Old Testament Lesson; 1 Kings 17:17-24
Epistle Lesson; Galatians 1:11-24
Gospel Lesson; Luke 7:11-17
Sermon Text; Luke 7:11-17

It is one of those things that is etched in my memory, and I will never forget it. I was nine years old. It was a summer's day. It was a beautiful day.

My backyard butted up to a neighbor's backyard. And, there was a neighbor girl who lived there. Her name was Melody. She was about my age. Melody had a brother named Carl. Carl was a teenager. I kind of idolized Carl. He was on the high school football team. And, he rode a motorcycle around the neighborhood.

On that day, I was in Melody’s backyard, playing, on this beautiful, summer afternoon. As we were playing, somebody hurried across the lawn, grabbed Melody by the hand, and said, "Melody, Carl was just killed in a motorcycle accident."

And, whoever had Melody by the hand, pulled her, and off they went to the house.

I stood there, at nine years old,

and did not know what to do.

I felt helpless.

So, I went to my house, found my dad, and told my dad what had happened. We went over to the neighbor's house together, and walked up to the front door. I don't remember how Melody was grieving. She was there, but I don't remember how she was grieving. And, I don't remember how the dad was grieving. But, how the mother was grieving is etched in my mind, forever. She had collapsed and her wailing and tears are still etched in my memory.

We all stood there,

feeling helpless.

That is the picture of what was happening in today's scripture reading. The mother, who was a widow, had apparently lost a teenage son. We don't know anything about this teenage son. We don't know if he was in an accident. We don’t know what happened. All we know is that this poor widowed woman had now lost a dear teenage son of hers and she was going through profound grieving.

In Jesus' day, a funeral usually took place the day of the death, or the following day. And so, this woman was fresh in her grief.

The Bible tells us that Jesus came upon the scene of this terribly grieving woman. The Bible says that Jesus' "heart went out to her." As our Savior saw the loss in this woman's heart, (and our Savior is God, Himself), He knew the thoughts, the trials, and the pain that she was going through. It says, "His heart went out to her."

Our Savior's heart certainly goes out to those who lose loved ones. In fact, if you are familiar with the different accounts in the Bible of people who were raised from the dead, there is a little bit of an interesting pattern. In the Old Testament, we know of three people who were raised from the dead. Two of them were children, who were restored to grieving parents. In the New Testament, we know of three people that Jesus raised from the dead. Two of them, were children, (one was a twelve year old girl, and now, this teenage son), who were restored to a grieving parent.

We know by God's grace, Paul raised two people from the dead. One of them was apparently a teenage boy, named Eutychus, who fell out of a window, during church, and was killed. He was raised from the dead and was restored to his parents.

So, our Savior's heart particularly went out to this woman, who was grieving the loss of her dear son. And, our Savior knew what this woman wanted more than anything. What did she want? It is not a guess. No one here has to guess what she wanted. She wanted her son back. More than anything else, she wanted her son back! She wanted to be able to touch him, again. She wanted to be able to see him, again. She wanted to be able to throw her arms around him. She wanted her son back. Jesus saw that, and His heart went out to that woman.

Our Savior's heart goes out to you, when you lose a loved one, whether it be your husband, your wife, your mother, your father, your son, or your daughter. Our Savior, who is God, knows that more than anything else, you want them back. You want to be able to hold them. You want to be able to hug them. You want to be able to look in their eyes. You want to be able to talk to them. You want to be able to spend your life with them.

Our Savior’s heart goes out to you.

Well, what happened next? The Bible tells us that He told the woman,

"Don't cry."

It was not a command. It is not a sin to cry, when we lose a loved one. Jesus, Himself, wept when His friend Lazarus died.

It is not a sin to cry.

He was letting her know that something was about to happen. The Bible tells us that He then went up to the casket, or the coffin, (which was probably more like a stretcher), that this body was on. It says,

"He went up and touched the coffin."

He put His hands on the coffin.

If you are familiar with Old Testament laws, you know that was a 'no no.’ The Jews were told that they were not to touch the dead and they were not to touch things that the dead had touched. If they did so, they would become unclean. And so, the Jews were very careful not to come in contact with the dead, or touch something the dead had touched. And so, when Jesus walked up to that coffin and put His hands on it, what was He doing? He was telling that mother, "I am willing to become unclean for you and for your son, who has died."

That is a small picture of what our Savior has done for you, your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, your mother, your father, the people in your family. Our Savior has been willing to become unclean for you, for me, and our family members.

We have sin running, coursing, through our veins. We have inherited sin from our parents. Sin is what causes us to die. God told Adam and Eve, "The day you eat of the fruit you will surely die." When they ate of the fruit, when they fell into sin, they brought death to this world. The Bible tells us,

"All die,

because all sin."

And so, because we have that original sin coursing through us and infecting us, it affects everything we think, say, and do. It causes us to commit actual sins. The result of that is the tragedy of death, and the separation between our loved ones and us.

What has our Savior done for us? Look at the profound love that our Savior has for us. He was willing to come to this earth and touch death, touch our death, touch our uncleanness, and make it His own.

What did our Savior do? He did not just touch our uncleanness with His hands, but with His eyes, His ears, and His mouth.

He took every single one of your sins.

It does not matter what they are. He took every single one of your sins. And, He took the sins of the people in your family. The sins of your eyes- Jesus took those as if they were His own sins. The sins of your ears, the sins of your mouth, the sins of your hands, the sins of your heart-Jesus took all of that uncleanness to Himself.

