Lent 5a 2026; 22 March
Eze. 37:1-14; Ps 130; Rom 8:6-11; John 11:1-45
I Give My Heart: The Apostles’ Creed part 5; Jack Hardaway
TO AWAKEN
Liberation.
What is it like? That sudden gift of freedom.
Pictures. Moments. Stories.
What comes to mind?
My dog bursting out the back door to chase whatever moves.
That famous photo of the navy sailor kissing a woman in a white dress at the end of WW 2.
The last day of school watching the students and teachers skip and frolic out the door.
That first Juneteenth in Texas as the last slaves learn of their freedom.
That last breath after a long slow dying.
The parting of the red sea crossing over to the other side.
Take away the stone. Lazarus come out. Unbind him and let him go.
Words of liberation as God’s presence breaks into a world held captive by darkness.
And then, what to do next? What comes after? After liberation, after the celebration, that sudden realization, “What do I do now?”
Life in the Holy Spirit, hearts given to the Holy Spirit.
This is the final reflection in a Lenten series on the Apostles’ Creed, about belief and giving our heart to the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Today’s reflection is about the last three lines: the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
They are the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the world, claiming the world back, freeing the world to choose love.
The forgiveness of sins, the greatest power in the Universe. Forgiveness is to be set free from slavery to the endless chain reaction of sin binding up everything in an avalanche.
We give our hearts to the power that sets us free from the tyranny of always loving so poorly.
Forgiveness is freedom, freedom to choose love no matter what is happening.
The heart set free.
The clearest way to know the difference between idolatry and the presence of the Holy Spirit is that idolatry always enslaves, and Holy Spirit always brings the freedom that is love.
Forgiveness is more than a possibility it is inevitable.
Will we surrender to the inevitable? Will we give our heart?
This is not an escape into forgetfulness; that is oblivion.
Forgiveness throws us back into the world of pain and disappointment, of Good Friday looking to Easter, opening us up to choose love in the mess of life.
The resurrection of the body.
There is no ghostly escape into disembodied virtual existence.
The body is a good thing, it is the incarnation, it is the resurrection, it is baptized with the Holy Spirit.
The sacraments are the real presence of Jesus, the outward and the inward can’t be separated.
Resurrection, like forgiveness, throws us back into the world of pain and disappointment, of Good Friday looking toward Easter, opening us up to choose love in the mess of life.
The greatest clue of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world is wherever that choice to choose love in the mess of life is being made. That is the liberation that is forgiveness. That is the love that is resurrection.
And then there is: the life everlasting.
You know that old saying about it ain’t over till its over? Well it ain’t ever over.
The story isn’t over, even when it seems like it’s the end, even if we want it to end, it’s not over.
Life is now, not someday, everlasting is now, not someday.
We don’t run out. The well never runs dry.
Life is abundance, there is no scarcity.
Like the parable of the sower throwing seeds every which way with reckless abandon.
The Holy Spirit is like that, the river never runs dry.
Will I give my heart to the reckless abandon of life everlasting?
Take away the stone. Lazarus come out. Unbind him and let him go.
Liberation.
What is it like? That sudden gift of freedom.
Pictures. Moments. Stories.
What comes to mind?
Will I give my heart?
Lift up you hearts.