Luke 7:1-10 [Pentecost 2—CWS C]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
June 23, 2019
In the name of Jesus our Savior, dear friends,
Now that we have NBA basketball and NHL hockey out of the way, baseball gets the pro sports spotlight more or less to itself this summer. That makes some people happy; other people couldn’t care less. But if you should watch a baseball game or two over the next months—even by accident—you’ll likely hear some weird stats fall out of the mouths of announcers. They may tell you, for instance, how rare it is for a 6’5” first baseman who owns a pet goldfish and whose father’s name is Randy, to swing at the first pitch every time he is up to bat in a game that starts after noon on a Sunday. That is SO rare! Baseball loves that kind of thing. Now, I don’t know if Jesus would have been a baseball fan while living in this world—if it had been invented then, but I do know that he liked something that was indeed rare. That thing was “great faith.” Perhaps you’re aware that Scripture only tells us of two people Jesus ever came into contact with, who impressed him so much, that he said they had “great faith.” One story is that of the Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon-possessed. The other we hear about today. As we look more closely at this man, we will also become aware that our lives of faith bear some similarities to his. This morning, we turn our attention to STORIES OF IMPROBABLE AND RARE FAITH 1. A ROMAN CENTURION’S 2. YOURS AND MINE Capernaum was a city on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. A particular Roman centurion was among the soldiers stationed there to enforce Roman law and ensure that no rebellion would take place. This man was in charge of over 100 men. With that job and that kind of responsibility, we might imagine him to be a tough guy, authoritative, a no-nonsense, battle-hardened solder—not a man to be trifled with! To the Jews who lived in Israel, the Romans were the oppressive enemy and a commander with this kind of authority was to be feared. As improbable as it seems, THIS centurion was different…really different! He actually loved the Jewish people. He had a synagogue build so that the LORD’s people could worship. He was humble. He sought help from Jesus, but didn’t play the “Do you know who I am?” card with Jesus in order to impress him or convince him to do something for him. He didn’t even go to Jesus himself, but instead sent Jewish elders. It was those Jewish men who spoke so highly of him and felt that he deserved the Savior’s help. But the most remarkable thing about this man was his faith in Jesus! I’m betting that you wouldn’t guess that many Roman soldiers would put their faith in Jesus. I know I wouldn’t think that very likely! To the Romans, Caesar was god. He was the one to be honored and worshiped. Years after this, the Romans would systematically kill Christians for professing faith in Jesus and for not worshiping Caesar. But there he was—a man of rare faith! As unlikely as it was, he put his trust in Jesus.
Think about convicted he was about Jesus. He absolutely believed that if Jesus just spoke, what he commanded would be done. Listen again: the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, because I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I am also a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” The soldier’s problem was that his invaluable servant was at death’s door. This man was so important to him and the situation so serious, he sent to Jesus for help. His message was not prideful; he wasn’t bragging when he spoke of his high-rank and his ability to tell people something and they would do it. He was explaining that his power and authority made that possible. In the same way, he knew and trusted that Jesus’ divine authority and great power worked similarly. All Jesus had to do was say the word and his servant would be healed. He absolutely believed that. And Jesus was amazed at the man’s improbable and rare faith! He told those who were there that he had never seen such great faith! Now, you would think that Jesus might have said that about a little Jewish grandma who clung to the promise of a Messiah who was to come…or one of the Pharisees who lived an intensely devout life…or a synagogue leader…or at the very least some Jewish person! But no! This rare faith for anyone to have belonged to a Roman centurion! And we don’t even know his name. His name isn’t important, but his faith certainly is. If Jesus points to his as the greatest faith he had seen, perhaps we should consider it for a moment to see if we might learn from this centurion. So what was his faith like? Well, his faith moved him to love God’s people (the Jews) and others around him (his servant) and love God’s house (he built a synagogue). He didn’t make a show of his authority or try to abuse it. He showed humility and deference as he made it clear he did not want to inconvenience Jesus in any way. He simply believed that Jesus had the power to give life to a dying man—something only God could do. And he was right about that. Jesus is true God. He showed that as he preached and taught and performed miracles. He didn’t only have the power to give life to a dying man, he had the power to earn eternal life for every person! We’re left to wonder if the centurion had all the dots connected when it came to the Old Testament promises pointing to Jesus as the one who would bring forgiveness for sins and eternal life. But what we hear are the words of Jesus describing his faith—that this was the greatest faith he had seen in all of Israel!
