1 Kings 17:17-24/Ephesians 3:13-21/St Luke 7:11-17
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
When nineteen jihadist attackers slammed two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and another into the Pentagon fifteen years ago, they saw themselves as heroes of an apocalyptic holy war. Fifteen years later, wars still rage. Afghanistan and Iraq may seem very far away, until you visit a military hospital and see the men missing legs and arms and fingers who will never be the same. Wars of words also rage. Atheists blame religion of every stripe for all the world’s ills.
It’s important for us to recognize that we are at war. The war is not with Islam nor any nation or terrorist group. The war is not with the atheists or secular humanists. The war is not with the LGBT lobby or the murderers of children, those born and yet unborn. The war is not between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, black and white, men and women.
The war is between good and evil, between light and darkness. The war is between life and death.
And St Luke plays the role of war correspondent for us this morning as he records the events of the great battle of Nain. Two units. Two armies. One of death. One of life. The one proceeds in solemn formation, considerable in size, powerful and tenacious. Marching through the city, gathering up all in its wake. Everyone a victim. Everyone held captive. It moves with precision and skill, striking with ferocity and without remorse. This is the army of Satan, the mob of death.
And like all evil hordes, it claims the lives of young men. A young man who had died leads this battalion. The devil has done his work, he doesn’t show himself, but remains in hiding. The dead young man says it all. The only son of his mother. A widow. She is left alone. Forsaken. Forgotten. He is hoisted up on the funeral bier, carried outside the city in solemn mourning as just the latest victim of that fiercest of all enemies, the true terror and the greatest threat to real liberty - Death.
But against this seemingly unconquerable force comes another procession. Another crowd. One of life. Whereas the first group comes in sorrow and mourning, moving under the banner of death. This group proceeds in joy and hope, the banner of life flying above them. And at their head, their Captain and Chief, another only-begotten Son, the very Lord of Life, even Jesus Christ.
Set before our eyes this morning is a great battle in man’s war against death. We try to stave it off. Ignore it. Shuffle it off to homes and hospices. We try to give it all sorts of euphemistic names. But that last great enemy, that evil tyrant that enslaves us all is death.
And so Jesus meets this procession of death and He steps in front of the bier. He halts the funeral procession. The enemy shall not pass. Jesus stops death, dead in its tracks. In deep compassion for the widow, the Lord of Life commands the grieving mother, “Stop weeping. For this is not final. This is not the end. I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.”
And He reaches out in retaliation against the tyranny of death. Jesus extends His hand, the very hand of the Lord God that formed man from the dust of the earth, and He touches the bier. He lays His hand upon the casket. And with a Word that called forth life and light in the beginning, the Lord Jesus says to the dead man, Young man, I say to you arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother. He restores this prisoner of war back to his community, back to his vocation.
In fear and holy awe the crowd begins the ticker-tape parade for the conquering hero. But Jesus is not finished. He has not come merely to bring dead sons home to their mothers. He has come to undo the power of death. To topple the entire organization. To break the chains of sin, of death, and of the power of the devil. For this the only-begotten Son of the Father must journey into the very belly of the beast. This is His mission. He sets His face toward the Holy City, toward Jerusalem, the city that stoned the prophets and killed those sent to her, that He might unseat death and end his reign of terror.
His weapons of destruction are His own flesh and blood. With Cross in hand He climbs the hill to place His emblem of victory. For He does not simply touch death; He doesn’t merely put His hand on the bier. Jesus enters into your very death Himself. He goes outside the gates of the city and allows Satan to unleash all his destruction all his hatred upon Him. He gives Himself over to the enemy. He sacrifices Himself for you. The devil spends all his energy in killing Jesus and finally, when he spent, he falls on his own sword.
For there, on the garbage dump outside the city, on the stoney ground known as the Place of a Skull, Jesus Christ, the great Prophet of the Most High God, was martyred in glorious battle in order to win you for Himself. Not seventy-two virgins, but a holy and spotless Bride, purchased with His own precious blood. And His Cross is now the Tower erected over the battlefield where life and death contended. The victory remained with life, the reign of death was ended.
And you, dear Christians, have been conscripted for battle, to fight in this war. For you have been drenched in the baptismal waters, tinged red with the Blood of the Lamb, and trained up in the catechesis of the Word, nourished by the Holy Supper and the blessed liturgy. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the ruler, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Eph 6:10-13).
You are at war. So when the question of the widow of Zarepheth, “Where is God in all of this?,” is your question; when your sin is brought to your remembrance and you fear death; when you are weak in faith, go, then, in spirit and Word, to Nain.
“See how Christ seizes death by its jaws and took his plunder from him. Rejoice that you believe in such a great Savior and Lord, who speaks and it is done, who commands and it stands fast. And, my dear Christian, if you are attacked by your sins, if you are anxious for comfort because of your misdeeds, return quickly to Nain; there you will find comfort in the Lord Christ. If you are frightened by death, if you must weep at the grace of your loved ones [who have gone before you], you also hurry in spirit to Nain. For Jesus Christ who turned tears of sorrow into tears of joy, can also dry your tears. Finally, my dear Christian, if the thought of your own last hour worries you, take the Word of Christ into your heart, Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Walther, Gospel Sermons, Vol 2 p154-55).
