Unexpected JOY

SCRIPTURE

Luke 7:11-17 (NRSV)
Jesus revives a widow's son

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has looked favorably on his people!" This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Today’s scripture really challenges me to the core of my being for I have to admit that there have been days in my life when I have felt like the widow in this story. Although I have never lost a child, I have known great grief. It is the nature of being human.

We don’t have to look very far to see great grief all around us. If we turn on our televisions, or boot up our computers, we are inundated with bad news and reasons for sorrow.

Lately we have been grieving earthquakes in Haiti, oil spills in the Gulf, sinkholes in Guatemala, a brutal and possibly racially motivated murder in South Carolina, and unrest in Jamaica and Gaza, to name just a few.

But, we do not have to turn on our televisions to bear witness to great sorrow, do we? We can look into our own lives and the lives of our neighbors, friends, and family members in order to witness great sorrow—divorce, downsizing, home foreclosure, wayward children, drug or alcohol addicted loved ones, domestic violence, hospitalized parents, grieving spouses, infertile parents, and the list goes on and on…

Like the great crowd gathered to bear witness to the widows sorrow, we gather, day by day, week by week, with friends and family to bear witness to their public and/or secret sorrows and to attempt to walk with them for a little while as they bury people, hopes, or dreams gone too young or too soon.

I cannot possibly pretend to know your hidden sorrow, but I am confident—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that all of us have known more than one moment in life when tears have drenched our pillows in the midnight hour and where we have felt utterly alone with the weight of the world crushing our shoulders.

I believe that the widow in today’s Gospel was in that place of great sorrow. Scripture records that she was weeping as she marched in the funeral procession to bury her only son.

But, then something strange happened on her way to the cemetery. She encountered Jesus and met his compassion in the middle of the road.

I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful for the love, compassion, and grace of God. After all, this woman was the lowest of the low in her society. She had no class. She had no status. As a woman with no husband and no son to take care of her, she was most likely in her darkest hour. I can imagine that she did not know how she was going to eat, where she was going to sleep, or how she was going to survive.

Furthermore, a great crowd of people had gathered to witness her dismay. Now, some of the folks may have been there to comfort her. But, I know human beings well enough to know that there were some people in that crowd gathered to gossip, to take mental pictures of her tears, and to be voyeurs in her moment of greatest agony and affliction.

But, our Jesus was not present to revel in the widow’s misfortune. He was there to meet her tragedy with grace.

I have heard it said that grace is when God does for us, that which we do not deserve and have not earned. I’m sure there were many widows in Nain. I’m sure there were many children who died. I’m not sure there was anything particularly spectacular about this widow woman and yet, when Jesus saw her, he had compassion on her, and extended his grace.

Although approaching the dead would make Jesus ritually unclean, he boldly marched up the coffin, touched the bier, and commanded the young man to arise from the dead!

When Jesus did this, a paradigm shift occurred and the whole entire universe realigned for the son’s mother. Her weeping became laughter. Her sorrow became joy. And her oppression became her liberation when her dead son arose!

This unnamed widow and her anonymous son bear witness to us in 2010 that although tragedy is a part of the human experience, God is determined to meet our sorrow with compassion, love, and grace in our darkest hours.

And it is this very grace that reminds us that we are not able to earn God’s love, grace, or compassion. We can’t work hard enough to earn it. We can’t be good enough to earn it. Grace is a free gift, given to us by our good God.

And when we receive this free gift, we find that we are compelled to bear witness to the good news that Jesus is willing—and able—to resurrect our dead circumstances and turn them around!

Scripture records that Jesus met the woman and her procession with a crowd of his own disciples and followers. After the man’s resurrection, I believe that everyone who witnessed the miracle was compelled to declare the good news that “God has looked favorably on his people!"

In that moment, all of the people present became joyful evangelists and witnesses to the love, grace, power, and compassion of God. We know that they were faithful to their calling to share the good news because Luke records that, “The word about Jesus spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.”

See, this is always the appropriate response to an encounter with Jesus! As followers of Jesus, we are called to be witnesses to the good news. We are challenged to tell others about the times that Jesus turned our weeping into laughter, sorrow into joy, and oppression into liberation.

All of us have bad news stories. But, we also have good news stories! We also have prayers of thanksgiving for the many times God has healed a sick loved one, brought a beloved baby safely into the world, allowed us to witness a baptism, confirmation, or marriage, helped a child to graduate high school or college, brought peace in the midst of conflict, provided a job after being laid off, and/or offered friendship and love when we were most alone.

Too often, we remember to cry out to God in times of sorrow, but fail to lift up our hands and hearts in praise when God hears and answers our prayers for help!

See, here’s the bottom line. God loves us! God loves us so much that Love gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Sin was our greatest foe and our deepest sorrow. We could not rescue ourselves, so God’s grace allowed his son to die and rise again in victory on our behalf.

Just as all of the people who saw the widow’s son rise felt compelled to tell his story, so too should we tell the story about Jesus--who lived, died, and rose again to heal all of our hearts and redeem all of our sorrows!

Pastor James Aalgaard said on Facebook that as disciples of Jesus, we have the joy of bumping into funeral processions for the rest of our lives. The life of discipleship is a life of following Jesus to those funeral processions and sharing the love, grace, and compassion of Jesus with those in need of it.

It is my prayer that all of us will know that God loves us and feels compassion for us in our moments of deepest sorrow…

And it is also my prayer that we will be led by Spirit to be bold in telling others about this same love and compassion when they have need of Jesus.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Let us pray:

God, thank you that even in the midst of my greatest sorrow and deepest depression you are with me offering love, joy, grace, and compassion. I am so grateful that you love me so much. I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.

INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta