Hearing the Voice

Gospel: John 5: 17-30

Jesus states that whoever hears the voice of God will rise and live.  We often take this statement to mean that the physically dead will rise, and that is one possible interpretation.  Another interpretation heard less often is that these words refer to us, that we are the ones who are dead inside, and that upon hearing the voice of God our spirits are raised from their tomb in order to live the life they were created and destined to become.  

Consider how many of us are entombed within a life of self-interest and egoism.  We are so concerned about the pursuit of wealth, influence, and accolades that we have become dead to the life of the spirit.  We are consumed with the affairs of everyday living and things of the earth that we have unwittingly created a tomb that has encased the spirit within us, incapable of the life of love and mercy for which it was created to become.

But the voice of God calls us out of this tomb of the ego, and if we hear and heed that voice we can come forth from the tomb just like Lazarus.  And this is the entire point of all Jesus' miracles: that we might live and be free to cultivate the life of the spirit, to become agents of love and mercy in the world once freed from our tombs and prisons.  This is the journey of Lent, the journey that takes us to the tomb, our realization of being dead, and coming out risen anew to live a new life of grace.