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
When nineteen jihadist attackers slammed two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and another into the Pentagon fifteen years ago, they saw themselves as heroes of an apocalyptic holy war. Fifteen years later, wars still rage. Afghanistan and Iraq may seem very far away, until you visit a military hospital and see the men missing legs and arms and fingers who will never be the same. Wars of words also rage. Atheists blame religion of every stripe for all the world’s ills.
It’s important for us to recognize that we are at war. The war is not with Islam nor any nation or terrorist group. The war is not with the atheists or secular humanists. The war is not with the LGBT lobby or the murderers of children, those born and yet unborn. The war is not between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, black and white, men and women.
The war is between good and evil, between light and darkness. The war is between life and death.
And St Luke plays the role of war correspondent for us this morning as he records the events of the great battle of Nain. Two units. Two armies. One of death. One of life. The one proceeds in solemn formation, considerable in size, powerful and tenacious. Marching through the city, gathering up all in its wake. Everyone a victim. Everyone held captive. It moves with precision and skill, striking with ferocity and without remorse. This is the army of Satan, the mob of death.
And like all evil hordes, it claims the lives of young men. A young man who had died leads this battalion. The devil has done his work, he doesn’t show himself, but remains in hiding. The dead young man says it all. The only son of his mother. A widow. She is left alone. Forsaken. Forgotten. He is hoisted up on the funeral bier, carried outside the city in solemn mourning as just the latest victim of that fiercest of all enemies, the true terror and the greatest threat to real liberty - Death.
But against this seemingly unconquerable force comes another procession. Another crowd. One of life. Whereas the first group comes in sorrow and mourning, moving under the banner of death. This group proceeds in joy and hope, the banner of life flying above them. And at their head, their Captain and Chief, another only-begotten Son, the very Lord of Life, even Jesus Christ.
Set before our eyes this morning is a great battle in man’s war against death. We try to stave it off. Ignore it. Shuffle it off to homes and hospices. We try to give it all sorts of euphemistic names. But that last great enemy, that evil tyrant that enslaves us all is death.
And so Jesus meets this procession of death and He steps in front of the bier. He halts the funeral procession. The enemy shall not pass. Jesus stops death, dead in its tracks. In deep compassion for the widow, the Lord of Life commands the grieving mother, “Stop weeping. For this is not final. This is not the end. I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.”
And He reaches out in retaliation against the tyranny of death. Jesus extends His hand, the very hand of the Lord God that formed man from the dust of the earth, and He touches the bier. He lays His hand upon the casket. And with a Word that called forth life and light in the beginning, the Lord Jesus says to the dead man, Young man, I say to you arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother. He restores this prisoner of war back to his community, back to his vocation.
In fear and holy awe the crowd begins the ticker-tape parade for the conquering hero. But Jesus is not finished. He has not come merely to bring dead sons home to their mothers. He has come to undo the power of death. To topple the entire organization. To break the chains of sin, of death, and of the power of the devil. For this the only-begotten Son of the Father must journey into the very belly of the beast. This is His mission. He sets His face toward the Holy City, toward Jerusalem, the city that stoned the prophets and killed those sent to her, that He might unseat death and end his reign of terror.
His weapons of destruction are His own flesh and blood. With Cross in hand He climbs the hill to place His emblem of victory. For He does not simply touch death; He doesn’t merely put His hand on the bier. Jesus enters into your very death Himself. He goes outside the gates of the city and allows Satan to unleash all his destruction all his hatred upon Him. He gives Himself over to the enemy. He sacrifices Himself for you. The devil spends all his energy in killing Jesus and finally, when he spent, he falls on his own sword.
For there, on the garbage dump outside the city, on the stoney ground known as the Place of a Skull, Jesus Christ, the great Prophet of the Most High God, was martyred in glorious battle in order to win you for Himself. Not seventy-two virgins, but a holy and spotless Bride, purchased with His own precious blood. And His Cross is now the Tower erected over the battlefield where life and death contended. The victory remained with life, the reign of death was ended.
And you, dear Christians, have been conscripted for battle, to fight in this war. For you have been drenched in the baptismal waters, tinged red with the Blood of the Lamb, and trained up in the catechesis of the Word, nourished by the Holy Supper and the blessed liturgy. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the ruler, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Eph 6:10-13).
You are at war. So when the question of the widow of Zarepheth, “Where is God in all of this?,” is your question; when your sin is brought to your remembrance and you fear death; when you are weak in faith, go, then, in spirit and Word, to Nain.
“See how Christ seizes death by its jaws and took his plunder from him. Rejoice that you believe in such a great Savior and Lord, who speaks and it is done, who commands and it stands fast. And, my dear Christian, if you are attacked by your sins, if you are anxious for comfort because of your misdeeds, return quickly to Nain; there you will find comfort in the Lord Christ. If you are frightened by death, if you must weep at the grace of your loved ones [who have gone before you], you also hurry in spirit to Nain. For Jesus Christ who turned tears of sorrow into tears of joy, can also dry your tears. Finally, my dear Christian, if the thought of your own last hour worries you, take the Word of Christ into your heart, Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Walther, Gospel Sermons, Vol 2 p154-55).
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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