Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2007 : June 17, 2007

Theme: Jesus Gives Us the Perfect Gift - Life

Church year occasion: Pentecost 3 (Father's Day)

Today is Father's Day, and throughout the United States for the last few days people have been wracking their brains thinking, "What in the world can I get my father for Father's Day?" It's easier to get something for Mom. Even if you can't think of anything else to get for your mother, you can always get some flowers or take Mom out for dinner. But dads are a little different. They are much more complex creatures. They don't usually tell you what they want so you have to try and figure it out. You might think of getting Dad an electric trimmer for the hedges or that miter saw he's been looking at. But you might not have a clue what they want. But just as moms always like flowers or dinner out, so dads have a favorite too. It's called duct tape. Dads, and guys in general, love duct tape. Duct tape is a many-splendored thing. You can use it to fix a toy sword. You can use it to hold that favorite pair of shoes together. It fixes folders. It fixes books. You can use it to patch that hole in the bottom of the pool or in the inflatable air mattress. You can use it to cure warts. I suppose you can even use duct tape to fix ducts -- although I've never seen that happen. In fact, instead of trying to think, "What can duct tape do?", we should really be exclaiming in wonder, "What can't duct tape do!"

Jesus gives us the answer. Duct tape can't fix our relationship with our God. Nothing in this world can do that. Duct tape can't give us the one thing we truly need -- eternal life instead of the eternal death we deserve. So on this Father's Day, as we might be thinking about the perfect gift to give our dads, let's see how Jesus gives not only fathers but all people the perfect gift -- he gives us life itself.

God's Word tells us, "Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him." This was a small town of not much significance a few miles to the southwest of Nazareth. The name Nain actually means "Beautiful city" or "Lovely city," but there was anything but beauty or loveliness in it this day, and Jesus knew that he had something to do in that little city to bring beauty back to it. We are told, "As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out -- the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her." As Jesus was leading a procession that was filled with wonder at the miracles Jesus had been doing and the words that he was speaking, he met another procession of people. But this other procession coming out of the town was of a much different character. The people following Jesus were hopeful and full of wonder at what Jesus was doing. The people in the procession from Nain were devoid of hope and full of sorrow. Just as when two fronts collide to create a storm, so there was going to be a battle ensuing at the gateway to this city. Jesus was going to fight Death itself.

Let's look at Jesus' opponent first. The dead son who was being carried out of the city on a stretcher wasn't Jesus' opponent -- he was the victim of Jesus' opponent, which is Death. Death had taken this boy from his mother, and Death had already taken this woman's husband. And to make matters worse, this boy was her only son. Death had brought sorrow and hopelessness to this woman and to these people, and he knew that he was not done at this city either. Eventually Death would take every townsperson from Nain, great and small, and eventually every person throughout the world. That's because death waits for everyone because of sin. The Apostle Paul said, "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." (Romans 5:12) And there is no way that we could get around it. Death has been called the Great Leveler because it lays every single sinner low and turns them into dust. Death is also no respecter of persons. Great and small, rich and poor, young and old, everyone must pass through the door where Death is waiting. That includes you, unless you are alive when Jesus comes again.

No wonder sorrow and horror and pain and fear accompany death. It is something that we have absolutely no control over. We can't escape death, although we might try. There is a story told of a man who tried to escape death. He was walking in his neighborhood when he came face to face with Death. He noticed an expression of surprise on the creature's horrid face, but they passed one another without speaking. The man was frightened because he realized that he would probably die the next day. So he decided to drive all night to a distant city and so elude Death. When he arrived, he thought he had succeeded. Just then, Death came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me," he said, "but I've come for you." "Why," exclaimed the terrified man, "I thought I saw you yesterday near my home!" "Exactly," said Death. "That was why I looked surprised -- for I had been told to meet you today in this city." There is no escape from death. But Jesus didn't try to escape death; in fact, he came right to where Death was. He came to fight Death.

