On a dark and stormy night, an American, a Canadian and a Scotsman were in a bad car accident. All three were rushed to the hospital, though all three had died before they arrived. Just as they were about to put the toe tag on the American, he awoke and opened his eyes. Astonished, the doctors and nurses asked him what had happened.
The American replied, "I remember the crash, and then there was a bright white light, and then the Canadian and the Scotsman and I were standing at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter approached us and said that we were all too young to die, and that for a donation of $150 we could return to earth. So of course I pulled out my wallet and gave him the $150 and the next thing I knew I was back here".
One of the doctors said, "That's amazing, but what happened to the other two?"
The American replied, "Last I saw them, the Scotsman was haggling over the price, and the Canadian was waiting for the government to pay his."
Picture the scene in today's Gospel reading for a moment. The widow has just lost her only son. Since her husband is already dead, she is facing dire personal and financial trouble. In those days, widows were supported by the eldest son. To make matters worse, her son is being buried within 24 hours of his death, as was the custom at that time because of the problem of decomposition combined with the heat. She has not had time to even begin to comprehend the meaning of her loss.
As the funeral procession is leaving the village, Jesus and his followers arrive from the village of Nain. They immediately stop to let the funeral procession pass, something which many of us do today, although there are some who don't. When Jesus sees what is happening, he is moved by compassion. He comforts the widow, and then brings her son back to life.
This is not the first time Jesus has raised someone from the dead. He who is called the Word of Life in 1 John 1:1 is Lord of both the dead and the living according to Romans 14:9. This also parallels the Old Testament reading from 1 Kings 17:8-24 which we heard this morning in which Elijah raised the widow's son from the dead. The difference is in the way both dead sons were raised to life. Elijah laid his body on top of the body of the widow's son, whereas Jesus merely had to touch the body.
Someone pointed out that in each case where Jesus raised someone from the dead he called each dead person individually. He did this because if he would not have specified which person was to rise, every tomb in Israel and in the entire world may have opened up at his command. Jesus has that much power. Instead, the tombs of the other people and those who have died since then will be opened at the time of the Second Coming.
This is a story about miracles. Christ still works miracles in our lives today. Sometimes the miracles are the direct result of prayer. A good example of this involves our former Priest-in-Charge. Some of you may have heard that approximately a month and a half ago, his cancer returned; however, in an email he sent a couple of weeks ago, he said that according to tests he had earlier that day, there was no sign of the cancer at all! He has to visit his oncologist and other specialists for other tests to make sure that the cancer really is gone, but both he and his doctor, who is also a Christian, claim that this miracle was the direct result of the prayers, laying on of hands and anointing that he received as a member of the Order of St. Luke. Healing does not depend on the degree of faith we have or how righteous we are. If we have faith that is as small as a mustard seed, God can and will work miracles in our lives.
Healing and wholeness are first cousins. To be healed is to be made whole, and to be made whole is to be saved. God heals the body and the mind at the same time. God does not just heal on a whim. He does it so that we may see his glory, hear his word and sing his praises. God uses miracles as signs of his power.
All of Jesus' healings were the result of his compassion for people. When he saw the widow and her friends pass by, he assessed the situation and thought of a way to respond. He did not want to simply stand on the side of the road and watch the procession go by. He wanted to do something that would show these grieving people the kingdom of God-a kingdom which knows no grief. In order to put his plan into action, Jesus had to touch the coffin. In doing so, he broke one of the laws of that time. Under Jewish law, touching a dead body made a person unclean for seven days. Jesus didn't care about customs or rules. To him, faith, love and actions were more important. We do not have to fit into a set pattern to receive his help. He doesn't restrain his compassion because we fail to meet a good deed quota or because we don't say the right words, or because we don' follow the correct ritual.
You would think that the grieving widow would have been happy when Jesus showed his compassion, but that wasn't the case. Her grief turned to fear. This is understandable. After all, if we were in the same situation, we would probably be scared too. Her fear was a good fear though, because it led to the beginning of wisdom. It is fear as excitement or opportunity when our faith has found a whole new expression.
The key point in this story is not faith. It isn't about gratitude either. After all, Luke doesn't say if the widow or her son said "Thank you" to Jesus. This story is about grace-pure, unadulterated, undiluted, exclaimed, and unasked for grace. This miracle happens because Jesus has compassion for the widow just like he has compassion for us. Jesus does not offer political or economic solutions to modern problems. He gives us insight into God's way of dealing with human misery and distress with endless compassion and kindness.
