Lent 5a - conclusion

I had a medical procedure this morning which meant I started the day on a gurney hooked up to a monitor and an IV. Normally I go into pre-op pastored up and say a prayer for the patient but this time I patiently prayed for myself. The texts for Lent 5a have us think in both / and terms. There is the resurrection that will be and there is the one we are gifted to live today. The dry bones of faith are reanimated by the Spirit in the same way our dead bones will one day be reanimated with flesh and breath. We are delivered from “out of the depths I cry to you” for our iniquities are left uncounted. We live under a new “no condemnation" clause in the covenant for we have been set free from the law of sin and death.  And finally we find healing in Jesus weeping with Mary and promise for our forever future when he surprises even faithful Martha, and no doubt her brother, with the words “Lazarus, Come out!”