Scripture: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43,  Luke 7:1-10
Title: All In

**Sermons are meant to be heard, so listen along here**

 

By a show of hands, how many of you have heard this Gospel story before today?
It’s not very well-known.
And it’s not one of those stories we teach in Sunday School like the Good Samaritan or the Lost Sheep.  

Those are pretty simple stories that Jesus uses to illustrate a point about the grace of God. Today’s story is not quite as simple, but Luke takes the time to include it in his Gospel, and despite it not being one of the well remembered scenes in the Bible, it has a lot to say to us about our faith and our God.

Before we come across Jesus in this scene, he has just finished his sermon on the plain, which we find in Luke’s 6th chapter.  He was on the shores of the sea of Galilee, and gave an extended sermon to all those who were following him.  This sermon was about the way things were set up in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus covered things like who was on the receiving end of blessing, and how we were to love and not judge others.
It’s his TED talk of Luke’s Gospel.  His greatest hits.

One of my favorite authors Sarah Bessey said that she spent a whole year on Luke’s sermon on the plain, and felt that at the end of it she had finally met the real Jesus. So side note – if you are looking for an entry point to personal Bible Study, consider starting with Luke 6.  

So all that sets the scene to what I believe is the significant part of this story for us listening today –
The centurion hears Jesus is in town and asks some Jewish elders to go see if Jesus would heal his slave for him.
The elders go and speak to Jesus, on behalf of the centurion, and as they are on the way –
the centurion sends word to stop.  He says he still wants his slave healed, but he says he isn’t worthy of Jesus being with him.

Despite being on the outside, not knowing a lot about this Jesus guy, but knowing that he likely could be the difference between life or death for his slave, the centurion still feels this deep sense of unworthiness.

Go tell Jesus I am not worthy to have him come into my home, he says.  

This is where I want to focus today – on this unworthiness feeling –
Because if we’re honest – if we are really honest with ourselves and each other, – we have all been here.
We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of.
We’ve all said things we wish we could take back.
We’ve all acted in ways we knew weren’t our best versions.
If Jesus were on the way to our home right now, how many of us might feel this same way?  
Jesus stop – I’m not good enough for you to be with me.
In our confession this morning and every worship service we acknowledge these very things about ourselves.  

People have asked me what my favorite part of worship is, and I think the expected answer is the music or baptisms (I mean, I do love talking to babies) but my answer is always the same.
Confession.
Yes.
The part of worship that so many of us just rattle off in a mumbly monotone is my favorite part.  
Because it’s the moment where I remember how much I need God.  
Right?  I acknowledge the very things this centurion feels today.

I remember the ways in which I have fallen short.
I remember the things I wish I hadn’t done or said.
And together with everyone gathered, I bring them out into the light.

And we don’t just say them and that’s it.
We say them and then in response we hear the words of forgiveness.
It doesn’t matter how they are said or who says them, they are true because Christ has forgiven all your sins.

It’s already happened.  

But like I said two weeks ago, we need to hear the gospel every day because we forget it every day.  
I need confession every day and I need absolution on Sundays because I get caught up in my own feelings of unworthiness and I need Christ to remind me just who I am.

We all feel unworthy.
We all fall short, we all sin.
And yet, it doesn’t diminish anything about who God has declared me to be.  
And it doesn’t do anything to affect what God is able to do.
Despite the centurion’s feelings of unworthiness, Jesus still heals the slave.
And Jesus marvels that this man has such faith in what God can do, even from a distance.

This centurion guy may not quite know all there is to know about this Jesus guy, but he does know that Jesus is something special.
And he’s important: he’s the head of 100 soldiers, he’s respected in the Roman community and in the Jewish community he is occupying.  

He says it himself – “I’m a man with authority – I commands people to do stuff and they do it!”
He basically says “I’m kind of a big deal around here.”  
So when THIS guy, this big deal guy, says he is unworthy – he does something pretty profound –
He willingly places himself below this nobody rabbi guy from across the lake.
Not equal, but below.

“I’m not even worthy for him to come into my house, much less have him heal someone in it”- he says –  “I know how to give orders, and I know Jesus can give an order that is more important than mine.”

There’s a recognition of his place in the order of God’s world here.  
A place that is different than the world he is a part of.
And despite his understanding of his unworthiness, he still wants what Jesus can bring him and his household.
Again I think we can relate to this guy here too.
We too might not get all of what we hear about Jesus.
We might have those days where we just don’t buy it all.
But we DO know that it’s different.
Jesus is something significant – and we recognize that, even if we don’t always understand it.

If any of you have any history in the Catholic church, some of the words of the Centurion may have sounded familiar.
As a part of the communion mass, after the words of institution the congregation prepares to approach the table by saying the Lord’s Prayer and then together: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
I love this.
I love the ways in which it’s similar to today’s text but also the ways in which it’s different.
The Catholic mass puts us in the place of the Centurion.  
Yes, it’s still about healing, but it’s OUR healing. Not the healing of someone else.
These words help us recognizing our own unworthiness for what is about to happen, but also acknowledging that whatever happens isn’t our call at all.
It’s all God.
Nothing we’ve done or haven’t done changes what is about to happen at this table.
Sure, we hold our our hands, but the work is all Gods.
Not mine.
Despite having strayed so far from the mother church, I still hear those words in my head when I take communion.
I still have them there to get me in the right frame of mind –
I am not worthy to receive what Christ gives me when I come up to the table.
But it doesn’t matter.

Christ has said the words.  
For you.
FOR YOU.
And you are healed.
You are made whole.
How do I know it?
Because I have hope.

Last week, Chad talked about Hope, hope in the hard times, hope when things are not going the way we want them to go … and here we are again, recognizing our unworthiness and trusting in the hope that God will make us new.  

Danielle Shroyer video “Christian Hope.”  – beginning to 1:41

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you – but only say the word and I shall be healed.
The good news today is that the word has been said.
God is, right now, at this moment, working to make things new and whole.
Working to restore the darkness in the world and the darkness in us and make it light.
The word has already been said, and will be said again.
The table is ready.
All are welcome.
Lord, we are not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and we shall be healed.

AMEN