Luke 7:11–17

¹¹Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹²As 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. ¹³And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." ¹⁴Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." ¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" ¹⁷And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Galilee was not exactly a favorite vacation destination. It was considered a good-for-nothing place. No one went there. Nothing good came from there. It wasn't worth the time of day. To be a Roman soldier stationed there was more of a punishment than a privilege. No one enlisted in the army so they would get to see the world and go to Galilee.

Nevertheless, there was a certain Roman centurion living in Capernaum at the time Jesus lived there. His servant was ill, at the point of death. Unlike many of the Jews living there, this centurion knew that Jesus was a king, king over both heaven and earth. He knew that Jesus had the authority to give his word and that even the illness would obey. He knew Jesus was a king and that his kingdom had come to earth; that the kingdom of heaven had now come to earth. So Jesus simply commanded the illness with his word and the illness left this servant.

Excitement and enthusiasm filled the air. The stories and rumors ran wild through the streets, in the markets, in the businesses. At home everyone was talking about the visit of a prophet, the coming of the kingdom of heaven. It was the dawning of new day. A new world was being born and they all wanted to be part of it.

So on that day as people walked alongside Jesus, following him wherever he went, there was a party atmosphere. It was a celebration, full of laughter and joy. The kids were running along the road and playing as the adults talked, joked, and told stories and sang Psalms of praise.

Then they came to the city of Nain. There, this joyful celebration met a cloud of doom; a great crowd of people in a funeral procession heading out of town toward the cemetery. The dead man was the only son of a widow. The sound of their crying and weeping clashed with the laughter of those who accompanied Jesus. It was a stark reminder of the harsh, cruel reality of this world; a world of suffering and death. Now what would happen? The kingdom of the world full of sin and death and sorrow and hardship stood face to face with the kingdom of heaven. It was a dramatic moment. As if two powerful armies were lined up against each other ready for battle, a battle that would determine the course of all history. The kingdom of heaven versus the kingdom of this world. It was a precursor of the very battle that would take place on the cross of Calvary just a year or two later.

Then the king of heaven, that very victim of the cross, walked over to the mother of her dead son, a mother not unlike Mary at the foot of the cross. He was filled with gut wrenching compassion. God could identify with her feelings, because He too would lose His only Son to death. The agony of this mother filled his soul; filled his entire being. Her sorrow had become his; her grief he bore in his own spirit. "Do not weep," he told her. Are these mere meaningless words? Just some pious attempt to comfort her? Does he not see that the kingdom of this world is a kingdom of darkness, death, grief and sorrow? A hopeless and dark world. Is he just holding out some false hope or shallow words? Or does he see something our eyes do not see?

Yes, He sees that true joy is not found in a trouble free life. Joy and celebration are not found in success or in wealth or in health or in anything of this world. Joy is not found by following some set of steps to happiness; or living by a set of principles for success. It is not found by positive thinking or being rid of sickness and discomfort and death.

Quite the opposite. Joy is found in the lowest and darkest corners of life. Here, in the death of her son, this widow found a far greater treasure. She found God! It was her greatest sorrow and grief that brought Jesus to her. It was in her weakest moment; her greatest humility that she found the true source of joy and life. Jesus meets us in our burdens, in our weakness, in the crosses we bear. And that is where Jesus met this widow. That is where God is found in our lives. God is found on a cross. God is found on the crosses we carry, the suffering we bear, hardships we endure. That makes our weakness, our suffering, our pains and even death the greatest treasures of all. Luther tells us; "A theologican of the cross understands and teaches that suffering, pain and death are the most precious treasures of all. ...Indeed, fortunate and blessed is he who is considered by God to be so worthy that these treasures...of Christ should be given to him..." It is under the cross that God is found; where we meet God, for that reason there is joy in suffering. We humbly accept our suffering because God's love and grace can only be received when we are completely emptied of all idols and our sinful pride is crushed. The cross we bear is the scalpel of God's mercy; he uses pain to crucify our sinful nature and give us real life instead—the life we have already been given by our Baptism.

