Thus Far...

Luke 9:51-62

                Two years ago you all welcomed my family and me into the St. Paul family.  I remember that first summer that I came to preach one Sunday with a gift for each of you.  Do you remember what it was?  I gave each of you a rock.  Do you remember why I gave you the rock?  Because I don’t.  I cannot remember, for the life of me, why I handed out rocks that day.  I could probably guess.  There are lots of references to rocks in scripture.  I imagine we could spend a good amount of time trying to figure out just why I would bring a hundred rocks to hand out.  We would be busy.  We would be in fellowship.  We would be even talking about scripture, but it wouldn’t be worshiping God.  It’s about intent.  It’s about being purposeful; it’s about a journey with Jesus Christ, moving in his direction. 

               

I brought a rock today.  It’s a big piece of granite; it’s not so big that I can’t lift it but its big enough that it’s not going to easily get knocked down the driveway.  It sits in front of my house as a decoration.  It’s a nice rock.  I imagine at some point some farmer’s son or daughter had to pick this rock out of a field, to get it out of the way.  I don’t imagine they thought it was a very nice rock.  I’d guess that whoever may have picked this rock out of the field thought it too big and too heavy.  I‘d guess that if given the choice they would have preferred never to have to deal with this rock.  But at some point this rock made its way to the surface of the earth; someone picked it up and now some pastor with an affinity for rocks is using it as a decoration. 

                So here we are and our intent is to worship God and there I go again talking about rocks.  We have to be purposeful. We have to be intentional about our faith journey or we might get distracted.  And get to talking about such useless things as rocks. 

                Jesus has called us to himself. Jesus has called us to be His workers.  Did you know that we were not saved just for our own sakes?  We were saved first so that we can glorify God.  We freely tell others what Jesus has done for us; we give God the credit for the blessings in our lives, so that others may come to know God for themselves.  We are not called to come to Jesus and then rest while we wait to enter into eternity.  We are called to go and make disciples.

                I have here my garden tiller.  I haven’t used this thing for several years now.  We haven’t had a garden here in Riverton yet; our previous home sat on a big patch of clay, which this little thing could do nothing in. So for the last seven summers this thing has sat silent.  The question is:  what should I do with it?  Should I come to the realization that its time has passed and store away?  Or should I re-purpose it?  Perhaps I could use it as a coat rack. I could give it away.  After all, I’m not using it.  Perhaps I should get to using it.  Perhaps I should take what I have in front of me and use it for its intended purpose.  It may be a little late in the season now but perhaps I could use it to till a patch of ground and plant a garden. 

                But there could be rocks buried just below the surface.  There could be great big pieces of granite like this one and I could damage my tiller.  You just don’t know what’s out there.  So many problems could arise; so many dangers.  And for what the garden might not even grow. But there I go talking about rocks again.  We should focus on worshiping God.

                We sang that song a few minutes ago.  “Come, thou Fount of Every blessing.” In that song, it mentions raising an “Ebenezer.” Well that is from 1 Samuel 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."

            When we get past our challenges and difficulties we can celebrate saying Lord has helped me.  We have come “thus far” because God has helped us. 

                You ever hear the saying, “just because you stand in your garage, it doesn’t mean you are a car. And just because you go to church doesn’t mean you are a Christian.”  The high calling of being a Christian is knowing that God loves us and has saved us so that we can make God known to others; to everybody; to our family and neighbors; to everybody. That includes those who would take advantage of your generosity.  We are called to point people to God whether they are near or of they live in the remotest part of the world.

                The thing is, we can go to the remotest part of the world or we could go to some of our neighbors and tell them about the spiritual nourishment they can find in Jesus Christ but they won’t hear us.  They won’t hear us because the sound of their physical hunger is too distracting.  The sound of their despair is too overwhelming.  The sound of their disbelief is deafening. These are rocks in the garden God has called us to plant.  So do we just give up because there are too many rocks?  If the only thing we do on our faith journey is attend Sunday worship then we are just reaping the harvest of gardens planted in the past. 

                We are called to give water to the thirsty, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked and to visit the sick and those in prison.  We are called to use our various gifts to share the love of God.  As your pastor I feel called to encourage you to find ways to use your unique gifts to fulfill God’s calling in your life. But I don’t know all your gifts.  In fact I probably am aware of a fraction of a shadow of all the gifts that God has blessed this congregation with.  I know a few of you have some basketball skills and in a little while you are going to embarrass me in a game of HORSE to raise money so that a lot of people can get emergency help when they need it.  We are removing rocks of distraction so that people can come to understand that God loves them.