And then, what did He do? He went to the cross. Look at that cross, up there in the front of our church. That is the most beautiful symbol we have of the Christian faith. It is the cross.

What is a cross?

A cross is a place of death.

Why is that such a beautiful symbol to us? What happened there?

God died.

A cross is an executioner’s symbol. That is a place where capital punishment was carried out. There was nothing but anguish, pain, and suffering on the cross.

Jesus died on that cross.

Why is that such a comfort to us? When Jesus died on the cross, by that, He made full, complete, total payment for your sins, for your husband’s sins, for your wife’s sins, for your mother's, father’s and children's sins.

Sin was paid for.

Jesus went to the grave. He made Himself so unclean, as to take our sins to the grave with Him, and He laid in the coffin three days and nights. He loves you, your spouse, your children, and your parents, so dearly.

He did that for your family.

And then, He burst forth from the grave, three days and three nights later. And when He did that, the Bible tells us, "He was put to death for our sins, and raised to life for our justification."

When Jesus got up out of that grave, God declared to you, you are not guilty.

You are not guilty!

"I declare you, you, to be forgiven! My Son has made full payment for your sin. He has suffered your punishment. He has suffered death for you. He has defeated your sin. And now, He has defeated your death."
Well, that is the Jesus who went up to that young man's casket. And He touched it, just as He has touched death for our families.

And what happened next? Jesus spoke the words to that young man, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

And, that young man came back to life, and sat up! The Bible tells us he began to talk. I bet he had a lot to say!

The Bible then says, "Jesus gave him back to his mother." He gave him back to his mother! Isn't that what she wanted more than anything else? She wanted her son back. That is what she wanted, and that is what her Savior gave her.

You may say, "Well, that does not happen to us. We lose a loved one and we don't get them back."

If you say that,

you are too short sighted.

If you could have been in a helicopter, ten minutes before this event happened, and you could have flown over the little town of Nain, you would have seen, as the Bible tells us, two large processions. They would have been headed in opposite directions. One of the processions would have been headed by this coffin. People were carrying this coffin, toward the city gate. The Bible tells us, "As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out." This mother would have been there, behind the coffin, wailing and sobbing in her mourning. And then it says, "A large crowd from the town was with her."

If you would have been hovering in that helicopter, you would have seen another crowd coming. And they would have been coming from outside the city. They would have been headed toward the city gate. The Bible tells us it was Jesus and His disciples, followed by a large crowd.

These two processions were about to meet. And when those processions met, that young man was brought back to life!

That procession is under way in your life and my life. If we could be, not in a helicopter, but we could see things from God's perspective, we would see that all of us, all of us, are in a processional, and we are headed toward the cemetery.

I was with my dad the other day, when he was here in town. One of his first parishes was up in Ashipin, WI. He had not been back to that church in forty-five years. And so, we went up there.

It is beautiful, little, country church, surrounded by a country cemetery. There was a section of the cemetery that was quite large. It was a newer part of the cemetery. My dad went over there, and I watched him, as he and my mom looked at the different headstones. I watched from a distance, as they were talking to each other. After a while, they came back. My dad looked at me and said, "See all of those gravestones over there?
And I said, "Yah."

He said, "I was pastor to almost all of those people."

We are all headed that way. We are all in a processional towards the cemetery. But there is another processional that is coming to meet us. And it is on its way. We don't know when it is going to get here. We don't know if it is ten minutes away, or ten years away. But, listen to what God tells us in I Thessalonians 4. He says,

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep. (Now, these are those who have died, in Christ) We do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. (He does not tell us not to grieve. He says, "Just don't grieve, like you have no hope." Then He tells us where we find our confidence.)

"We believe that Jesus died and rose again. And so, we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him."

There is a processional, while we are on the way to the cemetery. There is another processional on the way to meet us. That is Christ, who is bringing back with Him all those who have died in Christ. And one day those two processionals will meet. And here is what will happen.

"The LORD Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the Archangel, with a trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them together in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. And we will be with the LORD, forever! Therefore, encourage each other with these words."

The processionals are on their way to meet. What an awesome day that will be! Can you imagine, when those two processionals met in the town of Nain, one of them turned around? They did not need to go to the cemetery anymore, and the mourning of that woman turned to nothing but joy and laughter! I can't imagine how happy she must have been!

Our Savior knows, that more than anything else, you want those loved ones back, again. And so it will be. So it will be, for those who believe in their Savior. The day is coming when our Savior will command those who are in the grave. Just like He spoke to that young man, Jesus will say to them,

"Come forth."

And, the grave will have to submit to the voice of our Savior. They will get up out of the grave, and we will be reunited! Mother with daughter, father with son, husband with wife, child with parent. And then, the mourning that we had here will be turned to laughter. The tears that we sow here, we will reap in joy. And we look forward to that day. We look forward to that day. And we find our comfort as we look forward to that day.

I want to close with this thought. That day is coming. It is coming and we don't know when. We don't know when those two processionals will meet. It may be today. It may be a while off yet.

Are the people in your family ready?

Are your sons and daughters ready? Is your husband ready? Is your wife ready? Are your mom and dad ready?

Today is the day.

Not tomorrow. Not ten years from now. Today is the day to talk to them, if you are not sure.

Talk to them.

It is a simple message. A four-year child knows the message.

Repent of your sin and

believe in Jesus, as your Savior from sin.

Stay close to the Word. Stay close to the Word, because through that God will keep us in our faith, ready, until that day comes. Let us continue to share that message with each other, and build each other in that, until those two processionals finally meet.

Amen.