Scripture: Luke 7:11-17
I do not know if you have noticed, but we live in a dark world. It is rare for our news programs to have good news. It almost seems as if reporters are looking for the touch of gray in every silver lining. I cannot blame the reporters; the problem is that we like to consume bad news. We thrive on it. I do not know why we do this. It seems as if we desire to see the devastation of others so that we can feel better about our own lives. Unfortunately this tends to lead us into an area of darkness as well.
We cannot read a passage that has much more darkness than today’s scripture. Jesus leaves Capernaum and goes into a town named Nain. In Capernaum Jesus said a word and healed the Centurion’s slave. Now in this new town Jesus is immediately faced with one of the most heart wrenching scenes there can be, a funeral procession.
This procession is not just a normal procession. This is a procession mourning the loss of the only son of a widow. We do not know the age of the man or his mother but I want us to consider something for a moment. First Luke tells us that he is a man. You may not think this is much, but it says quite a bit. We can know some things for sure; this man is over the age of 13, because this is the age that a boy is seen legally as a man in their culture. The next thing that I notice is that the only loved one mentioned is this man’s mother, there is not a wife or children, I may just be reading something into this that is not there but the lack of other loved ones alludes to the possibility that this man was a young man that had yet been married. Making this man a young man probably between the ages of 13-25ish.
Now let us focus on the mother. In the first century Jewish culture women were not as liberated as we know now. Their entire status in the community was attached to the men in their lives. Luke tells us that she is a widow. In the first century women would marry early in life, they are considered adults at the age of 12, and would marry soon after that. For women they move from their father’s house into the husband’s house. When a husband dies they are left in the care of their adult children, if they have them. Luke tells us that she only had one son. This one man had sole responsibility for the care of his mother, and he too died.
This is a very dark story. This woman has lost everything. This march to the cemetery is the last sure thing that she will know. Everything in her world has fallen apart. The place we find her in is a place of total hopelessness. She has lost her husband, her son, and her security.
Jesus meets her in this place. This woman is as low as a human can be, and Jesus sees her. Jesus sees her. Community is important to our spiritual and emotional wellbeing. We as humans cannot live to our fullest potential without community. But when we are griped with fear and hopelessness one of the first things we do is withdraw from the community. We begin to shut ourselves in and put on masks and build walls so that those around us cannot see just how hopeless our life has gotten. We want people to see us as strong and in control, because if they were to see us as vulnerable we fear rejection. Jesus sees this woman. Not as the strong woman that has it all together, but as she truly is. The hopeless widow who has no idea where or what to do next. He sees her, and he has compassion.
The one thing that we cannot have without a community is compassion. We need others around us in some degree to move through the rough times we face. We need friends to share the burden because without that the stress in out lives would break even the strongest of us. The community laughs with us and mourns with us; we share the joys and the sorrows. Jesus saw her and had compassion. He shared her sorrows, and he understood what was at the root of that pain. The risk of love is that the love we share will not be repaid.
Jesus saw her, had compassion for her, and spoke to her. “Do not weep.” From the woman’s perspective this is nearly a heartless thing to say. But Jesus can say this because he has seen her in her condition, and has had compassion. The platitudes we often share when we try to comfort others have little affect because often those expressing them do not see us where we are. They may have compassion, but their compassion misses the heart because they do not see where we are. I have been a recipient of these platitudes, many of us have, and unfortunately I have shared them as well. Jesus understood the great sorrow of love being shared only to have that love rejected or lost. He understands the emotions and the seemingly hopeless situations.
But He did not leave the woman in despair. He saw her, had compassion, spoke to her and he knew what the source of her hopelessness. She had nothing. Her husband died, leaving her a widow and her son an orphan. Now just when she was beginning to think that maybe her life seemed to turn around, and the floor drops again and her son dies. How can she not weep?
Jesus walked up to the bier, and said “Young man, I say to you, rise.” The man sat up and began to speak, and everyone there began to glorify God. They had heard stories about things such as this, stories of what the prophet Elijah had done for the widow in Zarephath. They had been waiting for a day such as this, the return of Elijah. And word spread rapidly about Jesus.
Jesus does not leave us with out hope. The Apostle Paul says in Romans, “…that all things work together for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) That verse is often used and can become a platitude. But just prior to this Paul says, “ …the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27) In our lowest point God knows what we need. He is working through the situation with us and for us, to bring Glory to him.
God is at work, even in the darkest times of our lives. God is working to bring things together for the good of those who love Him. We do not always see the good as we are walking through the valley of shadows, but even there a glimmer of light is present. God himself is groaning with sighs too deep for words, searching our hearts and knowing what our spirit needs to bring glory to him.
The passing of my sister brought great changes in my family’s life. We had to come together in ways we had not known, and good did come out of that. Her life had ended but through her other lives were extended. The great pain of losing a sibling urged my older sister into the vocation of counseling where she now encourages others to see each other where they are and to have compassion. That darkest day that I have lived through also drove me to explore life with God, which ultimately lead me to become a pastor. God worked things together for the good. Did it lessen the sting of loss, no but I know that God met me in that pain, and lifted my family and I out of it.