Before the battle started, he went to the widow who had lost her son. We are told that, "When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.' " Notice that first he took care of the sorrow and fear that accompany death. That shouldn't surprise us because God did the same thing in the Garden of Eden after he told Adam and Eve that they had sinned and would most certainly die. He promised to send a Savior. It would be his own Son who would go to fight the death that we had brought on ourselves. We take comfort from those words of promise as well because we are sinners and doomed to death. But from our text we see that after comforting the woman, he then confronted death. It was a strange battle -- a spiritual battle. He stopped the funeral procession and said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" It was as if he were talking to someone who had fallen asleep. Many of the people must have thought he was crazy. But the result of that powerful word of God silenced any doubt they would have had. "The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother."

The misery of the woman caused Jesus to reach out to her and give her her son back. Jesus did the same thing for us. He saw our wretched state. He saw how we sin everyday and show we deserve everything that we have coming to us. But he decided to reach out to us when we were helpless in sin's clutches and death's grasp. That's because this was Jesus, the Lord of Life. Jesus was in control of this situation, not Death. But as great as this battle was and as great as Jesus' victory was here, it was only a little battle in the war between Jesus, the Lord of Life, and Satan, who desires our deaths. The war was waged at a different place -- on a small hill outside of Jerusalem.

If any of you have seen the Rocky movies, the one about the boxer from Italy, you know how every movie goes, even if you've only seen one of them. Rocky would go into the ring and get beat up within an inch of his life, but then at the end of the movie he would rally back and amazingly win the fight. Well, that is basically how the fight between Jesus and Death went as well. After Jesus lived a perfect life, he went to the hill of Calvary and was basically beaten up. Except he wasn't beaten to within an inch of his life; Jesus actually was beaten to death by the blows that Death gave him. But Death wasn't the only one beating Jesus with blows. You and I were there, too. Every single time we have sinned, it was we who were pummeling Jesus in face, pounding the nails into his hands and feet. Every time we disobeyed God by following our sinful desires, we were actually delivering blow after painful blow to Jesus, God's Son. And the result of our sin was obvious. His lifeless body hung from the cross for all the world to see.

But strangely enough, that was all part of the plan. Even though it seemed that Death had won, yet Jesus showed that he was the Lord of Life and Death by rising from the dead. Death could not hold him. But the greatest part about this battle is that, even though we were the ones that basically beat Jesus to death with our sins, yet the very death he died gives us a gift that only he could give us -- forgiveness for all our sins. And because our sins are completely taken away by Jesus' life and death, we now have the greatest gift that has ever been given -- eternal life in heaven and spiritual life right now as we stand before God almighty completely forgiven of every sin. Because Jesus lives, we too will live. As Paul said, " 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) He gives us his victory through faith. Jesus gives us life -- the perfect gift for us who are doomed to physical and eternal death.

What was the reaction to Jesus raising a young man from the dead outside of Nain? "They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great prophet has appeared among us,' they said. 'God has come to help his people.' " The people were stuck in a bad place dealing with their pain because of death. We can get stuck in our lives, too. We can get stuck in an unspiritual rut. We can get stuck in the past thinking about how good things used to be but aren't any more because of some tragedy we've had to face. We can get stuck in our sins like despairing when Death comes to our family or worrying about everything that doesn't go our way in this life. In general, we can get stuck in a life not very pleasing to God. But Jesus has come into our lives as well, and he's changed us forever. Just as the crowd of people outside of Nain was amazed at what they witnessed that day, let us be amazed at what Jesus has done for us. As verse 16 says, "God has come to help his people." Instead of being stuck on sin, be stuck on Jesus who has taken your sin away and given you a new life. Instead of being stuck in an unspiritual life, be stuck on Scripture through with the Holy Spirit works to let you see Jesus as your life and salvation and the reason for living for him.

Duct tape can do some amazing things, but even duct tape can't fix everything. But Jesus can, and Jesus did. He has fixed your relationship with God. Eternal life is yours through faith in Jesus. A new life here on earth is yours through Jesus. That faith allows you to cope with every difficulty, every tragedy, even death itself because Jesus has given you the perfect gift -- life.