5th Sunday of Lent - The Mind and Heart of the Cynic

Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-45


One of my great flaws (among many!) is my seemingly natural cynicism; I see the bad all too readily and I don’t trust easily. And because of this, it seems to be my natural tendency to focus in such a way that I emphasize the bad while overlooking the obvious good which does exist. Being so focused serves no useful purpose. It is quite one thing to be cautious, to be “wise like serpents” (Matthew 10:16b); it is another thing altogether to always expect the serpent. In my defense, however, one need only take a look at the daily headlines.

There continues to be an economic down-turn and credit crisis, and thousands are either losing their jobs or the threat of job loss exists. Venezuela, a major oil producer, was positioning military personnel and equipment to their common border with Colombia which consequently caused a spike in the price of oil, although this particular situation has been defused for now. Two young university students, one at UNC and the other at Auburn, were murdered. In southern Florida a woman at a car wash was recorded on video surveillance spraying a 6-year-old child with the high-pressure hose while shouting at the child for “disrespecting” her. A man puts two young children in a clothes dryer claiming to show them that fun is possible without spending money; one of the kids was treated for 2nd degree burns and was also found to have been treated for other fractures. The bright spot in this particular item is that the medical personnel who treated the child notified authorities of a possible abusive situation. And last but not least, a butcher in Syria beheaded his 15-MONTH-OLD nephew – his own sister’s child! - right in front of the child’s mother because of a dispute he was having with her and her husband! And a gunman attacked students at a Jewish seminary in Israel.

So if I and others like me tend to focus on the negative, we at least come by it honestly. We don’t necessarily go out in search of such bad news, but we cannot seem to escape it. These bits of dastardly news (which only scratch the surface!) seem to be indications of a world going mad, but I think we are only more aware of such things because of the Internet and other world-wide communications media that have enabled us to know about such things almost as soon as they happen. The world is crying out, but I am almost certain that there is no new phenomenon that has created such ugliness and despair. Though we may believe that such things have only begun to take place in the last generation or two, the truth of the consistency of human nature may be an indication that such despicable things have been happening for a long time.

If the Bible is any indication, it may seem as though we actually need to see some of the bad, maybe a lot of it, before we can appreciate the goodness. To be sure, watching someone else’s misery often seems to help us to appreciate what we have more than if we never had serious challenges. And while I recognize that many choose to ignore the bad that seems to surround us by simply tuning it out, I think that such tragedy can help us to better understand what I think is an inherent need to believe in something greater than self because much of what we see and read that is so negative is far beyond our control. We can pray for those who suffer so and we can give what we can to charities that help to address such needs and we can even offer a helping hand locally, but we cannot control the minds or the actions of others and we certainly cannot contain pure evil. Intent on destruction, evil will always find a way.

Our need to believe, however, is an equally powerful force because if our need is great enough, we will stop at nothing until that need is fulfilled. We will pull out all the stops, and we will go to great lengths to find whatever it is that we think we need. And as long as we recognize that our true need is beyond our own capacity to provide, we are moving in the right direction because I think that when we are genuinely searching, we will receive the Assistance we so desperately need.

I think this inherent need is addressed in both Ezekiel and John. Despair seems to be the order of the day. Death and destruction are all around, yet the Lord makes it known of His willingness, perhaps His EAGERNESS, to restore life. And this makes plenty of sense because the Lord God, and every covenant He has offered to mankind, is Life itself. Death is simply not His way nor His will. The choice is ours, however, as Paul reminds the Romans, because to “… set the mind …” (Romans 8:6) is within our own realm. This choice is NOT beyond our control and the Life that is offered by the Spirit is for the taking, but the choice is clearly ours.

There is no useful need to dwell on the negative especially because unbelievers can see all the bad just as easily. In fact, non-believers can and do use the evil that is so evident all around us in their efforts to justify their lack of faith. After all, what is the need of such faith if there is such a thing as a “good” God who seems to allow such needless suffering? Why does this God not see to such suffering and simply make it go away?

Even believers often struggle with such questions, and it is easy to be tripped up by these challenges to our faith. However, in the life of Jesus and especially at the tomb of Lazarus, where is the faith of the believer? Jesus clearly points out that this moment belongs to the glory of God so that everyone will be enabled to believe that Jesus was sent to restore Life, so those who needed proof would be the ones standing at the tomb and watching to see what might happen. Would they be waiting to see if Lazarus will actually come forth when beckoned, or would their eyes be on Jesus waiting to see Him fulfill the role of the fool if Lazarus fails to come out?

Where are your eyes? Are you watching the tomb’s door with eager anticipation, or are you watching Jesus with the eye of the cynic? The truth will be revealed soon enough.