Volume 46, No. 19
Luke 7:11-17
Sermon prepared by Rev. Ron Luchies, Lindsay, Ont.Order of Worship
Proposed Order of Service
Welcome
Call To Worship: Psalm 149:1-4
Silent Prayer
God's Greeting
We Draw Near:
Songs of Approach:
#453 "Let All Things Now Living"
#253:1, 2, 3 "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty"
#284 "Father I Adore You"
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
Hymn of Response: #195 "Our God Reigns"
God Speaks His Word:
Children's Message
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:11-17
Sermon: "A God With Heart"
Hymn: #370 "The King of Glory Comes"
We Respond in Faith:
Congregational Prayer
Tithes and offerings
Closing Song: #569 "Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpets"
Benediction
Doxology: #641 "Threefold Amen"
Sermon
1. Introduction
Brothers and sisters, there are two crowds and two journeys, and two radically
different destinations. One group of people has gathered around Jesus. They
have just witnessed His healing of the centurion's servant and they are excited.
They rejoice in the possibilities opening up as the glorious "Yes" of
God is enjoyed. Life can be full of wonder, grace and surprise.
The second group surrounds a widow in her misery. This woman has just
lost everything, absolutely everything of value to her. First, it had been
her husband, and now death has taken her son. Death is hard enough to handle
when it comes late. She is mourning the loss of her son, an only child, the
last of the family line. Of course there is weeping and wailing. Deep pain
calls for loud lament. That's the only way this crowd can make their necessary
journey to the graveyard.
Two crowds and two journeys and two radically different destinations.
But they meet outside the village of Nain. And in that meeting there is a
picture, a parable Alexander Maclaren suggests, of Christ's whole work in
our world. His special mission from God is made clear: He is to stop the
relentless march of death, to meet power with power and to overcome.
2. Tragedy
The widow is on centre stage for Luke. She's exposed as helpless and vulnerable,
totally destitute in her first-century situation. She is without a male
protector in a man-dominated world. She has lost not only the person of
her son, but the support and status and future that he provided.
Death does that kind of thing. It exposes the frailty of life. It reminds
every one of us that we live in a world twisted by sin. We live in a world
where even the healthiest people will eventually get old and weak and unable
to manage for themselves. Even the very best bodies, the Olympic approved,
the Navy trained; even the very best bodies will finally come to an end.
And without fail, there will be grief and loss, a funeral and a cemetery.
Sometimes it comes early. Sometimes it comes later. But always, always
it comes. That's the tragedy of the widow's story and ours. We can be sorry
and give our condolences and take the time to send a card. We can be present
to listen and to pray. We can offer help with meals and transportation and
finances. These are the things that a loving family wants to do. Yet, none
of it really changes the tragedy or takes away the gnawing pain. And so the
widow and those around her cry. Why shouldn't they, and why shouldn't we?
Surely this is a more appropriate and Biblical response than denial or distraction
or constant fear.
Alfred Krupp, a famous munitions maker, lived in constant fear of death.
Everyone throughout his entire company was strictly forbidden to refer to
the subject of death in conversation. He ran from his own house because a
relative of his wife's suddenly died there. And when Mrs. Krupp objected,
Alfred became so enraged that he initiated what was to be a lifelong separation.
During his last sickness, he offered his doctor a million dollars to prolong
his life. But, of course, that was impossible.
Death has very real power. Money and prestige and position aren't going
to change that. Visits and phone calls and sympathy cards aren't going to
change that. Preachers and churches and expensive funerals aren't going to
change that.
3. Miracle
Jesus enters into the situation with strange words and even stranger actions,
words and actions that at first glance seem totally out of place. He says
to the widow, "Don't cry." And then He touches the funeral board,
so that all attention will be focussed on Him as He addresses the carefully
wrapped corpse. "Young man I say to you, get up!" Jesus doesn't
wrestle in prayer to His Father. He doesn't struggle in deep spiritual warfare.
He simply commands the corpse to get up. And catch this. His command reverses
the powers of darkness and death! His command transforms a funeral procession
into a family reunion.
We are tempted to stop at this point. Our world likes these types of happenings.
