I am really glad that the church was presented with the story about the healing of the Centurion's slave this past Sunday (Proper 4). It is not a Gospel lesson that we get to hear a lot because of the way the church calendar is drafted. It is a powerful story about the faith that Jesus is calling us to live by, a faith that reaches far and wide.
Jesus makes a bold declaration, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." Jesus is referring to the centurion's faith. Remember that a centurion represents Rome and on some level represents an enemy of Israel, an enemy of Christ, someone outside of God's covenant relationship. But somewhere, somehow Jesus sees a great faith in this centurion.
What kind of faith is Jesus talking about? We will have to look at the two groups of people who approached Jesus.
Jewish elders approached Jesus in person asking him to heal this slave because he helped the Jews build a synagogue. They hoped to prove this slave's worthiness so that Jesus would be moved to heal the slave.
The centurion's approach is wildly different. The centurion sends a messenger on behalf of the slave. Through the messenger he said, "Lord, do not trouble yourself I am not worthy to have you come under my roof..." The centurion goes on to appeal to the worthiness of Jesus.
Jesus was moved by the centurion's approach and praises his faith. The faith that Jesus is calling us to exhibit is a faith that looks to God as the author of our salvation and not our good deeds.
How do we live a life by this type of faith?
It starts by trusting that Jesus is in charge of healing us, that Jesus is in charge of our salvation. It starts by gazing upon that wondrous cross where Jesus died, upon that same cross where a centurion is moved to say, "surely, this man was God's Son," upon that place where Jesus gave himself up for the life of the world.
It is ours to follow that kind of faith, to reach out in charity to those who we might deem as "unworthy" to receive the healing power of God for it is Christ's alone to grant healing and salvation.
I find this passage refreshing to hear in a church atmosphere where too many conversations inevitably lead to, "how are we going to save this declining church?" It is not up to us to save the church. God will do with the church what He pleases.
Instead, we are called to have faith like the centurion. A faith that looks to the power of God as the source of healing and life. A faith that calls us not to worry about saving ourselves or even our beloved church but a faith that believes that if the Word of God is spoken and proclaimed (in word and deed) with honesty and integrity then Jesus' work will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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