Sermon – Luke 7:11-16 – Jesus’ Heart Went Out to Her

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Luke 7:11-16 – Jesus’ Heart Went Out to Her

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

June 5, 2016

            Before we begin I would like to give you an interim update.  Almost a year and a half ago I came to Ocean City as your interim pastor to help you with the transition to a new pastor.  You had just said goodbye to Rev. Ayers when we started on our journey together.  As an interim pastor my job is to bring adaptive change to the congregation.  I saw that the church focused inwardly on what it did, breakfasts, rummage sales, fellowship groups and worship.  The church needed to focus outward toward the community to see who lives here and what God is up to in their lives.  To that end I provided training in evangelism and started the new praise and healing service.  We are already seeing increased attendance, increased giving, and balanced budgets.

            The congregation of the church has approved a mission study and has selected a Pastor Nominating Committee, PNC.  Your PNC has been hard at work finding suitable candidates, and interviewing finalists.  There is still more work to do, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

            This transition period also provides Grace and me with an opportunity to see where God is calling us.  My Dad just turned 89 and lives alone in a retirement home in northern Virginia.  I would love to live closer to him by serving a church in the Washington DC area.  I haven’t found a church there yet, but as soon as I do Grace and I will hope to there.  Because of this I have told your PNC that I will not be available as your installed pastor.  It just wouldn’t be fair to you for me to be installed as this church pastor when where I really need to be is back home near my father.

            So on behalf of the PNC and myself I ask you to be patient and pray that God will send to you a great pastor and will send me to a church near my Dad.  Let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

            Last week we heard the story of the healing of a centurion’s slave.  Jesus was amazed at the faith of the centurion who got the people he worshiped with and his friends to take his concerns to Jesus.  We learned from this that we too can ask our church and friends to pray for our concerns.  Today we will again see faithfulness and concern, but the person with concern for someone else and filled with great faith is Jesus.  (Luke 7:11-17)

11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. 

            To recap the story. Jesus and his people have made a journey a few miles from Nazareth to a village called Nain.  As they are about the enter the village they see a funeral procession.  A young man has died and his widowed mother is overcome with grief.  Jesus is overcome with emotion when he sees this widow who has lost her only son.  And so he brings her dead son back to life.

            Why did Jesus have such compassion for this woman?  I think it was because she had lost her only means of support.  Without a husband or son to support her she would be destitute.  She would literally live on the margins of society eating food she gleaned from the edges of fields owned by generous and faithful farmers.  When Jesus saw such gut wrenching poverty he was moved and reached out his hand to raise her son back to life.

            1.2 billion people live in this gut wrenching poverty in the world today.  What would it look like to live like one of them?  They live in shacks with little more than a wood table and a chair.  They might have a change of clothes, but only the head of household would have any shoes.  In place of kitchen appliances they would have a box of matches.  In the panty there would be a small bag of flour, some salt and sugar, onions and a box of dried beans.  There is no running water or electricity.  There is one radio in the village.  The nearest clinic is ten miles away attended by a midwife.  The nearest doctor and hospital is 200 miles away.  They have about $5.00 in savings and make around $2.00 a day. (from Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ronald J. Sider, pp.1,2)

            None of us could live this way.  What does Jesus thinks when he sees this on earth?  I think Jesus’ heart would go out to them.  The problem is not that God created a world of shortages and scarcity.  God created a world of abundance where everyone can proper.  The reason that 1.2 billion people live in grinding poverty is the sin of economic injustice.  God commanded us to treat the poor with justice.  (Exodus 23:6) 

“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.”

The Psalmist asked God to help the king provide justice for the poor. (Psalm 72:1-4)

1“Endow the king with your justice, O God,

    the royal son with your righteousness.

2 May he judge your people in righteousness,

    your afflicted ones with justice.

3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

    the hills the fruit of righteousness.

4 May he defend the afflicted among the people

    and save the children of the needy;

    may he crush the oppressor. 

And the prophets issued warnings to those who would deny justice to the poor. (Amos 5:10-15)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
    and detest the one who tells the truth.

¹¹ You levy a straw tax on the poor
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
    you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.
¹² For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
¹³ Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
    for the times are evil.

¹⁴ Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵ Hate evil, love good;
    maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
    on the remnant of Joseph.

God is especially concerned about economic justice for the alien, the widow and the orphan. (Exodus 22:21-24)

²¹ “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

²² “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. ²³ If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. ²⁴ My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

So what does Jesus want us to do about the poor?  He told us this. (Luke 14:12-14)

¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

            We are to invite the poor into our homes for a meal.  How many of us have obeyed Jesus by doing this?  I know of one family in this church who has invited one of the ESL students who came here all winter into her home.  They tutor his children.  And I think they help the parents with their English.  They will be repaid for this service in the resurrection.

