A Sign of the Lord

1 Kings 17:8-24 Luke 7:11-17 A Sign of the Lord 3rd Sunday After Pentecost June 9, 2013 Year C Modern Day funeral Procession The time that I most conscious of the presence of death is not during a funeral, it is in the procession to the cemetery. It is the pastor’s job to accompany the person in their final earthly journey, and to see the soul off to heaven and the body into the ground. At the beginning of my ministry, in the suburbs funeral directors would insist that I ride in the hearse with the casket. But lately, funeral directors have told me that their insurance doesn’t cover my presence in the hearse. So I have to drive my own car, behind the hearse. One of the scariest things in the world for me is driving through the streets of Chicago, ignoring street signs. I consider it a real miracle when we finally make it to the cemetery. My survival strategy is to do whatever the hearse does, and to make sure that there is no room for anybody or anything to have room to get in between us. If Jesus and a band of angels appeared and wanted to get in – I would have to explain that now is just not a good time and place, because I am not letting anyone in front of me until I get to the cemetery. Jesus and funeral procession Funeral processions then and funeral processions now are very different. In Jesus day, the procession was on foot. There were no hearses, no caskets, no busy traffic to have to strive through. As Jesus was coming down the road in Nain – as he heard to grieving, it was pretty easy for him to join the procession, and to learn more about the person being buried. A widow was burying her only son. She may have well have been burying herself, because without him to take care of her, she had no means to live. Scripture says that Jesus has compassion on her situation. He knew what was in store for her – and he gives her life back. It is not the son that is bought back to life, it is her. Why does Luke like this story so much? This is the only place in the gospels that we hear that story. Only Luke tells this story. Luke wants us to be clear that this man Jesus, this son of God, this prophet of the people, is the messiah. He is the sign of God’s presence in our lives. If Jesus has the power to give this grieving widow what she needs to live – he has the power to help us to – to restore our lives – to give us what we need in order to be saved. Luke uses these miracle stories in order for us to be clear of who the messiah is. This story is a set up for Ejsus encounter with John the Baptist. In the next story, John’s disciples send word – are you the messiah, or should we be waiting for another. Jesus says the dead have been restored – what more proof do you need. Luke is also a fan of the prophet Elijah. He knows his Elijah stories well. He knows that in order for the prophet to return – that Elijah has to come first. So he records this story that reminds us of Elijah. Luke even mentions this story in chapter 4:26. God loves all people God tells Elijah to visit the widow in Zarepath. Zarapath is the hometown of Jezebel, is arch enemy. God wants to make sure that Elijah understands that the effects of the drought affects everyone. Suffering affects us all – no matter who we are. Our family ties, our money, our status, not even our relationship with God can protect us from suffering. And yet God calls both Jesus and Elijah to visit the most vulnerable of our people- and to realize that they are the ones most affected by life. Elijah asks a widow for food. She too assumes that she must prepare herself for death. When her son dies, her future has disappeared. Elijah prays for god to restore her son. Nephesh Also, what Elijah prays for and receives is that the nephesh (the life, the animating principle of life) return to the young man. What is said to have left and then to have returned here is the same word (nephesh) used in Psalm 30. A person who has lost one's nephesh shows no signs of life. A person is still a person without one's nephesh, but without one's nephesh a person can do nothing. Differences of Elijah and Jesus There are differences, of course, between the stories about the power of Elijah and the power of Jesus perceived as the Christ. Within the stories about Jesus as the Christ there is no necessity for Jesus to pray to God for the power to restore life. Jesus as the Christ is represented as inherently having the power and authority of God to be able to restore life. Jesus as the Christ in the Newer Testament is presented as similar to Elijah and to Elisha, but vastly superior to them. For us as Christians, God acts in a unique way in and through Jesus perceived as the Christ. We should note that the power to renew life in the young man in this text comes from the Lord (Adonai). The power is not inherent in Elijah. The primary purpose of 1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24) apparently is to demonstrate that the power of Adonai was active in Elijah. Elijah was obviously a man of God, divinely inspired and empowered. Similararities of stories The point of both of these stories is to remind us of the power of the word of God. When we call on God to be presence and to intercede on God in a bad situation, it is God’s love that makes a difference, not us. God can work in the world through our faith. the miracle stories show us that God is more than willing to demonstrate his power in the midst of our story. God uses faithful people to bring his power on earth. But finally, God wants us to know that if he cares for the least in society. God cares about you and me. God freely gives out nepesh – the life force in order for us to live a better life. Whatever works for us to restore our life, our life force God will provide. Some will asks, if