Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity: September 19, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Who’s next? I’m sorry that it’s a morbid subject and I don’t want to sound flippant about something that is truly hurting our flock here at Good Shepherd right now. But the grim truth of death lingers over us, both at the times when we feel its presence, like now, and at the times when we don’t. Death is there, attacking us, gripping us, threatening us in every way that it can. One of us will be the next to be called to the waiting arms of Jesus in heavenly glory. And the rest of us will have to mourn and hurt and weep all over again. When will this sad story end? When will death be finally defeated, like we proclaim at Easter and at funerals? Why can we be so sure that the story truly ends this way? What tells us that “It’s all over?”

You know when you’re watching the ball game, you usually know when you’ve come to the time when it’s safe to say, “It’s all over.” A big home run, that key interception, or clinching goal seals the deal and it’s about time to beat the crowds to get out to the parking lot, or to let someone else have their way with the TV remote control. If you were reading a mystery novel, once you’ve passed that point in the story, the pages start flipping by in rapid succession, as you anticipate the inevitable conclusion, and before you know it, the book is back on the shelf. I would suppose that the closer this climactic turn gets to the very end, the more suspenseful the story or sporting event would be.

The Evangelist Luke was inspired by the Holy Spirit to tell you a story, a true story, of course. He notes at the very beginning of his book that he worked very carefully in putting it together, so that those who heard this great, true story of Jesus would be granted the Divine gift of faith and incorporated into the family of believers. And when you’re in the family of believers, you have the direct assurance from the Lord of Life Himself that your sworn enemy, death, will not touch you. As you read Luke’s Gospel, you can spot a decisive moment when “It’s all over“, and victory is assured.

That moment is here, in the Gospel you just heard for today. As Luke describes the chain of events in the story of Jesus, this is the first time our Lord raises someone from the dead. Many miracles had preceded this one, and crowds were starting to form to hear the words of Grace pouring forth from Jesus’ mouth. Demons were fleeing His presence in terror, the chains of paralysis were breaking free, and it would seem impossible, but even diseases and fevers actually were cowering at His stern rebuke. But as St. Paul wrote, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. A mere miracle worker would be painfully aware of his limitations once he confronted that hideous monster.

And Jesus knows that He’s not just a street performer doing tricks. He knows that these people need more than just a day-to-day friend who will merely dust them off when they get knocked down. They need a Savior to stand between them and that final enemy. For they are just like you, precious creatures caught in the web of evil, and who through blindness of sin became enemies against the God who created them. The cruel grasp of death, whether it ravages the young or the old, turns your stomach, just like Luke tells us in literal Greek that it turned Christ’s stomach with compassion to see such a sad sight. You see, the Lord knows that it was not just the widow’s son at Nain who was a victim of death, nor any other loved one you might have known that was gone way before it seemed to be their time; we all are its victims. Last week we were made painfully aware of that.

Think also of the widow herself. The young man was her only-begotten son, which is a phrase you may have heard before. He was all she had, and not just her only reason to live another day, but he was the only means she had to live as a widow in that day. No other option for her personal survival was left. Without her husband and her son, she had nobody, so death was a real and frightening menace for that widow as well. So it is for you: not only are you also completely dead because of your sin, you are also helpless like the woman, unable to save yourself.

So Luke now introduces the dramatic moment so that you can see that it was a decisive moment, not only for the widow and her son, but also as a turning point for you. The scene is at the town gate. That makes it the only way in and out, at least on this side. And on this threshold between worlds, between Nain and the outside, between heaven and earth, Jesus the true God and true Man stops the sad funeral procession, and with just a few brief yet all-powerful words, it’s all over. For the widow, He says, “Do not weep,” and to him who was gripped by death, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” It’s all over.

Now, the words “Do not weep” come not as a rebuke, as if Jesus were saying that she had no right to cry or lament. Indeed, Jesus Himself shed tears and He could completely identify with us mourning human beings. Rather, His words are a gift, a bit of a release for her. “Do not weep” is more in the sense of, “Weep no more, I will allow this sadness to grow in your heart not one moment longer and I promise you that Death will not have the last word. I, your Lord and Savior, will have the last Word.”

When it comes to the young man, Jesus (and Luke for the first time in his narration expressly calls Him “the Lord”) Jesus the Lord commands resurrection not with thunder and booming voice like at Lazarus’ grave, and not even with stretching out His body over the corpse like Elijah had to do with the widow’s son in the Old Testament reading, but Jesus did it simply and with a gentle touch of the coffin bier, so that the Lord could soak in all the death and uncleanness into His own body. The word “arise” is exactly the same word that the Gospel writers and disciples would use when they speak of the risen Jesus. Luke is putting in all the clues as he tells the story to make sure you know, once Jesus the Lord has performed this first resurrection miracle, it’s all over for death’s hold upon you.

And boy, was the suspense on the edge of your seat. It would have been a matter of moments and that young man’s body would have been sealed in the ground or in a tomb. But thanks to Jesus, He stepped in at just the right time, standing there at the gate to the city on the short passageway to the body’s resting place. For here you are today, in the brief passage way of your life, making the short crossing from cradle to grave. The sin with which you were born and the sins you have added by yourself were taking you on the path directly leading to God’s eternal punishment. Yet Jesus, the Lord, the only-begotten (see, you’ve heard it again!), the unique Son of God, stepped in. You didn’t invite Him, you were the one dead. He came on His own and raised you. He spoke the gentle Word of forgiveness of all your sins. He may not have stretched His body out on top of yours, but He did stretch out His arms in great love for you as He died on the cross. Your sin and death has been conquered; It’s over! And as today’s pivotal moment said without a doubt, He who raised the dead would also break the tomb’s hold on Himself and it’s hold on you, on that triumphant third day.

The crowd attending this funeral procession were initially struck with fear, but then they recalled the prophecies of the Bible, and rejoiced that God had visited His faithful people. When the Lord paid a visit, He rescued them and gave them what they most needed at the time. Do you yearn for that kind of visitation today? Do you think there’s something left missing for you that drives you to plead to Him for it? Look no further than where you are right now, for God is visiting you in His Word today. He hands out the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ on this altar for the forgiveness of your sins, for your rescue from death and the devil, and healing for you in body and in soul. We didn’t skip that part last week, and we won’t skip it today. He may not give you what you thought you needed, at the time you thought you needed it, but don’t forget that He daily and richly gives you all you need and more.

And most especially, don’t forget that it’s all over for the death that you and I face each and every day. You have been healed and forgiven, then restored to the Church, so that you can care for and nurture one another as the unified Body of Christ. Betty cared for us in many and various ways, and last week when she needed help, so many of you rushed to her side, while the rest of us prayed as God would want us to do for one another. It’s strikingly similar to that young man in the story, for he was raised from the dead and given back to his mother. He could take care of her, just like he was doing before as a dutiful son. Likewise you look after and care for your neighbors around you, whom God places in your path. He provides opportunities to serve in the church, not to give busybodies something to do, but to live out the life of service that God created you to give. Yet even as you’re progressing in a sanctified and holy life, do not forget that at the very same time, every day you approach Jesus as someone dead, sinful, in need of forgiveness. He will raise you up continually, just like He will raise up your mortal body at the Last Day, along with Betty and all the faithful believers in Christ’s flock. And thanks be to God, by His rich grace, whether you’re next or it’s someone else, you know how that story ends for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
1 Kings 17:17–24 See, your son lives!
Psalm 30 His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life
Eph. 3:13–21 what is the width and length and depth and height
Luke 7:11–17 Young man, I say to you, arise.