Luke 7:11-17
The Widow of Nain
Woodlawn Baptist Church
November 5, 2006
Introduction
Read Luke 7:11-17. There are many great and inspiring texts in the Scriptures – passages that take us to lofty heights and leave us there on the mountaintop for a while, allowing us to gaze on the majesty and glory of God, giving us a moment to draw in deep breaths of His freshness as we see His wonders. Jesus calms the raging sea; He walks on water, feeds five thousand. Moses parts the Red Sea, God speaks a world into existence, and Daniel is saved from the mouths of hungry lions. At first glance, this is not one of those texts. In fact, this text is one of sorrow and misery: recounting for us the pitiful state of a woman who, having first lost her husband has now lost her only son and is left alone in this world.
The story of the centurion that we studied last week is an inspiring text. The man has great faith. He appeals to Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus speaks the word from a distance and the man is healed. The centurion’s faith amazes Jesus so that He wonders why His own people don’t have that kind of faith. We are challenged to be a people of faith too. But as much as that passage moves us, most of us probably more readily identify with this woman.
Some of you know the deep pain of having had to bury a son or a daughter, whether a child or an adult. It never seems natural. You know what it is like to be alone in the world after burying a husband or a wife. Beyond that is the pain of living in a world where we find ourselves at a loss – a loss of hope, of the will to go on, of the ability to even care any more. Life beats us down. The drudgery of life takes its toll on our marriages, our jobs and on our financial security. Health concerns, the rising costs of getting along and sometimes just wishing you had a few days to stop and catch your breath can all leave us feeling empty, isolated and numb. We begin to wonder whether Jesus hears our prayers or notices our tears. At that point we need more than a few platitudes that encourage us to have a new attitude or to cheer up. It is in those moments when we are in deep need of an encounter with Jesus Christ – the only real source of hope and help for a hurting people.
As we look back through this passage of Scripture, I want to make two assertions that I believe can help each of us walk through the tough moments of life and end up like those people we see in verse 16, who were moved with fear as “they glorified God, recognizing that God has visited us.”
Sorrow Is Here To Stay
In Romans 6:23 Paul said that “the wages of sin is death.” In Romans 5:12 he said that “sin entered the world…and death through sin.” James wrote that when “sin is full-grown it brings forth death.” Don’t ever forget the reality of sin. Sin always – and I repeat, ALWAYS leads to sorrow. It may seem fun or satisfying for a moment, but the result is always the same.
In Luke 7 we become witnesses to a sad funeral procession. I’ve never been to one that wasn’t mournful or sorrowful, but here is an exceptionally sorrowful funeral. Verse 14 indicates that the son who died was a young man, meaning anything from twenty-five up to around thirty-five or even forty. He is the only son of a widow lady. What grief she must bear as she is left alone to fend for herself in a culture that would have viewed this loss as the judgment of God for something she had done. She doesn’t just bury a son with great sorrow – she will have to walk back to town with shame as well. But listen, God didn’t create the world this way. In the beginning it was all very good; sin changed it all.
In his commentary on the book of Luke, J.C. Ryle wrote,
“We must never forget this truth. The world around us is full of sorrow. Sickness and pain and poverty and trouble abound on every side. From one end of the world to the other families are sad and mourn. And where does all this come from? Sin is the foundation and root to which everything can be traced back. There would never have been any tears or illness or death or funerals on the earth if there had been no sin…let us lay blame at the right door. Let us lay the blame on sin…”
We don’t talk a lot about sin any more, but we need to be reminded of the reality of its ugliness and the fact that it always has and always will result in sorrow and trouble. The wages of sin is death – and should a man or woman remain in sin they’ll spend an eternity suffering the torment of death in hell. So I beg you, if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, if you’ve never repented of your sins and put your faith in Him to save you then take what God is saying to you seriously.
We must take sin seriously. We need to wake up to the fact that the sorrow and shame and guilt and mourning that takes place in our own lives is the result of sin, and too often it isn’t just the presence of sin in the world, but sin in our own lives. We’ve got to get past calling a few things we don’t agree with sin and start recognizing our sins: our sins of worry and bitterness and unforgiveness and gluttony and not sharing our faith and pride and laziness and much, much more! If we’re ever going to begin dealing with the sorrows and tragedies of life and find hope and healing then we must quit blaming and accusing God and start seeing that the blame lies with sin.
