After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ 6And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ 9When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ 10When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ 14Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ 15The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ 17This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain
Today, we see a very different picture of Jesus than the Christianists are presenting. The Catholic church which claims to be Christ's Church from the Apostolic age does not even speak the language that Jesus is talking today. The message of Jesus is one of acceptance, healing, reconciliation and the giving of life. The message of the Christianists is one of rejection, wounding, injuring and killing.
Yesterday in the Star Tribune it was reported that Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis refused Holy Communion to gay rights activists present at a Student Mass. In today's Gospel we read the story of the Centurion with his male lover slave asking Jesus to heal the man he loves. If Jesus had a moral problem with homosexual relationships, this would have been the moment when Jesus would have addressed it. The Biblical writers did not have a concept known as heterosexuality and homosexuality according to the Rev. Canon Gray Temple in his book: Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason. Given that Jesus is God's perfect revelation, he would have known about the relationship between the Centurion and his sex slave. But Jesus did not address the relationship. Instead, Jesus healed the boy and said that the Centurion showed more faith than almost anyone else he had known. This is the same Centurion that stood at the foot of the cross while Jesus was dying for the sins of the world.
This past weekend the Mormons, the Minnesota Family Council and Maggie Gallagher have all responded to the recent news of five LGBTQ teen suicides by denying their role in creating anti-LGBTQ environments. Yet all three of them including Peter LaBarbera are suggesting that: "Enough is enough...No shame: HRC and other homosexual groups are exploiting the tragic suicides of sexually confused kids to attack religion." Yet those who organize the Christianists against sexual and gender diversity have no shame in the messages they send to LGBTQ individuals who are struggling to accept who they are.
Jesus in the other part of today's Gospel gives life to a woman's son. Jesus is reaching beyond the boundaries of his cultural norms. According to his culture, one is not to lay hands on someone who is dead. Jesus steps beyond the requirements of his culture to restore a life with a new sense of purpose and to give both the boy and the mother a hope that is made new again. Jesus put a face and a name on a boy who was believed to be dead. Even the dead are important to God. In raising the boy from the dead, Jesus shows that God is always looking out for the outcast of society and the Church. In God's reign there is room for everyone to find their place. No one is asked to become someone or something that they are not in the reign of God. The repentance that Jesus speaks of in the Gospels includes repenting of our need to exclude those different from ourselves from the house hold of faith.
Jesus calls all of us today to see ourselves and others through God's eyes. We are asked to listen to the Holy Spirit and she confirms for all of us that we are loved by God and that with all of God's Children God is well-pleased. In Jesus Christ we have been redeemed because whether we are white, male, straight, employed, healthy, wealthy, able to read, speak or write in English, or if we are none among the privileged, we have been redeemed because God first loved us. (See 1 John 4:10). In that same fourth chapter of the first letter of John verse 16 b we read: "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and god abides in them." Therefore because God has loved all of us, we are asked to love others, including those who are different from ourselves. It is a difficult task. It means letting go of our comfort zones, our preconceived notions and allowing God's Holy Spirit to teach us something new about others and ourselves.
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 22, Book of Common Prayer, page 234).
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).
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