Luke 7: 1-10
Strive to Have a Great Faith!
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, 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. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What are some of the reasons as to why people are praised? This is the time of the year when many schools are holding their graduation ceremony. I have never been to a graduation ceremony which did not include praise for the students who were at the top of their class— the valedictorian and the salutatorian. Many schools also have ceremonies where students are given awards praising them for their achievements in athletics or technology or science. Many businesses have a monthly award praising someone as the Employee of the Month. They may even get a special parking space for the month. And it certainly is not uncommon for someone to be the guest of honor at a retirement party where they are praised for their many years of loyal & faithful service.
Here in our text for today we hear Jesus praise someone for something that is far more important and far more long-lasting than having the highest GPA in your class or being an exemplary employee at work. Today we hear Jesus praise a man for having a great faith. As we study these words our goal is not to simply sit back and admire this man’s faith. No, my friends, as we study these words our goal is to see how we can: Strive to Have a Great Faith!
As I was studying these words I saw two distinct aspects to this man’s faith, two distinct aspects as to why this man’s faith was a great faith, two distinct aspects that we can emulate as we strive for a great faith.
The first aspect centers on the fact that a great faith is an unselfish faith. This is highlighted in two ways here in our text. Look at the opening portion of our text. Luke writes, “When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, 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.”
Note the deep concern that this centurion had for his servant who was “sick and about to die.” Why was this Roman centurion so concerned about this servant? Why didn’t he simply let him die and find someone else to be his servant? From everything we are told about this centurion he was a convert to Judaism. He believed and trusted in the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The gift of faith that lived in this man’s heart was so great that he was deeply concerned about others— including this servant. He didn’t want someone else to be his servant. He wanted this servant to be healed. A great faith is indeed an unselfish faith. A great faith is a faith that puts other people and their needs ahead of its.
The second way in which this centurion gives us an example of a great faith— an unselfish faith— is found in what the Jewish elders said to Jesus when they went to Him to ask for His help. Luke says, “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.’”
Let’s pause for a moment and let these words sink in. On the one hand you have a Roman centurion, a commanding officer in the army that was occupying the land of Israel. On the other hand you have Jewish elders, men who were looked up to as religious leaders among God’s Chosen People. And yet, when these Jewish elders came to Jesus on behalf of this Roman centurion, they “pleaded earnestly” for Jesus’ help! Why? Because the unselfish faith of this Roman centurion was visible in the way that he lived his life. His unselfish faith was visible in the way that he showed his “love” for the Jewish nation. His unselfish faith was visible in the way that he used his own resources to build a synagogue so that his fellow believers would have a place to gather together as a family to worship their Lord, to sing praises to their Lord, to hear and study the Word of their Lord. A great faith is an unselfish faith that makes itself visible in one’s life!
We need to strive to have this kind of faith, my friends. How do we do this? First of all, we examine our own faith. Try to look at your faith objectively. For example, when you look at your daily prayers to your heavenly Father, do they concentrate on you and the things you want for yourself, or do they concentrate on other people and the things they need? As you look at the actions of your life, do they revolve around you or is it easy for other people to see that the priorities of your life revolve around worshiping your Savior, supporting His church, and helping your brothers and sisters in the faith? Striving to look at our faith objectively will reveal where we need to concentrate as we strive to have a great faith, an unselfish faith, a faith that is visible in our day-to-day life.
The second aspect of a great faith centers on the fact that a great faith is a humble faith which trusts in God’s Word. Luke highlights this aspect of a great faith when he says here in our text, “He (Jesus) 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.’”
From a purely human perspective the difference between this Roman centurion and the Rabbi from Nazareth was stark. The Roman centurion was a powerful commanding officer in the powerful army of the Roman Empire. Jesus of Nazareth was a humble Rabbi who walked from place-to-place teaching people the Word of God. In reality, however, this Roman centurion understood that Jesus was not just a man. This Roman centurion believed that Jesus is the Promised Messiah whom God’s people had been waiting for— for a very long time! This Roman centurion knew that Jesus’ power and Jesus’ authority dwarfed that of everyone on earth— especially his own! The humbleness of this centurion’s faith is clearly evident in his trust in Jesus and in Jesus’ Word. “But say the word, and my servant will be healed.” That is a humble faith! That is a great faith!
Oh that we would have a faith this humble! Oh that we would have a faith that had this kind of trust in God’s Word! Is that simply a pipedream, my friends? Is this kind of faith so far out of our reach that it would be a waste of time to strive to have this kind of faith? Not at all! Satan would certainly like us to think that we could never have this kind of faith. Satan would certainly like us to think that we should simply be satisfied with whatever faith we have now no matter how weak it might be. Do not allow Satan to deceive you into adopting this view!
How do we strive to have a great faith? How do we strive to have a humble faith? How do we strive to have a faith like this Roman soldier— a faith that trusts in God’s Word no matter how hopeless a situation might seem? We feed our faith and strengthen our faith by using the spiritual food our Savior God freely provides to us— His holy Word and His holy Sacrament.
This is why we come to church as often as we can. We gather together as brothers and sisters in the faith— whether it is here in God’s house or on Zoom— we gather together as a family of believers so that we can hear God’s Word in our liturgy, in our hymns and in our Scripture readings. We grow in our understanding of God’s Word as our pastor proclaims and explains a portion of God’s Word in the sermon. We grow in our faith as we take the sermon and apply it to the specifics of our own life. Whether it is here in God’s house or in the privacy of our home we also have the blessed privilege of receiving the Lord’s holy Supper alongside of people who believe and trust in God’s Word with a unity of faith that many churches today simply do not understand. Striving to have a great faith, striving to have a humble faith, striving to have a faith that trusts in God’s Word is possible only when our faith is being strengthened and nourished by the spiritual food that God Himself has provides to us!
I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to connect the dots between this portion of God’s Word and the fact that today is Father’s Day. As Christian fathers and as Christian grandfathers would we say that we have a great faith? As our heavenly Father looks at our faith— and He most certainly does!— would He say that we have a great faith? As other people look at us— especially our wife, our children and our grandchildren— are they able to see that we have an unselfish faith, a faith that exhibits a deep concern for others? Are they able to see that we have a faith that prioritizes our love for God and what He has done for us (Pointing to the cross), our love for supporting God’s Kingdom work even if it means not getting all the “toys” that we would like, our love for helping our brothers and sisters in the faith? As other people look at our faith— and they most certainly do!— are they able to see that we have a humble faith that trusts in God’s Word?
I will be the first one to admit that I have stumbled and fallen countless times when it comes to striving to have a great faith. Perhaps many of you can make the same confession yourselves. What do we do? First, we kneel at the foot of the cross (Pointing to the cross) and confess our sins and our shortcomings to our heavenly Father. Then as we are kneeling at the foot of the cross we trust. We trust in the forgiveness that our God has won for us. We trust in the love that our God has for us. We trust in His promise to always be with us and to always help us as we strive to grow— to grow as Christian husbands, to grow as Christian fathers, to grow as Christian grandfathers, to grow in our faith so that we can be an even better example to others of someone who by the grace and power of God alone has a great faith.
What are some reasons as to why people are praised? Some people are praised for their academic acumen or their athletic abilities. Some people are praised for their work-ethic and their loyalty. Some people are praised for a certain skill that they possess. While there is nothing wrong with any of that, my prayer this morning is that each and every one of us will strive to have the kind of faith that our Savior praises— a great faith!
To God be the glory
Amen
