Sermon Synopsis 11/03/24

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Luke 7:11-17
11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. 16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” 17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

I.               INTRODUCTION

1. One of the things we should be aware of is God never intends to leave us in a place of despair. Psalm 30:11 says 11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
2. God is a god that refuses to allow us to wallow in our current situation and remain in despair. He is determined not to let our current situation be our final situation.
3. Grief is real and at some point, in your life, you will experience grief. If you’ve ever experienced loss, you know what grief feels like.
4. Grief is the result of the loss of loved one, loss of a friendship, loss of a job, or a loss of the way things used to be.
5. Just because we love the Lord, doesn’t mean we get exempt from experiencing grief.
6. Dr Elisabeth Kubler Ross wrote a book on “death and dying” and in it, she talks about the 5 stages of grief.
   1. 5 Stages of Grief
7. Denial – A state of shock or disbelief, where individuals have difficulty accepting the reality of the loss.
8. Anger – A period of frustration, resentment, and sometimes blame, which can be directed at oneself, others, or even the person who has died.
9. Bargaining – This stage often includes thoughts of “if only…” and involves attempts to negotiate or change the reality of the situation, sometimes through promises or compromises.
10. Depression – Feelings of profound sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness, as the reality of the loss becomes undeniable.
11. Acceptance – A stage of coming to terms with the loss, where individuals may begin to find peace and adjust to life without the person or situation they have lost.
12. When you read this word today, you will discover that these stages are not linear, meaning that they may not necessarily appear in order. You may experience them all at once or one by one in no particular order.
13. This word comes at a specific time in Jesus’ Ministry. Jesus had just performed a miracle in Capernaum 25miles away from Nain. Afterwards he traveled down the roadway, teaching along the way, until he finally reached Nain.
14. When Jesus got to Nain, he noticed there was a funeral procession. There is woman in the procession weeping and dressed in black. Her son was in a coffin with no lid on top. This processional was headed to the graveyard, so that they could bury her son.
15. She was a widow woman. This was a difficult situation to be in. This meant her covering (her husband) had already passed away.
16. In biblical history, men took care of the wives. When a woman was a widow, she was in a state of financial insecurity, so this was a really big issue.
17. Remember Ruth and Naomi and how difficult it was for them after their husbands had died?
18. The Widow Woman doesn’t have a husband, but she has a son. The son would one day step in the gap and take care of his mother as his father once did, but then her son
19. Jesus sees her and has compassion for her. He tells her to stop crying. He touches the coffin, and the boy was raised from dead. They were in misery, but they ended up with a miracle! It doesn’t matter what you lost, today is your day for a turnaround!

II.               PAINFUL AND ATNOMALOUS DEATH

• Anomalous means something that deviates from the normal of what was expected. The son’s death was
• Not only does the widow not have her husband to protect her anymore. Now the woman doesn’t even have her son to protect her.  
• When you find yourself in a place where something happens that you didn’t expect, then sometimes you just explain why things happen.

A.    Sometimes You Just Can’t Explain Why Things Happen

1. We always try to make things make sense. Some things just don’t have an explanation.
2. The mysteries of God is a place for you to place your faith. There are things of God that we will never understand.
3. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We walk by faith and not by sight.
4. If we knew everything about God, then He wouldn’t be God.
5. Trust the intelligence of God. Though you don’t understand, know that God has a plan for your life.
   1. Isaiah 55:8-9 says For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
   2. Romans 11:33 says Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!,
   3. Job 36:26 says Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.,
   4. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.,
   5. Psalms 147:5 says Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

B.    Rest In His Sovereignty

1. God is sovereign and He can do what He wants to do, how He wants to do it, and He doesn’t owe us an explanation of why.
2. 5 ways to understand God
   1. God’s ultimate authority – His decisions is final and just. God has spoken.
   2. God has divine wisdom – He knows your past present and your future. It’s just like us watching a movie that we have already seen with our friends. We already know how it ends.
   3. God has providential control – He guides us according to His purposes.
   4. God has purposeful design – Whatever He does is part of a bigger plan. Think about it. If this one thing hadn’t happened, then that door would not have opened, and if that door hadn’t opened, then you wouldn’t have received this blessing.
   5. Faithfulness and goodness – God is faithful and God is good. Look into the mirror and you can see the goodness of God. God is so good; he gives us what we do not deserve. That’s why I have a job that I don’t qualify for and that’s why I drive a car I can’t afford.
3. When you experience anonymous rest in the sovereignty of God, you are:

III.               PARTICIPATING IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DIRGE

• Jesus shows up at the processional that is on the way to the graveyard.  
• What is a dirge? A dirge is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, often performed at funerals or memorial services. It can also refer to a mournful poem or piece of music intended to commemorate the dead.
• A dirge has historically been used to convey sorrow. A dirge creates an atmosphere. It means you have excepted the outcome. 