For that reason we begin our worship service in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—the formula for baptism. Just as we begin our life in Christ, so our worship begins at Baptism. And Baptism signifies the drowning of our sinful nature. By the pains we bear and the suffering we endure our sinful nature is crushed; our souls are emptied of pride and idols of self. By the cross of daily repentance and confession of sin we beat down the sinful flesh in us. And that is the true goal of every believer in Christ—to be rid of sin.

Next Jesus went over to the dead man and touched his coffin. Our English translations rob us of the full meaning. The text literally says that Jesus clung to it; he fastened himself to it. He joined himself to this man's death, as if to say, "This death I take unto myself. This dead man is joined to me. His death I absorb into my own body."

And that is exactly what Jesus did: he joined to himself our sin, our death, our suffering, our grief. He absorbed all that is wrong with this world into himself and he nailed it to the cross; as if to say to you: "I hereby crucify your sin. Your death has died on the cross." Jesus' death on the cross is our true joy; not successful, trouble free lives. It is on the cross of Jesus that God speaks his final word: his word of love and compassion. It is in the cross of Jesus that your sins are forgiven. It is in the cross of Jesus that death was conquered. It is in the cross of Jesus that you are free from guilt and free from the power of sin.

It is on the cross that Jesus meets us; in death, in complete self-denial. And we are joined to Jesus on his cross in Baptism and Holy Communion. In worship around Word and Sacrament our lives are bound to Jesus. Jesus takes hold of us, he takes hold of or sorrows, our sins, our death just as he took hold of the dead man and fastens you to himself.

You Baptism continues every day of your life, for in Baptism you were condemned to die; die to your sinful nature. Every day becomes a day lived under the cross; a day that the Holy Spirit drowns your sin through suffering and hardship and confession to cut it away from you.

And every day, as you turn to the cross to receive forgiveness in faith—absolution of your sin—you are given a new birth, a new man is created, you are raised from the dead having been joined to Christ's resurrection in Baptism. Just as Jesus spoke to the dead man and raised him from the dead, by his Word of absolution, by the washing of re-creation in Baptism, Jesus raises you from the dead and creates a new man, born in grace and truth.

The people remembered that Elijah had raised the son of a widow years before. They recognized that this miracle done by Elijah was a prophecy of the Day of the Lord, the creation of a new world, the coming of the kingdom of heaven. So that day, as the crowds were celebrating the coming of the kingdom of heaven, they fell to their knees to worship the king of both heaven and earth. Their worship was filled with joy and celebration; even in the midst of death, because here, in this place and at this time we enter into the death and resurrection of Jesus. In this place our sorrow is changed to celebration because here we meet Jesus on the cross.

The cross is God's final word to mankind. The cross is the solution to sin and injustice. By the cross God establishes his kingdom. It is on his cross that Jesus overcame the hurts, the hardships, and sorrow and death of this life. The cross is our guarantee of God's love and care. That is why God tells us to look to the cross of Christ. The cross is his word of love that tells us that no matter what our pain, what our suffering, in sickness, in health, in sorrow and even in death, he is with us, he holds us. That we have no need to fear when we walk through the shadow of the valley of death. It is on the cross that he assures us that he loves us and has conquered death and all that oppresses. It is through the cross; through suffering and death, that we arrive to resurrection, to new creation, to the kingdom of heaven.

And that is why worship is a celebration. Just as the crowds following Jesus were celebrating, so we come to church to celebrate. Over the next few weeks, our sermons will focus on the worship of God. Beginning last week with Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit which is how we begin our worship. Today we understand that the Sunday morning service is a celebration of our death to sin and this world, and our resurrection to a new life created in us. We celebrate every Sunday morning as the resurrection of Jesus, the creation of a new world, the coming of His kingdom. It is a celebration of life!

Amen.

Let us therefore walk with fear, that with a firm faith we may hold fast to the riches of God's grace and joyfully give thanks to his mercy forever and ever. Amen.