Introduction - Outsiders Very now and then, someone comes to this Church and leaves without coming in. I know that because I stand up here facing the front door often. I will see people look through the small glass panels, and then turn away. Sometimes I can send someone after them, sometimes I myself have gone out and asked them in, but sometimes they just go away after looking inside. It's an uncomfortable position to be in, as an outsider wanting to come in but not knowing how. People feel, I imagine, that they would be intruding, that it may not be appropriate, or that they just don't belong. The Bible says that God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:2). So God wants all people to come inside, to go from being outsiders to being insiders. At one time in Jesus' life, someone asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? He said to them, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (Luke 13:23-24) Jesus was talking about entering the kingdom of God, a subject he spoke on often (see Matthew 5:20; Mark 10:24; John 3:5). Because Jesus spoke of entering the Kingdom of God, of the need to try and enter, we learn that we are outsiders. We are not inside God's place, we are outside God's place. I said at the beginning of Harry's baptism that without Christ, we humans are far gone from God and mired, or trapped, in sin. I prayed, just before I baptised him, that God would now, 'grant that this child whom we baptise in this water, may be saved through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. May they die to sin and rise again to righteousness.' This tells us that naturally, humans are not insiders. None of us. Not myself. Not Harry's parents or godparents. Not even Harry, as adorable as he is. We all need to be saved, to come inside. We want to get inside, because inside the Kingdom of God is forgiveness and peace and love and joy and life and friendship with God. Outside, there is no friendship with God, and whatever peace and love and joy and life we experience does not last. According to the Bible, there is only one door, and it is not the door into Church buildings. I'm glad when people do come in from the outside, but coming in here doesn't save people. The door is faith in Jesus Christ. Soon we will see how some people think there are other doors into the Kingdom of God, but they are wrong. The Bible says, "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" (Eph 2:8). Faith is the only door through which we may enter. And is is not faith in any person who claims to open the way to God. Jesus said, "I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9). So the Bible is clear that the door we take into the Kingdom of God is faith in Jesus Christ. It was faith that Jesus looked for in people he was speaking to. The story of the centurion's servant is really a story about faith. The centurion was and outsider, because he was not a Jew. He wasn't part of God's chosen people, Israel. Yet, after hearing the Centurion's message in verses 6 to 8, Jesus turned to those following him 1
and said, verse 9, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel". Great faith is what Jesus was impressed by, and it is this faith that forms the entrance, the narrow door, into the Kingdom of God. It is this door through which Harry's parents and godparents have chosen to walk through, as they testified today. It is this door through which Harry will one day need to choose to walk through, to be saved. As I said, "Children must themselves express faith in Christ when they are able to do so." But what does this door look like? How can you recognise great faith that saves us? Muslims believe in Jesus, some Hindus believe in Jesus, Jehovah's witnesses believe in Jesus. But their faith is not the right door. What does the right door look like? Two markers or characteristics of great faith are shown by the centurion in this passage - Humility and awe. The centurion considered himself unworthy, and Jesus as worthy of all honour. Like the centurion, we are all outsiders. His faith, marked by humility and awe, is the faith which we all need to be saved, this is the narrow door through which we enter life. Great Faith marker # 1: Humility I have never been to Israel, but one day I hope to. If I go, I will almost certainly go to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. The picture you see up on the overhead is the door into the Church of the nativity in Bethlehem, supposedly built over the place where Mary gave birth. It's called the door of humility, because it is so low. You have to bend down to get in. This is wonderful picture of great faith, which is firstly marked by Humility. Humility means a low opinion or estimate of one's own importance. It is the opposite of arrogance, pride and self-importance. This Roman centurion had every reason to be proud. He had a high rank. He was a leader over an occupied nation. He could send even highly ranked Jews, the elders, to make a request for him, as verse 3 says. And yet he was also a kind man. The elders said to Jesus that the centurion "deserves to have you do this", because of what he had done. In their view the centurion was a good man, for he had shown his love for Israel by building a synagogue in Capernaum. Here is a picture of a synagogue in Capernaum, but this is not the one the Centurion built. This one was built about 300 years later, but underneath the foundations of the earlier synagogue have been found. Luke has already told us in chapter 4 that Jesus had cast a demon out of a man inside this synagogue. Afterwards Jesus had gone to Peter's house, healed his mother-in-law, then healed many others later to the evening. Jesus had also taught in this synagogue. So it is no surprise that the Centurion had heard of the astounding things happening inside and near the synagogue he had built. Verse 3 says, 'The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.' Also no surprise that the elders considered him deserving of Jesus' attention, who himself had used the synagogue to make himself known. The elders themselves are not friends of Jesus; they are not on his side. Only two chapters later, Jesus will say, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be 2
