Pastor T.C. Arnold
16th Sunday after Trinity
Luke 7:11-17
September 27th, 2009
It is said that several years ago a woman went to the church to see her pastor about a personal problem. In the course of the conversation the woman said to the pastor, “You must have a great faith.” “Why do you say that?” The pastor asked. “Because you are a pastor.” If only she new how often pastors like myself have been envious of the faith of others. There are certain people, some of them I have served as their pastor, who have a great faith. They have endured so much, and yet they cling to the Lord. I admire their faith. At the beginning of chapter seven, the first ten verses, Jesus begins with a miracle following a long stint of teaching in chapter six. It’s the miracle of healing the Centurion’s servant. Jesus said in response to the Centurion’s faith, “I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” As Lutherans we speak of saving faith, that is, the faith that claims the merits of the crucified and risen Christ. All true Christians have saving faith.
After Jesus heals the servant of the Centurion who Jesus calls a man of great faith, He went to a town called Nain. It says in the Gospel text that the disciples and a great crowd followed Him. Perhaps in this great crowd were great and “faithful” men and women. Perhaps there were many others that simply desired to see more miraculous signs and wonders. Did they follow because they had such great faith? Did they follow because they wanted to see more miraculous deeds?
Put this in your mind’s eye for a minute… Jesus is walking with this great crowd of people. They meet up with another crowd. You see, people gather for all sorts of different reasons. They gather for weddings and birthdays and anniversary celebrations. People also gather for funerals. This gathering of people Jesus and His crowd meet up with is a funeral processional. There were no fancy limousines or coaches to shuttle people or transport the dearly departed. No, instead, the people of that day simple walked to the cemetery outside of town.
These two crowds come together somewhere outside of the city. You have to realize something about this widow in the text for today. The death of the widow’s son left the widow quite empty. That might be obvious to you because her son had died and that would leave anyone empty. However, I want you to realize something else. She was left empty for another reason. Her son was the only person who gave her some security within Israelite society. Without him she is completely without hope and status. Now, everyone will likely ignore her… so she is empty…but Jesus does not ignore her.
And here’s the other important element to the way this all takes place: the miracle of healing the Centurion’s servant focuses on the faith of a Gentile military leader (the Centurion). But the raising to life of the widow’s son is unlike the healing of the sick servant. There is no mention of anyone’s faith. This shows that Jesus’ healings ultimately were not dependent on the faith of the person being healed but on His own power and might. By His Word alone the sick were healed and the dead were raised.
Jesus is the healer and He shows us how much all our cleanliness, forgiveness and life depends on Him by what He did at that funeral procession. For that reason we move from one miracle to the next and watch how Jesus spontaneously offers His life and gives His gifts even at the risk of what others will think. For example, Jesus touches the casket. When Jesus does this he risks becoming ritually unclean. But instead of being defiled, Jesus cleanses and heals. The power of holiness and of life is in Him. He brings purity to the unclean situation, not vice versa.
You see, this is our Jesus. He is not just a miracle worker and a teacher. He did not make Himself known to the people solely for the purposes of alleviating human suffering. There is much more. As we see and know that Jesus, too, must suffer, we begin to understand what He is all about and why He came to be among us in the first place. You the Christian can see in the Bible a teacher, a miracle worker (for a Centurion’s servant and for a woman whose son passed away). You the Christian, I hope and pray, can also see a Jesus in the Bible who was rejected, crucified and was raised.
Beloved in the Lord, I need to offer a warning about what you see and hear in Christianity today. The kind of religion today that passes as Christianity in our world is not the Christianity of the Bible. When I turn on the television in the morning, or open the newspaper or read a magazine, I see the world’s Christianity. The world’s Christianity needs to be approached with caution.
What do I mean by that? Today’s Christianity that appeals to so many people is a watered-down, all inclusive, feel-good religion. And beloved in the Lord it’s getting worse each and every day. I watched one “televangelist” for about 15 minutes tell the people how if they just have a stronger faith, they will have a better life. The whole sermon was a “how to” for today’s Christian. “How to” is only a part of the Word of God for you. In reality, there is so much more.
In the newspaper, no matter what newspaper you read, turn to the faith section and there is a little bit of this and that for everyone – no matter what your religion happens to be. The Christian perspective often written about is usually so diluted that it’s nearly impossible to recognize as our faith – the faith of the Bible – the faith of Christ. We have heard it said, “I just know if I try to be a good person God will treat me better.” Or we might have heard, “If I live more faithfully God will answer my prayers and everything will work out in the end.” Today’s Christianity is missing the substance and truth that is Christ.
This is what I mean, and it has everything to do with what Jesus did today in the text. He took the defilement of touching what no one else would touch – the casket with a dead body inside – and made it pure, clean, whole and “alive”. He took a woman who would have a social status next to nothing without her son and gave her back to the community. This is Jesus. This is the Lord of our life who takes what is missing and gives it back. He takes what has no life and makes it alive. He takes what is defiled and turns it into that which is clean. That’s Jesus.
And He does it in the midst of suffering. Yes, dear Christians, you will suffer. The Christian faith of today makes very little mention of suffering because the theology of glory (that is so popular today) is founded upon “the power of positive thinking” and “feeling good about life when we have troubles.” But our Jesus is honest with you. And that’s what I want to be right now -- honest. I want to help you see the Christian life is about our weakness and our sufferings. It’s about our shortcomings and it’s about our heartache.
(In his book called Pastoral Care under the Cross, Richard Eyer tells a story… pg. 26-27) Mr. Witti has been in the ICU for more than two months. His daily struggles include kidney dialysis and a respirator to breath. Mr. Witti has a daughter who was frequently by her father’s side. His daughter is all smiles and lighthearted. She says, “Dad there is nothing to worry about. You are going to be fine.” But somehow her father doesn’t seem comforted. Instead, Mr. Witti turns to the Chaplin and makes the sign of the cross.
You see, Mr. Witti’s daughter subscribes to a common misunderstanding of faith and this is what I mean about “today’s Christianity.” She believes that her father will be healed, and she believes that faith is the way to health. There is no place for weakness and suffering in her understanding of the will of God.
This is the difference between what Luther called a “theology of glory” and what he called a “theology of the cross.” Here is the difference: glory recognizes God in health, wealth and success. The cross recognizes God in suffering and weakness. Glory sees God in nature’s beautiful sunrises, moving stories or conversations, or success in church programs. The cross sees God bearing a tree on His own back for you and His chosen people bearing a cross each day as well. The theology of glory calls evil good and good evil. The theology of the cross calls the things in life what they actually are. Mr. Witti’s daughter could not call the thing what it actually is. In other words, she could not call the direction of her father’s illness, “death.”
In short, the theology of the cross says that God comes to us through weakness and suffering on the cross and in our own sufferings. The theology of the cross says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” What could have been needed more for a widow in Nain who is suffering in weakness than the all-sufficient grace of a Savior that could call death, “death” and then make the dead alive again. And He does this through His own free will. He does this out of His own love and compassion for you.
“Pastor, you must have a great faith,” said the woman in the Pastor’s study. A great faith does the pastor have – perhaps – perhaps not. “My grace is sufficient for you”, says my Jesus. “My power is made perfect in weakness,” says my Jesus. And that’s enough for this Pastor. It’s enough for any of us – no matter what we are going through today – no matter where we are with our health, with our state of mind, and with our life. Sufficient for you is Jesus – for the Centurion, for the widow, and for you. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Amen.