The Faith of the Centurion

Title:The Faith of the Centurion
Date:1st Jan 2017
Preacher:Sister Keng Wan Ling

Good morning brothers and sisters. And happy new year!!
Our passage today is from Luke 7. I will read in English.
7 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

How's the state of your faith? Healthy? Strong? Meh… Given it much thought?
Today’s passage starts off Luke 7, a chapter with a theme of faith running through it. In this chapter, Jesus acts- he heals the Centurion’s servant (v1-10), raises from the dead the Nain widow’s son (v11-16), and forgives the sins of a sinful woman (v36-50). He also explains, explicitly addressing the issue of faith (v18-35).

But let’s not digress, and just focus on this Centurion.

The ABCs of faith
In this particular story, verses 1-10:
(a) who was the one who had faith (faith-er?)
(b) who did he have faith in (faith-ee?)
(c) And to do what?. And.. (d) Why??

Who? The main character is the centurion. A centurion is a veteran soldier in Herod Antipas’ army who commanded about a hundred men. He’s a mercenary, serving as a tax solider or a policeman, and earning about 15 times that of a normal soldier. He would often also be a patron, who brokers the imperial resources among the local population he was a part of. Obviously a man of power and influence.

In who? And this centurion had faith in Jesus.

To do what? To heal his servant who was on his deathbed. Not just protecting his investment, but the implication is that he cared for this servant. His faith extended to how Jesus would heal- he believed Jesus didn't even need to set food on his house to do the healing. And he was right. And, as a bonus, Jesus publicly commended him for his faith.

Why did the centurion have such faith? We know he was on good terms with the local Jews, and probably familiar with Jesus' feats. This goodwill was two-ways; the delegation of Jewish leaders were willing to go plead with Jesus on his behalf, citing his credentials: the centurion had helped build their local synagogue, and he “loved their nation”- this probably mean the was what was called a God-fearer, or gentiles who were sympathethic towards Judaism (e.g. participated in ceremonies, were patrons or benefactors, even though they never formally converted).

Perhaps we, the detached readers, don’t find the story surprising at all up to this point.

So this Roman thinks favourably of the Jews, supports this, er, charity cause by donating to their temple-building; it seems natural for him to turn to their current favoured healer Jesus as well… no harm right? No big deal?

Except it WAS a big deal. Jesus thought so.
The Centurion’s actions triggered Jesus’ emotional outburst- “he was AMAZED at him”, causing Jesus to turn to the crowd and declare “ I have yet to find this type of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works” (the message translation); “ I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (v 9).

Eh??? What’s up with that?
Imagine you were one of members in the delegation of elders who gave the original request. I expect you’d be kaypoh, following along and thus a member of the crowd who heard this. You may think- Hey! I joined my fellow Jewish elders to ask Jesus as a favour to a community leader and donor- sure, I hoped Jesus won't refuse, else we would be the bearer of bad news, and maybe the donations would stop? But certainly you didn't expect this!?

What, Jesus is implying his Romans's faith is better than yours? You, a member of the Jewish elders? Honestly, this Jesus is too much sometimes  Plus this guy is a foreigner, a Gentile, a centurion – why commend him so highly, and so publicly? How would you feel if God declared that your foreign oppressors, your enemies were more faithful than you? How outrageous!

If it were ME… I might think- meh…. when I first came before Jesus with my gang of Jewish elders, i would think… you are a rich roman solider. Jesus is here for the poor, the lepers, the widows… well you know the type. Didn’t he just preach about (in Luke 6, the Beatitudes) about blessed are the poor, those who are hungry. You’re definitely not in that group! Maybe he will do it when he sees how poor thing your servant is. That just shows how judgmental I can be, and how little I know!! Talk about reverse snobbery!

But these are the themes of Luke- that the foreigner, the stranger, the sinners, our worse enemy, is as welcomed at Jesus’ table as we are. We are no deserving than them. Anyone can have faith in Jesus. You don't need a reputation. Or pedigree. You don't need to be powerful- in fact, having power and might often means you find it harder to trust or have faith, but for the centurion, his faith bears the hallmarks of his life experience, in a good way. You can certainly be poor, hungry, hated by the world, but you can ALSO be rich, well-fed and powerful and influential. Everyone needs Jesus!!

So in the gospels, the lay people, the non-believers seemed to have faith in Jesus, at least to heal. They understood power and authority, evidenced in what they saw and heard.

