Sunday, February 3, 2013

Epiphany 5 :: Feb 3, 2013 :: Luke 7:1-17


In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I love that these two stories are placed together like this; the first story, about the Roman military leader (called the centurion) and the second story about widow and her son. I believe that you cannot read one without the other.

In the first story, Jesus was walking around in the country, teaching and preaching in the Jewish churches. He shows up to an area of the country called Capernaum. When he shows up, a high-ranking Roman soldier hears that he is in town and sends some of the old Jewish elders to go get Jesus. The soldier’s slave was very ill and close to death.

When Jesus arrives, the Roman soldier can hardly believe that Jesus had actually showed up. In fact, he sends out some friends before Jesus gets there to tell Jesus not to come.

I’ve always wondered exactly why the soldier does this. He asks Jesus to come and when he does, he tries to send Jesus home. He says that he doesn’t want Jesus there because he doesn’t deserve to have him come, but why doesn’t he deserve it? Is it because he’s a Roman soldier and not a Jew? Has he done something bad in his life that he doesn’t want Jesus to know about? Is he ashamed of the laundry on the floor and the unmade bed? Is it like when I show up for a visit at someone’s home and they feel they have to ask me to excuse the mess?

For the Roman soldier, there is something about Jesus that makes him feel unworthy. He doesn’t even want to see Jesus face to face. And yet, he still asks Jesus to heal his slave. “But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”

The funny thing is, Jesus never really does show up at the house. But when the soldiers’ friends return to the house, the slave who had been ill and close to death had been healed. Jesus is amazed at the faith of the Roman soldier.

This first story is an odd one to me. It’s odd because the faith of the Roman soldier, not even a good Jewish man, is what seems to get Jesus to heal his slave.

I don’t know about you, but in my experience a person’s faith has never been able to predict whether a person is healed or not. More faith does not equal greater healing. And less faith does not equal less healing. The only thing that faith and healing have to do with one another, in my experience, is that having faith when you are ill means that you believe in the power of God to do anything God chooses, including healing. God could heal if God wanted to, but my having faith or not having faith won’t force God to make the decision. God will decide when and how God will heal.

So this first story is odd, because on the surface it seems like the Roman soldiers faith is what brings healing to the slave who is close to dying.

But this is why I like the two stories together. The second story is about Jesus going into another little town, called Nain. In Nain, a large crowd and Jesus’ disciples are following him. As Jesus gets to the gate of the town, a funeral procession makes its way past him. Being carried out on the funeral bier is a young man. His mother and a large group of mourners are following. When Jesus sees the young man who had died and his mother, the widow, Jesus’ heart breaks.

Interrupting the funeral procession, Jesus reaches out and touches the funeral bier. And then Jesus speaks, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” And the dead man sat up and began to speak.

In this second story, faith has nothing to do with Jesus raising the young man from the dead. Instead, Jesus simply interrupts the funeral procession, the widow, and the eternal sleep of the young man. By his compassion and his word, Jesus raises the boy from the dead. It has nothing to do with the faith of the widow, or the crowd, or the young man. It only has to do with the love of Jesus spoken through his word.

Many of us have our own stories of miraculous healing. Unfortunately, many of us also have our own stories of illness that leads to death. Sometimes it is true that God chooses to heal us. And sometimes it is not. Some of us struggle with loved ones who pray for healing for years and years and years. Some of us struggle with our own illnesses, wondering if God will ever heal our bodies, trapped as they are in sickness. Our stories are filled with struggle and illness.

But more importantly, what we learn from these stories this morning is that God will always interrupt, always break in, always intrude on our funeral processions with a word of resurrection moved by his great love of his people. When it really matters, God looks at us and in only the kind of love and compassion that God could have for his creation, raises us up and gives us the promise of eternal life.

But we don’t have to wait to benefit from that kind of love. It’s the kind of love that works even now. God has already taken one look at your life, dead in sin, and forgiven you and spoken the word: “rise!” We have a God whose compassion knows no limits, whose love knows no laws, who looks upon his creatures with stars in his eyes and says, rise up, my people! You are mine and I am yours.

The beauty of these two stories together this morning is that they are the living word of God for you, right now. In sickness and in health, in life and in death, this God takes one look at you, moved with love and compassion, and speaks that simple word of resurrection, rise!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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