Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2025

This marvelous Gospel is a microcosm—a small picture—of the entire counsel of God: it shows His heart, it shows the whole purpose for which He became flesh and dwelt among us, and it previews what His redemption does. For here we see Jesus coming toward this little city called Nain, a town so small that it is scarcely known today where that city was located; nevertheless, He draws near to Nain, coming, as it were, out of nowhere, approaching the city to do good, to bring good. For, in fact, as it happens, this city is in desperate need of good because there’s a dead man carried out of its gates: the only son of a woman who also happened to be a widow. She and he and a great crowd from the city are, at the same time, making their way out toward the place of burial. And so you have it that the two great crowds meet at the city gate. And Jesus has compassion on the widow and says to her, “Do not weep.” And He puts forth His hand, stopping the procession of death, and calls the dead man to life. And he arises. And Jesus delivered him to his mother. This, Beloved, is why He came to earth: to show His heart and tender compassion, to vanquish death, and to rekindle and bring life again into our midst. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: 1 Kings 17:17-24

• Epistle: Ephesians 3:13-21

• Holy Gospel: Luke 7:11-17

Sermon: