of the books, nor the voice of tradition, nor the voice of the hierarchy, nor he voice o religion.  However, it is not either the voice of anarchy, chaos, panic, libertinism,  consumerism, or of the «free for all». It is not even the voice of the  prudent and reasonable people; and, even less, the sacrosanct voice of the sacrosanct consensus at all costs, or of the «right balance» between yes or no.

The voice of Jesus is the voice of the Good News that is, was and will always be a «scandal» for the devout , and pure «madness» for the rationalists and the wise people, may they be believers or atheists.

In other words, Jesus' voice is the unshakeable trust in the intelligence and fruitfulness of FREEDOM in spite of everything! It is the assurance that creativity, novelty, daring, love, compassion, justice and peace are not only sweet ideals; they are rather real forces that are buried in the depths of all and every human being. Once awakened, these very concrete energies have the great power to build, ordain, turn on, transport, transmit and transform life.

Jesus' voice is the voice that awakens these energies and penetrates the heart of every human being with words that overcome every coma: "Come out of your grave, lift your head, drop your bandages, walk! Open your eyes and see that life is pure opening to a larger world. It goes from deaths to resurrections like a flower that blossoms endlessly."

 « You, Lazarus, come out of the grave! »…Not only out of the grave of that anesthetising religion which keeps you prisoner of your fears and of your sweet dreams, but also the grave of the new religion of cynicism and arrogance which, on the pretext of being in step with one’s time, makes of the pompousness of the super ego the absolute norm of the good, of the truth and of the beauty.

Drop everything?..... But no, Lazarus... Once you're well free of your grave and of your strips, you can always, if that fancies you, recuperate the words, the gestures and the clothing of the former religion, but on one condition: that these signs no longer prevent you from walking or spreading your wings and flying in the sky with breathtaking acrobatics that could amaze the stars.

                                                        

                                                                                 Eloy Roy