                Could it be that the physical hunger we help quench might open someone’s awareness of God’s love for them and they can say “Thus far God has helped me.”

                In the Gospel lesson Jesus “face was set toward Jerusalem.” Meaning that his intent was to go to Jerusalem and fulfill his purpose there.  He had intent.  He was purposeful.  But the people on the way that were inspired by his words and by his presence was also distracted by the concerns of this world.  “I will follow you wherever you go.” “Let me bury my father.”  “Let me say goodbye to those at my home.” But Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” We can take the surface meaning and understand that we need always look forward.  To have a straight furrow we need to look where we are going and we need to watch out for obstacles.   But on another lever Jesus is talking to us about our intent. Where is our face pointed?  Is our face pointed toward Jesus or toward the things of this earth?

                The Samaritans didn’t receive Jesus because his face was pointed toward Jerusalem.  They looked down on the Jews and would oppose pilgrims that passed through their land. Jesus intention was clear and the Samaritans saw it.

How is it with you today?  How clear is your intention to serve God?  Can people tell that you belong to Christ?  Where is your face pointed?

From Zero to One

1 Kings 19:1-15a

Luke 8:26-39

My kids continually tell me that things are not the same as they used to be.  The world I grew up in no longer exists.  It a lot of respects, that is a good thing.  We communicate more efficiently, we treat diseases more effectively and we information is shared more broadly. But human nature remains the same.  In junior high school it is still the tendency to point to others quirks, oddities, and missteps so that yours might go unnoticed.  I say, “In Junior High School” because that is where we seem to hone and perfect this skill that we take with us for the rest of our lives. 

We find clever ways of hiding the parts of us that don’t quite fit with the rest of the world.  This is not true universally of course. There are those courageous souls who live authentic lives; that take the gifts that God has given them and they put them out there, risking everything, but usually reaping the benefits of a well-lived life.  These are the artists, the poets, the revolutionaries, those that are not afraid to speak their mind.  These are the people who love without fear; who wake every morning knowing that they are living in God’s will and go to sleep every night knowing that they have done all they could. 

Then there are the rest of us.  We hit the mark most of the time, or maybe some of the time.  We fail once and a while, we struggle once and a while.  We feel guilty for the things we have done or said, so we start to hide.  We hide our true selves from the world and from God.  But then along comes someone who has really messed up.  Someone that had really made poor decisions in life and we talk about them.  We talk about how they got off track.  We talk about how they should be living.  And we comfort each other with these kinds of conversations because we mutually agree that if we are talking about “them” we don’t have to talk about me.

In the Gospel lesson we got a snapshot of a very exciting day. Can you imagine life in that small town? People just like you and me.  Human nature doesn’t change. Culture and traditions differ but people are people.  They had that that guy in town who was OUT OF HIS MIND.  He was violent and strong.  He would hurt himself.  They tried to chain him up but he would just break free.  He was dangerous and a problem for the town.  He was obviously the worst person in the town.  But then one day some pig farmers were working outside and noticed some boats coming across the lake.  The people in the boats got out and went to the tombs where the dangerous man was.  I imagine they were watching pretty intently because this could be good entertainment.  These people didn’t know how dangerous this guy was.  AS they were watching the man who the town feared changed his stance and his demeanor.  Instead of agitated and hostile he looked calm and serene.  Then suddenly the heard of pigs left the farmers, ran down the hill and drowned in the lake.  That’s a big deal.  That’s news.  So the pig farmers went and told people what they had seen.

It makes sense that when Jesus approached the man possessed with a legion of demons that the man would react in fear.  Jesus is the Son of God.   Jesus is Holiness in bodily form.  Jesus very existence threatens their existence.  The demons know that the place for them was the abyss.  They had set their spirit in opposition to God’s will and so separation from God is like a wide bottomless pit.  This was a fearful idea and a most undesirable way to spend eternity so they begged Jesus not to be sent to the abyss so Jesus sent them into the filthiest animal imaginable to the Jewish mind, the pig.

