Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – October 5, 2025

Praise to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

We learn that in our Old Testament reading that the widow of Zarephath's son

became ill and then he died.

In her grief, she said to the prophet Elijah, What have you against me, O man of God?

You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son.

She was overwhelmed with sorrow because of the death of her son.

In our Holy Gospel for today, we learn of another widow, the widow of Nain.

She also lost her only son.

Parents are not supposed to bury their children. It is meant to be the other way around.

Yet the widow of Nain had to bury her son, and she wept with great sorrow.

And there was a large crowd there to comfort her, and this is good.

It's good that we always go to funerals.

We too grieve when a loved one dies.

A spouse, a grandparent or parent, a sibling, a son or daughter, or a very close friend.

All of us, I'm sure, have attended a funeral in our lifetime or more, one or more.

Each person grieves differently, but grief always brings a flood of emotions.

What is grief? How do we define it?

At its heart, grief is the pain of separation.

A loved one has been separated from us.

Yet in our grief, we also find comfort. comfort because Jesus died upon the

cross and he rose from the dead.

This morning, I want to talk with you about four stages of grief,

but I also want to talk with you about the comfort of the gospel because Jesus

lives, you too shall live.

First of all, the death of a loved one brings both sadness and joy.

After a loved one dies, naturally we weep, we hug a family member or a friend,

we cry with them, they cry with us.

We cry because our loved one is no longer here.

We can no longer talk with them and we can no longer hear their voice.

Their chair sits empty and the house is quiet.

Their death causes us to mourn and cry.

Even Jesus knew what grief was all about. After Lazarus died, Jesus wept.

Death entered our world when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

They gave into that temptation and ate.

And Romans chapter 5 says that And sin came into our world through one man,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

namely Adam, and death through sin.

And so death spread to all men because all have sinned.

And Romans 6 says that the wages of sin is death.

And so because we are sinful by nature, all of us will someday die.

We don't know how, we don't know when.

We can prolong life by means of doctor and hospital, but we can never prevent death.

Every funeral is a reminder that we too will die.

When Jesus told the widow of Nain, do not weep, he did not mean that we should

not cry or mourn. He meant, do not weep without hope, I have come to conquer death.

And Jesus knew what he was going to do. He knew that he was going to raise this son from the dead.

St. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, But we do not want you to be uninformed,

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

We grieve. Yes, nothing wrong with it.

But we do not grieve as the world does. We grieve with hope,

knowing that someday, knowing that our loved one is with our Lord.

While on earth, our loved one confessed our sins and received the forgiveness

of sins. They believed in the death and resurrection of Christ.

They heard preaching and received the Lord's Supper on a regular basis.

They performed good works for the sake of others. They loved their family and their church.

And when they walked to the valley of the shadow of death, they feared no evil

because Christ was their Savior.

They now dwell in the house of the Lord forever. They rest from their labors.

Their suffering is ended.

Our memories of them will last a lifetime.

We thank God how they have been a blessing to us.

Dearly beloved in the Lord we never know when death will come to us so remain in the faith,

nurture your faith in Christ with a gospel confess your sins and receive the

forgiveness of sins do not despise preaching as in his word but but gladly hear

and learn it receive the Lord's supper on a regular basis and love one another,

showing mercy to others.

So the death of a loved one is a bittersweet, if you will.

Yes, there is sadness, but there's also joy knowing that they are with our Lord

and that their body awaits the resurrection on the last day.

Second, the death of a loved one is a shock.

But with time, we pray that eventually we learn to accept it.

Everything was going well with the widow of Zarephath. As the prophet Elijah

said, the flour and the oil kept multiplying.

They had enough food, even in the midst of a drought. Things were going well.

And all of a sudden, her son became ill and died.

She was shocked by her son's sudden death.

And likewise, the widow of Nain, she must have been stunned too when her son died.

Many were shocked at the sudden death of Charlie Kirk.

So also many mourn the sudden death of family and friends who died at the hand

of violence in Michigan or Minnesota or other places.