Each of us could tell stories of how God has helped us through dark days and how we came out on the other side. We can tell stories of healing and of sorrow, love lost and love gained, but in all of them I hope we can see God and glorify him.
We live in a culture that is drawn to the darkness because in that we can hide. We watch the news filled with scandals, lawsuits, tornados, hurricanes, and other terrible things. We cry out to God and we pray for His quick return. We feel as if we have nothing to offer, but we do. Through Jesus we can offer hope to the hopeless if we only open our eyes to see. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection we can offer a world without hope, light. We do this by letting go. Letting go of our control over people and things, letting go of the grudges and pain, letting go of honor and pride. By letting those things go we allow God to replace it with something new.
Today we mourn with friends as they mourn the loss of a child. We see their pain and we have compassion. We mourn the loss of what could have been and a relationship we will never be able to nurture. We cannot express words to bring comfort. As we mourn we also rejoice because through Kimberly others have an opportunity live. We rejoice because through her donated organs those people may have an opportunity to honor and glorify God. Through her gift of life to another the Spirit of God could intercede in lives all around and a community may be restored and lives with out hope may see the light.
As we prepare for the time of open worship, the time where we as a community sit together to commune with each other and God in holy expectancy, and as we honor the life that brought hope to others. I want to read Psalm 30.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the pit. Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face’ I was dismayed. To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!” You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.
We have hope because our God loves us enough to come live with us, to teach us how to live and how to live with others, He sacrificed himself to pay our debt, even while we still rejected his love and grace, and he rose again to give us hope and victory. And he ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us, and in that place we will know the fullness of life with God, that we only taste now. In that place we will again have fellowship with all the saints that have gone before us and all those saints that have yet been born.
As we center down on that great hope, let us remember those days we spent in the shadows and how even there God has been with us, and let us encourage one another to not dwell in the darkness but to dance in the light of Christ.
Scripture: Luke 7:1-10
The world was shocked a couple of weeks ago at a statement made by the Pope. For some his statement barely registered but for many it turned everything upside down. What was that statement?
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ — all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone. ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist.’ But do good: We will meet one another there.” (The Washington Times)
This is a very profound statement. I do not even know if I am able to fully grasp what Francis is saying. Even the Vatican spokesmen are trying to explain it. This one statement has turned a thousand years of tradition on its head.
Over the past few years there have been many statements made and books published that have challenged the traditional understandings of what it means to be a Christian. Two years ago Rob Bell wrote a book called “Love Wins” which challenges our understanding of Heaven and Hell. He met stark criticism from the many because of what he wrote in those pages. Others have faced challenges as well. Brian McLaren faced similar struggles when he penned the first book of a series called “A New Kind of Christian” This series challenges basically everything.
Why do I bring up these dark issues today? I mention them because the Christian community as a whole has gotten excited about these challenges being made by leaders within. Over the past 10 years a movement has emerged out of the church that may become a forerunner to the next big thing in faith. Leonard Sweet calls it a perfect storm. I have mentioned from the first Sunday that I have been here that there is a new age on the horizon and that the Friends Church is going to be a part of it. I say this because there is a change in the air, the wind is blowing and in many cases it is blowing in our direction. For the past few centuries we have had scholars telling us what to believe, how to believe, how to act, and what our responses should be. These things do not work well in a postmodern culture. People are leaving churches because of this, but that does not mean that they are not hungry for the gospel. The culture today is just as hungry if not hungrier for the gospel than they have ever been. But they do not want to see a gospel of word but one of action.
In today’s scripture reading, we have a gospel of action. Someone needs healing, someone can provide the healing, and the caregiver seeks out the one that can provide the healing. On the surface it seems like so many stories we hear of Jesus, but this particular one is packed full of revolutionary theology. The characters present in the narrative are a slave, a military leader, Jesus, and the established religious leaders.
Of all the healing narratives in the gospel this is near the top of my personal favorites. I like it because it does not really fit with our traditions. First off the military leader is a Roman Centurion. The Roman Centurions are the leaders of the most efficient military force on the planet at that time in history. The legions are a group of 1000 men, broken up into 10 groups of 100 men. These groups could lock their shields together and effectively become a human tank pushing into battle. The Centurion is the leader of these tanks. The legions, with these centurions, are what gave Rome the power. And if the legions are present in an area that usually means that the place is not exactly on good terms with Rome.
Israel and Rome are not exactly on great terms with each other. Throughout the New Testament of scripture and really throughout the history of Rome, this province in the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire have had problem. History has shown that the reason Rome pulled out of the British Isles correlates with rebellion in Israel. So the Jewish citizens and the Roman citizens are not that friendly. This makes this story so much better. Because this military leader is not opposed to the Jews, in many cases he loves them. The leaders of this community actually tell Jesus that this guy is ok. He even built their synagogue. At first glance we may think that he was accepted, as part of the community but that would not be the total truth. He was still considered a Gentile. He was not accepted into the community completely. Why, because he was a centurion. As long as he was a leader in the army that opposes Israel he could not be fully accepted.
