Second Sunday after Pentecost June 10, 2007
Scripture	Luke 7:11-17 11 Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As 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. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” 17 This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Devotional	The story of the raising of the widow’s son in Nain is a parallel story to Elijah raising the son of the widow (Kings 17:17-24). There are other characters in the story but the focus is on Jesus and the woman. The woman represents the poor to whom Jesus has come to bring the good news. If the good news has nothing to say to a grieving widow, it has nothing to say. The raising of the dead son is a compassionate act done for her benefit. This is a story of transformation for the widow and also for the son but he is not spoken of again. The community, along with the disciples were also left out of the story. A question from last week continues to surface. How do we tell the difference between self-deception and God’s leading? Thinking individually we can place ourselves in the position of the woman- just Jesus and me. In the act of transformation of our lives, it is not difficult to leave out the community of faith. Just Jesus and me.. I believe that when we think individually, we sometime confuse our thinking with God’s will. Stanley Hauerwas points out the danger that the will of the individual can be equated with the will of God. One way to avoid this danger is being part of a faith community. The community holds us accountable therefore reducing the possibility of confusing our will with the will of God. Prayer: Lord. We think we are listening to you but often we are listening to ourselves. Help us to be aware of the small voice that is so easy to ignore.