Unbinding

In our Gospel story about Lazarus, Jesus comes late to Mary and Martha's home. Mary chastises him for not getting there sooner because he might have been able to do something to prevent their brother's death.


I identify with this passage because we who are activists working on a just peace in Palestine hear about tragedies here after they have occured. So there is always this sense of deep sadness that if we had been able to to come earlier, done something more, we could have prevented this. If only we could have have put more pressure on the US to stop its flow of miliatry aid, to have been more successful with our boycotts, to have challenged the Zionist narrative about land ownership, signed more petitins, divested more, just done more period.


And because we care, like Jesus, we weep for our slain sisters and brothers, the children tortured or imprisoned, the families made homeless through home demolitions or impoverished because their trees were uprotted or burned. Like Jesus we weep.




When I was an Ecumenical Accompanier back in 2011 we would often arrive just after the olive trees had been destroyed or a few hours after a village about been terrorized by a night raid.We came after. and we often wondered what if we had been able to come before?  Could we in our magic EAPPI vests stop "an incursion?" A wrongful death about to happen? Our accompaniment came after the fact and we often wondered if this coming at this time was enough.

At the Sabeel Center that same year during their weekly Thursday service we studied this passage about Lazarus together from the perspective of what it means here in Palestine. I will always remember what this one Palestinian man said, “I am Lazarus. I feel entombed by this occupation. I can’t move because of this very large stone.” 

 

The stone of occupation is large and until it is removed there can be no liberation, no meaningful interfaith dialogue, no real sustainable development in the Occupied State of Israel. This week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided to move forward on following the path of international treaties or law to bring forth justice. Seeing that the peace process was not only not working but a huge weight, a stone, the PLO decided to seek liberation through another channel, international human rights. Sometimes the stone blocking is disguised as something else in this case the peace process itself was not only not helpful but actually created more pain and suffering as more and more land was able to be appropriated during this time. So instead of weeping that the Peace Process is dead or on the verge of collapse, the Palestinian people are removing the stones of entombment through another means through the application of international law.

 

 According to Naim Ateek, the leader of our discussion that Thursday, the removable of the stone is only the first step however. The second step is to come out and risk being alive again and free. ”Rise, Lazarus.” It is not enough to roll away the stone if you don’t come out and dare to live.

 

Every Friday in Palestine I see this part of the Lazarus story re-enacted when the Palestinian people rise to face their oppressors at the flash points of the occupation, the prisons, the wall, the reclaimed villages. Lazarus rises every day because to exist here and not lose your hope or humanity is a miracle. However the spirit of Lazarus is especially present on Fridays when I witness the people unbinding themselves in public. Lazarus is not free until he is unbound.

 

 Coming forward is the first step but it is not the last. The community must unbind him from his death shroud. I experience the holiness of this moment when I see the men and women denied access to Al Aqsa kneeling on the ground in the street. Their prayerful defiance is an act of faith and hope and it is done communally. When I see the people of the world put pressure on Israel to end the occupation, obey international law and respect human rights, I see the entombed Lazarus becoming free. Our work for a just peace is an ongoing unbinding process.

 

So as you have heard me say before, weeping is good. It is the right place to start but it cannot end here. Removing the stone is next then the coming out. We, in the international community, can assist in removing the stone that entombs but only the Palestinian people themselves can walk out---define what sovereignty looks like. The removal of the bandages or daring to live with them is a communal event. It takes many shapes and forms which include endless cups of chai, dabke dancing ,olive tree planting or harvesting, and buckets of tears.

 

So dear ones this is the hope of this Lenten Gospel reading. Our sisters and brothers who have been entombed will rise. The question is where are we in the story?

Are we standing there paralyzed by the force of our own weeping?

Are we working or chipping away at the stone?

Are we throwing stones at the stone?

And when Lazarus appears bound in his death shroud, what do we do?

Do we run away in fear?

Do we join with the others in the gentle task of unbinding

 one bandage at a time?

 

 

 

God of infinite Compassion

who weeps with us

commands us to remove all stones

 

You have called us back to life

from the death grip of imperial violence

and occupation to serve life.

 

You have commanded us to rise

 and “stay human”

 to unbind ourselves and others.

 

God of the donkey

You have inspiredto sing and shout

 down the Mount of Olives

 

God of the cup

You have asked us to keep you company

 stay awake in the garden.

 

God of the basin and the towel

You have asked to love one another

to carry your cross

bear our own

 

God of the empty tomb

You have asked us to believe

to live resurrected lives

 

with your grace and mercy may it be so.