Jesus Cares About Your Sorrow
When Jesus walked up to this funeral procession, He did two things that were socially unacceptable. First, he interrupted the procession. You can imagine what might happen if we were at a funeral somewhere to pay respects to your loved one and I just walked in off the street and started speaking to you while the preacher was in the middle of the service. Or better yet, we’re driving to the cemetery and a stranger drives up and blocks the hearse, stops the procession and comes to the family car to speak to the family. Jesus poked His head into this funeral procession, walks right up to the widow who is burying her son and says to her, “Don’t cry.”
Then He went even farther. He walked over to the men carrying the body and touched the coffin, or the board that the body had been laid upon, making Himself unclean according to the Law. Everyone was in shock. You just don’t do this! Verse 14 says that the pallbearers stood still – they didn’t know what to do! But Jesus did. With His hand on the coffin He doesn’t pray, He doesn’t offer platitudes, He doesn’t sing Amazing Grace or anything else like that – He simply says to the dead man, “Arise.” “Get up!”
Verse 15 records the great news – “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And Jesus delivered him to his mother.” In case you’re missing this I want you to notice that this miracle isn’t about the dead man. Jesus didn’t perform it for him. The entire story demonstrates Jesus’ love and compassion, not for the man but for his mother!
It was she who was filled with sorrow, alone and scared in the world that Jesus approached, to whom He spoke simple words, to whom He restored a living son. She was the one filled with grief, who was hurting and was in need of His gentle hand of mercy.
This should come as no surprise. Jesus began His ministry by entering a synagogue in Nazareth, where he took up the scroll of Isaiah and read these words,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
That’s exactly what Jesus was doing at this funeral procession! And think about this curious little detail: Jesus read those words in a synagogue only six miles from where He is currently carrying out His words! Remember what He had preached only days before this event in Luke 6?
“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”
Jesus cares about your sorrow! He brings hope where there is only despair. He brings light where there is only darkness. He brings laughter and joy where there is only sorrow. He brings life where there is only death!
What had this woman done to deserve this act of compassion and love? Nothing! We look at the centurion and are impressed with his great faith, but this woman had no faith. She had nothing, had done nothing, believed nothing. In fact, she didn’t even say anything. Jesus walks up to her and there she stood. I can picture her in my mind weeping and wailing, having torn her clothes, throwing dirt on her head. She hasn’t eaten since he died the day before. She’s a mess! But into that mess of a situation steps the loving, caring Christ, tells her not to cry and restores to her the only son she has and in so doing restores to her everything! Now she has hope. Now she has joy. Now she can laugh. Now she has no disgrace. Now there is no shame. Now there is no mourning, no sorrow, no tears – only great praise for the God who has visited His people. Why? Because Jesus cares about our sorrow!
Conclusion
Now a question comes up, and a valid question that you may find yourself asking today or in your own moments of sorrow. Why does it feel like God doesn’t care about my sorrow? My child was sick, but died anyway. My child died and God left him or her dead. There was no miracle, no rising from the dead. My husband…my wife…my mother, my father is dead. My life is bad, my marriage is bad, my job is bad.
I have sorrow, not joy. I have disparity, not hope. I feel like something in me is dying. Where is God in all my hurting? What kind of God promises healing and hope and freedom and leaves me alone in my troubles? That sounds like a rather cruel God to me!
It’s the same frustration Martha and Mary expressed when their brother Lazarus died. Their brother is sick and on his death bed. They send to Jesus for help. The caring, comforting, compassionate Jesus takes a leisurely four days to stroll over there, and when He arrives Lazarus is dead. He’s been dead! Listen to Martha’s frustration, “If you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.” Mary echoed her words.
Think about the frustration Moses expressed to God as he wondered why God would cause him to bring two million people out of Egypt, only to leave him floundering with them in the desert. If anyone had a bad job it was Moses. If anyone could complain about loneliness it was Moses. If anyone could feel helpless and in despair it was this man Moses.
What about David? Listen to the words of Psalm 13. Maybe you identify with them.
“How long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
The text we have read in Luke is a beautiful story. Jesus rides in on the white horse and saves the day. But the fact of the matter is that He doesn’t always work that way. In fact, more times than not your circumstances do not change. When people die they usually stay dead. When people get terminally sick they usually suffer and stay sick. Bad jobs will often stay bad. Parents that are having great trouble with their kids usually continue to have trouble for years to come. Marriages can and will struggle for years and years. You keep hoping God will knock your husband or wife over the head and show them the light, but often times it never happens.