So what can we learn from the Centurion about faith?
It’s pretty simple, I don’t want to over-complicate this story…
Firstly, as we’ve just said, anyone can have faith; that faith is shaped by our life experience and what we know about Jesus
Thus, secondly, for this man of action, this solider- his faith was manifested in actions. It was bold, and daring, and even presumptuous? It was a public request, albeit brokered by intermediaries- the elders and then his friends- did he not even dare to show his face? It was action, tempered by humility, for he says, “… I do not deserve to have you come under my roof… That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

“Only say the word, and I shall be healed”. Does that phrase sound familiar? It might, it’s often used in worship liturgies for Holy Communion. “I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” Faith, hope, humility.

Application
Now what about us? I’m taking up the second point, that faith is manifested in action, and I’d like us to think about the state of health of our own faith today.
A common application of faith is believing that God will heal or save us. However, I'd like to suggest a less direct application.

Today is 1st January 2017. What was 2016 like?
One fashionable word to use is "disruption"- a disturbance or interruption causing confusion, chaos, upset. Media uses it to connote the types of changes taking place, e.g. Uber and Grab disrupting the traditional taxi and car rental playing fields.

2016 was disruptive for events that make no sense, at least to many of us. Brexit. Donald Trump. ISIS coming to the height of their power and awful influence. Worldwide power struggles accelerating to destruction of cities, people's lives and fueling the tides of refugees.

What's going on?? And what should be our response? A grimace,shake or our head, and thanksgiving that we are buffeted from such illogical idiocy, and terrible violence and destruction?

In student motivation, there is a concept called "self-efficacy". It means the student believes he or she can do something to make a difference. For example. If I work harder, I will do better. Sometimes, students stop believing; with low self-efficacy, they don't think they can effect a change. Even if they do well, they might attribute it to luck (I spotted the right questions). And that is the death knell for student motivation and for learning.

So can we make a difference -can anything? In a world that is not making sense? Where truth is optional and in fact can be a liability? Where might is right, and the children and women and the poor are casualties, or, even worse, assets for cheap profit.
What's going on?

These events should disturb us!!
But we need to trust our God, we need to have faith, that He can, and therefore, WE can.

I suggest that the way not to lose faith isn't to harden ourselves, but to keep looking to God. That is the antidote to the harshness of this world, not denial or escapism, but to keep our perspective God-centered.

When a house is built, the plans are heavily consulted as reference, to make sure things are going accordingly to plan. If you get complacent and stop checking, after some time your house might turn out very badly! Keep your eyes on the right place!

God hasn't seen it fit to give us a plan for our world, not in the concrete, detailed way we often want. We know the broad strokes- God loves us, sent Jesus to be with us and gave us salvation, and in the end the Kingdom of God will be fully released. I guess that's what God considers important, not the progress reports of how we are going to get there.

We might not have the detailed blueprints but we know the architect. We know who drew them up, and therefore, we need to trust in Him, not in the plans. Jesus is the author and the perfector of our faith (Hebrews). What this means is, Jesus is the originator, captain and Prince of our faith. He steers it like a ship, and presides and cares for it as a monarch over his people.

Reverend Tiong An last week mentioned how western societies have gone from giving their best to God, to post- Christian societies where churches are only for tourists. That is what happens when enough people lose faith. God doesn't matter anymore.

Conclusion:
For 2017, I'd like to ask you - what do you need to have faith in God for? Be audacious!! What has God put in your heart? Be bold! Like the Centurion!

Now, I know we don't like to be disappointed, so some of us try not to ask for much, or hope for much. It's good to be grateful and contended with what God has given you, but there might be more? Sometimes, I know my faith is very timid, but I know I have a great God, and that makes the journey a little easier.

• Have in faith for wholeness for yourself, for your loved ones, for your family.
• Have faith in restoration for your community, for things at work.
• Have faith that God will work, through you!- in your ministry, in your career.
• Have faith that God continues to work in this world, until His Kingdom comes fully.

And when we do get disappointed, when healing doesn't come, when there is rejection and pain and strive aplenty, we keep looking to God.
And the commendation from God, isn’t about the result of our work, or the outcome of our faith. No, God will commend us, for having faith. He says about the Centurion “I’ve never seen faith like this.” He says to the sinful woman (v50), “your faith has saved you”.

We know that faith is a gift from God, not something we come up with on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that gift comes from Christ, its creator. He is also the sustainer of our faith; this should comfort us, especially in times of doubt and spiritual struggles. Christ has created our faith and He will watch over it, care for it, and sustain it.

End:

Like the Centurion, we were not worthy, but we can come to God in faith.
We want to act on our faith not just by knowing, but by acting.
Be explicit in what you have faith in God for today, for 2017, and act on it.
Let us pray. “Lord we are not worthy, but only say the Word, and we shall be healed.”