This is great material for television: "Psi Factor" or "Mysterious
Ways" or "Touched By An Angel." Power encounters, miraculous
healings, signs and wonders are always attractive. What's more, you and I
can find Biblical warrant for this emphasis in the power stories of Samson
or Elijah. God's Word highlights the exploits of David and Daniel, and earlier
in that history, how with the plagues Moses gets the better of Pharaoh. Then
too, the Red Sea waters separate for Israel. The Jericho walls come tumbling
down. The sun stands still so that an Israelite battle can be won. We'd love
to somehow package this power with the right prayers, with the faith that
can move mountains — or at least shake a few hills once in a while.
The problem here in our story is that there is no mention of faith. There
are no prayers offered. No requests are made either from the widow or from
her neighbours. Jesus takes the initiative. He works the mighty deed of deliverance.
And while it's good to pause and ponder this action of Christ, there's something
even more important. To see only the miracle is to miss what Luke considers
to be most critical to the story. He clues us in by placing his point at
the centre of the narrative.
4. Compassion
The main issue for Luke is not the power of Jesus, but His passion.
It's not simply that a mighty, Elijah-like work has been done, but why
that particular work was done. At the midpoint of our story, we read that
Jesus' heart went out to the widow. This phrase is the primary focus of
these verses. This is what the gospel writer wants to emphasize. Luke is
telling us that Jesus cares about little people in a big way. He works
in messy and miserable situations, in dark and difficult circumstances,
because He cares. The widow is restored to a place of protection and safety.
In giving back her son, Jesus blesses this widow with a future. And it's
not her faith or her prayer or her expectation, but it's the Lord's compassion
that explains what He does.
The verb used here occurs two other times in the Gospel of Luke. When
Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan, He uses this word to share how
the Samaritan felt about the half-dead man lying by the side of the road.
This word explains the different actions that are taken: the bandaging up
of wounds, the pouring out of oil and wine, putting the wounded man on his
own donkey, taking him to an inn and caring for his needs through the night,
paying the innkeeper to continue that care, and promising reimbursement for
any additional expenses. That's compassion, and obviously it's a verb, an
action word.
Also, in the story of the Lost Son, Jesus makes use of this same verb
to capture the father's love for his returning child. The father does what
no elderly man in that culture would ever do — he runs out to meet
his child. He joins his son at the edge of the village so they can walk together
through the stares and whispers and mockings of their neighbours. That's
compassion, and obviously it's a verb, an action word.
Compassion is the word Luke chooses, and, in fact, places at the centre
of his telling of the story of Jesus and the widow. In the Greek, the root
word for "compassion" makes reference to the entrails of the body,
the guts. In the thinking of that day, this is where the most intimate and
intense emotions were located — especially emotions of care and love
and concern. When a person was deeply moved, this is where they would feel
it.
5. God's heart
But, of course, we're not talking now about just any person.
We're talking about Jesus Christ. We're talking about His intimate and
intense emotions as He encounters the widow of Nain. His heart goes out
to her, verse 13 says. And Luke won't allow us to hurry past this phrase.
He won't let us overlook the significance of these words. In effect, he
rings the bells and blows the trumpet and flashes the lights — all
to get our attention. Luke does that by naming Jesus "Lord" in
this same verse 13. The name has already appeared in some of the dialogues
and teachings, but this is the first of many times Luke as narrator will
use that special declaration. And each time he uses it, Luke affirms Jesus'
deity. Each time he uses it, he announces, "This is the one who is
to come. The Holy One of God, the Saviour! He is Messiah, Immanuel, God-with-us!" That's
the teaching of this gospel. That's the confession of the early church.
That's the truth we are pressed to embrace.
The Luke 7 story is not about finding the famous quick fix: resurrection
in a can or with a prayer or through a certain way of doing things. We're
not dealing here with some sort of miracle-on-the-run. We're dealing with
a person, the person of Jesus Christ. And when we deal with Jesus, Luke says,
we're dealing with the Lord, with Almighty God Himself.
In Jesus, we are invited to search God's heart, the deep compassion and
love He has for each of us. In Jesus, we are invited to see God's desire
to come close and share life with us. He wants to make His home in our hearts
so He can draw near to the centre of our brokenness and be present to the
wounds and fears and struggles of our lives. In Jesus, we are invited to
celebrate God's willingness to pay the price for intimacy, the terrible price
of the Cross and its agony, a darkness and judgment and curse we can never
comprehend.
