Raising the Dead....

In Luke 7 we come across the story of Jesus raising the dead son of a widow who lived in a town called Nain. When I think about all the arrangements and preparations that had been made for the day of the funeral and all the emotional and psychological adjustments the mother of this lad had already gone through I can only surmise that his resurrection would have created a few difficulties along the way. Firstly would be the complete sense of unreality about the whole affair. I mean, dead is dead, isn't it? Or maybe not...such as in this case. Then there is all the grief and heartache that she had already suffered. All the mourning, the physical preparations of the body, the grave-site, plus many more experiences, responsibilities and action that surround a death. In one sentence Jesus undoes everything and now everyone has to make a new readjustment. It is not just a case that the young man is alive...he was that before...but that he was dead and they knew he was dead and they were going to bury him dead...and NOW he is alive! I think everyday everyone would have taken a good close look at him just to make sure.

It seems to me that there would be some adjustment problems with getting someone back from the dead so it naturally follows that any church which is honestly seeking revival and renewal will face difficulties also.

People seem to resign themselves to the death of their church/congregation. Whole congregations develop this mindset that as long as someone is here to bury us and turn out the lights and shut the door when we are all gone then we are good. Like the widow and the gathered mourners there is this sense of inevitability about death.
Jesus challenges this perception. In fact he more than challenges it...he breaks it down...tears it up...and tosses it for a loop...by simply raising the dead. If Jesus can raise dead people like the young man from Nain or Lazarus...and if Peter can raise Dorcas...and if Paul can raise Eutychus...then it is possible for Jesus to resurrect dead congregations, too. They need to be willing to be resurrected though. I mean what would have happened if after Jesus said, "Young Man! Get up, I tell you!", the first words out of the mouth of that young man were, "Leave me alone! I'm dead!" You can't do much with that attitude...in a person or in a church community.