Friends, today’s Gospel about the raising of Lazarus has a pointed message for us.

Everyone reading this is, to a degree, spiritually dead. Maybe you’re like Lazarus—four days in your tomb. Maybe you feel there is just no hope for the likes of you. I don’t care how far you’ve fallen. I don’t care how dead you are. The voice of Jesus can call you back to life, can pull you out of the tomb.

Listen to what Jesus says: “Untie him and let him go.” God hates death and the ways of death. He hates all the ways we’ve managed to tie ourselves up. He hates how we’ve wandered into tombs and graves.

Maybe you’re sunk in an addiction. Maybe you’ve done things you are so ashamed of that you can’t even bring yourself to speak of them. Maybe you’ve fallen out of relationship with the people you love the most. Maybe you’ve been a first-class jerk. Maybe you just feel you’re a failure. Maybe you’re terrified of dying. I don’t care. Listen for the voice!

“Untie him and let him go.”