Brothers and sisters, we have a God with heart. That's important to remember
because sometimes in the midst of our difficulties we won't be able to see
the miracle that God is working. Sometimes amid all the noise and confusion
of our lives, we won't sense the restoration. Sometimes, like John the Baptist
in the very next gospel story, sometimes all we'll have is questions. Then
we need to give our full attention to the heart of God as it's shown to us
in Jesus. Then we need to know that what Jesus did for the widow, He makes
real for each of us in His death and resurrection. He restores us to the
place of safety and blessing within God's family. He renews our hope and
gives us a future. He guarantees a coming time when death will be no more,
when crying and suffering and pain will be done away with. One day God will
right all the wrongs of our world. One day everything will be made new!
Philip Yancey suggests that miracles like this one, in Luke 7, tell us
what the world was meant to be. They remind us that God is no more satisfied
with this world than we are. And, more than that, they offer a hint of what
God intends to do about it. One day everything will be made new. Even now,
Luke gives us a glimpse of what's in God's heart. And it's love and life
and healing. It's restoration and renewal. It's passion and possibility.
6. Response
Sir Winston Churchill took three years getting through eighth grade because
he had trouble learning English. It seems ironic that years later Oxford
University asked him to address its commencement exercises. He arrived with
the usual props. A cigar, a cane and a top hat accompanied Churchill wherever
he went. As he approached the podium, the crowd rose in appreciative applause.
With unmatched dignity, he settled the crowd and stood confident before
his admirers. Removing the cigar and carefully placing the top hat on the
podium, Churchill gazed at his waiting audience. Authority rang in his voice
as he shouted, "Never give up!" Several seconds passed before
he rose to his toes and repeated: "Never give up!" His words thundered
in their ears.
There was a deafening silence as Churchill reached for his hat and cigar,
steadied himself with his cane and left the platform. His commencement address
was finished. Churchill's three word directive is given sense and substance
in Luke. His chapter 7 passage admits that life can be ugly and evil and
wounding. But, and this conjunction is of tremendous importance, the story
also acknowledges the involvement of God's hand and even more of His heart.
The message is clear: Because of God's heart, you and I live in a world where
resurrection takes place. Because of God's heart, life will finally and forever
win out over death. Already now the transformation has begun.
We can deny it. That's the really frightening reality. You and I can be
content to look only at the outside of things. There's plenty of darkness
and decay and death to fill our gaze many times over. And we can decide to
see no further. Or, we can accept the truth of Luke's story as the first
shining of a new day, the fresh surprise of a deep and active grace. We can
say with the crowd, "God has visited His people!" And then, brothers
and sisters, the proper response is awe and praise. Awe, because this is
a world-disrupting story. It challenges our closed way of thinking and praying
and living. It disturbs our neatly wrapped packages of church life and family
concerns and work responsibilities. God has visited His people and things
can never be the same again. Not for you, not for me, not for any of us.
That's a fearful thing, a thing of awe. There's awe and then there's praise.
Praise because we are part of something as big as God's plan and purpose
for the cosmos. Praise because we are coming into tune with God's heart and
it is good and right and holy. Praise because what starts on the inside,
what starts as a little seed, will surely grow and blossom and bear fruit — thirty,
sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.
7. Conclusion
There are two crowds and two journeys and two radically different
destinations. One group of people gathers around Jesus, and they glimpse
the glorious "Yes" of God's heart. They are excited and they
celebrate the possibilities. A second group is caught up in the pain and
misery of the moment. There is weeping and wailing and a graveyard at the
end of their journey. The two groups meet here today, in this Word, and
with this story.
What happens now cannot be written into any sermon or spoken from any
pulpit. It can only be prayed in the silence of your heart and mine. It can
only be prayed person to person with Jesus, the One whose heart goes out
to us today.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, into the most difficult situations You bring hope and healing.
You reveal to us the heart of God as one of compassion and love. And yet,
we are so quick to question, so quick to worry, and so slow to believe.
Give us the faith to trust your love even in the darkness, even through
the pain. And give us the grace to understand that in all things, You continue
to shape and form us to be a people for the praise of your glory. We thank
You and we praise You and we pray in Your name, Jesus.
Amen.
