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Wednesday, June 8, 2016

June 5, 2016 Luke 7.11-17



Soon afterwards Jesus 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, or coffin, 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.

***
I tried to imagine two crowds, one of disciples and followers and the other of funeral procession mourners coming together at the narrow gate of the town, Nain. I imagined the mix of emotion sorting and blending through that gate. Would the followers become solemn, would the mourners become lighter? What might have been the feeling in that narrow passageway and how does that feeling tell us about this text?

I tried to imagine it, but Deb Trapp had seen it. In grad school she worshiped at a church which shared the same large city block. One particular Saturday the church had two funerals, one at eleven, the other at one, and the football started in-between. Deb was helping with arrangements for the first funeral and felt the buzz around downtown with parishioners hoping the funeral would get out in time to catch the bus to the game. There was a way that the exuberance of the oncoming game was creeping into present funeral, and I wonder if these two Biblical crowds were much different.

I imagine the hired mourners and the pall bearers all dressed regally with their slow deliberate procession toward the burial site. I imagine the routine of it, and for the mother and those who knew her, and her son, I imagine the grief of it. I imagine Jesus’ followers in a mostly true wandering along in he clothes they were wearing when they met Jesus. I imagine and their excitement and hope as like rooting for a team. It is hard to imagine how those mix. What do you wear to funeral that you can also wear to football game? What fight song mixes with Amazing Grace? The closest I can imagine is how we sing the Star Spangled Banner and then yell, “Play Ball!” I think Jesus wanted everyone to play ball. 

When the Lord saw the woman, he had compassion for her and said to her, 
“Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, or coffin, and the bearers stood still, as if their funeral procession had walked right on the field without knowing it and Jesus ball in hand was watching the coin toss and calling it, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” He picked heads and it was heads. The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, because funerals and game day don’t mix. The Hail Mary Pass is just supposed to get the ball into the end zone, not raise the dead. These are two very things and to compare them is almost insult to those who suffer and those grieve. But I think with Jesus what we have to do is to compare them, because with Jesus nothing is outside the realm of possibility. There will be great upsets, there will be unexpected miracles, and common people will do extraordinary things. I think this is part of why we Americans love and watch sports, because in them lie great stories, stories which give us hope for something different than common. But here too, in this little play book of the Bible, are also great stories, of overcoming the odds, of the little guy coming out on top, or the unexpected winning, of hard work and perseverance and achievement, and perhaps like this mother and her son, being in the exact right place at the right time, all squished in at the nave of the town gate, the mourners and the followers. 

What I love about this game, and the best games in the New Testament, is that everyone goes home having won. Even people like Zaccheaus, who is so short he has to climb a tree just to see Jesus, goes home having won the chance to host Jesus. Even the woman who is about to be stoned for being caught in the act of adultery goes home having won her life and her persecutors having won their dignity by not having to stone her. With the workers who are all paid the same wage at the end of the day of various work, they have each won. With the prodigal son, if the other son can accept the grace, the whole family has a chance of winning. Can you tell I am a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, I was taught from a young age, before they won anything significant, to always root for the underdog, and especially against the Yankees.  And I think Jesus does the same. Here they all go home telling the same story, “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. 

So today, I invite you to try to find the overarching narrative where the unexpected, the underdog, the miracle is alive, where Jesus is at work. Who will cross that field at graduation that you never expected? Who will see justice that you thought would never be brought to light? Who will reconcile when reconciliation seemed impossible? What did you think had died that might be coming alive again? Our music ministry, our youth program, a friendship? Where will healing take place? Where will a funeral feel like game day?