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| Jesus brings us from death to life! Luke 7:11-17 |
To be preached at St. John’s Lancaster on The Third Sunday After Pentecost MMXIII
I Kings 17:17-24
Psalm 30
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17
May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
The belief that God has the power to bring the dead to life stands at the center of our Christian faith. When we say, “I believe in the resurrection of the body,” we are talking about Jesus’ return to life, but we are also talking about our own. You see, resurrection is not just some vague idea about spooks popping up into heaven or the memory of good people living on in the hearts and minds of those who knew them. Resurrection means that as all of creation is redeemed, we will take our rightful place alongside of Jesus as his brothers and sisters, adopted by the Father through the blood of Jesus, by means of the everlasting covenant, in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this redemption, we shall be like him, possessing bodies like the body he exhibited in his post-resurrection appearances to over five hundred people. They touched him and handled him. They ate with him and walked with him. And they bore witness to a definite recognizable physicality that was transformed into what our Lord called his “spiritual body.”
Today’s lessons give us insights into what our resurrection will be like. When Elijah raised the widow’s son and Jesus raised that other widow’s son, the promise is renewed to all of us that we will live forever because of the power of God. In our second lesson, when St. Paul speaks of his transformation from Saul the persecutor into Paul the apostle, we see a raising to life no less real. I find it very interesting that in all three of these instances of “resurrection,” the witnesses give glory to God for what they experienced. Of Elijah it was said, “Now I know you are a man of God and the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth itself.” Of Jesus it was said, “A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.” Paul reports on the response to his transformation, his resurrection by the people of the churches. “…the one time persecutor was now preaching the faith he had previously tried to destroy. And they gave glory to God for me.” Don’t you find it interesting that in all three instances, when God does his miracle of resurrection, the people present give him the glory?
And now, that brings us to a much more personal question. All of us gathered here today to receive the body and blood of Jesus have been washed in the waters of baptism. We have “gone down with him and been raised anew.” Our old life of sin and selfishness and negativity and suspicion and has been forgiven and washed away in the waters of baptism. We are signed with the cross and marked as Christ’s own forever. The old man has died and we are now new creatures, waiting in hope that the promise of our transformation might be made perfect at his second coming to receive us as his own. The question is this: “Is there enough of transformation showing in your life that people give glory to God for the miracle that he has done?” When Elijah stretched himself three times on the body of the lad, everyone knew that God had performed a miracle. When Jesus walked up to the funeral procession and touched the man, everyone knew that God had done a miracle. When people considered what Saul had been, and what Paul had become, everyone knew that God had done a miracle.
When people look at how you treat others, at your daily attitudes at work or at home, at the consistency of your character, at how your belief in God impacts your politics, your business practices, your relationships, your willingness to follow the ten commandments, how you spend your money, and what you do with your time; do they know beyond any shadow of doubt that God has done a miracle in your life- that he has raised you from the dead and given you new life in Jesus Christ?
Words are cheap in our culture. The prevailing philosophies of our age excuse half-truths and encourage creative redefinition and agenda driven parsing of the language. Verbal religious witness of any kind, Christian or otherwise, has been made suspicious through the antics of those who employ the language of faith to take advantage of other people and to solidify their own power over others. That leaves the witness of the miracle of God’s grace in our lives as the most reliable witness to the truth of our faith. Our attitudes and actions, if they are consistent with the attitudes and actions of Jesus, if they are consistent with the clear teachings of the Bible, set the stage for people to accept the truth of our words. And that brings us back to the question, “Is there enough of transformation showing in your life that people give glory to God for the miracle that he has done?” In all probability, our friends and neighbors and co-workers will only open their hearts to the draw of God’s love in their own lives as they see the evidence of the change from death to life in our lives. In all probability, it is only as our competitors and enemies see the evidence of the change from death to life in our lives that they will be drawn to open their hearts to God’s love in their own lives.
Let us all on this day, as we approach this Holy Communion, seriously ask ourselves if people are able to see the miracle of God’s resurrection in our individual lives. As we identify our shortcomings and consider their consequences, might we come in faith, trusting God to transform us from death to life, and committing ourselves to follow those personal disciplines which will enable other people to see that we have been transformed into the image of Jesus. This is the path of faithful obedience. This is the way of true evangelism. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
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