It makes sense and it is understandable why the man with the legion of demons was fearful but when word spread about what had happened, the towns people came out they were filled with fear when they saw the man who was possessed in his right mind and at peace. They were afraid and asked Jesus to leave.  On first reading this didn’t make sense to me. But then I remembered my lesson from Junior high school.  They were afraid in the same way that the man possessed with demons was afraid.  Up until that moment he had been the worst one in town.  Now, perhaps their demons are at risk of being exposed.  The places they have made agreements with evil will be revealed.  The strongholds that the evil one has in their hearts may become known. 

We don’t like to have light shown in our dark places.  We don’t like anyone to even know that we even have dark places. They were afraid. They were convicted.  They knew they could not measure up to the holiness of God and they begged Jesus to leave. And so Jesus left.

Jesus left but he did not abandon them.  The man that was healed was so thankful to Jesus. He love for Jesus spilled out of his spirit and he wanted nothing more than to follow Jesus all the days of his life but Jesus said, “no.” He commanded the man to go home and tell people about what God had done for him. This was a town that had no one speaking the truth of God. They were in their own self- sustaining delusion that, “as long as I am not as bad as that guy, I’m okay.” They had zero, now they have one.

They were happy with “good enough.” Now they will see what more they could be.  When things seem good enough, it’s surprising how much of the bad stuff we will put up with.  Jesus left this man behind to be a shock to the system.  He was so bad before and now he is so joyful for the blessings of God.  He has been freed from his chains, he has been set free and he won’t have enough good to say to express his love for Jesus.  Do you think his presence will make a difference in that town, even though he is only one man?

But we like to be like Elijah though don’t we?  Remember when he found out that the odds were against him?  His life was being threatened by the government. All the prophets of God were gone but him.  He was all alone.  He lay down under that broom tree and just wanted to die?

Is that what you would do?  What if you were the last Christian on the face of the planet?  Everybody, I mean everybody is saying they just don’t believe that any more.  Its old fashioned.  It can’t be true.  And on top of that if you continue to preach it you’re gonna get killed.  What would you do?

I had a drill Sargent in basic training at Ft. Sill Oklahoma; Drill Sargent Booth was his name.  He gave us a scenario. He said “you are surrounded by the enemy in a foreign land. You are all alone your whole platoon has been wiped out. You are wounded. If captured you will likely be heavenly interrogated. You have one bullet left. What do you do? 

There was some murmuring from my fellow soldiers about possible actions to take.

Then the Drill Sargent screams “YOU USE THAT BULLET TO TAKE OUT THE ENEMY!” We are behind enemy lines.  We are indeed surrounded. Fortunately we have the blessing of a Christian community to love and support us.  But there are times when we may want to lay down and give up like Elijah.  There are times when it would be easier to be just good enough to not be as bad as that guy. But then god sends an angel to bless us; to give us encouragement.  It may not be an angel with wings but it may be a friend or a family member with and encouraging word.  You might hear from God in a Bible study, church group or even, perhaps, from a sermon. Hear this:  God doesn’t want you to hide behind the appearance of Good enough; God wants to perfect you in Jesus Christ.

The thing is you may be the only one!  You may look around and see no one standing up for God. You may see no one working to grow the ministries of the church.  You may see no one starting a ministry that you know would be a blessing to the community. If that is what you see then perhaps God is calling you to take that zero and become the one.

The healed man wanted to go with Jesus.  He left him behind as the only one.

Elijah tried to find the lord in all the calamities that were around him but found him in the stillness and the quit.  He was the only one. 

Good times.

You may be the only one.

If you don’t want to be the only one then go and make one.  If you and another agree on what God is calling the church to be then there is nothing that will defeat you. But need to be willing to have those spiritual conversations with people to be able to discern God’s will.

We have these phrases that the world has heard us say, “You’ve got to have a personal relationship with Jesus.” And those of us who have that understand what that means but when you say that to someone who doesn’t they may just answer with “No I don’t!” and the conversation is over.  They’ve quit listening.  If you want others to know Christ you have to show them Christ.  Show them Christ living inside you.  Tell people about what Jesus has done for you.

Love and accept people for who they are and what they could be in Christ Jesus.

Jesus didn’t tell the man that he healed to go and tell people to have a personal relationship with him he said go home and tell people what God has done for you. He did that.  He did that!

So how is it with you today?  What is God calling you to be?  What is God calling you to do? 

