Two widows, two sons, two deaths. Elijah in Zarephath, and now Jesus in Nain. Restoring life where there is death. Jesus cuts through all rules and conventions of his society in the gospel account from Luke, as he does so many times - there is not one sheep this Good Shepherd will not search out, find, and bring home. Both of our authors give excellent accounts of the status of widows in the society of that time when they lost not only their husbands, but their sons. Essentially they were left to a living death with death not too far behind. Worse, perhaps, they were left without a voice - silenced, non-persons. In "A people without boundaries, " The Rev. Matt Seddon reminds us that the mission of the church in our Book of Common Prayer "is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ." To be a people who recognize the dignity of every human being.
Jesus did a couple of things which were taboo in this Sunday's gospel lesson. He talked to the woman and he touched the bier of the dead. Cutting across anything which would separate us from the love of God. This story is not just about the son. Through his compassion, Jesus also gave life to the widow. She matters. He has given her a voice. A place in the kingdom of God's love. Jesus speaks liberating words. In "Finding a discourse for living," Christopher Burkett tells us , as people of faith, to chose our words carefully - that we use committed, responsible and liberating words - life giving words, Godly words. For the sake of our Lord, may we speak and act with compassion with all God's children, especially those without power, status, or voices of their own.
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