           

            And here is something else Jesus told us to do. (Luke 6 32-35)

³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

            Jesus says we are to lend to the poor without any expectation of getting the money back.  How many of us do this?  What if we treated the poor with abundant generosity?  Wouldn’t we live in a much better world?

            So what if we don’t do any of this?  What if we live our lives with the poor out of sight and out of mind?  What if we live our lives blessed with prosperity but denying justice for the poor?  Listen to the prophet Isaiah. (Isaiah 1:10-17)

10 Hear the word of the Lord,
    you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ “The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
    Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.
¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.^[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.  (Isaiah 1:10-17)

And Jesus said: (Matthew 25:41-43)

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 

Failure to care for the poor separates us from God.  But Jesus also said this.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  (Matthew 25:34-36)

            Jesus is concerned about economic justice.  He wants the poor cared for.  He wants their needs met.  Jesus’ heart goes out to them.  If we are to be his followers we must care for the poor and work for economic justice.  Our hearts must go out to the poor as well.  Let’s pray.

            Lord Jesus, we confess that sometimes we look away when a poor person approaches.  We fail to see economic injustice here in our own land.  And we ignore economic injustice around the world.  We know that we live in a created world of abundance.  And we confess that poverty is a result of the sin of injustice.  Help us to see the poor in our community.  Help us to understand their needs.  Help us to respond to their needs and work for economic justice.  We pray this in your name.  Amen.

Sermon Luke 7:1-10 Jesus was Amazed

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon  Luke 7:1-10 Jesus was Amazed

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

May 29, 2016

            Before we begin this morning I would like to talk a little bit about liturgical colors.  People have asked me why the communion table is decorated in green this week, was white last week, and red the week before.  The answer is that we use color to help us remember the different phases of the church calendar.  Two weeks ago was Pentecost.  On Pentecost we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit as flying tongues of fire and so the color is red.  Last week was Trinity Sunday.  On Trinity Sunday we remember that the one God we worship exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  For this Holy Trinity, we use white.  Today is green because we have entered into a period of ordinary time as opposed to the extraordinary time when we remember the important events of Jesus’ life.   Ordinary Time will continue until next Advent when we will once again decorate in purple to prepare for Jesus’ birth.  The color for Ordinary Time is green.  One final note, on the first Sunday of every month we have communion.  It is the tradition of this church to use white as we gather around the communion table.  I hope this helps you to understand the liturgical colors as we use them in this church.

            Usually you and I talk about what Jesus said and did.  But sometime Jesus’ words and deeds are not as important as his feelings about something.  And that is the case today.  Luke tells us that Jesus was amazed at something.  And we need to figure out what amazed him.  We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)   

            Several centuries before Jesus, there existed in Israel a prophet named Elisha.  In the fifth chapter of the book of 2 Kings there is a story about a army general named Naaman who came to the prophet Elisha to be healed from leprosy.  Naaman washed himself seven times in the Jordan river and was healed.  This confirmed that Elisha was a great prophet.

            The question on everyone’s mind as Jesus traveled the Galilean countryside was whether or not Jesus was another great prophet like Elisha.  Jesus was a great prophet and proved it by healing the servant of another military officer.  Let’s hear what happened.

Luke 7:1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

            Here is a brief recap of the story.  An officer in the Roman Army, a centurion, has a sick slave and wants Jesus to heal him.  So the officer sent elders of the synagogue and then some friends to Jesus to ask him to heal the servant.   Jesus healed the servant, but was amazed at the faith exhibited in this story.  Why was Jesus amazed?  What caused his amazement?

            One possibility was that Jesus was amazed at the faith of the centurion.  And it is true that the centurion had strong faith.  He was probably a God-fearer.  God-fearers believed in God, but they were not Jews because they were neither descended from Abraham nor circumcised.  Because of the this they were permitted only limited participation in the synagogue.  (By the way, they later flocked into churches because we had no requirement of lineage from Abraham or circumcism.)  Jesus would not have been surprised by the faith of a God-fearer because there were many of them in his day.  Nor would he be amazed at the faith of a centurion.  In Matthew’s gospel Jesus met with a faithful centurion asking for healing for his daughter.  So there is nothing about the faith of the centurion which would surprise Jesus.

