Worship Helps for Pentecost 3

Artwork: Resurrection of the Widow’s son from Nain

Artist: Lucas Cranach the Younger

Worship Theme: Last Sunday we heard that faith trusts God’s power completely. This Sunday’s lessons sound the depth of that faith. Can our faith trust completely, even when faced with death itself? Facing our own mortality, or that of our loved ones, brings out the weakest parts of our character. And so, today the Church prays: Be gracious to us in our weakness and give us strength…

Old Testament: 1 Kings 17:17-24  

¹⁷After these events, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. The illness became worse until he stopped breathing.

¹⁸Then she said to Elijah, “What is the issue between us, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sins and to kill my son?”

¹⁹He said to her, “Bring your son to me.” Then he took him and carried him to the upstairs room where he was living, and he laid him on his bed. ²⁰Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you sent tragedy on this woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?”

²¹Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, let this boy’s soul return to his body!” ²²The Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s soul returned to his body, and he came to life. ²³Then Elijah took the boy and brought him down to the house from his upstairs room, and he gave him to his mother.

Elijah said, “See, your son is alive!”

²⁴The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”

1. Who did the widow think had caused her son’s death? (See 17:18.)

2. Who did Elijah know had caused the boy’s death?

3. What two things did the widow learn? (See 17: 24.)

Epistle: Philippians 1:18b–26  

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹because I know that this will turn out for my deliverance, through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ²⁰This matches my earnest expectation and hope that I will in no way be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, so even now, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹Yes, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I am to go on living in the flesh, that will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet which should I prefer? I do not know. ²³I am pulled in two directions, because I have the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. ²⁴But, it is more necessary for your sake that I remain in the flesh. ²⁵And since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you, for your progress and joy in the faith. ²⁶And so by my coming to you again, my goal is to give you even more reason to boast in Christ Jesus.

4. Paul cherished the Philippians prayers for him. Did Paul expect deliverance from his imprisonment in Rome?

5. How did Paul summarize the way he and all Christians think of life and death? (See 1:18.)

Gospel: Luke 7:11–17  

¹¹Soon afterward Jesus went on his way to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him. ¹²As he was approaching the town gate, there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother. She was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴He went up to the open coffin, touched it, and the pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶Fear gripped all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us” and “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷This was reported about him in all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.

6. What made the funeral Jesus and his disciples happened upon especially sad? (See 17:12.)

7. What did Jesus say after he touched the funeral bier? (Picture probably a stretcher of some kind rather than an elaborate American coffin.)

8. What main things for us to trust in did Jesus show by these words?

Answers:

1. In bitter grief, the widow blamed Elijah for causing her son’s death.

2. Elijah knew the truth—the LORD had caused the son’s death. Note this well. From God’s perspective, no one ever dies accidentally. The LORD sets the day of our death.

3. The widow learned a) Elijah truly was a man of God and b) the word of the LORD from his mouth was all true. When Jesus raises the dead, we learn, that he is God’s Son and cannot lie to us.

4. Paul was imprisoned in Rome and hoped to get out (see 1:27), but the kind of deliverance Paul joyfully anticipated most of all was deliverance from this sinful world, deliverance through death to life.

5. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (What a wonder—dying is not losing, but gaining. Specifically, living now is Christ. Dying? More Christ! We will get to see him face to face.)

6. The funeral was especially sad because the young man who died was the only son of his mother, a widow. She had no one to take care of her any more. It’s no wonder a large crowd from the town was following the body.

7. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up.”

8. By these words Jesus showed a) his compassion, b) his own personal power— he doesn’t need to call on someone else for power, and c) his power to raise all the dead on the Last Day.

Putting your faith into action

It’s hard to imagine a sadder scene. A widow plods to the cemetery to bury her only child, a young man. Jesus gave him back to her. There is no happier scene than the Lord of life busting out of Joseph’s grave, conquering death, and opening up heaven. Filled with awe, may we spread the life-changing message that the Prophet has come to help his people. How dare we fritter away the lifetime our Lord gives us?

A reading from the Book of Concord for Pentecost 3

28] For when we had been created by God the Father, and had received from Him all manner of good, the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil, so that we fell under His wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation, as we had merited and deserved. 29] There was no counsel, help, or comfort until this only and eternal Son of God in His unfathomable goodness had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness, and came from heaven to help us. 30] Those tyrants and jailers, then, are all expelled now, and in their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and salvation, and has delivered us poor lost men from the jaws of hell, has won us, made us free, and brought us again into the favor and grace of the Father, and has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection, that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness. – Large Catechism, Article II, The Holy Spirit (paragraphs 28-30)

 737  God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It

1  God’s own child, I gladly say it:

I am baptized into Christ!

He, because I could not pay it,

Gave my full redemption price.

Do I need earth’s treasures many?

I have one worth more than any

That brought me salvation free,

Lasting to eternity!

2  Sin, disturb my soul no longer:

I am baptized into Christ!

I have comfort even stronger:

Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice.

Should a guilty conscience seize me

Since my baptism did release me

In a dear forgiving flood,

Sprinkling me with Jesus’ blood?

3  Satan, hear this proclamation:

I am baptized into Christ!

Drop your ugly accusation;

I am not so soon enticed.

Now that to the font I’ve traveled,

All your might has come unraveled,

And, against your tyranny,

God, my Lord, unites with me!

4  Death, you cannot end my gladness:

I am baptized into Christ!

When I die, I leave all sadness

To inherit paradise!

Though I lie in dust and ashes

Faith’s assurance brightly flashes:

Baptism has the strength divine

To make life immortal mine.

5  There is nothing worth comparing

To this lifelong comfort sure!

Open-eyed my grave is staring:

Even there I’ll sleep secure.

Though my flesh awaits its raising,

Still my soul continues praising:

I am baptized into Christ;

I’m a child of paradise!

Text: Erdmann Neumeister, 1671–1756; tr. Robert E. Voelker, b. 1957 © 1991