Wednesday of Trinity 3 – Luke 7:11-17

Luke 7:11-17

In the Beatles’ song, “She Said, She Said,” John Lennon sings, “I know what it’s like to be dead.”

I, too, know what it’s like to be dead.  Maybe not quite.  I may not know what life is like for the dead (there are several ways of answering this).  But I do know that sometimes my life feels as if it were dead.  There are times when I’m physically too tired to do what I would like to do or should do, and since the body is connected to the soul, with my bodily fatigue often comes a spiritual narcolepsy.

And sometimes, it is my mind that feels like it’s dead.  Sometimes I get defeated by the events in my life that threaten to overwhelm me and drown me.  Other times, it’s my soul that is in mortal danger because it has grown weak because it has not fed on the spiritual food of Jesus Christ enough.

In reality, my physiology, my psychology, and my theology all interact, and it’s hard to know where one begins and the other ends.  Rather than confusing me, I know in my heart (and in my head and in my hands) that this is the way it’s supposed to be.  So I know what it’s like to be dead, and I’ll bet you do, too.  Some of you may feel like you’re dead this morning and may, in fact, be in various stages of dying.

But Jesus is coming!  Did you remember to flag Him down when He passed by You yesterday?  Why not?!

“God has visited his people.”  That’s what all the people said when Jesus came to heal the widow of Nain’s only begotten son.

“God has visited his people.”  That’s what all of the Gospel writers have shouted to us, beginning with the birth of Jesus Christ and continuing to His public ministry and through His Crucifixion and Resurrection and now through His presence among us.

You may feel as if you’re in the coffin today; you may feel as if you’re being carried out and ready to be buried.  But Jesus Christ is passing by You today, in fact – Look!  There He is!

Jesus is standing over you this moment, looking into your sad and weary eyes.  The One who is Eternal Life is looking into the death of your eyes.  He is unafraid, for He has seen death before and has conquered it.

Look!  He’s reaching out His hand!  And now He’s calling to you, saying, “I say to you, arise!”

What will you do?  You are not really dead but only feel like it.  What will you do?  Jesus is offering you life once again.  Jesus is calling you to respond to Him with faith.

What will you do?

Prayer:  Father, I thank You for loving the world so much that You sent Your only-begotten Son to live and die and live again for me.  I ask that through Him you might give me everlasting life today and life more abundantly.  Kill the death that lives within me, and help me to choose life by choosing Your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray.  Amen.

Point for Meditation:  Make an honest assessment of your life.  On a scale of 1-10, how spiritually alive are you?  What are some practical steps toward seeking life that God has been asking you to take but that you still have not taken?

Resolution:  I resolve to cry out to Jesus today as He passes by me.  I resolve to ask Him to heal me from whatever it is in my life that is making me feel like I’m dead. 

© 2013 Fr. Charles Erlandson