One Father

One Father

Luke 7:36-8:3

The life we live is a story continually written by our decisions.  We face difficulties and challenges and we respond.  We have victories and successes and we respond.  We plod through mundane routine and we respond. All of that and so much more, from our birth to our death, is the story of our earthly life. 

This could be said of all creatures everywhere whether human or animal. 

My Bow:  Specialized to transfer as much energy from the tension of the bow to the flight of the arrow as possible.  Left handed to suit me.

My decision to nock an arrow and draw the string aim it at a deer, and let the arrow fly not only adds another event to the story of my life but possibly ends the story of that deer. 

I have never actually bow hunted.  That is an event that has never been written in the story of my life, but it could be if I choose it.

Nurturing our little ones is part of God's design.

I could choose to just use it for target shooting.  You ever see the story of Robin Hood as told by Disney?  It is animated with the characters being all sorts of different animals.  In it Robin Hood enters an archery competition where he not only gets a bull’s eye but splits the arrow of his competitor the full length of the shaft who got a bull’s eye before him.

Archery has been used as a way of describing sin.  That sin is, “missing the mark.” Sure if I were to have a target, which in this metaphor is the perfect will of God for humanity, and I turn away from that target and loose my arrow in some other direction.  That could be catastrophic.  Someone could get hurt or killed.  That would be negligent, that would be irresponsible, and we could even call it evil. 

But what if I turned 90 degrees? That is a little closer to aiming at the target, right?  It’s a little better that turning fully away from the target or God’s will.  Right? 

What if I fully face the target?  What if I try with all my effort to hit the target; to train and to practice my archery skills to be the best archer I can possibly be? Have I done all that God requires of me?

Unfortunately, no.

To live as God would have us live would require, in this metaphor, to hit the target exactly in the center of the bull’s eye with the arrow exactly perpendicular to the target and to have entered the target and just the precise depth.  Not only would we have to achieve this perfection but we would have to achieve it over and over again.  We would have to split the previous arrow every time.  If we were off even a fraction of an inch, even once, we would be missing the mark.

I was watching an episode of myth busters once.  They tried to duplicate the splitting of the arrow the full length of the shaft like in Robin Hood.  They used precise equipment and as much knowledge of physics they could muster.  And they determined that it was physically impossible to do.  Even the best earthly shot at the mark that happened to go the right depth and land perpendicular to the center dot cannot be duplicated by the second shot.

This is how it is with sin.  We cannot live in such a way that we are pleasing to God. 

That is why Christ came.  That is why Christ gave his life, so that our imperfect shot at life can be made perfect in him; So that, in him, we can live and grow in this life and enter into perfection in the next life. He died to take on all of our imperfections and failures. Every time we tried in earnest to make that perfect shot and failed, Jesus took it and made it work for him.  Every time we turned away and fired in another direction, Jesus took that and made it work for him as well. All those missed shots are still imperfections; they all still can cause harm. That all can damage. None of our shots are the perfect will of God but God uses them all and forgives us for our failure.

If hitting the mark could be gained though our own efforts, Christ died for nothing.

In The scripture today we read about a dinner party that Jesus was invited to. 

Jesus was there.  Jesus the son of God was at a dinner party with a bunch of sinners. 

Isn’t that how it always is?

Jesus was the only perfect one! Everyone else fell short of the perfection of God!

Jesus came to give his perfection.  Jesus came to take away the sin of the world.  Jesus offers forgiveness for missing the mark.  Jesus offers forgiveness of sin. 

Jesus was at a party with a bunch of sinners.  All of the sinners at that party had access to the forgiveness that Jesus was offering.  Only one accepted this great gift, in fact only one recognized the need to accept it. 

It just happens that it was a woman whose circumstances and decisions lead to a place in her life story where she was making a living as a prostitute.  In Jesus she found new life.  In Jesus she found forgiveness.  In Jesus she found the perfection of God. 

She came and found Jesus and anointed his feet. She honored Jesus while the host of the dinner party was still living in sin.  She was redeemed.  Her relationship with God had been restored while the Pharisee was still separated from God. 

To human eyes it may look like the Pharisee was in better spiritual health, being a “man of God” after all. Granted his life was stent carefully aiming and trying in earnest to hit the mark while the woman’s life appeared to be facing a different direction all together.  But in this moment of worship, this woman is in right relationship with God.  Jesus forgave and she accepted that forgiveness. The Pharisee had not.

