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“THERE IS NO I IN JESUS”

LUKE 7:11-17

 

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.

12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

 

“Oh no! We’re doomed.”  Do you remember which cartoon character said that?  Think back to the holiday classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”  It happens when Lucy announces to everyone that Charlie Brown is going to direct the annual Christmas pageant.  When Violet hears that she throws her head back and wails, “Oh no!  We’re doomed!”

 

Unfortunately, that’s the way some people feel these days. Right now there’s a feeling of doom hanging in the air along the Gulf Coast.  People are looking out to the sea and waiting for all that oil to come onto their beaches.   Right now there’s a feeling of doom hanging in the air over in Korea.  All that talk about all out out war on that trouble peninsula has a lot of people worried. Or ask someone who’s been out of work for the past year how he or she feels these days.  Or ask any of the thousands of people who have lost their homes or are about to loose their homes how they feel these days. I bet they’ll tell you that they’re struggling with a feeling of impending doom.

 

These days it isn’t hard to feel the same way an elderly man felt while lying in bed one morning.  Unfortunately, his health was really bad.  His spirits picked up though when he smelled the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies coming from the kitchen.  Now the man loved his wife’s homemade chocolate chip cookies.  So he slowly pulled himself out of bed.  Then he mustered up what little strength he had and made his way down the hall. When he got to the stairs he grabbed onto the railing and inched his way down to the kitchen. When he got there he saw the warm cookies sitting on the counter. His wife wasn’t very happy though when she turned around and saw him reaching for one of the cookies. “You get back into bed,” she exclaimed, “and don’t touch those cookies.  They’re for after the funeral.”

Maybe it’s my imagination but there seems to be a feeling of doom in the air these days.   Director Roland Emmerlich tapped into that feeling of doom in his movie “2012.” I haven’t seen the movie but I know that the movie is about the end of the world.  I also know that so far the movie has grossed over $769 million at the box office.  I guess it’s safe to say that the movie struck a chord with a lot of people.

 

Did you see the movie?  Have you experienced a moment recently where you felt that sense of doom?  If you haven’t then I’m going to encourage you to count your blessings.  If you have then I’m going to encourage you to join me in taking a look at what happened to the widow of Nain.

 

There’s no question that the widow of Nain was feeling a sense of doom as she and the people in that crowd made their way out of the village.  She felt that sense of doom because she was on her way to the cemetery to bury her son. While they were on their way to the cemetery though they ran into another crowd of people.  The people in this crowd were with Jesus and they were joyful as they made there way into the village.  Now when the two crowds of people came together Jesus stopped and he raised the widow’s son from the dead.

 

Now the question that needs to be answered is why did Jesus do that?  I can tell you this.  It wasn’t because he felt sorry for the young man.  As far as Jesus was concerned death is one of life’s realities.  Unfortunately, the reality of death happened to come a little earlier than usual for the young man.  No, Jesus didn’t raise the young man from the dead because he felt sorry for him.  Jesus raised the young man from the dead because he felt sorry for his mother.  Luke tells us that when Jesus saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.”   Then he touched the bier and said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

 

So Jesus raised the young man from the dead because he had compassion for his mother, but we need to take this a step further. Why did Jesus feel compassion for the mother?  I can tell you this. It wasn’t because he knew how painful it can be when a mother looses a child.  No. That’s not why Jesus raised the young man from the dead.  Jesus raised the young man from the dead because her son to take care of her the woman really was doomed. Don’t forget women back then didn’t have college degrees and job skills that made it possible for them to live productive independent lives.  A woman needed her husband and her sons to take care of her and provide for her and we know that the woman was a widow.  So, she didn’t have a husband to take care of her and provide for her.  We also know that the young man was her only son.  So there weren’t any brothers to take care of her and provide for her.  Jesus raised the young man from the dead because he knew that without him the mother really was doomed.

 

When you understand what happened that day you begin to understand both the cause and the cure for all those feelings of doom.  Those feelings of doom emerge when you’re convinced that you’re all alone in the world and that no one really cares.  Unfortunately, sometimes that’s the way it really is in the so called real world.  We live in a world where it’s all about winning and looking out for #1.  We live in a world where it’s all about climbing the ladder of success and it doesn’t matter who you climb on and over to get to the top. 

 

It’s like the two men who went camping.  One morning they were sitting by the campfire drinking their coffee when a big old grizzly bear came charging at them out of the woods.  When they saw the big old grizzly bear the first man quickly reached down and began put


his boots on. The other man couldn’t believe it.  “What are you doing?” he said. “You can can’t outrun that big old grizzly bear.”  “I  know that,” the first man replied.  “But I don’t have to out run that big old grizzly bear.  All I have to do is outrun you!”

Those feelings of doom emerge when you’re convinced that you’re all alone in the world and that no one really cares.  That’s the cause.  As always Jesus is there to show us the cure.  Just look at what happened that day just outside the village of Nain.  Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead.  He took the time to love her and care for her and help her.  Those feelings of doom will disappear when use your gifts to create a world where people love each other and care for each other and help each other.

That’s the cure and you can see it in the words to the Lord’s Prayer.  Have you ever noticed that Jesus never says me or my in the Lord’s Prayer.  He didn’t  say “give me my daily bread.”  He didn’t say, “Lead me not into temptation.”  He taught us to say said, “give us our daily bread” and “lead us not into temptation.”

When it comes to the cure for those feelings of doom here’s something else to think about.  Just look at the way you spell the name that was given to God’s only begotten Son. Jesus. J-E-S-U-S. Notice that there is no I in Jesus but there is an US!

Let me share a story with you and then ask you a question.  The story is about a man who is doing something really radical that a man.  The man’s name is Ron Shaich and last month he quit his job as the CEO for the company that owns the Panera Bread restaurants.   He quite his job as CEO so he could start a new non-profit restaurant called Panera Cares.  The new restaurant has the same menu and the same quality food that you’ll find in a regular Panera Bread restaurant.  You won’t find a cash register in the Panera Cares restaurant though.  What you’ll find is a donation box and a sign that says, “Take what you need, leave your fair share.”  The question that Ron Shaich is asking is simple.  What will you do if you know that the money you place in the box is going to be used to help train at-risk youth or feed folks who don’t have the money to feed themselves? In an interview Shaich said, “I’m trying to find out what human nature is all about.”  He went on to say, “My hope is that we can eventually do this in every community where there’s a Panera.”   Now if you have your doubts about this business model I can tell you this.  While the restaurant isn’t raking in the dough - no pun intended -  it is making a profit which is being used to help others.  Here’s something else that might give you a little hope for the future.  When the store opened last month one third of all the people who ate at the restaurant left more than the suggested retail price for their food.

The Spirit of the living God comes alive and chases away those feelings of doom when we take the time to take care of each other.  It worked when Jesus helped that widow by raising her son from the dead.  It’s working at the Panera Cares restaurant and the risen Christ want us to prove that it can work here as well.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

June 6, 2010