Sermon Audio

O Lord, how shall I meet Thee / How welcome Thee aright? / Thy people long to greet Thee, / My Hope, my heart's Delight! / O kindle, Lord, most holy, / Thy lamp within my breast / To do in spirit lowly / All that may please Thee best.

In the event of a funeral in these latter days, the scene would be much the same as what we heard about in today's Gospel lesson. There would be mourners—saddened by the loss—following the body to the cemetery, much like in Nain. There would be people consoling each other, much like there probably were in Nain. But there is one big difference between a modern funeral and the one in Nain. Of course there is the lack of modern conveniences in Nain, but in that little town Jesus shows up in His person and raises the dead back to life.

If we had a funeral today and Jesus showed up, the deceased's body would have rejoined the living. As it is written, when the Christ returns, the trumpet shall sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. It is as we confess: "I believe in...the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting" or "I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." What we are saying when we confess those lines from the creeds is, "On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ."

So, in Nain, Jesus has compassion on the widow who lost everything she had. She had no husband, whom she had lost earlier. She now lost her son. In today's terms, we can think of it as losing not only a family, but retirement benefits, social security...everything. She had no source of income, no source of support, no right to anything, unless, like Ruth of the Old Testament book, a kinsman redeemer were to come along, and take her under his wing.

Unfortunately, no distant relative was there for the widow of Nain. Fortunately, a king of a distant royal line had arrived. While the widow of Nain had no kinsman redeemer, she did have the Redeemer of the world arrive at her son's funeral procession.

But what had the widow of Nain done to deserve any of it? Was she living an immoral life to deserve losing everything? Was she a great person to deserve having her son raised from the dead? Did she have some great faith to deserve having him given back to her? Well, just like the centurion from the first 10 verses of St. Luke's 7th chapter, there was nothing within her to justify any of this.

For one thing, we cannot say anything regarding the widow's lifestyle or faith, for St. Luke simply doesn't let us know. For another, she, like every person since the fall, is sinful; and in her sin, she deserves the wrath of God. Finally, as I love to tell confirmation students when the lesson calls for it, when Jesus acts out of His love and compassion, He does so not because of any great faith in the person on whom He acts, but He does so for His own sake and out of His own great mercy.

Had we been in Nain for the funeral, I'm sure the people would have told you many great things about the widow's son. They would have recalled his faithfulness to the law of God. They would have told stories of his acts of kindness, helping to mend a fence, dig a well, run an errand, or some other such deed. In the days leading up to a modern funeral, the same kinds of things can be heard among the friends and family of the one who has died. The good times would be remembered and shared among those who knew them best and loved them. A laugh could be shared among those who remembered them as they recalled something funny they once said or did. And, much like the people in Nain may have done, the person's strong faith would most likely be mentioned several times.

But what did the widow's son's faithfulness get him? What would the faith of anyone who has died earn them? To put it bluntly, nothing. The same is said for all of us. No matter how much faith or how strong our faith is, our faith earns us nothing. Now, hear me out: Whenever we start believing that faith earns God's favor and grace, we turn faith into a work which we do. Our works deserve nothing from God but His wrath, and believing that faith is a work which we do is a great sin.

When we believe that faith is our work, not God's, then we believe that believing in Jesus was our decision or choice. In this, we quickly move to believing that we have God in our box—a god under our control—whom we let out only when we want or need something. After all, one could say, "It was my decision to believe in God, He should be pleased that I have made this decision. It's a privilege for Him to call me a son. He should now be at my beck and call!"

However, scripture plainly tells us that left to our own devices, we quickly fail. Jesus says in the 15th chapter of St. John's gospel that apart from Him we can do nothing. He furthermore says in plain language that people did not choose Him, but He chose them. Then there is Psalm 81 which contains these words of God's lament:

But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.

In other words, if we sin again God, showing no sign of remorse, He leaves us to our own ways. Without His help we are literally and completely helpless. Without His help, we have no hope. Without His help, we are left in despair!

