Sermon - Trinity XVI 2021 - Luke 7:11-17

Raising of the Son of the Widow of Nain, Martino Altomonte, 1731

Death is so common (we all do it at least once), you’d think that by now we’d handle it well, but we don’t. In the last 3 ½ weeks I’ve buried seven people, but as often as it happens, it’s still death and it’s still painful. Death is such a terrifying and filthy thing that no amount of normalization will make death pleasant. Though we sure do try to make death look pretty. We relabel death into something attractive, we call abortion “reproductive healthcare” and we call physician assisted suicide “death with dignity.” We even call funerals “celebrations of life” in order to hide the grim reality of what has happened.

The truth, however, is that death is not pretty. Abortion is still murdering an unborn baby, euthenasia is still suicide by taking a drug which kills you, and funerals are still the burial of someone we love who has died. Those things are all painful and leave deep emotional scars in the survivors. 

Part of the reason why death is so painful is that it’s part of the curse God placed on this world because of sin. From Adam to us today, we die not because it’s natural, but because we’re sinners bearing the curse: dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Death is the cursed consequence for sin.

God knows how painful death is for us. God heard the cries of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, God saw the misery of the weeping widow of Nain, and He felt compassion. Seeing our sorrows wreaked by death causes God’s heart to break for us. Out of His great compassion, Jesus interrupts a life of funerals with Easter.

It wasn’t a coincidence that God sent Elijah to this particular widow’s house, nor was it a coincidence that her only son got sick and died while Elijah was there. It wasn’t a coincidence that Jesus came upon this particular town of Nain at this particular time right when a funeral procession was taking place for a widow’s only son. God knew what He was doing and came to these widows in order to give us courage today. 

God knew how these women felt. Just like us, they were filled with sadness, despair, and anger over death. “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” God sees the pain, Jesus sees the woman’s tears and knows her heart. God knows what sadness fills your hearts when you mourn over the deaths of your loved ones. Because God knows your hearts, He has compassion upon you.

This is why it’s not a coincidence that God resurrects the only-begotten sons of these widows: in compassion, God takes their places in order to revive them to new life. Jesus is the only-begotten Son of the Father. Jesus is the son of a widow. Elijah stretches himself upon the child three times, as if he’s taking the boy’s place. Jesus touches the bier, the open casket, and receives the uncleanness of death into His own body. Jesus takes death upon Himself.

That is what Jesus did when He was baptized in the Jordan river: He took all of our sin and death upon Himself. When Jesus was nailed to the tree, died, and buried, He was taking the place of all people. Jesus traded places in death, not just with these widow’s sons, but with all of us! In turn, having taken death upon Himself, Jesus gives the grieving widow back her son, alive! 

I’m sure you’re familiar with the famous statue by Michaelangelo, the Pieta. It’s the picture of grieving Mary receiving in her arms the dead body of her son Jesus. Well the picture painted in our readings today is the reverse of the Pieta, a wonderstruck mother receiving in her arms her newly resurrected son! That is what Jesus came to do! He came to trade places with us, to take our death and give us life! 

This is why Jesus looks at the weeping widow and says “Do not weep.” This is why a common reading at funerals is “Let not your hearts be troubled.” It sounds crazy to say such a thing to weeping and mourning people, and yet Jesus says it! He tells us not to weep because He has come to raise the dead. Just as Jesus says to the dead boy, so does He say to us dying people: “Arise.” Jesus speaks to us and gives us life. He fills our hearts with hope in the resurrection. 

Dear Christians, this world is filled with funerals, death is normal, and so Jesus interrupts our world of death with the resurrection. He turns our weeping into laughter and our mourning into dancing. He turns Good Friday into Easter Sunday. He transforms our death into a portal that leads to bliss untold in paradise. All of this may not make death easy to handle, but it does give us the proper perspective on death so that we wouldn’t mourn as those who have no hope. This hope influences the way we treat death and funerals.

For one thing, like these two widows, we know that we can expect to see our Christian loved ones again in the resurrection. Death isn’t permanent for us, it’s just a temporary affliction, and we will see one another again. The widow gets to hug her only son again! Parents, children, siblings, spouses, friends, cousins, will be reunited in heaven! We may mourn, but we mourn with hope in that truth, and so we also encourage one another with that truth of the resurrection.

This proper perspective not only changes the way we mourn, but it also changes the way we live before we and others die. “The dead man sat up and began to speak.” That’s what happens to us! We speak with others; we especially speak before it’s too late! Since we know that this world is only temporary, and that the afterlife is forever, it’s incumbent that we tell others about sin and death and the hope we have through Jesus now. If we want to see our loved ones in heaven, that means we have to talk with them about that today, before it’s too late. This is why we teach little children about the reality of death and that Jesus died for them so that they will go to heaven when they die. That simple basic faith is what each Christian builds upon throughout life, and that’s what we are regularly talking about.

In addition to preparing others for death, it’s necessary to prepare ourselves for our death. Just as it’s good to have your estate and funeral plans in order, it’s more important to have your soul in order. Are you ready to die? I’m not asking if you want to die right now, I’m just asking if you’re prepared spiritually for death. It’s hard to think about, I know, but it’s important. We have to be ready because we never know when that moment will come.

When that moment does come, when death strikes you or others, when the funeral happens, let us continue pointing others to Jesus and the resurrection which He’s won for us. Our funerals don’t have eulogies and celebrations of life, because a Christian funeral is ultimately pointing to Jesus and confessing our faith in the resurrection. We don’t just sing sentimental songs, but we sing Lutheran hymns which boldly confess our faith in Jesus and the resurrection which He’s won for us! That’s where our hope rests! That’s what brings us comfort! Jesus gives real comfort in the midst of death because Jesus raises the dead to life! 

So in the midst of a world with way too much death, let us Chrsitians celebrate Easter with so much enthusiasm that it overflows into our funerals. Let us go to funerals, all of those here at our church, both so that we may mourn with each other, but especially so that we may encourage one another with the resurrection! Let us be reminded that we’re mortal and shall die, so that we can joyfully await the resurrection! Let our burial ceremonies show others our faith and hope in the resurrection. Let it be known that our loved ones are lovingly planted in a garden and will be raised up on the last day to be harvested. Let it be known that they’re resting in peace in a house of sleep and will awaken on the last day. Let the resurrection, let Easter, be foremost on our minds and lips so that even our deaths would be showered with hope. May God fill your grieving hearts with hope in the resurrection, and may God bless you with believing hearts so that you may die a Christian death to live eternally in the resurrection.