Proper 5(C) + Jesus.Healing.Joy + 6.5.16

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(1 Kings 17:8–16, (17–24); Ps. 146; Galatians 1:11–24; St Luke 7:11–17)

Let me tell you a story.

“Back in the days when pots and pans could talk, which indeed they still do, there lived a man. And in order to have water, every day he had to walk down the hill and fill two pots and walk them home. One day, it was discovered one of the pots had a crack, and as time went on, the crack widened. Finally, the pot turned to the man and said, ‘You know, every day you take me to the river, and by the time you get home, half of the water’s leaked out. Please replace me with a better pot.’ And the man said, ‘You don’t understand. As you spill, you water the wild flowers by the side of the path.” And sure enough, on the side of the path where the cracked pot was carried, beautiful flowers grew, while other side was barren. ‘I think I’ll keep you,’ said the man.”[1]

This is a story often told by Kevin Kling, a storyteller, and with it I think of the scenes in today’s gospel reading and the 1^st Kings passage. These scriptures recall each other-a desperate widow, losing or having lost a son, a stranger to the prophet or messiah encountered. Luke’s gospel is primarily concerned with showing who Jesus was—Jesus is someone who has a concern for the widow, the orphan, the poor.

The widow at Nain and the widow of Zarephath were both about to be doubly bereaved and abandoned to a merciless world—losing a husband, they had lost their support, and losing what we presume to be their only sons they would lose all hope of financial survival. I am not trying to be overly patriarchal, but in a world where women could not own property and were not seen as financial agents in most situations, this was the reality. These women were exactly the people for whom God has said in the scriptures that God shows special care.

Elijah, God’s prophet, stretches out on the boy and heals him with God’s help. These actions of asking for and receiving God’s healing show in this context that he is not merely wandering religious cranks living off of widows but sent by God to share the good news. This good news was all the more needed in Zarephath, which was the heart of Baal country, whom you might consider Yahweh’s biggest rival in the region at that time. Because remember, the middle East at that time was not monotheistic, but there were many gods, and the God of Abraham came to be seen as the one true God, in part because of healings like this one.

Looking at the gospel passage, how many widows had Jesus seen in his journeys? We know he must have walked by many, momentarily supporting their grief in his presence, perhaps, but this one called to him silently in her raw grief. She was at once the reminder of Zarepheth, the widow and orphan at once. She would have no way to survive, her hope was extinguished with the life of her child. And he cannot take his eyes from her. Moved by compassion, he must act. It is the kind of man and God he is.

And so… he touched the bier (no need now for elaborate full-body stretches, for here is the Son of God). And the son of the widow was restored to life. This is such good news---new life for the whole family, new hope for all – because what community does not share in each other’s grief and joy?  And Jesus is proclaimed a prophet! (Which is a start!) And then they get a bit closer, saying “God has looked favorably on his people” (Luke 7:16).

Because that’s the point. It is all about Jesus. Really, it is not about the son, or even the widow individually, even though they are precious in God’s sight. But this story tells us about Jesus. About who he is as a person who brings good news to the poor and the orphan, to the widow.

What this story does not tell us, is that we will have perfect lives, that this healing Jesus works will always be present in the same way in our lives.

We all have moments in our lives where it feels like things are ending. If we live long enough, we learn that there are moments that do not feel fair. In this way, we all live with dis-ability. Because Kevin Kling, the author of the aforementioned story, is also a person born with physical defects who then lost even more use of his limbs in a motorcycle accident. And he has explored disability. He points out that for all of us, having an able body is a temporary situation.

Thus he says a disability is not un-ability but rather an ability to go into the shadow side and hold both sides of life.

Sometimes the leaks in our pots drip down to grow flowers we had never imagined. Many of us here have been through this and know what I mean. Sometimes we have things in our lives that others see as disabilities but they just help us see the world more fully.

Healing in the Bible often focuses on physical stories of healing, but Jesus is quick to show us that forgiveness of sins, or emotional and spiritual healing, can be even more powerful. Physical healing, when God grants it, can enrich our lives in so many ways, but God sometimes allows the irritation of our mental or physical dis-ability to develop into pearls of wisdom for us and for others. Because that also tells us about who God is.

Jesus walks alongside you. Sometimes he touches the bier and new life in you is powerfully evident. Other times Jesus’ healing is more subtle, like noticing new flowers on your way home. Either way, Jesus calls you to know him, and in him to know hope and joy—the good news of the poor, the widow and the orphan, and good news for anyone who sometimes feels like a leaky pot.

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[1] Kevin Kling, OnBeing Interview with Krista Tippett, http://www.onbeing.org/program/kevin-kling-the-losses-and-laughter-we-grow-into/transcript/8684#main_content (May 19, 2016).