You and I have something in common with this centurion. Even if you’re not Italian and you’re not a policeman or a soldier, you are still similar to this Roman centurion when it comes to faith because you having faith was improbable too. In one respect, your faith was actually an impossibility, because left to yourself, you could never believe; you would never believe. From the time we are conceived and born, we are all blind to the way God sees things. We can’t understand. We arrive in this world spiritually dead because we are tainted with sin. That makes us enemies of God. That sinful nature of ours corrupts us so completely that we don’t even have the desire to look God’s way, much less believe in him. If you think that the centurion’s faith was improbable because he was a Roman soldier—that’s only the half of it! He was just like us—a lost and condemned sinner. Left to themselves, no one wants to hear about this Jesus who never did anything wrong in God’s eyes and died on a cross at the hands of Roman soldiers in order to pay for all the things we do that God calls sin. On their own, no one wants to hear anything about there being only this one way to heaven—through faith in Jesus Christ. And if you combine these facts with some of our backgrounds, we might say that it seemed EXTREMELY improbable that we would have faith today! God the Holy Spirit deserves the credit for the faith we have, because without him working through God’s Word and through baptism, not only was our faith in Jesus improbable, it was impossible! But you have faith now. If someone asks you, you say so. Maybe your faith is strong enough that you’ll even tell people when they don’t ask! Perhaps you’ve retained your faith in Jesus even though difficult things have happened to you or around you. But would you say that your faith is rare? Is it as rare as a 6’5” first baseman who owns a pet goldfish and whose father’s name is Randy, who swings at the first pitch every time he is up to bat in games that starts after noon on a Sunday? Is it as rare as a Roman centurion’s? Do you stand out from the crowd of Christians because of your depth of faith? Would Jesus, if he were physically standing here this morning, say about you, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.”? There are very few of us, I bet, who would step forward and say, “That’s me! It’s like he’s talking about me!” A humble and deep faith like that centurion’s wouldn’t do that. And I bet we know our weaknesses of faith well enough to understand our need to repent to Jesus for our lack of faith sometimes and our weakness of faith and the doubt we harbor in our hearts even while we’re requesting something from God. Jesus lived and died and rose again to forgive those sins too…and he does. What do we do if we admire this soldier and, because of Jesus’ love for us and his forgiveness, want to please Jesus with our faith as that centurion did? It’s possible that he had seen Jesus and listened to him. He had absolutely heard about him—and probably a lot, since much of Jesus’ ministry took place in and around Capernaum and around the Sea of Galilee. Great for him, but what about us? How do we develop a strong faith today? Diligent use of God’s Word.
It’s so easy these days to hear of Jesus and have him speak to us because his Word is so accessible: Bible apps on our phones and tablets, automatic email devotions arriving in your inbox every morning. You’ve got a Bible or two at home. You may have one in your car or your backpack or at work. You’ve got Bible class opportunities and worship every single Sunday. The Holy Spirit works through the Word to create a greater trust in Jesus our Savior and to help each day with our concerns—whether they be a sick and dying friend like the centurion had or other things like aging parents, children to raise, bills to pay, never-ending health concerns, relationship stuff. And finally, it is this faith in Jesus that will be the only important thing when on the Last Day we stand before the holy God. Faith in Jesus—who is not just the one who can heal a person by saying the word, but is the one who has brought healing for sin-sick souls—faith in him is the only thing that matters that Day and on into eternity. The faith we have today is a testimony to God’s grace because it was not just improbable, but impossible without him. The rare faith of centurion is uplifting to see and provides us with a reminder to have unwavering faith in Jesus, so that we can rely on him when faced with challenges in this world and so that finally, we will be with our Savior in heaven eternally. Amen. Now the peace of God, who transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.