Luke 7:1-10 The Bible uses the
word “faith” in two different ways.
First of all, the bible uses the word “faith” for what is believed–the
content or doctrine of Christianity. Of
this faith, Paul says, “I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” We measure this “faith” by the standard of
God’s Holy Word alone. This then is the
first way that the Bible uses the word “faith”–as the substance of what is
believed and confessed by Christians.
The Bible also
uses the word “faith” in a second sense–as that with which we believe—the act of believing--and that is the kind of
“faith” that we are talking about this morning.
This kind of faith has been described as that which lays hold of the
substance of the Faith–the hand of faith--trust and whole-hearted confidence in
the Lord.
Of this second use
of the word “faith” Paul says that “it
is by grace that you have been saved through faith”. In other words, faith lays hold of God’s
grace in Christ and makes it our own. This
kind of faith is summed up in the words, “I believe...” and it is here that
many of us struggle spiritually–wondering if our faith is as strong as it
should be and needs to be—especially when we compare our faith to that of
others.
We read of the
faith of Noah that led him to build an ark in dry weather. We read of the faith of Paul who, beaten
within an inch of his life, got up, dusted himself off, and went right back
into the same city to keep of preaching Jesus.
We hear stories of martyrs, ancient and modern, and their heroic faith and
we say to ourselves–“man! I wish I had that kind of faith–they have a truly
great faith.”
Of course it’s not
really our judgment that matters, is it?
Only the Lord sees the heart and only the Lord knows whether a person
has a great faith or not. It is his
judgment that matters.
So how does the
Lord measure the greatness of an individual’s faith? What does he say is important when it comes
to our faith? How can we know if we have
a great faith or not? How can this faith
be deepened and strengthened?
Only two times in
the Gospels does Jesus ever say that a person’s faith was “great”: the Canaanite woman who begged for her
daughter to be set free from demonic possession-- and the story we have before
us today of the healing of the centurion’s servant.
These two people
with great faith shared some things in common: they were concerned not for
themselves but for others–both were marked by profound humility–both put their
hope in Jesus Christ alone–and both trusted the words of promise spoken by
Jesus.
This then is the
measure of a faith that Jesus calls great: a faith that is unselfish and
humble–a faith that is Christ-centered and trusts in his Word. Let’s look at each of these four facets of a
great faith a bit more closely in the story of the healing of the centurion’s
servant. The Bible says that:
“A certain
centurion’s servant who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders
of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.”
The first mark of
a great faith is a faith that is concerned for others. The man in need of healing was not the
centurion’s child or parent who was ill, but his servant–one who waited on
him–rigidly separated by social class–and yet the centurion was profoundly
concerned for him.
Concern for others
is a mark of a great faith. Too often
our faith is weakened because we are interested in helping only those who can
help us–only those with whom we share a common social or racial or economic
background. Too often we are only
concerned with our own spiritual lives so that our Christianity turns into just
a “me and Jesus” thing. This attitude is
contrary to the mind of Christ and reflective of a meager faith.
A great faith is
always concerned about others because that attitude is reflective of God. Out of loving concern for us, God reached out
to us with forgiveness and new life and as his children we are to do the same
for others.
Our faith is not
just about our relationship with Jesus, it’s also about our care and concern
for our brothers and sisters in Christ and especially for those who do not yet
know Jesus-- and our faith will be strengthened as we reach out in love to help
others in their need.
Secondly, Jesus
says that a great faith is not only concerned for others but is also a humble
faith. The centurion got it–the Jewish
elders didn’t. The Bible says that:
“When they came to
Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do
this was deserving, “for he loves our nation and has built us a
synagogue.” Then Jesus went with
them. And when he was already not far
from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not
trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy
to come to You.”
Humility is
nothing more or less than knowing the truth about ourselves and the truth about
God.
The elders of the
synagogue begged Jesus to come and help based on the worthiness of the
Centurion. In their minds, he deserved Jesus’ help because of what he
had done--and based on any human measure, the worthiness of the Centurion was
unassailable. “Surely”, the Jewish
elders thought, “God was duty bound to love and honor and help someone like him”.
This, of course,
is how the world and our flesh still thinks about our relationship with God and
our faith is weakened by this idea that if I do enough, pray enough, give
enough-- surely God is obligated to me.
But the true, biblical faith is not based on our works or worthiness
but only on the grace of God on account of the works and worthiness
of Jesus.
The centurion’s
faith, in contrast to the Jewish elders, was counted as great by Jesus, not
because of the things he had done, but because he recognized the truth about
himself and the truth about Jesus. He
said of himself: “Lord, I am not worthy.”
Yes-- he was great
and powerful and noble and generous in the eyes of the world-- but he knew
exactly who he was in God’s sight–a sinner who deserved not even the smallest
measure of God’s goodness and blessing and yet, because of his faith in Jesus, he
hoped for everything.
So it must be for
us. Our faith will be strengthened when
we can honestly say with the hymn writers of old, “Just as I am without one
plea but that Thy blood was shed for me” and “nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to Thy cross I cling.” A great
faith is humble.
The third
characteristic of a great faith is one that is fixed on Jesus Christ alone. That’s the way it was for the Centurion who
said to Jesus:
“Say the Word, and my
servant will be healed. For I also am a
man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one “go” and he goes; and to
another, “come” and he comes; and to my servant, “do this” and he does it. When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at
him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you,
I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
The centurion’s
faith was great not only because he was concerned for his servant and not only
because he was humble, but also because knew exactly who Jesus was and what he
was able to do.
The centurion saw
that like himself, Jesus had authority.
But where the centurion only had the power to order men to their
deaths–this Jesus had the power and authority to grant life.
Those with a great
faith like that of the centurion believe that in Jesus alone there is life and
healing and hope. Sent into this broken
and dying world by his Heavenly Father for our sake, Jesus went about doing
good–giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and
delivering from Satan’s power. He went
to the cross as the sinless Lamb of God offered for the sins of the world and
he rose up from the grave as the first fruits of our own eternal life.
It’s not just any
old faith that justifies us and makes us right in God’s sight-- but it is faith
in Jesus Christ alone as Savior and Lord.
Our faith will be strengthened when we recognize that the power of Jesus
has not diminished over these last two thousand years. He is still mighty and strong to save and he
conveys the blessings of Almighty God to us by his word just like he did that
day. The Centurion said to Jesus:
“Say the Word and my
servant will be healed. And those who
were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been
sick.”
“Just say the word,
Lord!” That was the Centurion’s faith
and it was great indeed because he simply took Jesus at his Word.
Too often our
faith is weak, because while we affirm the truth of God’s Word as a matter of
church teaching, we are afraid to put it to the test and step out in
faith. Dear friends in Christ, don’t you
think it’s time for us to do the same as the Centurion and take Jesus at his
Word and build every facet of our lives on it and let it guide every decision
that we make?
What is a faith
that Jesus calls great? It is a faith
that is concerned for others, a faith that is humble, a faith that looks to
Jesus alone, and a faith that takes God at his word. That was the great faith of the centurion and
the Good News for us is that a great faith is not just for the heroes of the
faith--God intends that we too would have a great faith.
He gives it to us
by the power of his Holy Spirit working in Word and Sacrament. He gives it to us as we reach out in love and
concern for others. He gives it to us as
we leave our comfort zones and step out in faith according to his word
confident that no one who puts their faith and trust in him will ever be put to
shame. May God grant us this great
faith for Jesus sake! Amen.