god as the power to restore life, why doesn’t he do it for all of us in every situation. Don’t know – that is a mystery of god. But what we do know, is that God constantly gives us what we need to be able to praise God and to realize that God is good. We Are in the Middle of It Years ago a man was traveling by ship with his young daughter across the ocean. Earlier that particular Sunday he had preached a sermon about God’s love. It had been a very difficult service to preach, because he was newly widowed. He was standing against the rail of the ship, looking out at the vast and magnificent ocean, when his daughter asked him if God loved them as much as they had loved her late mother. “Of course He does,” answered her father. “There is absolutely nothing bigger or more powerful and all-consuming than God’s love for us. It’s the biggest thing there is!” The little girl pressed on for more information, wanting to know exactly how big God’s love was. Finally her father with great tenderness said, “Well, look across the sea as far as you can. Look up and down and all around. God’s love stretches around to cover all of that; above the blue sky and deeper than the deepest part of the ocean underneath us.” The little girl pondered for a minute and replied, “And to think Daddy, we’re right in the middle of it.” And we are. We’re right in the middle of God’s love. We don’t need a miracle to tell us that. Most of us have known God’s love all our lives. Of course, that is not to say that miracles do not occur. They do--to the eyes of faith. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com I think it is important for us to remember that God’s love works for us – but we also have to remember that God’s love works through us. God needs us in order to show love to others. Jesus Christ is our messiah – he is our life force. And he gives us the power to raise people from the dead. In both of these stories, someone who was literally dead was raised. But the dead person was not the focus of the story. The life force the nephesh runs through all of us. there are many ways for us to be dead. We can be dead inside of our minds, our souls, our relationships, our dreams, our hopes, our needs. Jesus came into the world in order to restore us all to true life. but Jesus needs us to give that love to others. We have to same power of God, of Jesus, we can find Elijah present in our lives too. Elijah introduces the Messiah A Rabbi met his teacher and friend Elijah standing near the entrance of a cave, of another rabbi. All three men greeted each other. And one asked Elijah if the messiah would really come. Elijah replies – “why not go and ask him yourself”. And where can I find him asked one of the rabbi’s. he is sitting near the entrance of the town. So the rabbi asks how will he recognize the messiah. Elijah said, the messiah sits among the poor people and the beggers who are suffering from various diseases and illnesses. Most people treats these people by taking off all of the bandages and putting them all back on at the same time. The messiah on the other hand, treats each person one at a time and bandages their wounds one at a time. I do this as fast as I can, so that when people call on me, I am ready to help. The rabbi saw the man, wrapping bandages of the poor, and he asked him when he was coming. The messiah replied I come today. The rabbi returned to Elijah, and said that he has met the messiah, but that he lied. He said he was coming today. Elijah noted that if he talked to the messiah, in greeting him he had given him a blessing, wished him peace, and promised that he would be with him in the new life. The rabbi said he appreciated the blessing and the promise, but what about the lie – why did he say he would come today. Elijah responded – he did not lie- he said that he would come today – but the he would come today when you called upon his name. He is still waiting on you to call. There is power in our prayer. The power only comes into the world when we call on Jesus. When we invoke Jesus in the midst of our situations. God works for us, but most importantly he works through us. He is waiting for us to call – so that the power of the lord can be seen by all who need it. Amen. "There is an old story about a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline. Once a month he would receive a new supply of oil to keep the light burning so that ships could safely sail near the rocky coast. One night, though, a woman from a nearby village came and begged him for some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp. Another man needed to lubricate a wheel. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and grant the requests of all. Toward the end of the month, he noticed his supply of oil was dangerously low. Soon it was gone, and one night on the light on the lighthouse went out. As a result, that evening several ships were wrecked and countless lives were lost. When the authorities investigated, the man was very apologetic. He told them he was just trying to be helpful with the oil. Their reply to his excuses, however, was simple and to the point: "You were given oil for one purpose, and one purpose only - to keep that light burning!" A church faces a similar commission. There is no end to the demands placed on a church’s time and resources. As a result, the foundational purposes of a church must remain supreme." James Emory White, Rethinking the Church (Baker Books, 1997), 27-28. This account is another excellent example of how the inspired Lukan writer used the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible to move beyond Mark's account. In this instance, the event is Jesus' raising the daughter of Jairus who had just died and returning her alive to her grateful parents.