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SERMONS​

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​FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

INTRODUCTION​

In today’s gospel Jesus reveals his power over death by raising Lazarus from the
     dead. The prophet Ezekiel prophesies God breathing new life into dry bones. To
     those in exile or living in the shadows of death, these stories proclaim God’s
     promise of resurrection. In baptism we die with Christ that we might also be
     raised with him to new life. At the Easter Vigil we will welcome the newly baptized
     as we remember God’s unfailing promise in our baptism.​

​PRAYER OF THE DAY

Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us all from sin and death.
       Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in
       Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and
       Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.​​​

FIRST READING

EXODUS 37:1-14
1The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the
     Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me
     all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.
     3He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you
     know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry
     bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will
     cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6I will lay sinews on you, and will
     cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you,
     and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

     7So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly
     there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8I
     looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin
     had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me,
     “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the
     Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain,
     that they may live.” 10I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came
     into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

     11Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They
     say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’
     12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to
     open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will
     bring you back to the land of Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the Lord,
     when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14I
     will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own
     soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

PSALM
PSALM 130
(Response) I wait for you, O Lord; in your word is my hope. (Ps. 130:5)

1Out of the depths
I cry to you, O Lord;
2O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3If you were to keep watch over sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4Yet with you is forgiveness,
in order that you may be feared.
(Response) I wait for you, O Lord; in your word is my hope. (Ps. 130:5)

5I wait for you, O Lord; my soul waits;
in your word is my hope.
6My soul waits for the Lord more than those who keep watch for the morning,
more than those who keep watch for the morning.
7O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love;
with the Lord there is plenteous redemption.
8For the Lord shall redeem Israel
from all their sins.
(Response) I wait for you, O Lord; in your word is my hope. (Ps. 130:5)

​​

SECOND READING

ROMANS 8:6-11
6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
     peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does
     not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh
     cannot please God.

     9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells
     in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
     10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life
     because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
     dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal
     bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

​​​GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will never die. (John 11:25, 26)

GOSPEL READING
JOHN 11:1-45
1Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her
       sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and
       wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a
       message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it, he
       said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the
       Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved
       Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he
       stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

       7Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The
       disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and
       are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of
       daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the
       light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is
       not in them.” 11After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen
       asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord,
       if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13Jesus, however, had been
       speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to
       sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am
       glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Thomas,
       who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we
       may die with him.”

       17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four
       days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many
       of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
       20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while
       Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my
       brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you
       whatever you ask of him.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
       24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the
       last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who
       believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and
       believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord,
       I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

       28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told
       her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she
       heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to
       the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews
       who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go
       out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to
       weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his
       feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
       died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also
       weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said,
       “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus
       began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said,
       “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

       38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a
       stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the
       sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he
       has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you
       believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And
       Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I
       knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd
       standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said
       this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came
       out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a
       cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

       45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.