My bow could be used for target shooting and for hunting; formerly used as a weapon of war. Not only can we turn our back on god and loose an arrow and do great damage, we can also be wounded.

When we are wounded by the actions of others, we can get caught up in the injustice of it.  We can dwell on the offence.  Here is a little parable not from the Christian tradition but a good one about life together.

This parable is from the Buddhist
tradition. 

"It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a languor, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him."

— Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya" (MN 63), Majjhima Nikaya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_arrow

We can spend our time diagnosing our problems and lose sight of getting healthy.  Part of a healthy spiritual life is forgiving those who have wounded us.  All of our brothers and sisters, even though they may have the best of intentions will miss the mark to one degree or another.  God forgives them through Jesus Christ and we are called to do the same. 

Ahab and Jezebel were responsible for the death of Naboth. They wanted his garden. They were deceitful and Naboth was stoned to death. What they did can never be undone.  It has been written in the story of their lives and in the pages of Holy Scripture.  But Ahab later understood his sin and felt the pain of it. He was spared punishment from God, but scripture says that sin affected his sons.  His story, all of our stories have an impact on those around us, especially on our children. 

On this Father’s Day know that the greatest gift we can give our children is an example of humble acceptance of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. When we can admit that we need forgiveness we don’t have to pretend that we are better than we are.  We won’t be blinded like the Pharisee who presumed to be better than the woman who anointed Jesus feet with perfume and washed them with her tears.  We would instead see her and the Pharisee as a sister and a brother in need of forgiveness because we have the same father. 

So how is it with you today?  Is there someone in your life who needs to hear about our loving Father who wants to perfect us in his love through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ?

The Story Continues

This is my friend Jeff Bollman.
His earthly life came to an end this week. I look forward
to the day when we will meet again in eternity.  