rejected by the elders,... and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (9:22). In chapter 22 the elders are some of those who condemn Jesus to death. These elders in chapter 7 were just demanding that Jesus take part their own appreciation for what the centurion had done. The centurion himself was not so demanding, nor so proud. It is true that he had sent the elders to ask Jesus to come, as verse 3 says. But not because he thought he was too important to come himself. In verse 7 he says through other messengers, "I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you". Nonetheless, he had sent the elders asking Jesus to come and heal his servant, verse 3. But when the Centurion saw Jesus coming towards his house, his humility caused him to send more messengers urging him to stop. Not because he thought himself above any Jew, but because, verse 6 "I do not deserve to have you come under my roof." The thought of Jesus coming into his house was too much for him. He simply wasn't deserving or worthy. Humble faith says to Jesus, "I do not consider myself worthy to come to you... I do not even deserve to have you come under my roof". That is the faith Jesus looks for; that is the faith Jesus accepts. You may have come into Church this morning thinking that you are not really worthy to even be here. You certainly don't think Jesus can accept you. Maybe that is because you know your own failings; the hurt you have caused other people. You have done some bad things, and Jesus is so good... that surely he cannot accept you. Or you may be a person who has been rejected by others, hurt by others, abused by others, and you think you are simply not worth Jesus' time. Today I want to say to you, whether you know your own sin or you have been belittled by the sin of others, that sin is wrong, and God hates sin. The humility you feel, though, is not all bad. For humility allows you to see Jesus for who he is. People who are full of themselves never see Jesus. Unless you are bent over, you can't get through the door of faith. Your humility is the beginnings of great faith, if you will open your eyes to see him. Jesus' words also say something to those who think there is another door into the Kingdom of God. There are some who think that, as long as you are good enough, then God will let you in. The elders thought that the centurion deserved to have Jesus perform a miracle. That's partly why Jesus says, "I have not found such great faith even in Israel". These proud Israelites thought they were good enough, just as they thought the centurion was good enough. But being good enough is not a door into the Kingdom of God, it's a fake door, perhaps even a trap-door. For it actually leads people away from Jesus. If you can be good enough, then you don't need saving, you don't need a Saviour, you don't need Jesus to die for you on the cross. And that is what the Bible calls pride and arrogance, the opposite of humility. "I don't need you, God", is the root of our rebellion against Him, which causes so much sin and pain in our lives. Thinking you are good enough shrinks down, in your mind, what Jesus did for us all, it belittles Jesus to the extent that you think you don't need him. 3
Great Faith marker # 2: Awe The faith of the centurion, on the other hand, did not make little of Jesus. Quite the opposite. anot only was the centurion marked by humility, it was marked by awe. This is what you see as you walk through the doors to St Peter's Bascilica in Rome. I have been here, and I was filled with wonder and awe. It's not just that the Church is so huge, it's all the art and light and gold and construction. It is just incredible. A you can't help but look up and around with your mouth hanging open. It was designed to do this to people who came into the Church. Even though that door also is not the entrance to the Kingdom of God, the true door, faith, is also marked by awe. Awe us an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration and sometimes fear. It is necessary to be awed by Jesus in order to have great faith. The centurion knew he wasn't worthy of Jesus because of what Jesus could do. He said through the messengers to Jesus, "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. The centurion gave commands to others, and the commands were obeyed. Likewise, Jesus could give commands and expect that they be obeyed. But what or who is under Jesus' authority? In 4:36, in the synagogue the centurion had built, the people had been amazed that "with authority and power [Jesus] gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" In Peter's home he had rebuked a fever and commanded other demons not to speak. Throughout Luke Jesus gives commands to all sorts of people - rich and poor, powerful and powerless, old and young. In chapter 8 he 'commands even the wind and the Waves' when he calms a fierce storm. Luke's gospel documents the fact that everything and everyone is under Jesus' authority. The authority of his word. All he has to do is speak, and people, spirits, illnesses and the weather do his bidding. He says go, and the illness goes. He says come, and people come. He says, do this, and spirits do it. That should awe us. We all said the apostles ' creed during the baptism. Each of us voiced these truths: "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who... was crucified, died, and was buried;... On the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead!" The centurion was entirely correct to be awed by Jesus. For Jesus is the Son of the Creator, and will sit in judgment upon all people at the end of time. Amazingly, it is this faith, marked by awe, that gives us confidence that we are accepted by God. Jesus said that his own glory was revealed in his death and resurrection (John 12:23-28). He said, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32). Humble faith says to Jesus, "I do not deserve to have you come under my roof... I do no consider myself worthy to come to you" It then hears Jesus saying "Great faith", and finds that Jesus has made everything right. Death on the cross. Jesus is so great 4
that he can take all of our unworthiness upon himself and then away in his death on the cross. 5