April 7

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

        When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

John 12:9-11

           

             This is not a great hand that Lazarus has been dealt.  He already died and was buried once.  His sisters have lost him and grieved him and tried to figure out what to do without him.  Then Jesus called him back and he awoke, lying in a cold cave, bound up head to foot with the smell of his decomposing body filling his nostrils.  But he was alive, his family was reunited and they were all convinced that Jesus was the Christ.

            Suddenly their quiet life was turned upside down.  Jews flocked to meet Lazarus and hear his testimony.  Had he really died?  Was this just a publicity stunt?  What was dying like?  What did you see in the afterlife?  There were lots of people who had lots of questions.  He told what he knew of the story and what his sisters had told him.  People marveled at his testimony and they put their faith and their hope and their trust in Jesus.

            Then Lazarus caught wind of a different story, rumors that there was something dark happening.  There were whispers that there was a contract on Lazarus’ life.  The chief priests…the holiest and most educated men in the entire nation had decided that Lazarus had to die.  They had done their due diligence, researching his story and finding it to be true.  Their conclusion was that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and instead of using that information to celebrate God’s goodness and Jesus’ divinity, the conclusion of the religious leaders was that this was a threat to their power so both Jesus and Lazarus needed to die.  They wanted to kill Lazarus!

            It is almost unbelievable to me.  But then I remember the nature of power and positional authority.  Pastors, CEOs, elected officials and other men and women in power have an immense number of voices who are calling for their attention and favor.  They have to balance what is right and mission-driven with what will be of the greatest benefit to their organization, shareholders or voting district.  When these leaders are grounded in faith, they are in a position to do tremendous amounts of good, lifting up the marginalized, augmenting the strengths of their constituents and supplementing their weaknesses.  Strong, faithful leadership is the most powerful change agent this world has ever seen.

            When leadership is based out of fear, however, it becomes self-serving.  Leadership becomes obsessed with gathering and maintaining power.  Those who could be served instead become stepping stones for increasing influence.  Change becomes threatening.  Contributions of time or money morph into bribes and under the table deals.  New ideas or new moves of God become challenges to power that must be eradicated.  A man raised from the dead by the power of God becomes a target of assassination by the religious leaders.

            The IDD community will never be the strongest lobbying force.  We do not have contracts to offer or resources to sell or strategic demographics with extra money and time to devote to the cause.  Fear-based leadership will look at us and see a group that sucks away resources instead of providing more.  Faith-based leadership looks at the IDD community and sees us as an indicator of our greater society’s health.  When society is healthy, it takes care of all its members.  The IDD community is put in positions of both receiving and giving.  When society is unhealthy, the rich get richer while the poor get poorer and the IDD community has to scratch and claw to keep from being ignored altogether.

            In America, we have opportunities to replace our leadership at every level at regular intervals.  When you find yourself with a chance to bring in a new pastor or a new CEO or a new political leader, look to their speeches and their policies and their friends and their supporters.  Do they reflect a foundation of faith or of fear?  If it is fear, keep looking.

A moment to reflect:

Is your community or organization looking for a new leader?  Do the candidates reflect faith or fear?