Luke 7:11-17

Dear Friends in Christ, Grace and peace to you in Jesus Name. Amen

Very shortly within this worship service we will honor and bless our graduates. There is something about graduation time that calls out for understanding and release in the search for self identity; individual and corporate.

Marker events like High School and College graduations present to the graduate a new beginning in which the gift is a new chance to make a difference in a different way. This gift entails a task. That task includes a good measure of the willingness of a trapeze artist who, for one split second lets go of the one tangible support s/he has, the bar on which s/he swings, in order to complete or execute the turn that will take him or her into the next part of their performance.

The gift the artist bestows on the audience is found in that grab for the bar swinging toward the artist, high above the ground. And when s/he successfully grabs on to that bar, an audible gasp of both fear and delight can be heard throughout the auditorium.

The Christian life is quite a bit like that for it is both a gift with a task and a task that's a gift. The gift is identity: We know who we are for we are adopted into God's family in Baptism. The task that is a gift is our call to ministry for Christ; a calling which bestows a purpose upon us.

The principal theme in the texts before us today is that the Lord (Adonai in the Israelite Scriptures and Jesus as the Christ in the Newer Testament) renews life and joy in life.

Just as in each of our lives, there is a progression in these texts from lifting up those who are bowed down in Psalm 146 to bringing back to life a young man who was being carried out of a city to be buried in Luke 7:11-17.

The Galatians 1:11-24 reading may seem to stand outside this theme, unless we understand "the gospel that Paul proclaimed" (Galatians 1:11)-- unless we understand this as the good news that God raised Jesus from the dead and will also raise us from the dead we will not see the full progression of the Word for today.

We all graduate over and over again in this life. For believers again and again are called to let go and release that which has been in order to grasp that which is and that which can be.

When the disciples asked Jesus about specifics of the future, he always put them off. He reminded them that the key is their relationship with him and others. The specific results will be a matter for God to worry about.

Some things in life will go well and some won’t. Some things will happen the way you or I envision them, and others will more closely resemble someone else’s vision or plan. Even in the areas of life where we have some influence over the outcome, worrying about the future is counterproductive. And, yet, one of the most difficult things for most of us to do is to live fully in the present.

Luke records that Jesus was called by the Spirit of God “to bring good news to the poor,” and this Gospel is filled with a concern for people with all kinds of need. In the story before us today, we meet the widow of Nain who, along with other mourners is taking her son to be buried. We can well imagine that this woman was most likely deeply entrenched in sorrow, in the midst of which, the compassionate Christ, who, with no clear ulterior motive, releases the death grip on the young man’s life and renews the mother’s joy.

Gift and Task, task and gift, renewal of life and joy: This is what Jesus the Christ offers each day to all who believe in him. It is truly a circle without an end – the gift is in the task and the task is in the gift.

So what is the nugget of truth, the nugget of promise for this community of faith, this church, this family of God, for us, today?

As Jesus makes clear to us, most of life is beyond our control. In fact, in my better moments I am deeply grateful for this fact; it is far, far better that the mysteries of life be under God’s control than under mine. We have a lot to be about in this life; after all Jesus calls us to follow him. But in the end, what we do pales before what God has promised He will give and do to and for His people. And we need to let God give and be what God promises to give and be.

Reinhold Niebuhr’s now-famous prayer is an eloquent reminder to us: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

When we consider this prayer in light of Jesus’ actions in our Gospel text today, we are inevitably drawn to his call to “strive first for the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus isn’t telling us to disengage from life. He isn’t saying, “Just roll with the punches, go with the flow, don’t let life affect you.” That’s not it. He is saying, “Be fully engaged in life, make yourself vulnerable in relationships, be fully present in the turmoil’s of today, look to the future (especially to God, who is in charge of the future), but don’t get tied up in knots with anxiety about how it will all turn out.

The journey through this life is filled with mountain tops and valleys, highs and lows; some days are a 10 and some barely make it to 2. And into both days, Jesus the Christ comes, through the Holy Spirit, compassionately speaking the truth of our lives with mercy and calling out the very best each person has to give to His World.

To the new grads today and to each of us gathered here to sing praises and give thanks to God for this day, Jesus gives the promise: Each day a new adventure, do not be afraid, I am with you; I go before you, I walk with you and I will come again and will take you to myself.

And now my prayer for each of you and for myself in these early summer days of the year 2010 is that we will be a people who grow daily in love and understanding of our God, ourselves and our fellow human beings as we stand in relation to each .

Amen. So Let It Be