Sermon, Proper 5C, 1Kings 17:8-24, Luke 7:11-17

I want to talk about boundaries.

Sometimes boundaries are a good thing. Keeping the kids out of the street, only allowing certain people into the ICU, personal space and knowing when it's okay to say, "No," are all examples of good boundaries.

Sometimes boundaries are not so good things. Over-protective parents, limiting minority participation because of race, gender or creed, and creating systems designed to keep people out are a few bad boundaries that come to mind.

People are good at setting up boundaries. And, generally speaking, boundaries help our society to function. If you look at boundaries as a set of rules, we find that they are necessary. We all know what happens when children aren't given boundaries or rules to live by. Let's face it, without boundaries or rules, chaos reigns.

Since we like chaos even less than we like boundaries and rules, we set up boundaries and rules to live by. It's why we create kings and presidents and governments and speed limits. The downside to that, though, is that sometimes those in power go overboard, or we forget why the boundary was there in the first place and we end up idolizing the rule.

When we begin focusing on the rule or the boundary, we've lost. There's an old saying in the church: If you have to resort to firing canons at each other, the battle is already over. Meaning, if you have to resort to quoting church law to accomplish your goal, it's too late. People do this when they want to maintain control, when they feel a loss of power, or when they are looking for a reason to get rid of somebody.

Boundaries can be bad: we don't want those people allowed into the church; we want to keep our place separate from impostors, etc.

Boundaries can be good: love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body and soul; love your neighbor as yourself.

God's boundaries are God first, then others who need to be shown God's love. It's not us first and God second. It's not even God first and us second. If we focus on ourselves, on keeping things pure and separate or unchanging, we lose.

Today's readings are all about crossing boundaries for God. Elijah was sent to Zarephath to live. Zarephath was a Phoenician city falling under the control of Sidon. In short, it was Gentile country. The Israelites were to remain separate from the Gentiles. That separateness, under God, was to be used as an example to the Gentiles. The Israelites were to lead all nations back to God. It was through Abraham that all the families of earth were to be blessed.

But that principle, that guiding by example and being different from the world devolved into a sense of specialness. It turned into a strict separation of us and them. God is continually sending reminders that it is separation by example, not separation by rule.

One of the examples we see is Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. She is a poor Gentile widow with a young son who has enough food for a last meal. God sends Elijah across the boundary to interact with her, saving her, and, eventually, to raise her dead son to life. By Elijah's boundary crossing, by his reaching out to someone different, by breaking some rule, he allows God to be shown to an outsider.

The gospel today is very similar to the reading from 1st Kings. We have a widow, a dead son and a raising to life.

We also have this place called Nain. This is the only time that particular town is mentioned. While it may not be a Gentile town (it seems to fall within the borders of Galilee), it is certainly a place that is different from the norm. This is a place that appears to be outside the boundaries of Jesus' regular route.

In this passage we see that Jesus goes to that place and raises the dead man. He is not asked to heal anyone or to go anyplace, as he had been previously. Jesus goes. Jesus reaches across the boundary of a different place to offer God's love and promise of life.

When talking about boundaries and rules, we have a couple of questions to consider. Are we willing to reach out across boundaries in order to exhibit and model God's love for all people? Or do we see crossing boundaries and breaking rules as a threat to our existence and hole up in a little enclave of our own making that ensures we remain separate from others?

Sometimes boundaries are good. Sometimes boundaries are bad. The trick for us is to discern whether we are focused on God's boundaries or the artificial boundaries and rules of our own making.