May 29, 2016

“After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. 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.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.” Luke 7:1-10

“By and large, I’ve typically read the story of Jesus and the centurion as a tremendous story about the nature of faith. To the question, “What is faith?” this story offers a clear answer. I mean, here’s a guy who so trusts Jesus’ ability to heal that he sends a servant to tell Jesus to just say the word. That’s right, he tells Jesus not to even bother showing up, but simply to give a command. Why? Because based on his position as a centurion, he knows what authority is and he believes Jesus has it. Now that’s faith!” (David Lose, working preacher website)

“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” This is a quote by Martin Luther — who understood what faith means in our lives. Faith is not just a band-aid in our lives trying to hold us together from one disaster to another. Instead, faith is that part of our lives that keeps us moving into, through and beyond each disaster with our heads held high, our hearts sustained, and our actions displaying trust. Faith moves us forward when we want to stop. Faith keeps us afloat when we just want to sink. Faith allows us to soar when we want to crash and burn. Faith dares us to look evil in the face and say “I am not afraid because I believe in Jesus.”

This interaction between Jesus and the centurion reminds us that there are people all around us who like the centurion their faith just soars above their problems, and those who do not believe as we do. What we should do each day is pray for those who have no faith. And we should pray a prayer of thanksgiving that they are in our lives, and that G-d would use them to do G-d’s will in the world even if they have no idea that this is what they are doing. And finally, let us pray that we would have the grace and courage to encourage their good works – because G-d can use them just like G-d seeks to use us.

Pastor Dave