3. Sunday after Pentecost, 06/09/2013

Sermon on Luke 7:11-17, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

"Soon afterward he (Jesus) went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep. Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country." [English Standard Version]

"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." [Galatians 1.11-12]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

The Lord's people have moved into the longest season of the Church's year, the season of Pentecost. In its early weeks, students are rejoicing that their classes are winding down or have finished. People in our parishes are trying to deal with the devastating illnesses that have surfaced in their bodies. As citizens in this country we alternate between concentrated or distracted concerning the events in Benghazi, the policies and practices of the Internal Revenue Service and the administrative ways of dealing with reporters. Trips and vacations are being planned or put into motion. Parish communities have shifted their worship and education schedules for a couple of few months while beginning to make their plans for the fall. Arcing over all this (and even more!) is the six-month Pentecost season.

Because the season stretches from June to November, it gives us the opportunity to look in detail at the Life into which we were baptized by the Holy Trinity. While the world's life would suggest that it would be far more creative and interesting to focus on its concerns during this long season, the reality is that it is far better and healthier for us to look deeply into the Life that streams from the Son's dying and rising.

It is this Life that crossed the lives of a widow and her son in the village of Nain, a crossing that brought the soon-to-be buried son back to life. This stunning act by Jesus was preceded by him releasing a man from demon possession (chapter four), by forgiving the sins of a paralyzed man (chapter five), and by healing the critically ill slave of a centurion (chapter seven).

The Lord's stunning act demonstrates that he is fulfilling the hopes detailed throughout

the Old Testament and that, in him, the promised messianic age is breaking into the world's life. Remember that this resurrection outside Nain reminds us of Elijah raising a widow's son and Elisha raising a Shunammite woman's son. Thus, Jesus is not only following the pattern of these two significant prophets, he is also anticipating two other resurrections - the daughter of Jairus (chapter eight) and his own (chapter twenty-four).

Jesus' stunning act causes the crowd surrounding the widow to be seized by fear as well as to glorify the Lord God. They exclaim that a great prophet has arisen among them

and that they have been visited by the Lord himself. The act also ignites the reporting about Jesus throughout Judea and the surrounding areas.

Let's look more closely at this stunning act. Accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people, Jesus is going to the town of Nain (this town is in same region where Elijah raises a widow's son in today's First Lesson). As Jesus nears the town gate, he meets the procession coming out for the burial of the young man. Most likely he had died earlier that day and now it was toward evening (this practice would be in line with middle-Eastern customs).

This is a very distressing situation. The son's mother is a widow and she is really left alone (there was no such thing as Social Security in those days!). The extreme distress also helps explain why there are so many people from the town going with the woman to the cemetery.

Luke tells us that when Jesus saw the widow, he had "compassion" for her. The Greek word for "compassion" literally means that he was moved in his intestines. While the Greeks regarded the intestines as the source of violent passions such as anger and hatred, the Hebrews regarded them as the center of kindness, compassion and pity. From the very depths of his Life, Jesus feels compassion for this woman and so he pushes into her life.

His command that she stop crying is remarkable because it was the custom in those times to lament greatly and to hire mourners to assist in that lament. Even more remarkable is that Jesus, a noted teacher in Israel, touches the litter on which the son was being carried!

It was believed that contact with the dead defiled a person! Our Lord, however, does not contract any defilement - he removes it! He encounters this distress at its depth. His own body, which will soon lie in death, is now the instrument of Life!

The dead man is not a corpse or a soul, that's why Jesus addresses him personally. While Elijah had to pray three times for the child to be restored to life, Jesus speaks once on his own authority and the response is immediate. There is no delay in the restoration of the son's life, he begins to speak right away. As Elijah had done with the widow, so Jesus gives son back to his mother. Death had destroyed the relationship between them, but Jesus now restores that relationship.

Luke concludes by noting that the crowd recognized the Lord's power being displayed in their midst. They are overwhelmed with awe and erupt with their praise of Lord God!

They exclaim that a great prophet has appeared among them and that the Lord has visited them! The Greek word for "visit" was used earlier in Luke's Gospel (1.68, 78) where it was occurring in the Son's Incarnation. Here it is occurring in the Son's power over death.

As this passage presses into our lives today, we recall the distinctions in Luke's Gospel between the fear of the Lord God and the fear of everything else. One's awareness of those distinctions came about a number of years ago when a group of Lutheran pastors were taking part in a two-day Advent retreat. One of the Church's gifted and sainted teachers, Robert Bertram, was the theologian for that retreat. In giving the pastors an overview of the Gospel, he noted that Luke continually makes a distinction between these two fears - the fear of the Lord God and the fear of everything else! He also pointed out that Luke makes clear that the fear of everything else leads to death, but that the fear of the Lord God leads to Life!

The fear of everything else is a dominating characteristic of the world's life. Think of where you work - it drives much of its activity! Think of the world in which we live - it makes us anxious and uneasy, it strains our relationships! We don't discuss this reality that much, but, if this fear is left unchecked, it shuts our lives down - permanently!

The fear of the Lord God, however, is a whole new reality, one that rescues and immerses us fully in the Life that the Son brought to the world through his dying and rising. This fear surfaces in one's encounter with the only Lord God that exists. These encounters are seen most clearly in the Son's Cross, they are encounters that leave us trembling, even as we express our gratitude that he submitted to it. Such fear can be more accurately described as "awe" or as "dread". It results from lives that have blown apart and are in ruins being brought face to face with the Lord God who alone has the power over demons, illness, sin and death!

Sunday after Sunday these encounters are taking place in the lives of those people who make up the parish communities where we serve. As the people gather to worship, the Lord's Word streams from the Scriptures being read and from the Sacraments being offered. What occurs between that Word and the people in that Liturgy is the same occurrence in today's Gospel.

That's why it is so vital that our parishes be grounded in those holy realities. When our lives are being blown apart and are in ruins, it is the Scriptures and the Sacraments that steady and sustain us. These holy places are from eternity, they pull us away from the world's life and they imbed us in the Life that finds completion in eternity! They cause us to recognize who Jesus really is - the Son of God and the Rescuer from sin, Satan and death. These holy realities cause us to recognize how the Son, the Father and the Spirit are continually pressing their Life into our own.

Thus our parish communities are mindful of everyone's baptismal date (it is the most significant day of one's life because it marks our first exposure to the Lord's Word). Our preachers and teachers are motivated to be faithful and good interpreters of the Scriptures so the Word can make its way into our lives. Our presiders and assisting deacons pay close attention to the traditional practices of the Eucharist so the Word can make its way into our lives. Our pastors are grounded in the realities of confession and forgiveness so the Word can make its way into our lives.

What occurs between that Word and the people in the liturgies of our parishes is the same occurrence in today's Gospel. As our parish communities shift their schedules, the Word steadies and sustains them. As trips and vacations emerge, the Word steadies and sustains us. As citizens deal with political realities, the Word steadies and sustains them. As parishioners deal with frightening illnesses, the Word steadies and sustains us. As students take a break from their classes, the Word steadies and sustains them.

Throughout the six months of this Pentecost season (and into the other seasons as well!), the Lord's Word will be tumbling into our lives from the Scriptures and the Sacraments. This activity will not only be ceaseless, it will also have its Life-giving and Life-sustaining effects! This activity will be strong, plunging into lives that have been blown apart and ruined! This activity will free us from the fear of everything else and immerse us in the fear of the Lord God! This activity will be redemptive, drenching us with the Lord's kindness, pity and compassion!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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