            Another thing about faith:  Faith is not something we do.  Faith is something we receive.  Faith is a gift from God.  We could not believe unless God graciously allows us to believe.  So if we can declare with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, then we have received the spiritual gift of faith.  If the faith of the centurion was gift from God then it would not have amazed God’s son.

            Another possibility is that Jesus was amazed at the faith of the synagogue elders who pleaded with him to heal the servant.  But Jesus couldn’t be amazed at the faith of the elders.  They had to already be extremely faithful people to become elders.  And an elder’s job is to measure and nurture the faith of the members of synagogue.  They did this by telling Jesus that the centurion’s faith was extremely strong because of his contribution to the building fund.  The faith of these elders would come as no surprise to Jesus. 

            So what about the centurion’s friends?  Maybe their faith amazed Jesus.  They told Jesus of the centurion’s humility, his feeling of unworthiness in coming into the presence of Jesus even though the centurion was a very powerful man.  But many people told Jesus about their friends and loved ones. The faith of the centurion’s friends was not remarkable in any way, and would not have amazed Jesus. 

            So what amazed Jesus?  Remember what he said.

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

            Jesus would not have been amazed at the Centurion’s faith, or elders’ faith or the friend’s, faith.  The faith of all these was gift from God that Jesus would have known about.  But, what was surprising was what the centurion did as a result of his faith.  This did surprise Jesus.  So let’s go back and see what happened.

            First, the centurion had great compassion for his slave.  Slavery, at this time was essentially a humane alternative to debtors prison.  Rather than going to prison for debts owed a debtor could pay off his obligations through the institution of slavery.  We don’t know much about the centurion’s slave.  We don’t know if the slave had any faith at all.  Neither do we know if he was a Hebrew or gentile.   All we know is that a faithful centurion had compassion for him and wanted Jesus to heal him.  And that was enough.  If we pray for someone’s healing, even if that person has no faith of his own, our faith is sufficient for Jesus to hear our prayers. The centurion’s compassion for his slave could have amazed Jesus as does our compassion for others.  So continue to pray for the people you know who need Jesus’ healing.  Jesus will hear you prayer and will be amazed at your compassion.

            The second thing the centurion did was to ask the elders of the community to ask Jesus for healing.  This also would have surprised Jesus.  Plenty of people asked for healing for themselves for a loved one.  But what the centurion did was to get the people he worshiped with in the synagogue to pray too.  And this amazed Jesus.  Of course we can do the same.  If we need healing, or if we know of someone who needs healing, we can bring this to the church and ask for prayers.  When the members of the church and the elders all pray for someone’s healing, Jesus is amazed at our faith.

            We do this well in this church.  Graison and Betty send out prayer requests on a regular basis through email.  And Pete works with our secretary to put prayer concerns in our bulletin.  We are doing exactly what the centurion did.  We are bringing prayer concerns to the people we worship with and all of us together offer these prayers to Jesus.  And this amazes Jesus.  Remember what he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

            So the centurion amazed Jesus by his great compassion for his slave and by asking the elders to bring his concerns to Jesus.  There is one more thing that he did that amazed Jesus.  He asked his friends to take his concerns to Jesus.  And we can do this too.  We can ask our friends to pray for us or others when needs arise.  And this too will amaze Jesus.

            We see all of this at work in the church today.  Shirley Warren has great compassion for her granddaughter Kelsey.  Kelsey has Lyme disease after a tick bite years ago.  She is too sick to go to school, and needs a wheelchair to get around.  The doctors don’t seem to know what to do.  So Shirley prays for her granddaughter.  And Shirley askes us, the people she worships with, to also pray for Kelsey.  Shirley asks everyone to pray for Kelsey every week.  And if all of us take Shirley’s concerns to Jesus in our prayers then Jesus will be amazed at our faith.  And remember, Jesus can heal.

            Jesus heard the centurion’s prayers.  He heard prayers of the elders and prayers of his friends.  An amazed Jesus healed the centurion’s slave.  And by doing this Jesus established that he was a great prophet like Elisha. 

            So, if you know of someone who needs healing take you concerns to Jesus in prayer and ask for healing.  Also ask your church to pray.  Ask your friends to pray.  And when all these prayers, day after day, reach Jesus’ ears he will be amazed at your faith.  And like he did for the centurion’s slave, Jesus heals today too.  So keep praying.

            Lord Jesus we offer up to you today our prayer concerns.  We ask that you hear our prayers.  We ask for your healing touch on us and on those we love.  We are all praying together because we know this amazes you.  This we pray in your glorious name.  Amen.