Luke 7:11-17

I’m about to tell you a foolish story.  It’s a good story filled with good news but it will sound foolish to those who do not believe.  I’m going to give you the end first.  We are going to skip to the end and I am going to spoil the surprise for you.  Here it is: Jesus is the Lord of life!
Amen.
You know we say “amen,” At the end of prayers?  It seems that the word “amen” has become synonymous with “The end.”  Like, “okay, God, that’s it. I’m done talking now…the end.” Or perhaps it’s often like, “okay, I’m done asking for God’s blessing, we can start the potluck.
But the word “amen” means, verily, or truly.  You can say it anytime with anything that you agree with. Amen?
You can even start a sentence with the word amen. “Amen, truly I say to you that this is a loving congregation.” Or, “Amen, Jesus is the Lord of life.”
Amen is not a period.  It’s not the end word of a prayer.  It is a statement of ascent. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say Amen at the end we are saying that all that we prayed is truth.
I’m about to tell you a foolish story of faith.  It’s foolish because we say that the death of our bodies is not the end of us.  When we experience death in the flesh our story continues.  If our life were a movie there wouldn’t be a “The end” after our death.  Credits would not roll after our last breath. Because the foolish story that we tell, as Christians, is that because Jesus is the Lord of our life and we trust in him, the “The end” has been transformed into and Amen, because we will see in that moment the author of our salvation.  We will see the light of eternity and the light of truth. We will say “Truly, you are my Lord and my God.” “Amen, Amen death has lost its sting!”
You see it’s a foolish story that we tell because the story we tell has no ending.   The story continues.  No matter what the story continues.
In the two scripture reading this morning we read of two different widows from two different times in history from two different cities.  Both of them were facing the reality of death.  The widow fro Zarephath was collecting sticks to cook her last bit of food before she and her son would slowly starve to death.  The widow in the village of Nain was experiencing death in that she was going to bury her only son.  She no longer had anyone to take care of her.  Her future looked pretty bleak as well.  It looked like death.  But both women had an encounter with God.  The widow of Zarephath met the Prophet Elijah and the widow of Nain met Jesus.
What the two widows though was the end of their lives was not to be.  In fact the Story continued. The widow did not starve to death, but just when she thought things were going to be okay, her son got sick and died.  But that wasn’t the end of the story either, because the prophet Elijah prayed to God and God brought life back to her son.
Further down the road of history, in the village of Nain, Jesus also brought back life to a widow’s son. Jesus is the Lord of life.  Jesus is the embodiment of the God of creation; he can do that sort of thing.  But before Jesus was born in Bethlehem he was the Logos, the Word, and the Eternal Christ.  He was there at the dawn of creation.  And he was there when Elijah prayed for the restoration of the widow’s son.  You see Jesus is the Lord of Life, of all life.  Christ is eternal.  He was in Zarephath, He was in Nain he is in Scottville, he is in Ludington and he is in Pentwater.
There are things in our lives that seem like it’s the end.  Like it is a period, like there will be no more. It might be death or illness.  But the loss of a job can feel like an end.  Children moving out of the house can feel like an end.  Stagnation in your career or in a relationship can feel like the end.  But Jesus is the Lord of Life.  Where we think there is a “The End,” Jesus puts an “Amen” and says, truly, truly this story of yours is not done, and this story of yours, in fact has no end.
The two widows who though that life was coming to an end both had an encounter with God.  Did you notice where they first made contact?  The widow from Zarephath was collecting sticks at the gate of the town when Elijah met her.  When Jesus met the widow of Nain she was at the gate of the town and they were heading to bury her son. Both widows encountered God in some sense at the gate of their respective towns.
What is the purpose of Gates?  In a walled village…to keep people out.  A gate is for security.   If not for security, a gate is the main entrance into a village. It is sort of main street.  On one side of the gate you are in the village and on the other side you are outside the village.  It is a transition point, a boundary.  The widows were between their village and the wilderness.  They were at the gate. They were in a place between life and death in their lives. They were at a transition point which looked like the end and they encountered God.
Tabernacle: Gates: outer court, altar, holy place, curtain, most holy place
Sometimes it feels like there are too many barriers between us and God.  Sometimes it feels like God is distant.  You are not alone in feeling this way.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And when some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling of Elijah…Let’s see if Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
Period?
The end?
Nope. Just then the temple curtain was torn into, from top to bottom.
The temple curtain the barrier, the gate, that divided the holy place from the most holy place in the Temple was destroyed.  The gate was gone. At Jesus’ death the barrier to the Most Holy God was removed.
You see gates when they are closed keep people out.  But those same gates when they are open or even removed. They are a way of letting people in.   Jesus told a story about some sheep and a gate.
Parable of the sheep/I am the gate: John 10:1-10
The gate was the ungodliness of humanity that could not be joined to the holiness of God
The gate is now Jesus.  Not a gate to keep people out but to let people in. he has taken on our sin. He has taken on our unworthiness and has given us his righteousness.
The road is wide but narrow is the gate.  You have to choose to go through the gate.  It’s open for everybody but not everybody will use it.  Many will pass on by.
How about you?   How is it with you today?  Are you able to see past the period at the end of the sentence that is your life?  The story continues.  It continues because the Jesus is the Lord of Life and wants to give it abundantly.  

Amazing Faith

Luke 7:1-10

Astounding Faith

We launched some a sky lantern a few nights ago. We were a little
concerned that it would get into the wind Turbine, but it didn't.  

We know that Israel, during Jesus life time, was occupied by the Romans.  The roman army probably had garrisons and outposts at various places to project the power of Rome.  The soldiers in these places needed commanders.  A Centurion was such a commander.  In the Gospel lesson today we read of one of those commanders. You can imagine that the presence of Roman soldiers was not the most welcome thing. In fact it was probably pretty terrible to live under the rule of a foreign government.  An invading nation obviously does not respect your sovereignty; it probably does not respect your customs, your faith, or your traditions. They are there to exert power and control to their benefit.

The Centurion in today’s reading was different. This centurion had a faith that amazed Jesus.  That’s pretty good! If you can amaze Jesus you must be doing something right.  So let’s take a look at what he did. 

Well we know that he is a soldier that probably came up through the ranks.  That means that he probably did what soldiers are called on to do.  The army has a phrase that sanitizes the sound of what happens in battle.  They say the mission is to destroy personnel and equipment of the enemy.  That is what they do but it doesn’t come close to describing what happens on a battle field. And that is the modern military. Now imagine the world before bullets when battles were fought with swords. That means the centurion in this story has a history of battle. This centurion has probably witnessed some pretty horrific things and may have even participated in some pretty horrific things.  We can pretend that since this man was from a different time in history that the soldier’s life didn’t adversely affect him. We can pretend that the wounds he inflicted didn’t, in turn wound him spiritually.  But I think we know better.  Getting through this human life without wounds is impossible.  The great majority of us have never experienced a battle field.  But all of us have experienced loss.  We have all done things we wish we would have done differently.  So this battle hardened soldier has come to this day when he heard that Jesus was in Capernaum.

