It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Jesus said, "Take away the stone."
Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him,
"Lord, by now there will be a stench;
he has been dead for four days."
Jesus said to her,
"Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?"
So they took away the stone.
...He cried out in a loud voice,
"Lazarus, come out!"
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with burial bands,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them,
"Untie him and let him go."
Last week, we looked at our vertical and horizontal communio with God and others and, in particular, our need as an evangelizing community to walk with everyone in our community through their wounds and challenges to bring God’s healing. This is marked, as Pope Francis said, by “patient expectation and apostolic endurance.” It’s not neat and tidy, but we accompany those who are hurt with God’s love.
Even when we aren’t just focused on our comfortable preferences and journey with those who are struggling, we can’t be satisfied to stay within the walls of our church. We must go out to our neighbors, coworkers, and all of those in need. We need a culture of encounter, to meet others physically and spiritually where they are. If we don’t go out, we run the risk of becoming atrophied. We run the risk of our church becoming an impressive mausoleum.
Pope Francis put it another way when he said, “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” My senior year in college I played intramural rugby and in one of our games my chin connected with someone’s elbow. I got a blood blister the size of a silver dollar on my chin. I wore it as a badge of honor that I was in the game, not in my room. As a church, we need to be in the game, on the streets, in the world, being a people of encounter with all those who are searching, struggling or in need.
By going out, we intentionally extend communion. Pope Francis encouraged us, “Be servants of communion and of the culture of encounter! I would like you to be almost obsessed about this. Be so without being presumptuous, imposing “our truths,” but rather be guided by the humble yet joyful certainty of those who have been found, touched and transformed by the Truth who is Christ, ever to be proclaimed.” Jesus calls to us, “Come out!” When we respond and go out, we’re untied and set free!