But, thanks be to God that it was His decision to call us. Thanks be to God that for Christ's sake, Jesus died for us, taking away our sin, and rose again, giving us victory over death and the grave, and called us to be His own dear brothers and sisters, children of His Father in heaven. Thanks be to God that He has given us faith to believe in Him.

There is a wonderful image in this mornings Gospel that can help to illustrate this point: "Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.'"

First, Jesus commands the dead young man to get up because the dead young man cannot of his own will and choice rise back to life; Jesus restores His life. So it is with us who have been given faith. We were once dead in our trespasses and sin, but by the grace of God we have been made alive through faith. St. Paul says it plainly in his letter to the Ephesians:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins...God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Second, Jesus touched the coffin. In doing so, He risked becoming ritually unclean. The Old Testament Levitical laws—the ritual laws—forbade the touching of the dead or dying (or things of the dead) by the living (especially those in the priesthood). Jesus illustrates this points in a parable as a priest and Levite pass by the man beaten and left half dead by robbers, but was cared for by a good Samaritan. But here, the Great High Priest touches the dead man's coffin and brings the man back to life. He is not defiled by the unclean things, but He purifies them. Likewise, to those He has given faith to, He has purified. For it is in our Baptisms that we were washed with water that was combined with the Word of God; the Word of God made the water a washing of regeneration that cleanses us from the defilement of sins and gives us forgiveness and faith.

Yes, those of us who believe—that is to say, those of us who have been Baptized—have faith, and that is a good thing! Faith is the mark of salvation. Faith itself doesn't earn God's grace, it is itself God's grace and it receives God's grace! So, when we hear the Scriptures give the command to believe in Jesus—to have faith in Him—it is "an imperative that creates the faith that it demands. It's like in the beginning when God said, 'Be light,' and light there is, because the Word does what it says," as Rev. Bill Cwirla recently said [from God Whisperers #97]. Faith is about Jesus, not about the one who has faith, because Jesus is the doer of faith [if I may channel Dr. Norman Nagel].

Faith is hoping for that which is unseen—God-given hope. What is it we hope for? Well, Martin Luther summed it up well in his explanation to the seventh petition to the Lord's Prayer—"But deliver us from evil:"

We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

The unseen thing which we hope for is that which the Word of God proclaims and that which we ourselves have confessed, eternal life with God in heaven.

Yes, there will be times when there are tearful and mournful funerals. Should Christ not return in our lifetime, we will face a final hour; and for those of us called to Him by grace, we will be granted a blessed end. And since in Baptism we have been given faith, that faith receives for us the promise of a joyful reunion.

We saw it with the widow and her son in Nain. Jesus raised the son back to life and gave him back to his mother. What was once a tearful funeral has become a joyful party following the resurrection of the dead.

We expect it with those who have died in the faith before us. We may still lament their loss and miss their presence, but when Christ shall return, our sorrow shall be turned to joy as they will be raised from the dead and be reunited with all who have been given faith.

We eagerly await this for all of us. The same promise has been made to all of us. For one day, our sorrow shall be turned to joy as those of us who have fallen asleep will be awakened and reunited with all of the saints whom God has called—commanded—to faith in Him.

Rejoice, then, ye sad-hearted, / Who sit in deepest gloom, / Who mourn o'er joys departed / And tremble at your doom. / Despair not, He is near you, / Yea, standing at the door, / Who best can help and cheer you / And bids you weep no more.
He comes to judge the nations, / A terror to His foes, / A Light of consolations / And blessed Hope to those / Who love the Lord's appearing. / O glorious Sun, now come, / Send forth Thy beams so cheering, / And guide us safely home.

Indeed, rejoice, He is near you...He has touched you and made you clean. He has commanded you to rise from the death of sin. He is always with you to help and cheer you as you despair over your sin—to bring to you and give to you consolation. He will come to guide you safely home. That is to say, you have God-given faith, faith which receives this Word of God: you are forgiven for all of your sins.