A.    You Need A Community When You Lament

1. When you experience loss, you don’t need to do it by yourself.  
2. Nobody needs to deal with loss in isolation. When you do, the enemy will cause you Faith frustration, demonic interrogation, and mental degradation. You need to be around people that have a testimony.  

B.    This Funeral Will Not Be Final

1. The funeral is literal and metaphorical at the same time. In other words, God is trying to tell us that this thing we are dealing with, will not be final. Trust what God is about to do!  
2. This isn’t the end for you. It’s not over until God says so! This is not the end of your journey!

IV.               PROVIDENTIAL AFFECTION AND DISRUPTION

• Jesus sees the funeral. He sees the woman crying and His heart has compassion for her. He intercepts the inevitable by stopping the procession.  
• He has empathy.  

A.    Jesus Had Empathy

1. Isaiah 53:4 ESV says Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted., Hebrews 4:15 ESV says For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
2. No matter what happens in your life, know that Jesus feels you and He understands you. Jesus understands our contemplations and He understands us.  
3. He knows your fears and frustrations.  

B.    Jesus Spoke A Word Of Encouragement

1. Jesus told the women to stop crying. It sounds strange for Jesus to tell her not to cry, but you need to understand when and why he told her to stop crying, to get the revelation.  
2. Jesus saw them heading to the graveyard to bury her son. Jesus stopped them before going to the graveyard to demonstrate that He will show up just before your stuff goes under. You are not going under! Jesus will show up right on time! This is the
3. Why? Greif is a natural process. Don’t let anyone tell you not to cry when you suffer loss. Crying is ok. However, Jesus wants us to give our tears term limits!
   1. What should bring our tears to term limits? Remember when Jesus showed up after Lazarus died? He asked Mary and Martha where they laid him. They said he was already dead, but Jesus still wanted to see him. Jesus told them he was resurrection. Because Jesus was there, their situation was about to change.  
   2. Why should they stop crying? They were having a dirge. They are singing songs saying that “it’s over”. When you stop crying, you shift the atmosphere. You change lamentation to expectation! When you change your posture, you are expecting God to do something.  
4. Cry your last tear, because God’s about to turn your situation around. 
5. After you change atmospheres: 

V.               PRAISE GOD FOR AN ALTERED DESTINY

• The women stopped crying. When the atmosphere shifted, then Jesus moved. If you want God to move, then shift your atmosphere. The move of God only comes when you shift the atmosphere! We are assigned to this place and if no one else is willing to shift the atmosphere, we will!  
• When she shifted her posture, Jesus touched the casket. This was against Leviticus law, because touching the dead caused you to be unclean. Jesus broke protocol and did it anyway.

A.    One Touch Changed Everything

1. Matthew 8:3 ESV says And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
2. Mark 8:23 ESV says And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”
3. Mark 5:41 ESV says Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
4. Mark 5:34 ESV says And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
5. Luke 22:51 ESV says But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
6. One touch from Jesus can put your situation back together again!  The hymn writer says “he touched me and made me whole!”

B.    God Is Going To Return What He Resurrects To You

1. One touch from Jesus and God will return what he resurrects, back to you.  
2. You would think that we could shout over the boy being raised from the grave. Jesus touched the casket, and the boy raised up and spoke. Now get this, he raised up and spoke up.  
3. When Jesus resurrects him, it is essential that visibly he rises up. This isn’t enough by itself, because this could still be seen as a hoax orchestrated by the disciples, but when he speaks up, the miracle becomes undeniable.  
4. When God made Adam, he was made in flesh. He wasn’t living until God blew his breath into Adam.  
5. In Ezekiel 37, when the bones were brought together, they didn’t live until the wind came. The breath of God confirms that you have life. You can be raised up and still be in a dead situation, because you won’t say anything. When you open your mouth if confirms God’s blessing over you.
6. How does the boy get out of the casket? Scripture doesn’t say how. The scripture just says that he raised up and started talking. 
7. Perhaps Jesus brought him out. Perhaps the pallbearers got him out. We don’t know how he got out, but we do know, he got out! The same is true for our own situation. I don’t know how I got out, but what I know is, I got out!
8. When he got out, the Bible says, Jesus presented her son to his mom. This will be your season for restoration. Whatever you thought you lost, God is about to give it back.  
9. When he got back to his mom, the crowd said, “Surely, he is a prophet among us”. They then turned from morning to praise. What was a funeral has now turned into a praise service!  
10. Turn to someone and tell them “I’m back”! God brought me from grief to glory!!