Reformation Sunday
There is anonymous
saying that I like a great deal. It has
to do with investing. Not financial
investing, though, for goodness knows I’m woefully unqualified to speak to that
topic. I’m instead talking about
spiritual investment. And so the saying
goes – “Every spiritual investment bears eternal interest.” In other words, faithful friends, all the
ways we invest in our relationship with God are received and blessed with
growth by God. We can make such a bold
claim only in the name of Jesus Christ, for it is our Lord who brokers it all.
Deeply believing God
is actively receiving and responding, that God is dependable when given our
trust, is at the heart of what it means to have faith. Our Bible passage this morning from Luke’s
compassionate, inclusive Gospel offers us a great and unexpected example of
this.
At the center of our
story is a man of very high social status.
He had a high pressure job in an ancient city located North-West of the
Sea of Galilee. As a matter of
historical record, this city, Capernaum, was inhabited between 150 B.C. and 750
A.D. Why is it significant to us as Christians? Because it happened to be Jesus’ home after
he left the mountainous hamlet of Nazareth in the early days of His
ministry. And Capernaum had this
imposing, two-story high, white limestone and local black basalt synagogue as a
central location of Jesus’ teaching and healing. It was in this house of worship that He
preached following His miraculous feeding of the five thousand (Jn. 6:16-59)
and it was also the site of his healing a man with an unclean spirit (Luke
4:31-38).
As it turns out, the man
whom we meet in our lesson today is one of the folks who helped build this very
synagogue. But – surprise! – it also
turns out he was a Roman Centurion, that is, a man who had achieved the highest
rank of officer in the Roman army. He
had been well paid to wield the authority of the vine-emblem staff over one
hundred – that is, a century – of foot soldiers. His social position, as I’ve said, was one
of power and prestige. When he barked an
order, underlings listened and got a move on.
Yet, all the power and
prestige of his position in those days couldn’t protect him from the arrival of
a tragic illness and the possibility of death.
Not his, however. This Centurion
was a sensitive enough Greco-Roman to have compassion for his slaves. It was one of these men, whom he had valued
highly, who had fallen gravely ill. In
his grief, he had realized it was beyond even his power to command the slave
back from the brink. Death was immanent,
and so was his futility in the face of it.
For whatever reason,
this Centurion was also a sensitive enough pagan overlord to have befriended
the Jews whose land he and the Empire allowed to live in Capernaum. As I mentioned, he had helped build their
synagogue. Over the years, maybe you’ve
discovered that a funny thing can happen when you involved yourself in
neighborly projects. You can learn new
things, gain appreciations, develop respect, make friends. So it was that the Centurion came to
discover the Good News about a great and holy healer named Jesus.
Now just imagine
yourself in the Centurion’s shoes.
Being a person of great power, you could order any physician or
spiritual healer in the land under your authority to have a go at healing your
valued servant. Instead, by way of
some unlikely friends at the synagogue, you learn about Jesus and feel
compelled that He is the one to turn to.
You have the high standing to command him, to prove his spiritual stuff
– yet you choose not to. Why?
Well, perhaps because
in part you are a compassionate and sensitive leader. You are not one to abuse your office. You are intelligent, empowering, and
diplomatic … not a brutal numbskull.
You have integrity others trust, especially your friends at the
synagogue. You thus choose to make an
appeal instead of a command.
But there seems
another reason as well. It’s because
you are also humble and faithful. You
have come to believe – to trust in your heart – the words of Jesus’ advocates. You have come to deeply believe the Jesus has
power far superior to yours, that when He speaks, more than foot soldiers hop
to it – so too unclean spirits and fevers and all sorts of worldly infirmities.
So humble was this
Centurion that he did not even dare request a face to face audience with
Jesus. He felt unworthy. Certainly, his being a Gentile, a friend but
nonetheless outsider, to the Jews has something to do with this. So he requested some of the Jewish elders to
intercede for him, hoping they’d ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. Which they did, explaining to Jesus that
“he loves our people.” Hearing of such
faith, such trust, Jesus goes with them to visit the Centurion’s home.
But as He nears that
home, utter humility laced with enormous faith strikes again. The Roman officer and gentleman sends some
friends out to keep Jesus from entering the home. He instructs them to speak even more words
of faith on his behalf, saying, “Master, don’t trouble yourself. I don’t deserve to have you come under my
roof. That’s why I didn’t think myself
worthy to come to you in person.” And
then adds, “But, just say the word, and my slave will be healed.” According to Luke, these words utterly
amazed Jesus. Imagine amazing Jesus
with your words of faith! He responded
with blessed affirmation and miraculous healing. The Centurion’s spiritual investment was
responded to with eternal interest.
Do you speak the same
faithful language? Do you speak
Centurion? Is your trust in the good
power and authority of Jesus produce such investment?
My asking such
questions honors our church calendar this week. All Saints Day is Nov. 1st. This is a time for celebrating saints, which
we Presbyterians regard as those, living and deceased, who witness to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. You and I, as
baptized participants in the priesthood of all believers, are very much saints;
so too loved ones gone before us in Christ’s eternal car.
Our calendar also
recognizes that today is Reformation Sunday.
As such, it is a day when we give a grateful nod to those saints who
boldly spoke Centurion in order to call Christ to heal the corruption of the 16th
century church in Western Europe. Centurion
speakers Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon,
John Calvin, and John Knox were regarded by the religious authorities of
their day as outsiders. But this
doesn’t mean Jesus wasn’t amazed at their words, especially those of Luther’s
95 protests which he pounded on the door of Castle Church in Wittenburg,
Germany 495 years ago on October 31, 1517.
I believe Jesus received such spiritual investment and responded to it
with eternal interest. Out of this was
born our Protestant branch of the Christian tree.
In honor of All Saints
Day and our roots in the Protestant Reformation, we pause this morning to also
remember and celebrate all who have gone before us, especially those who in
their own ways and circumstances spoke centurion. Who have you personally known to bear a
humble yet strong and influential witness?
Are they loved ones and church family members, or “outsiders” who
surprised you into greater faith? To
put it another way, who do you regard as best exemplifying the words found on
John Calvin’s official seal, which stated, “Unto you, Lord, I offer my heart,
promptly and sincerely”?
Think and pray on who
comes to mind. Prayerfully express
gratitude for their witness as your commune today during our celebration of the
sacrament. And also hold in mind and
heart these words from the Westminster Confession of Faith, found in our
denomination’s constitution – “All saints being united to Jesus Christ their
head, by his Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His graces,
sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and being united to one another in
love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces.” (The Book of
Confessions, 6.146).
Amen.
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