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Passion Week, Resurrection and Addiction Recovery?

We all know that Addiction destroys life. Over time, with each acting-out experience, a little more life is drained from the addict. Eventually, all that remains is a walking dead person.

Passion week (also called Holy Week) The name represents the passion with which Jesus willingly went to the cross for our sins. It is the commemoration of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. He conquered sin on the cross and then crushed death by His resurrection. Many Christians in Recovery believe that Jesus Christ is their only hope of salvation. So, how come many are not experiencing freedom and victory from their addiction?

The story of the resurrection of Lazarus might give us some insight into why many Christians are not experiencing freedom from addiction, and how they can.

Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus. His sisters, Martha, and Mary were too. Lazarus gets sick and his sisters ask Jesus to come heal him. Jesus does not come immediately, and Lazarus dies. Not exactly what the sisters expected from Jesus. The first thing we need to understand about recovery: God’s path to freedom and new life will not be what we initially expect.

Most addicts who enter recovery expect the process to be quick, easy, and not terribly uncomfortable. But such expectations are just the underlying lies of addiction. (“If you smoke this, drink this, or look at that, all your dreams will come true.”) God has a far better way for addicts, but many never realize it because they can’t get over the initial challenge of recovery not being what they expected or hoped that it would be.

Jesus eventually arrives on the scene after Lazarus has been buried. Martha and Mary express their grief and disappointment to Jesus. He responds to both with truth and grace. To Martha he gives a theology lesson (v. 20-27). To Mary he offers his tears (v. 32-36). This is the next thing we need to understand about God’s path to recovery: Jesus responds to our pain personally.

No two addicts are identical in their stories or suffering. Each one has unique pain. Some addicts are hardened cynics. To these God may have to bring a hard truth to break their pride. Other addicts are crushed victims. To these God offers tears of understanding to lead them home. God knows that we need and when we need it on our journey of recovery.

Now the moment comes when Jesus is brought to the tomb where Lazarus was buried. This is the scene that will take our breath away — literally!

“Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’” (v. 39a)

You cannot walk out of the grave of addiction until the “stone” locking you in is removed. And you need a community willing to move it.

Dead people cannot move stones. So often addicts are preached at to “get up” or “stop it” or “just shack it off” If Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead without moving the stone, Lazarus would have been “alive” but living in a locked tomb. The stone had to be rolled away for him to come out of the grave. The “stone(s)” in the addict’s life must be rolled away before they can come out of their addiction.

These are some common “stones” that keep addicts imprisoned are:

  • Isolation or lack of community
  • False identity and self-pity
  • Shame and fear/anxiety
  • Unhealthy eating and exercise
  • Childhood trauma or abuse

There are many more, each of these stones requires the help of others to remove. The addict drowning in shame cannot remove that stone by sheer willpower or “positive thinking.” Other people need to speak truth and hope and grace to remove that stone.

But even after the stone is removed, Lazarus is still a dead man. And he stinks.

“Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him [Jesus], ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.‘” (v. 39b)

Addiction stinks. The people who come around the addict to help remove the stone need to know this: What lies on the other side of gravestones is a stinky dead person. And depending on how long the addict has been dying in their addiction, the stench can be very bad. But it is good to smell the stink. Here is why.

Many addicts, especially those addicted to “non-substances” like porn and lust, are great at hiding their addiction. Their gravestone is securely in place and therefore the “stink” of addiction is not easily recognized by others. This means friends and family may not know that their loved one is dying, or already dead.

When the gravestone is moved and the horrible smell of death hits you in the face, it is a powerful moment. Do not rush past it. Yes, it hurts when the stinky truth about a loved one knocks you over. But you can learn from it. Breathe it in so you can become familiar with the stench, so that when you pick up that scent in others, you know what to do to help them break free from their grave of addiction.

Finally, the moment has come for Jesus to do the miraculous; to raise Lazarus from the dead.

So, they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you always hear me. I said it on account of the crowd standing around, many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what was happening” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who was dead came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to remove the familiar grave clothes. This, again, is why we need a strong, loving community around us to help take off the death garments.

Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” (v. 44b)

Jesus alone can call a dead man (or woman) back to life. Jesus alone can break the deadly power of addiction. But Jesus expects the community around the addict to “unbind him and let him go.” Addicts need the power of community to loose them from the familiar, stinky clothes of their old ways.

Are you struggling in your recovery? Do you still feel “dead” on your journey? What is God trying to show you from the resurrection of Lazarus that needs to be applied in your life?

Remember these words of Jesus, “...everyone who believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?” Do you? Then decree and declare I will not die, but I shall live to tell what the LORD has done

May you, by the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ, and the presence of a loving community, walk today in freedom and victory over addiction.

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