Nothing is impossible with God. We can't, but God can. God can, if we believe God can, if we will let him, and be available to help if necessary. Because he sees and understands, he can give us the strength to carry on. Jesus understands because he has been there. He knows what it is like to grieve the loss of a loved one. After all, he grieved when Lazarus and John the Baptist died. He knows how parents feel when a child dies because he saw the agony that his mother Mary went through while he was dying on the cross. Even though Jesus is God's son, he is also the Son of Man. His compassion moves him to help us when we are hurting. He has a human nature that feels pain and compassion, sorrow and joy. He touches us in our times of hopelessness and despair and helps us to rise above our heartache. God can resurrect our hope and faith.
As I mentioned earlier, Christ works through miracles and shows his compassion today. His servants are on the job, and are inspired by their faith in Jesus. They are the doctors and nurses in our communities and hospitals. They are the chaplains and ministers who minister to the sick in hospitals, the inmates in prisons, or the families who have just lost a loved one. They are the funeral directors who provide help and comfort in times of death. They are the concerned neighbours and friends who send food or cards when someone has died. They are the unsung heroes who respond in times of disasters such as the recent earthquake in Haiti. They are the peacekeepers who are willing to risk life and limb for world peace. Most of them are anonymous, but they are people in whose faces the hurting people of the world can see the face of Christ.
Occasionally one of these Christian servants becomes famous. One example is Mother Theresa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with the people of India. During her ministry there, she and her co-workers saved thousands of lives and gave other thousands the chance to die with dignity, peace and compassion. When asked for the formula for her success, she did not talk about enlisting co-workers or raising funds or setting up beds. In her own words, she said that her secret was "Loving as Jesus loves, helping as He helps, giving as he gives, serving as He serves, rescuing as He rescues, being with Him for all the twenty-four hours, touching Him in His distressing disguise".
Many of you, especially those of you who are close to my age, might be familiar with Eric Clapton, the Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer. He is one of the most influential musicians of the rock era, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times. One warm spring day in 1991, he received a phone call from his wife telling him that they four and a half year old son Connor had just accidentally fallen to his death by crawling out of an open window in their New York apartment. He could not believe what he heard, so he rushed home and found emergency personnel everywhere. Only then did he realize that what his wife told him was true. Several months later he told Rolling Stone magazine, "I just turned to stone and wanted to go away....there was no way I could have ever prepared for what had happened. But in time I found that I couldn't avoid feeling the pain of Connor's death. I had to go through the suffering".
In the midst of his suffering, he turned to his music and wrote a very personal song to express his grief. That song became a popular hit called "Tears in Heaven", and its words speak of his search for the healing of his shattered heart, just like they can speak of the search anyone has for the healing of a shattered heart. These are some of the words he wrote:
"Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven?
Would you hold my hand, if I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong to carry on, 'cause I know I don't belong here in heaven."
The last words of the song are these:
"Beyond the door, there's peace for sure
And I know, there'll be no more tears in heaven"
Rick Warren once stated, "A crisis creates a moment in our lives when we can shift our dependence to something that can never be taken from us. Through it, God can teach us that we may lose our homes, our careers, our marriages, or our health, but we will never, ever lose our relationship with God. He promised to never leave us or forsake us-and that's an eternal security we can build our lives on." God knows our sorrow, and no matter how dark or painful our situation might be, Jesus can bring us hope. There will be times when we feel like rejecting that hope and embracing our despair. In times like that, we must seek God and allow him to light our path through grief and sadness into hope and joy.
I'd like to close with a personal story. May of 1987 was a busy month for my family. In the space of 10 days, we had my brother's wedding, my university graduation, and the death of my father's brother. My uncle was suffering from lung cancer and for years he and my father had not been very close. Unfortunately that did not change until we heard from a mutual friend that my uncle was dying and that my father should go and see him for one last time. My parents went to spend a few days with him, and just before they left to return home, my uncle said to my father, "Why are you leaving?" In other words, he knew his time was short, and in fact he died ten days later. Dad went to the funeral, and sometime later he told me that the last thing my uncle said to his wife before he died was, "I'll see you in heaven".
My uncle was a licentiate in the Baptist church, so he had a strong faith-a faith that did not waiver in the face of his terminal illness and death. He knew that in spite of his suffering Jesus would show him and his family compassion. He knew that Jesus is the Great Comforter-and that same knowledge can give us hope and comfort in times of pain and suffering.
Craig Condon, Lay Minister, Anglican Parish of South Queens, Liverpool, NS Canada. He can be reached by email at craig.condon2@ns.sympatico.ca.
