Astounding Faith
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| 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?
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