Two Parades
This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches on Sunday, 6/5. How many of us enjoy going to a parade? Did you go the Memorial Day parade? Doesn't being at a parade make us feel like children again? Today's gospel describes a meeting of two parades —one of life (Jesus, and the crowd of followers) and a parade of death—(the dead man, his mother and the grieving crowd). Just what happens when these two parades meet? The parade of life was on the move from Capernaum to the small town of Nain. Before they made their way into the town, they could hear the commotion before seeing the parade of grievers. Middle Eastern people do not mourn as we do. Their mourning is loud and passionate and may well be healthier than the way we try to be strong and not let our emotions get the best of us. One would think that in the parade of mourners, which is a funeral procession, the focus would be on the loved one who died. Of cour...