 You see, the centurion had a slave.  We gloss over the fact that he had a slave.  The notion of slavery is abhorrent to our modern ears. The fact that one human can own another human is something that we rail against.  But we gloss over it because in the culture of that time it was common and so Jesus does not speak out against it, instead, Jesus continually points toward God and knows that the transforming power of a life lived by faith will, person by person; bring about a world that is just. Where there is no slavery not of individuals, and not of whole peoples. This Centurion had a slave and that slave was deathly sick.

 This traveling Rabbi; this teacher of the people of whom the centurion’s  soldiers are charged with keeping subdued; This itinerant preacher and healer has come to the town where his outpost was.  It was a good thing he came.  Because this centurion’s servant was sick and needed help desperately.  The Centurion knew that Jesus could help.  What happened next left Jesus amazed.

So what was so amazing about the centurion? What can we learn from him?  How can we have a faith like him?

1.       Surround yourself with good people.  “He sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.”  When I say ‘he surrounded himself with good people.  I don’t mean that he was an elitist.  He may have been, I don’t know. He surrounded himself with good people by the nature of his actions.  If he were cruel, calloused and indifferent, who would be there by his side to be sent out with a message for Jesus?  This centurion gained the help of the elders of Capernaum to help him.  You can tell a lot about a person by the people who are willing to speak for them and on their behalf.

“When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “he is worthy of having you do this for him…” I wonder here: Do these Jewish elders speak out of knowledge of who Jesus is, when they say speak of worthiness, or is it out of love for the centurion? 

2.       Be charitable. The elders continued, “He loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” Long before Jesus came to the village, long before his slave got sick.  This centurion built a synagogue.  Was it with the money and resources that was taken from the Jewish people in the first place?  Probably.  It was good for him to build the synagogue but it still would have been better for the people of the romans were not there.  Under imperfect circumstances the centurion did something good.  It didn’t fix any underlying problems, it didn’t make the occupation any more just but it was a thing. 

3.       Care for those who depend on you.  He had a slave, it’s true.  But he cared deeply for him. When his slave became ill, he called in favors from the elders, he sent for Jesus, the one that can heal by the power of God.  He didn’t cast those aside that were no longer useful to him.  He spent all the more energy on caring for them. 

4.       Learn humility. I imagine he was in his home caring for his ailing slave when he looked out his window and saw Jesus with his whole entourage approaching.  “When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof therefore I did not presume to come to you.”  The centurion knew Jesus could help but never intended for Jesus to come. But Jesus came anyway. Have you ever had that happen? You ask for a little help and you get more than you could ever ask for?

5.       Trust Jesus. The Centurion had his friends say to Jesus “But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” The centurion trusted that Jesus had the authority to heal his slave.  If he understood Jesus to have this authority he must have understood that that authority comes only from God.  And so this Centurion, having never had a face to face encounter with Jesus saw Jesus for who he was, better than many of Jesus own disciples.  That’s amazing.

Jesus came, and Jesus healed.  That’s what Jesus does.  But Jesus didn’t intend to be a healthcare plan.  Jesus came and Jesus heals only to point our attention to God.  Jesus came at the centurions request but did not need to speak to him because he understood that the centurion already had his mind set on God.  He knew that the centurion adequately understood where the healing comes from and knew he needed no further teaching.  Jesus healing of the slave was immediate and lasting.  Jesus healing was a miracle that pointed attention to God.  But would have Jesus known about the sick slave if the centurion’s friends and the elders have not gone and told him? Would the centurion have had those friends and the admiration of the elders had he not built the synagogue and shown the people love.  Would the slave have even survived if he did not have someone like the centurion to care for him?

Jesus healing was immediate and lasting.  Jesus said of the Centurion “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”  Yes it was his faith that impressed Jesus. But it was his faithfulness in life that brought all the elements of this story together.  It was his friends, his charity, his care, his humility and his trust in Jesus that brought about the circumstances where Jesus offered healing.

St. Paul Outpost:

So how is it with you today?  No matter what our past holds.  No matter how broken we are or how many mistakes we have made.  We can have a faith that amazes Jesus.  It’s a faith that says that all good things are from God and we as God’s people give God all the Glory.  How can you give God the glory today?