Be Ready to Dance

~~~ Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~~1 KGS 17:17-24 ~~~ Psalm 30 ~~~

~~~ Galatians 1:11-14A, 15AC, 16A, 17, 19 ~~~ Luke 7:11-17 ~~~

You changed my mourning into dancing;

O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

On the surface the readings today seem to be about death.

The widow's son dies while she is hosting

 the prophet Elijah.

Even Elijah is scratching his head; 

questioning God's timing.

We know that God's plan is bigger than ours.

We know that sometimes we do not understand 

God's plan to take a loved one. 

We struggle so many times with the death of a loved one.

The loss of her son for this widow was devastating.

He was literally her last hope.

She was dependent on her only son 

for her future.

For this widow it is literally life and death.

Elijah feels her pain.

Elijah has great compassion for his hostess.

He takes it upon himself to plead 

on her behalf to God.

God responded to Elijah...

he turned the widow's mourning into dancing.

 I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

God worked through Elijah...

God breathed life back into the child.

Miracle? Yes. God is the one who gets the credit.

Elijah surrendered himself to God.

God used Elijah as his representative.

God worked through Elijah.

 I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Jesus, followed by a great crowd, 

encounters another widow mourning the loss of her son.

Both Jesus and the widow come face to face, 

along with their respective crowds.

The two crowds had no idea what they 

were about to witness.

The funeral procession is halted 

through the compassion of Jesus.

Jesus touches the coffin and calls for 

the young man to rise.

Then Jesus carries him, 

as he was talking, to his mother.

These two crowds witnessed the power 

of God over death.

Yes, they were all filled with fear.

Even in their fear they were compelled to glorify God.

“A great prophet has arisen in our midst, “

and “God has visited his people.”

We know God is with us.

God is with us in our darkest times.

God is with us when it seems our mourning will 

never turn to dancing.

We have been promised that on the last day 

we will be raised from the dead.

We will have eternal life in heaven.

Our mourning will be turned into dancing.

We too can experience the joy of the two widows.

Blessing as God teaches us to dance.

~~~Peace~~~