A Great Faith
The Third Sunday after Epiphany| Rev. Rolf Preus| January 25, 2009| St. Matthew 8, 5-13
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this 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 it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour. St. Matthew 8:5-13
If someone said, “I trust my father. I have total confidence in him. But I don’t believe a word he says.” What would you say? Is this possible? Can we trust someone while doubting what he says? Of course not. Faith relies on a faithful word. If his word is not true and trustworthy you can’t have confidence in him.
Faith in God entails three things. First, we believe that what he says is true. Second, we believe that he can do what he promises to do. Third, we believe that he is willing to do what he promises to do.
Faith believes that God’s Word is faithful and true. St. John writes, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (St. John 1, 17) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (St. John 14, 6) How often Jesus is quoted in the Bible as saying, “I tell you the truth” or as the King James puts it, “Verily, verily, I say unto you.” Faith requires truth or there is no faith at all.
This is why doctrinal ignorance is a chief cause of doubt. People don’t know what God promises. How can you trust in what you do no know to be true? God’s words stand on their own. The truth is the truth.
Second, faith believes that God can do what he promises to do. Faith believes that God’s Word is efficacious. That is, it is inherently powerful. God is able to do what he promises to do. Indeed, his Word is almighty.
Third, faith believes that God is willing to do what he promises to do. If he speaks the truth the truth avails you nothing if it is not for you. He must be willing. He must be on your side. If he won’t bind himself to do anything for you it doesn’t matter how faithful and powerful he is.
We need three things from Jesus if we are to trust in him. He must be faithful and true. His word must have power to do what he promises. He must be willing to do for us what he is able to do for us.
All this the Roman centurion saw in Jesus when he came to him begging him to heal his servant who was suffering.
We have recently witnessed great political theatre in the election of a new president of our country who promises change. People are inspired because they can see that there is so much that is wrong and they want a better country and a better world. Hope for change is infectious. But promising change and effecting change are two entirely different things.
Except with Jesus. With Jesus they are the same thing. Jesus can say words that effect change. Jesus says it and it is so. The Centurion confessed this. In fact, he explained it to Jesus! He said:
Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, “Go,” and he goes; and to another, “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.
There is no faith apart from faith in God’s ability to do what he promises to do. It is not faithful to promise what you cannot deliver. God never promises what he cannot deliver. If he wants to do it he will do it. This is why we pray “Thy will be done.” God’s will will be done. Not ours. God can effect, he can cause, he can bring about what he wants. We must submit to his will.
So the man says to Jesus, “If you are willing.” It all depends on that. Is he willing? Is he on your side? Well is God on our side? Listen to the words of St. Paul the Apostle recorded in Romans 8.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8, 31-32)
In Jesus we learn that whatever our trouble is, God is faithful, powerful, and willing.
Jesus praised the centurion’s faith. He said:
Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Earlier we sang a hymn by Magnus Landstad based on these words of Jesus.
Lo, many shall come from the East and the West
And sit at the feast of salvation
With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the blest,
Obeying the Lord’s invitation.
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!
But they who have always resisted His grace
And on their own virtue depended
Shall then be condemned and cast out from His face,
Eternally lost and unfriended.
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!
Oh, may we all hear when our Shepherd doth call
In accents persuasive and tender,
That, while there is time, we make haste, one and all,
And find Him, our mighty Defender!
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!
We trust in Jesus. We trust in what he says. These two go together. Jesus and his words cannot be separated.
We hear talk these days criticizing religion and praising spirituality. What do you think this means? What I think it means when they say they are spiritual but not religious is that they don’t want to be bound by a formal religious creed. That’s too restrictive. That limits them. That confines them. Instead, they want to be spiritual, that is, they want to follow their own feelings and make up their faith as they go along. But this is exactly the opposite of what Christ our Lord says.
Jesus condemns the so called sons of the kingdom. They are those who attach themselves to God’s Church in one way or another but don’t have the true faith. They don’t trust in Jesus or in what he says. They fashion their own Savior after their own fancy or they don’t have any Savior at all but themselves. They don’t listen to God because they don’t want to be confined by what he says. They have other solutions.
But the Centurion trusted in Jesus and his words. He did not come up with his own version of religion. He wasn’t impressed with his own spirituality. He was impressed with Jesus – enough to entrust to him what he needed and to be confident that he could do it.
Note one more feature of faith. It is humble. It does not demand. It pleads. It is said that shortly before he died Luther said: “We are beggars, this is true.” That’s the posture of faith. “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.” So confesses the centurion. So we also confess. And we plead for mercy.
We live alone by mercy. Jesus makes it crystal clear that we need it. He speaks of hell. It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, of outer darkness. There is no hope there, no light, no joy, and no love. There is nothing but resentment, regret, sorrow and misery. It is the place for those who spurn God’s Word, despise God’s grace, and rely on themselves instead.
We think it is demeaning to us to be helpless and weak. But it is only when we stop trusting in ourselves that we can learn to trust in God. There is no greater gift than faith. It listens to what God says. It believes that God is faithful, powerful and willing
How does God reveal this? He reveals this in our weakness. We doubt, we turn away, we replace God’s promises with our own clever notions, and we sink into sin. Then God in love shows us how very weak and dependant we are. He takes us in our weakness and sins and he shows us our sins. It is painful to see, painful to admit, and painful to confess. But he leads us to do so. And he shows us his Son. He shows us that his true glory is not in punishing sinners, but in forgiving them. He shows us Christ’s suffering for us.
Look at the crucifixion of the Son of God. There you see God’s faithfulness. He said he would do this and he does it. He is the truth and he speaks the truth and you can trust him because he keeps his promises.
Look at the crucifixion of the Son of God. There you see God’s power. He faces all evil ever committed by anyone anywhere. He faces it, bears it, endures it, takes the blame for it, and is forsaken on account of it. As all the sin of all sinners is imputed to him he suffers from all guilt, hatred, lust, and greed. In suffering this evil he keeps his innocence, love, and purity. That’s power – on the cross. That’s the power to forgive us all our sins. The resurrection is the public display of that power, but the power that defeated sin and death and hell and all our enemies was exercised on the cross.
Look at the crucifixion of the Son of God. There you see God’s willingness to help you. It was his good and gracious will that kept Jesus there until he had fully removed from you all your sins. It was his will to obey the Father and to rescue you.
God grant that I may of His infinite love
Remain in His merciful keeping
And sit with the King at His table above
When here in the grave I am sleeping.
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!
All trials are then like a dream that is past,
Forgotten all trouble and sorrow;
All questions and doubts have been answered at last;
When dawneth eternity’s morrow.
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!
The heavens shall ring with an anthem more grand
Than ever on earth was recorded;
The blest of the Lord shall receive at His hand
The crown to the victors awarded.
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus! Amen