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A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaertner Pentecost 2 “Sharing God’s Grace” Today’s Old Testament reading about Elijah and the widow at Zarephath and the Gospel Lesson about Jesus and the widow at Nain bring us to the intersection of death and life. In both the Old Testament and Gospel lesson there is a man of God. Elijah and Jesus. There is a woman who has lost her husband and now is dealing with the death of her son. And finally there is a dead son. Death is like a bulldozer for these women. These women feel the crushing blow of life taken away from them. Where is God for these widow’s that they have experienced such a blow? The widow at Zarephath asks Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God?” Elijah does not attempt to explain God’s actions in giving and taking life. But he does say, “Give me your son.” Elijah is going to bring the comforting presence of God to this woman. He takes the boy in his arms up to his room. Elijah stretched himself over the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let the child’s life come into him again.” The Lord heard the voice of Elijah. Life came to the child again. Elijah took the boy from the upper chamber room and delivered the boy back to his mother. Elijah not only brought a comforting presence, even in the face of the anger of the widow, he shared God’s grace. He brought to this boy’s life the Word of God. The intersection of life and death is a scary place to be. There are no answers found in this world to make it safely through that intersection. The widow at Zarephath meets the death of her son by asking Elijah, “What is going on? Why? The funeral procession in our Gospel lesson is a boy being carried out with his mother and a crowd. She responds to the death of her only son with tears as she follows her son. According to the burial customs of Jesus time, this funeral procession was likely on the same day as the boy’s death. The procession acted a form of announcement. People would see the procession and the weeping and join in the movement. The procession could gain steam as it moved out of the city. Jesus came to the intersection of life and death in this funeral procession. Death was barreling through the intersection. There was no answer or explanation for this woman or the crowd. What they knew was that the boy was dead. Jesus came to that intersection. He saw the woman and had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then Jesus came up to the body. The people carrying the boy stood still. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” The boy rose and began to speak. Just as Elijah gave the boy back to his mother at Zarephath, Jesus gave this boy back to his mother. These two stories were not recorded in the Scriptures for the sake of this two woman. We find today’s lessons for our instruction and for the help of all who hear these words. The comforting presence of God is not simply about a hug, a word, a joined tear to another’s sorrow. We are given a call to find at the intersection of life and death an option other than only death. When Jesus came upon the town called Nain and the funeral procession was growing in size, the people were gathered by death, grief, sadness. Jesus stopped and had compassion. This good woman, following her son, had thought nothing but crying and weeping. She had thought nothing of being able to lead her son back into the town. This procession was last march out of the town for her son, so she had no reason to desire not think about life at this moment. She never thought of Christ coming to her and giving her any thing different to think about. Anything this boy had done to merit this it out of the question. Any preparations the widow would make for such a moment are out the question. The mercy of Christ came to this woman entirely out of grace. The widow at Zarephath received the presence of Elijah and the life giving words of this prophet entirely on account of the grace of God. The merciful works of God come upon us entirely without our merits or preparations. The comforting, merciful presence of God is not only about consolation but about bringing life and reasons to rejoice. I want you to see what kind of God you have. When these women experienced being forsaken with neither son nor husband, they found Christ’s mercy. They learned to believe in and trust in God. But why does God allow these moments? These impossible moments do not have any answer. We are invited in the scripture lessons for today to find that even when death seems to be bulldozing its way through our lives to find that we have a gracious God. Jesus did not come to condemn us, like the woman at Zarephath thought she was experiencing God. Jesus does not come to simply offer consolation as the widow at Nain may have thought when Jesus came up to join the funeral procession. These miracles are brought to our eyes so that we may find that the comfort offered by Jesus is not just consolation but is life changing. Our God is here to help us not only bodily, but spiritually. All of us today are capable of seeing today that the dead are not being raised to life the way we heard about in these lessons. We do believe in the day of the bodily resurrection when the perishable shall be clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with the immortal. But even now we believe that the spiritually dead are being raised. Though we were dead in our trespasses we were made alive by the work of Christ. “It is a greater thing to raise what will live forever then to raise what must die again.” (Augustine) The widows in today’s lessons rejoiced when their sons were returned to them. When we share God’s grace, when souls are daily raised from spiritual death, there is much rejoicing. We have an opportunity to bring to the intersection of life and death that people find themselves at a path of life and hope. Sharing God’s Grace we offer the comfort that changes death to life. We bring the reason to rejoice and so find ourselves called to the good works prepared for us. Soli Deo Gloria |