So this guy has a slave that is sick. A slave. In today’s world we often forget what slavery is. We believe that slavery was abolished centuries ago, but that is not exactly the truth. There are more slaves today than there were just prior to our civil war. But that is not the point. A slave is a person that does not have rights. They are seen as subhuman by the ruling classes. They are exploited because they have no other options available to them. But this particular person meant something to this Roman soldier. Yes he was still a slave but this person was somewhat in between, he was almost considered a member of the family. He was treasured enough that the loss of this particular slave would have devastated the household of this soldier. Not many of our employers would care for us if we were sick. If we work or have worked in the corporate world our lives are not treasured by our employers beyond the value of the labor we can give them, yet to this man this slave was important. So he sought out the great healer.
The surprising thing is that Jesus heard about this slave, and immediately set out to go to the man’s house. There was no real discussion as to if this man was worthy of grace. Jesus heard about a need and He responded. This response surprised the Roman Centurion, so he sent out a delegation. This Roman knew that if Jesus were to come to his house, there could be consequences. He respected this rabbi and did not want to tarnish His reputation. The delegation relayed a message to Jesus from this man saying in short, “I understand authority, I understand power and your power is greater than mine. But as I give a command and things get done, I know that you only have to say a word and your command will be done.”
Jesus looks at those around him and is really impressed with this Roman. His faith in God is greater than the faith of those in the community claiming to be the people of God. So he says the word and the healing takes place.
It is a great testimony of the power of God. A man that is not even accepted into the community shows greater faith than those that have been blessed by the community. A man that is seen as an enemy of God is actually found to be a greater friend of God than even the disciples of Christ. This man understood things. He challenged the traditional understanding of the religious people and through him Jesus showed the world that God is not only for the Jews but also for all humanity.
At times we as religious people can get bound up in traditions. I am not saying that traditions in themselves are bad or wrong. I love traditions when they are still providing something vital to a community. But often traditions need to be challenged. It is in those tradition-challenging times where we actually have renewed growth. In the 1517 a man by the name of Martin Luther challenged the traditions of the church by nailing a document to a door. This action sparked a fire that ignited into wild fire of reforms throughout the Church. Although these reforms ultimately resulted in a violent struggle for power many very good things came out of it. The religious community had to examine their faith, determine what was important and live it out. This fire of reformation did not only give the world the protestant churches free from the oversight of the pope but it also prompted reforms within the Catholic Church as well.
The greatest divide in the western church could have been one of the most important things in history. From that moment in time everything about faith changed. This promoted some of the greatest religious scholarship; many of the things we believe today came directly out of this great divide. But does that mean that God finished His work with us? Absolutely not, there have been movements since this period of time that have awakened growth and challenged our traditional understandings of God. With every change or shift in culture the church goes through a period of reformation. This is why there are Episcopal and Presbyterians, Quakers and Baptists, Methodists and Lutherans, Dominicans and Jesuits. All of these movements are responses or challenges to the traditional understanding of God; with each of these movements there has been a renewed love for God.
The Pope said, “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ. – All of us, not just Catholics, Everyone…even the atheists. Everyone.” Wow… that is some crazy universalism. The Pope along with the emerging church pastors that have been critizised over the past few years, I believe, are onto something amazing. Our theology does not really matter if our theology is not prompting us to love people more than those without any theology. The Pope and the emerging church ministers are both promoting a missional church. A church that is willing to walk to the house of the enemy military leaders house to pray for the healing of one of their servants. They are urging us to stop talking about Jesus and start living like Jesus. They are urging us to become passionate about service to others and meeting people along the way. Meeting with them, serving with them, and living with them.
This is what Jesus did. He went out and lived among the people, he healed the people and taught them where they were. Have you noticed that most of Jesus’ sermons are not spoken in the synagogue, but on a hillside? Most of his teaching is not in a formal worship setting but along a road walking from one place to another. And to top it off not one of the people he lived among believed the same things that he believed. They all had their own views of who he should be and what he should be doing.
A Roman Centurion has more faith than all of Israel, the Pope says that even the Atheists have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus, the traditions we have had for over a thousand years are being challenged by pastors and leaders all around us. People are saying that the end is near and I agree, the end of an age is coming to a close, and it is ushering in a new age filled with hope. It is ushering in a new kind of Christian for a new kind of Church, A Church that is focused less on how many people can fill the pews, but how many people they can serve. They are encouraging us to be a church that is Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the Love of Christ with others. Some of us may be fearful of the coming days…but the perfect love of Christ casts out all fear, and with a word He can bring hope and healing to your life.
As we enter into this time of open worship I encourage each of us to open our bibles again to Luke 7 and slowly read through these 10 verses yet again. As you read consider what in your life needs a healing word from Christ, what tradition or understanding of God do you hold that may be challenged today, and in whom are you basing your hope?