God’s Visitation

INI

            At the gates of a little town called Nain, there were two processions that met. One was a grim procession. It was a funeral procession. The widow was in mourning, for she was on her way to bury her only Son. She was torn with grief, and the whole town accompanied her grief, as the finality of death’s grave was swiftly approaching. However, the other procession was quite different. Jesus and His disciples brought God’s visitation. And with that, life, hope, and the enduring promises of God. When those two processions collided, death didn’t have the last word – life did. The Son was raised from the dead by the almighty power, and compassion of God. The people responded appropriately: “God has visited His people!”

         And here, in the Divine Service, especially today, we find ourselves in procession too. We gather here today in the sanctuary once again, thankful that God has visited us with the means to provide new flooring beneath our feet – a visible reminder that all we have comes from God’s gracious hand. We gather today to witness the union of John and Jenny, as God visits them to join them in holy matrimony – making the two become one flesh. And we gather today to receive God’s mercy in Word and Sacrament, as the living God of all creation visits sinners, refreshing them in His promises.

         There are many things that might cause people to doubt God’s action in our daily lives – whether that be a purely materialistic worldview – that there’s no such thing as a spiritual world. Or people may doubt God because of intellectual questions – like why does God let bad things happen. But the text today describes another reason people may doubt God’s activity in daily life: grief.

         This poor woman is already widowed, and now, she’s lost her only son. In essence, her entire family was gone. Her livelihood was gone, since her son most likely took care of her material needs. She was poor in spirit. Grief seized her as her son was being carried to his burial place. That’s the power of death. Death rightly causes grief. But then grief can seize you. It can cause you to forget God’s promises. It’s easy to quote bible verses like 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – “but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” But then it’s a lot harder to have hope when death and grief are shoved right into your face.

         That was this poor widow’s life of suffering. That was the effects of a sinful world processing into her midst and causing chaos.

         What now? – she might think.

         But where death and grief processed into her life, Christ processed in to overtake it. His first words – “do not weep.” Not that weeping wasn’t appropriate at that time. But it was an invitation to trust the living God, who seeing His children’s time of need, acts to care for them. So, Jesus went up to the funeral procession of death, and made it a cause of celebration. He said – “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man rose from the dead by the power of Christ’s powerful word, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

         In reaction to the great miracle that God performed, the people gave glory to God – saying that through the work of Jesus, God has visited His people. And that doesn’t just mean that God stopped by to say hello. It means that God sees the needs of His people, felt compassion for them out of their lowly estate, and sought to care for them out of undeserved mercy.

         Even today, Jesus’ still sees our needs and visits us to provide His mercy. And for that, we have a lot to rejoice about! The Lord has stepped into dark places to bring life and light. One of those things is happening today, where God seeks to bless John and Jenny in holy matrimony, uniting them to become one flesh. Having each lost a spouse, they prayed to God to give them comfort in their grief and loneliness. They didn’t know how God would answer – but in His kindness, He has given them another. God doesn’t answer all prayers for loneliness in the same way, but we can be assured of this: Christ visits His people. He never fails, and His mercy never leaves His people – whether single or married, or in joy or sorrow.

         And we can all be assured of the Lord’s visitation in Church. God isn’t off, somewhere distant and inattentive to our needs. He stoops down here in this place, in the midst of our griefs, pains, and sorrows to provide mercy to His people. And He gives it most assuredly in the best way: in the forgiveness of sins received through Word and Sacrament. And through it, bringing life in the midst of death. We can have full confidence that as the wayward procession of our own lives meets the living God through this means of grace, His procession of life, forgiveness, and salvation visits us. Having faith in Him, we can have confidence that Jesus has authority over our lives and even our death, as we hold fast to the promise of the resurrection which comes at the last day.

         And that’s what the raising of the widow’s son points us forward to: Christ’s own resurrection. He is the first fruits of those who sleep. In His own death and resurrection, God has visited His people in the fullest way possible – taking on flesh, entering our procession of death, and overcoming it with life. And at His second coming, there will be another procession. He will bring the procession of life into the bodies of all believers, raising them up to join the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb, where death will be defeated in totality.

         As our hope is strengthened by the Lord’s care and promises, we join the crowd at Nain in saying “God has visited His people!” And so today, we join in thanksgiving and praise of the living God who continues to see the needs of His people, visiting them in His compassion and mercy, and most importantly, freeing us to live not in fear of death and suffering – but in the sure and certain hope of the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb, where sorrows flee, and God’s visitation isn’t just for a moment – but for eternity.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston