Do you smell what he's cookin'?

I heard a sermon today that has made me think. It was on Lazarus (John 11). He was dead for four days and the people commented on the odor that would be present if they rolled the stone away for Jesus to see his fallen friend.

I was thinking about that a little bit. Jesus wanted to meet Lazarus in the midst of his stench. He didn't say, "alright bring the guy out, cover him in fragrant perfume, and then I'll raise him from the dead." He met him in the midst of his death, filth and odor.

What a lesson for us. Where do you stink? What areas of darkness, filth and death exist in your life? Often times we think we have to get it all worked out and then we can go to God...but maybe this text is saying God wants us to come...regardless of the 'stanky' baggage. I don't need to get my act together before I step foot in the church...instead, it is when I get to God's presence that my act begins to come together.

The other aspect is how do we as mustard revolutionaries do with meeting people in the midst of their stink? I am not great at this. But this is precisely what the teacher demands of his followers. Meet them where they are. We can only be people of the resurrection if we begin to live amidst the dead, dying and smelly. What does this mean to you?