Homily for Proper 5 C - June 6, 2010

My sisters and brothers, Jesus and Elijah have demonstrated grate power and set a tremendous example.

Our first reading relates how the power of God was manifested through the ministry of Elijah. Even on the soil of another god, Baal, Yahweh is fully potent.

Ahab (king of the northern kingdom, Israel, ca 870-850 BC) and his wife Jezebel rebelled against God by worshiping Baal; the Canaanite god of storms and fertility. Elijah, seemingly on his own authority and claiming to be God’s servant, has decreed a drought – apparently as punishment for Ahab’s waywardness. Elijah has not been commissioned as a prophet. Later, God gives him instructions for avoiding arrest by Ahab and starvation. He shows himself to be God’s servant by obeying God’s orders. He, like the Israelites during the Exodus, is fed by God.

In today’s story, the Baalist woman recognizes the power of Israel’s God and asserts the validity of Elijah’s claim to speak for God. Elijah is indeed a prophet.

In our second reading, Paul tries to give some credential for his preaching, calming that his gospel is unique yet fully authentic. He even drops the names of two apostles who know him and presumably support his teaching. The detractors Paul is trying to rebut are saying that he is not a real apostle and that his teaching is too liberal. The Jerusalem council, reported in Acts, struck a compromise position on the issues of circumcision and food laws. Peter did lean in the liberal direction of Paul but did not go as far.

Our reading today presents the core of Paul’s defense. His detractors claim that he is not a real apostle, because he did not accompany Jesus in his ministry. They say that he was commissioned for mission by humans, in Antioch; real apostles received the good news directly from Christ. We see this fact related in the story of the apostles picking a replacement for Judas. Paul argues that he was commissioned “through a revelation of Christ”, through his vision on the road to Damascus. He rebuts the false teachers further: they accuse him of weakening the faith by excusing Christians from Jewish practices, e.g. circumcision and the dietary laws. Paul points out that he was ardently and strictly Jewish until his vision, his commissioning by Christ. God had set him apart for his purposes first as a Pharisee and then as one sent, as an apostle with a distinct mission: “among the Gentiles”.

Today’s Gospel story shows how Jesus’ reputation as Prophet and man of God spreads. He even equals the feats of the Great Prophet Elijah; raising a widow’s only son from the dead!

Previously, in Capernaum, Jesus has been approached by Jewish leaders to heal the slave of a centurion who has paid for the building of a synagogue. They argue that, despite being a Gentile, he is worthy to receive the blessings that God grants to Israel, his elect. But Jesus has healed him for his faith. Now, moving on to the town of Nain, Jesus encounters the body of a dead man being carried out of the town, through the “gate.” In a patriarchal society, a widow’s loss of her “only son” would render her destitute. The story recalls Elijah raising a widow’s son; indeed the words translated “gave him to his mother” also appear in the then-current Greek translation of 1 Kings. Jesus is truly a powerful prophet through whom God shows Divine mercy.

Jesus and Elijah have each raised from the dead the only son (the only security) of a widowed mother. They, however, demonstrate more than just the power of God. Compassion for the widows’ grief and their pending financial insecurity is also a powerful theme. Also, Jesus shows compassion for the untimely death of the young men.

Healing, support/help in time of need; all these themes are tied up in these stories. They are expressions of caring. Jesus and Elijah set an important example for us believers today. We really must give a dam if we are to be authentic Christians. We really must do what we can to ease the suffering of others. It is Jesus’ most consistent messages as well as his personal example. Even though we will probably never see a perfect world, we must never allow ourselves to grow cynical or complacent about our call to Christian love.