The Church: Raised from the Dead… Still Wrapped in Excuses

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Unwrap Him

(Or Crawl Back Into the Tomb)

Let me tell you what I’ve learned in my short time with you:

You are kind.

You are tired.

You are sentimental.

And you are dangerously comfortable.

Which would be fine—

if Jesus had called us to be a museum.

But He didn’t.

He called us to be a resurrection site.

So let’s talk about Lazarus.

You know the story.

Jesus shows up late (classic Jesus move).

Lazarus is dead-dead.

Not mostly dead.

Four-days-in-a-cave-with-no-air-freshener dead.

Jesus calls him out of the tomb.

And Lazarus comes out.

Alive.

Breathing.

Standing.

Still wrapped in grave clothes.

And then Jesus says something very important to the community:

“Unwrap him and let him go.”

Notice what Jesus does NOT say:

“I’ll unwrap him myself.”

“Wait for him to figure it out.”

“Let’s form a committee.”

“We’ll revisit this next quarter.”

He says:

You. Unwrap. Him.

Resurrection is God’s job.

Restoration is the community’s job.

And this is where churches start getting nervous.

Because raising the dead sounds holy.

But unwrapping them is messy.

It smells.

It’s awkward.

You have to touch things.

You might get dirt on you.

If that crowd had acted like modern churches, the conversation would’ve gone like this:

“Jesus, we would unwrap him…

…but he smells.”

“We would unwrap him…

…but we already brought casseroles and now they’re gone.”

“We would unwrap him…

…but we don’t feel equipped.”

“We would unwrap him…

…but that’s really more of a staff job.”

“We would unwrap him…

…but we’re tired.”

And Jesus would still be standing there like:

“I raised him. You unwrap him.”

A Church That Won’t Unwrap the Dead Will Soon Be Dead!

Because a church that won’t unwrap the dead is just a cemetery with music.

Let’s be honest about what people come bound up in:

They come wrapped in:

Resentment

Greed

Fear

Shame

Addiction

Unforgiveness

Loneliness

Cynicism

“This is just how I am”

“Church hurt”

“I tried once”

“It didn’t work”

And yes—Churches get bound up too.

Churches get wrapped in:

Their past

Their glory days

Their apathy

Their fear of upsetting people

Their “we’ve always done it this way”

Their low expectations

Their low commitment

Their low giving

And here’s the hard word:

If you stay wrapped up, you cannot walk.

You can be alive and still stuck.

Resurrected and still trapped.

Breathing but not moving.

At that point, you might as well crawl back into the tomb and save on electricity.

Now let’s talk about ownership.

Because this is where we stop pretending this is spiritual poetry and admit it’s math.

Until 50% of this church gives more than $10 a week,

you will not thrive.

You may not survive.

Not because God is weak.

But because churches don’t run on vibes.

Nine people carrying the financial load at Heritage is not faith.

It’s exhaustion.

A handful of folks unwrapping the dead while everyone else critiques the wrapping technique is not ministry.

It’s a spectator sport.

And Jesus never said:

“Go therefore and evaluate.”

He said:

“Go therefore and make disciples.”

Church is not:

• Reviewing the choir

• Rating the sermon

• Judging the coffee

• Assessing the temperature

• Keeping score

Church is:

Unwrapping the dead.

Which means:

Showing up.

Giving.

Serving.

Risking.

Caring.

Opening your hands.

Getting your hands dirty.

Because resurrection without participation produces spectators.

And spectators don’t change the world.

Here’s the perspective piece:

If God can raise Jesus from the dead…

He can save this church.

But He won’t do it the way you want Him to.

He will do it the way He did with Lazarus:

By calling life out of death

and then looking at the community and saying,

“Now you do something.”

You don’t need better sermons.

You don’t need trendier music.

You don’t need another bake sale.

You need:

Ownership.

Commitment.

Movement.

Generosity.

And the courage to unwrap what stinks.

Because if this church does not start unwrapping the dead, it will soon be dead.

Not because God abandoned it.

But because the community refused to move.

You cannot walk wrapped up in:

• The past

• Fear

• Apathy

• “Someone else will”

• “It’s not my job”

• $10 faith

You either unwrap…or you rot.

That’s the choice.

You are not called to sit in a tomb and talk about what used to live.

You are called to unwrap what God has made alive.

Wake up the dead.

Free the bound.

Loosen what’s tight.

Open what’s closed.

Give like you believe in the future.

Serve like this place matters.

Love like resurrection is real.

Because it is.

And if you believe Jesus can raise the dead,

then act like it.

Unwrap him. And let him go.

Prayers

Rev. John Roberts

If anyone would like to stay in touch here is my new email: revjohnwroberts@gmail.com

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