You walk in the garage and the dryer is on fire. We’re passing through the hall and the washer is flooding. You’re in line at the store and the credit card won’t work. Christmas is coming up and you haven’t been saving for it. The kids get sick and you’re out of sick time at work. How much does that prescription cost? Another special offering? Another fundraiser? Another sports activity? The toilet is stopped; the phone is ringing and what? You’ve gained two more pounds? Sometimes life just seems to cave in on us.
So what then? Why does it feel like God doesn’t care about my sorrow? My grief? My hurting? My sickness? My disparity? My mourning? Why does everyone else seem to be getting along fine but God is letting me drown in my situation? Why? What then? Well, then you need to remember some things.
God Does Care – that’s why He sent Christ. Remember, He didn’t create the world this way, but our sin has made it this way. Man wasn’t the only thing affected in the fall. The whole earth groans in travail as it waits for Christ to return. When Jesus died on the cross He paid our sin debt and satisfied the wrath of God, but until He returns to complete the transaction sorrow is going to be an every day reality.
God does care about your sorrows and hurting. He does care what you’re going through. Does that mean He always works in ways that you’ll be able to readily recognize? No – not always. But He does always care. Remember what I told you last week about His goodness? He can’t help but be good because He is good. Sure it’s going to feel like He doesn’t care, but your feelings can be deceptive. When you’re in the trenches of life and you’ve got to choose between what you feel about God and what you know to be true about God, you’d better put your faith in what you know to be true. Have faith!
Our Sorrow Is For Our Good – Suffering has a way of shaping us, molding us, forming us in the image of Christ who suffered for us, and here’s something you may have forgotten along the way in our comfortable form of Christianity: the Christian life is a life of chosen sacrifice on earth. The call of Christ is a call to live a life of sacrifice and loss and suffering.
But I’m really talking more about suffering and sorrow in general, not just that related to our faith. How is our sorrow good for us? First it reminds us of what I said earlier – the fact of sin. Every human being: every one of you must come face to face with this truth. Sin is real and it is a real problem for you. Second, it is good for us because it weans us off the breast of self-reliance. John Piper rightly points out that suffering and sorrow can lead to more contentment in God and less satisfaction in self and the world. He says, “I have never heard anyone say, ‘The really deep lessons of life have come through times of ease and comfort.’ But I have heard strong saints say, ‘Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with Him has come through suffering.”
I was reminded this week that many of the most beautiful things we enjoy were created in moments of sorrow. Some of the best songs, the most moving poetry, great literature, works of art were put together in deep times of sorrow. How is that? It is because our times of sorrow have a way of shaking us to the core and plunging us beneath the shallow, superficial lives that most of us like to live in.
The Lord’s Churches Have Been Called To Be Christ To A Hurting World – Something I think we are prone to forget is that Jesus has called us to be His body. He is the head, but we, you and I as the members of Woodlawn Baptist Church, have been fitly formed together to be His hands and feet and eyes and ears and yes, His heart.
Jesus doesn’t roam the countryside today in human form, but He wants to work in our community through this form, His church. Today He has passed on to us His commission – to preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives; to give sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Jesus has called us to be good, and to demonstrate or to flesh out that goodness as we reach out to hurting, helpless, hopeless people all around us. May God forgive us if we turn and only reach out to those who are healthy and whole. He has called this church to touch coffins and minister kindness and mercy to hurting people on His behalf.
The Miracle Jesus Performed Gives Us A Glimpse Of The Resurrection – There’s a day coming when Christ will return to earth and all those who have trusted Him as their Savior will be raised. Paul said that all the dead in Christ shall rise first. In other words, all the saved from all the ages will rise from their graves, from wherever their bodies lie, then we who are alive will be caught up with them to meet Christ in the air and receive new, resurrected bodies.
There’s a great day coming folk, and until that day things can seem pretty bleak at times, but don’t ever forget that for those who have trusted Christ the suffering of this present time is but for a moment.
Do you identify with this woman today? Have the circumstances of your life left you weeping, hurting, hungry, isolated, empty or frustrated? Do you find yourself wondering where God is in your sorrow? If you do, come to Him today. Give you worries to Him. Give you frustrations to Him. Come into His presence right now and offer up to Him whatever it is that you wrestle with and commit it to His care. He’s not afraid to get dirty. He’s not afraid of the mess that might follow. No problem is beyond His loving, compassionate ability to solve. You come to Him today, putting blame where it belongs, trusting that He cares for your needs.
