Act of faith

Have you ever had the experience where you read a section of Scripture you have read a ton of times, and all of a sudden, you see something different? I was reading about the faith of the centurion in Luke 7 this week and suddenly saw it in a very different light. And the way I saw it is a message our world, particularly our churches, really needs to hear right now. 

Let's read the story out of Luke 7:1-10 together:

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." 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. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 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." 

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." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

In the end, the question the story forces you to ask is, "What was it about the centurion that demonstrated he had such 'great faith?'" I have always given the same answer to that question. The centurion believed Jesus could simply command it, and his servant would be healed; he didn't waver in his belief in Jesus's ability or authority. 

While that level of belief in Jesus was incredible, another thought struck me this week while reading a devotion on this story. The author of that devotion observed that the centurion in the story built the synagogue for the Jews in that area but would never be allowed to visit it himself. Because he was a Roman, the centurion would be ceremoniously unclean and never welcome in a Jewish house of worship. The author was pointing out he had such faith that he built a house of worship out of his love for God, knowing there would be no personal benefit for himself. The author's point was that true service to God does not look to ourselves but looks first and only to how we can benefit those around us. He ended by asking the question, "Are you willing to build something for someone that you cannot go inside?"

However, the thought that struck my heart from that observation was how connected the centurion was to so many people so different from him. He was a Roman person of great power and influence and yet deeply cared about his servant/slave's well-being. Furthermore, breaking with his culture, he loved God, and the Jewish people, even though to do so would have appeared weak and disgraceful to his contemporaries. Add to it, he tied his name and recognition to the Jewish elders by asking them to be his representative and approach Jesus. Which in itself was a crazy thing for a Roman centurion to do: why would a soldier of Rome politely ask a Jewish dog to do something instead of just issue orders and demands? Finally, he understood and respected Jewish customs enough to know a Jewish rabbi should not enter the house of an unclean Gentile. So he sent several of his friends to acknowledge this. He even went so far as to say he wasn't worthy of Jesus' presence, which would've been a truly shocking statement from a Roman occupying authority.

Basically, we see how this person who had the right to do whatever he wanted because of his position, authority, and power, instead demonstrated true faith in God. He selflessly gave to and served God when it wouldn't tangibly benefit him. He connected himself to people he should have hated in a way that would've cost him socially, realizing all the power the world had given him did not make him worthy of Jesus. And we have this story because he loved his slave.

Perhaps the faith that so impressed Jesus was not that the man believed Jesus could heal his servant remotely. Perhaps the faith that most captured Jesus' attention was the way this man stepped outside of himself and his "rights" for the sake of serving others. The way he didn't make being "Roman" justification for not caring about those around him. The way he loved and sacrificed for those who had little power and were drastically different from him. The way he respected the authority of God and recognized his own brokenness and unworthiness. Perhaps Jesus saw this man living out the kingdom values even more than all the Jewish people he was interacting with.

I suddenly saw in the story how this man was remarkably faithful. He lived his life guided by the principles of "love God and love your neighbor" when he really didn't need to.

I think about how much we need this kind of faith in our world today. In the last week, I have had several conversations with people where we talk about how quickly our world is entrenching into our "sides." We are bombarded with the message that it totally makes sense to only look out for those like us and only seek what benefits our group or us. It might even be okay to hate those who disagree. There is an expectation that we doggedly fight for every scrap of power to make sure we can force our opinions to become law or justify the "rightness" of our ideas. We are told the things the centurion had—authority, influence, and wealth—are needed to "protect ourselves" from those not like us. 

As Christians, I really hope and pray that we do not allow this mentality to seep into our faith because this is the opposite of the faith that impressed Jesus. These ways of seeing ourselves and others begin to tear down the kingdom of love, humility, self-sacrifice, and hope Jesus came to build in our world. Jesus recognized in the centurion a man who had the power, money, and influence to abuse those who were considered "less." Instead, he loved and connected with those radically different from him. Even when he had all the reason in the world to hate them. And it earned their love in return. And Jesus was surprised by it!

Not looking out for ourselves and our "side" first might seem rather foolish according to all the noise around us. But, then again, that is how we are told the gospel works. Faith doesn't work through power; it works through love. I pray all of us, and especially me, can express acts of faith that surprise Jesus. And that faith begins by loving and embracing those not like us.

Wherever you are, stay on mission, and I'll see you out there.

--Trevor