Nothing Can Separate Us Lent 5A, 2026 - ACL+
Nothing Can Separate Us
Lent 5A, 2026
St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula and
All Santos, Oxnard
The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell, given by MCL
Today’s readings feel like they might be better suited for
Halloween than Lent. We have a valley
filled with bones click, clacking their way back together into full skeletons,
which are then covered with skin, and after a final command from the prophet,
there is a collective gasp as the entire crowd stands to its feet alive. And in the Gospel reading we have what looks
like a full mummy coming out of the grave after Jesus ignores the family’s
warning that this one stinks.
So what are we to make of all this graphic imagery of
death? In part, I suspect that we are
given this graphic imagery to shield us from our all-too-human tendency of
spiritualizing everything at the expense of actually recognizing God at work in
our humanity, in us as physical human beings.
Paul’s words in Romans 6 about the flesh and being “in the flesh” as
opposed to being in the Spirit have often been used in exactly this way. Yet Paul is careful to distinguish the flesh
from the body noting in verse 11 that the Spirit “will give life to your mortal
bodies also.” Margaret Aymer in her
commentary on Romans 8 notes,
Paul discusses flesh in two ways. In the first, it is a relatively neutral
descriptor for physical descent between ancestor and descendant. Thus,
“according to the flesh,” Paul identifies Jesus as a descendant of David (1:3);
himself and his Jewish compatriots as descendants of Abraham (4:1); and the
messiah as a descendant of Israel (9:8) …. the honor due to a particular blood
line or family heritage is undercut by this passage. For it is not by the flesh but by the spirit
of Christ that the community of faith receives its life and peace.”[1]
The other reason for this graphic imagery is perhaps our need
for faith as we prepare for Christ’s crucifixion and our own mortality. After
making clear to the disciples that Lazarus is dead, Jesus says, “For your sake
I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe” (John 11:15). We need to feel, to grieve the pain of death,
if we are to ever embrace Paul’s soaring words at the end of this chapter in
Romans, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
The last few weeks of reading from the Gospel of John seem to
be asking this question with increasing intensity. What can separate us from Christ? We heard the Samaritan woman asking about
the correct place of worship as Jesus crossed the boundaries to talk to someone
Jews weren’t supposed to talk to. To
paraphrase Paul, Focusing on blood line or descent is death, but the Spirit
brings life. We then heard the
disciples wondering whose sin was made evident by a man born blind as Jesus
crosses the boundaries of physical disability erasing the shame of difference
in the process. Focusing on our physical
abilities (or lack thereof) is death, but the Spirit brings life. And finally, we are confronted this week with
doubt and death. Surely, if anything
could separate us from the God of Life it would be this deadly duo!
Thomas, Martha, and Mary are doing their best to have
faith. Their words are fatalistic and
despairing even as they struggle to believe.
“Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). “I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24).
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John
11:32). And I’m reminded of Ezekiel’s
words in response to God’s question, “Mortal, can these bones live?” “O Lord God, you know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Hardly the most ringing endorsement of
faith! And yet, that is precisely what
makes these stories (and the stories of the saints we have been studying during
Lent) so compelling. They remind us that
God’s work of creation and renewal in our lives is not dependent on us being
perfect. Focusing on any kind of
privilege or advantage that we might think we have is death, but the Spirit
brings life.
Ezekiel and all of his community were in exile. Their lament rings through the ages, “Our
bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. We are cut off completely” (Ezekiel
37:11). And in response, God says, “I
will put my spirit within you, and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37:14). And Paul writes, “He who raised Christ Jesus
from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also” (Romans 8:11). And Jesus responds to Martha that He is not
only Resurrection at some point in the future, but Life now, “Everyone who
lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:26).
Yes, death exists with all of its stinking, dried up,
ghoulish ways, but it cannot win. God
continues to create, to restore, to breathe life into us and our
communities. Yes, there are times we
will weep at the tomb alongside Jesus.
Grief and anger are part of love.
Yet, even as we begin our march through Holy Week next Sunday, we know
the answer to our cry made through Jesus on the cross.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” will always be
answered with “Nothing can separate you from My Love.” No death or doubt, no disability or despair,
no persecution or pain or pettiness, there is “nothing in all of creation” that
can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Thanks be to God!
[1]
Margaret Aymer, “Commentary on Romans 8:6-11,” Published on WorkingPreacher.org
(April 10, 2011). Available online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent/commentary-on-romans-86-11
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