Well here it is - what do you think?
**************************************************************************
Sermon 20/11/13
Scripture – Luke 7:1-10
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.
As we are doing the Bible Hall of fame I wanted to pick a small briefly mentioned character that had a big impact in the bible. I have always loved the story of the faithful centurion - I do not fully understand why but maybe it is because we can relate to this person in many ways. He only occupies 10 verses in a book that contains 31,173 verses but I think what he does and represents is huge. There are several things that come out of this short story that I think needs to be considered:
1) He was the enemy
2) He was a gentile
3) He was friends with the Jewish Elders
4) The Jewish Elders thought highly of him
5) He loved the Jews and had a deep respect for their religion.
6) He helped build their Synagogues
7) He considered Jesus somebody special
He considered Jesus as someone with authority
9) He considered himself unworthy to have Jesus anywhere near him.
10) He understood Jesus’s true power
11) He amazed Jesus
The same story in Matthew had Jesus just finishing his famous sermon on the mount and it was interesting that in this famous speech he had just said this:
Matthew 5:43-48
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
As he was coming into Capernaum he was approached by an “enemy”. Not only an enemy but a Gentile from the “Wicked Kingdom” of Rome, an Idol worshipper, a conqueror, an oppressor. It was an obvious and a vast understatement to say that Romans were not greatly loved or respected in 1st Century Palestine. Yet this wasn’t just an ordinary Roman, he was a centurion. A leader of 100 men who had risen through the ranks following the Roman military way. This was a guy who was surely aware of Roman policies and methods in subduing a conquered country.
Now there was a dilemma here. If Jesus had rebuked this soldier then he would not really be blamed by his people – but would in fact be fuel for their ideas that he was the coming conquering messiah. But he would be a hypocrite, having just said to love his enemies. So here we have an example of Jesus doing what he preaches. He reached out to the vilest Jewish enemy of the time.
But something was not quite right with this Roman. He was loved and respected by Jewish Elders. Now this cannot be right? There was a mutual hatred between the two people, with the Romans themselves describing the Jews “to be hostile, prickly people, quick to take offence and unfriendly to aliens” as written by Martin Goodman from his book The Ruling Class of Judaea: The Origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome AD 66-70.
So this is a testament to the character of this particular Roman soldier. Even though he was part of the oppressing force he had a deep love and respect for the Jewish people and even helped them build their Synagogues. Who knows how this person dealt with his conflicting loyalties but he impressed the Jews enough to want to approach Jesus for him. This centurion would know of the religion of Rome where even the Emperor was considered a god, yet here he was promoting the Jewish religion by aiding them in building their temples. God was clearly at work in the heart of this unusual man.
But there seemed to be something else unique about this man. Long before Peter revealed who he thought Jesus was, this centurion hinted at knowledge of this. He obviously knew he was someone special as he asked for him specifically to heal his servant. But more revealing was the fact that he recognised his authority. He was a man who recognised authority as one in authority himself. But this was not authority over men but something far greater. The centurion recognised Jesus’s authority over diseases, sickness and illnesses and understood that by one word Jesus can heal a man, even from a distance. Now if that is not a revelation that what is. The centurion seemed to know who Jesus really was and tradition states that this very centurion became a Christian after Jesus’s crucifixion.
I don’t think we can underestimate this fact. This is showing God already working in the hearts of the Gentiles long before God’s chosen people really got an inkling of who Jesus was. God’s redemption plan was already in play in the most unlikely of places.
This centurion also had a quality that may well have been lacking in some of the more authorative Jewish figures of the day, especially in the Sanhedrin. That of humility. He stated something that was only very clear after Jesus’s death and resurrection and that is we are not worthy to be in his presence because of who he is. His own home, which for a centurion would have probably been reasonably grand, especially if he had servants was also deemed not fit for the presence of Jesus. This soldier, a representative of the brutal conquering, oppressive nation of Rome considered himself beneath a wandering Jewish carpenter. In fact in the translation he refers to Jesus as Lord.
Let us now move to the last point – that Jesus was amazed. Now there is nothing that can amaze an omniscient being and I do not think there was an anthramorpism going on here because Jesus emptied or restricted himself of a use of a lot of his divine powers.
Both Luke (Luke 7:9) and Matthew (Matthew 8:10) use the Greek word thaumazo (thou-mad'-zo) which we translate "marveled" or "amazed" to describe Jesus' response to the centurion's faith. The only time this word is used to describe Jesus' response to others' faith is in Mark 6:6, when he marvels at the lack of faith in the people of Nazareth, where he grew up.
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith
It does seem that Jesus was always on about people’s lack of faith, especially with the apostles themselves. Which is probably why he was so amazed that a Roman soldier could demonstrate a strength of faith that he expected to see with his own people. In fact in Matthew 8:10-12 Jesus issues a dire warning to this effect.
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
I can imagine the frustration that Jesus must have felt if he could not find anyone in all of Israel with Faith as strong as this man. Lucky for our sake this was to all change after Jesus’s death and resurrection.
There are so many factors from this story that is relevant for us today. The faithful centurion is a model of how we should be with Jesus. We should be:
1) Friends to our enemies.
Romans 12:17-21 tells us:
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good
Are we so good to our enemies that they have a respect, even a love for us? Do our enemies acknowledge the goodness in our hearts and souls and are so shamed by it? Are we showing enough love to our enemies that they are convicted by the Holy Spirit and see Jesus in us?
2) Live your life in humility
To be humbled is one of the most powerful emotions. And experiencing true humbling worship of God can be a most rich emotional experience. Being humble does not mean being a walkover but being open to the fact that you need someone else in your life and that there is something more powerful out there that you can rely on. And who is more powerful that the God of the universe. Being humble is acknowledging that we are also in need of redemption and realising there is a problem in our lives that needs fixing. All of have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. To acknowledge this is not a weakness but a strength, because we have received true wisdom.
3) Understand the power of Jesus.
The name and authority of our Lord is paramount and is greater than everything. Peter tells us in Acts that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved in that great and terrible day. Jesus has authority over all and it is that same authority that lies within us. He who is in us is greater than that of the world and we need to know and understand that. More importantly we need to believe that. When you feel you are being put upon that is just the devil trying to make you forget who really is in charge. How much to we put Jesus in charge of our lives? How much to we make him Lord of all we do? How much do we believe in the power of his name – because there is real power in the name of Jesus.
4) Have faith
This centurion is also a reminder to us that "man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). I think we will be surprised someday when Jesus doles out rewards. Most of the great ones among us will probably have lived in obscurity. Jesus is not as impressed with titles, degrees, and achievements as we are. He is impressed with those who really do humbly believe him.
We may know people who outwardly seem pillars of our church and seen as strong in their belief and faith – but this could all be a façade. When the storms come these people may crumble because they never truly believed. Yet there are others here who face tsunamis in their life with such courage because their faith is so strong that they know deep down who has real authority over their life’s maelstroms.
This Roman soldier knew exactly who had authority and he believed deep down in a Jewish wandering carpenter who could heal from miles away with a single word. He had faith and God rewarded him.
Are we like that centurion? I can tell you now that I am not. My faith has never been that sure. Although I am currently experiencing a strong period of belief, I know there are deserts waiting. In these deserts will I believe that a man who existed on Earth 2000 years ago can really affect me now and steer the paths of my life? Do I trust this man enough to protect me and care for me during bad times ahead? Do I believe that this man has the power and authority to protect my soul from evil? Do I trust and have faith in a carpenter from Nazareth? The answer is with God’s help I will. But one thing I do know for sure is that lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. Amen.
. So make of that as you wish 
.
