SUnday, July 2, 2017

Matthew 8:5-10,13

 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, in terrible distress.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.

Trust love

Joy springs to life when we trust love. Extraordinary Love.

The centurion may not have ever met Jesus before, just heard about him. But he knew two things: Jesus had authority he did not possess. And second, Jesus employed his power to restore human beings to their fullness.

He trusts the Love that is in Jesus, the Love Jesus possesses for the lost and alone, the troubled and broken.

The centurion commanded 100 Roman soldiers. He understands authority. But he does not come to Jesus to command. He comes in humility, not on his knees, but as one who recognizes and honors the authority and power of one greater than he.

A perfect man he is not. He has slaves, an inhumane and abhorrent practice even if it was common in his day. But Love is working in him. He loves his servant. He wants him healed.

The centurion is a man on the way, like me, like every human being, on a journey in which we are invited to know and to trust Love … and be transformed by joy into something more alive and beautiful than we are.

Who knows what we may yet be? Only the One who heals and makes alive, the Love we can always trust.

The centurion makes his request and returns home. He goes his way more alive than he has ever been. He has entered the joy of knowing the Love who is always for us, the Love who touches and makes us whole.

Pr. David L. Miller