They're alive one day and all of a sudden they're gone. when

death comes suddenly it leaves us in

shock we don't know we don't want

it to happen but it happened and we can't we cannot believe that he or she is

gone we wish that we would have said like goodbye or we wish we would have done

something differently but we cannot the disciples also felt shocked on maundy

thursday they sat with jesus in the upper room and everything was fine,

And then suddenly, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was arrested.

He was taken from them. He was condemned and crucified.

All of a sudden, like that. And they were in shock.

We learned that they were even gathered behind locked doors.

At the foot of the cross was another widow.

Mary, the mother of our Lord, wept as she watched her son be crucified.

And die upon the cross. Why did Jesus die upon the cross?

He went there willingly in order to make the payment for our sin,

and the payment was the shedding of his own blood.

He died upon the cross to bear the wrath of God in our place.

He said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He also died upon the cross so that we could be reconciled with God the Father.

And if Jesus had the power to raise Jairus' daughter from the dead,

if Jesus had the power to raise Lazarus from the dead, in our holy gospel for

today, if Jesus had the power to raise the widow's son from the dead,

then Jesus has the power to raise himself from the dead.

He said at one time, I have the power to lay my life down and I have the power to raise it up again.

And sure enough, Jesus defeated death by his resurrection, and because Jesus

lives, you too shall live.

We don't have a God who knows nothing about suffering or avoided it.

Jesus suffered more than any of us will ever suffer. We don't have a God who

knows nothing about death.

Jesus went through death for us.

So, yes, the death of a loved one is a shock.

Eventually, we accept their death and we believe that God's will is done.

Third, a death of a loved one may bring anger, but we trust in Christ alone.

Death oftentimes causes us to question God. Why?

Why my loved one? Why now? We naturally get angry with God and we think that

he should have prevented this death.

Again, the widow of Zarephath said to Elijah, What have you against me,

O man of God? You have come to bring to me my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son.

She was angry at Elijah and she blamed Elijah for her son's death. But God is not our enemy.

The devil is. The devil tempted Adam and Eve to sin.

The devil brought death into our world through Adam and Eve.

The devil is our enemy, not God. God is on our side.

God the Father came to rescue us from our condition.

He sent his only begotten son to defeat the devil, to conquer death,

and to rise from the dead.

And in Christ, there is life and salvation.

In Christ, the victory is yours in Christ Jesus.

So when we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

we will fear no evil because we

know that heaven is ours through faith in Christ. Heaven is our real home.

This is only a temporary place.

So, the death of a loved one may instill anger in us, but we trust in Christ's

victory over death and the grave,

and we trust that our loved one is with our Lord in heaven.

Finally, the death of a loved one brings loneliness, but it also is a day of comfort.

The widow of Nain wept because her son died and because she is now alone.

She wept at the death of her husband at one time, and now she weeps at the death of her only son.

We too feel loneliness, especially when a spouse or someone close to us dies.

But our comfort is in Christ. His gospel brings us hope in the midst of grief,

joy in the midst of sorrow, and life in the midst of death.

Jesus said to the widow's son, Young man, I say to you, arise.

And the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Jesus' word brought life. Jesus' word is powerful.

Jesus spoke and the young man came alive.

And so also, the gospel speaks life to you.

In baptism, you are joined, as Romans 6 says, to Christ's death and his resurrection.

You live now in Christ, and you will live forevermore.

The gospel brings you comfort and peace, a peace that the world can never give.

Yes, death brings sorrow, shock, anger, and loneliness. But in Christ, we find joy.

We accept it. We trust in Christ, and the gospel gives us comfort.

In Christ, there is life and salvation.

But while we remain here on this earth, what are we to do?

Live life to its fullest. Do not fear death.

Love your family. Spend time with them. Be faithful to your spouse.

If you go to college, do well in your classes.

Enjoy life according to God's Word.

Attend church on a regular basis, making it your highest priority in life so

that the gospel may strengthen and nurture your faith.

Love one another. Help the person who

is in need and let the light of Christ shine through you and let others know

that you proudly and unashamedly believe in Christ as your Savior and that someday

you look forward to heaven.

When we will walk to the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil

because we know that Christ died for us and that he rose from the dead.

And because Jesus lives, you too shall live.

And in heaven, we will be reunited with those who have gone before us.

God grant this for Jesus' sake. Amen.