A Surprising Faith
Posted on May 29, 2016 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.
I know, for many, the rains have made it difficult to completely enjoy the Memorial holiday weekend, but you know this weekend, tomorrow, specifically, marks the unofficial start of the summer. Yes, ever since the federal government passed a law back in the late 1960s that holidays like Memorial Day be moved to a Monday, we have thought of Memorial Day as the start of summer, although officially summer doesn’t start until late June. But with school out, vacations starting, the weather starting to get warmer, we mostly think of summer and all the fun things we will do during the summer starting this weekend.
Even though this weekend might seem to be all about picnics, and going to the lake, and getting an extra day off of work, the truth is Memorial Day is really about none of that. The intention of this holiday is about remembering those that have died while serving their country in times of war. Dating back to the time of the Civil War, people have taken time on this day to visit the graves of those that have died during war and remember the ultimate cost of war, death, deaths that come far too soon and come at the hands of other human beings. Although most of us will enjoy ourselves in many different ways this weekend end, I hope we each take a few solemn moments to remember the military men and women who have died in war and to give thanks for the many blessings they gave to this world.
I find it ironic that, on the weekend we use to remember and lift up those who have served in the military and died, we read this gospel story from Luke, a story about a career military man. To put this story in the context of Luke’s gospel, Jesus has been traveling around teaching about God’s kingdom. He has been healing people and gathering more and more followers. Right before our story this morning, he had given what biblical scholars call his “Sermon on the Plain.” This is where Jesus offered what we call “The Beatitudes.” You remember those sayings: Blessed are the poor, blessed those who are hungry, blessed are those who weep, and blessed are you when people hate you on account of Jesus. Luke stops with these four blessings. Unlike Matthew, who has four more beatitudes, Luke adds four warnings: Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort; Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry; Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep; and Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
It is after these sayings that we are told that Jesus went to Capernaum, a small fishing village on the Sea of Galilee that is mentioned in all four gospels and a place where Jesus performed miracles and taught in the synagogue. Capernaum is considered the epicenter of much of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus arrived in Capernaum, and we are told that immediately there is a Roman Centurion who had a very valuable slave that was near death, and so the centurion asked some of the local elders he knew to go see if Jesus would come and heal his valuable slave.
Now, at this point, we really need to ask ourselves what is going on here. First, why would a Roman military man want anything to do with Jesus? Jesus was becoming an enemy of the state and was speaking treasonous words. Doesn’t he think, like so many good religious leaders, that this Jesus might be a fraud? And secondly, why would the Jewish elders have been speaking well of this Roman? His job was to make sure the Jews didn’t cause trouble. His job was to enforce the law of Caesar, not the law of God. But this military man was different, and he seem to know something that apparently not even many Jews knew; Jesus had the power to heal everyone.
Now, I have never been in the military, but I know from studying and reading about the military and from my father and father-in-law's stories of their years in the military that there is one thing that is very important and makes the military run successfully, and that is a proper chain of command. In the military, there is a clarity and an expected automatic obedience, especially in dangerous times. The military, if running well, is like a well-oiled machine; an order goes out from the top, and each rank underneath does what he or she is told.
Now, most of us have never lived under such clear authority, but I am told for those in the military such a system often works well. Most of us live in a system in which we decide whether or not we will follow or listen to the orders or commands of others. And for the most part, this way works well for those of us not in the military, but the problem is we want to bring that same way of living into our faith life. You see, if we believe the story of the scriptures, then we know that God is our creator and our Lord. The words, or commands, as we often call them, that God has given to us are commands that we ought to follow without question. But we don’t always follow God’s commands without question, do we? We proclaim we have faith, we confess that we believe God is the creator and redeemer, but then we live our lives based on our ways, not God’s. If we followed God’s commands without question, we wouldn't need this holiday weekend, would we, for there would be no graves of fallen soldiers. It takes a strong faith to truly follow our God.
In our story today we hear of such a faith, a surprising faith, because this faith comes not from one of God’s chosen, but from an outsider. This military man has heard of Jesus’ greatness, and he also apparently has an understanding that this “Jewish” God is a God that offers great commands for his people, words that promise to bring about healing and shalom.
This man also believes that he is not worthy since he is not one of the “rank and file,” so he sends word to Jesus to not waste his time to come to someone like him, for he is not worthy, but he says, just say the word and my servant will be healed. Such faith astonishes Jesus. This surprising faith from an outsider brought about healing.
Do you and I have a “surprising faith”? Is our faith such that we know when we ask for God’s will that it will be done? A surprising faith is one that knows with conviction that our God can do anything.
Brothers and sisters, God’s grace is unequivocally for everyone, and you and I have received that grace, and we are those who can and ought to know that God keeps no score. In God, there are no insiders or outsiders; all are worthy of God’s grace through Christ Jesus.
As we remember those who have died too soon this weekend, may we also remember that we are worthy, and that through our surprising faith healing is possible.
So tomorrow as we take time to lament the deaths caused by war, as we reflect, remember and pray, may we pray with a surprising faith that some day the last grave of fallen soldiers might be filled. Although this may not come this Memorial Day, let us pray that it might be so one day soon. Amen.