In the Gospel reading, Jesus is probably returning to Capernaum after delivering
the sermon on the mount, he is
becoming better known and things are beginning to heat up. People are taking sides, claims are
being made, and some extraordinary things are happening.
Back in Capernaum, the place where he had healed people before, he is
now approached for another sign, a miracle.
The Centurion, a Roman Soldier in charge of 100 soldiers of an
occupying force, was demonstrating faith,
humility and hope, when he asked for
his slave to be healed. He was also demonstrating his
willingness to take a risk for the slave he
loved.
He sends some of the Jewish leaders to Jesus, to plead his cause.
We sometimes have a romantic view of the Romans as a sort of civilizing
and cultural force, however this wasn’t what the people remembered them for
when they left. The first facts
any schoolchild will give you is that the Romans gave us cement, bricks,
sewers, straight roads, swimming baths and cats.
They don’t talk about the slavery, the bloody games and the oppression. They don’t readily talk about the murders
and ethnic cleansing. They also
don’t mention that there was a crucifixion because the cross was a Roman
instrument of torture and execution.
I can’t ever remember preaching about, or even mentioning the fact that
the Centurion was…well…a military leader from a brutal and unforgiving
occupying force. I can’t remember
thinking how it was odd that he sent the Jewish leaders to Jesus. I can’t remember thinking how this
flash of Christ in the Gospels gives us a fantastically important vision of the
kingdom of God, and the divine purpose.
In a week when we are walking the tightrope of unrest through the
murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in London, and the subsequent rise in religious and
racial hatred, it seems wholly appropriate that we have Christ looking at the
faith, humility and hope of the Centurion, seeing his need, and not
his class,
race, colour or belief.
I’ve had a bit of a journey this week, I’ve managed to take a few days
off to do some exciting things.
On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to see Rowan Williams talking at the Hay
Festival, about religious icons.
At the end of the talk, someone asked him if he was happy to be ‘retired’. He responded that it would be great to “catch up on his sleep”, and
“to become a Christian again”.
People laughed and it was a lighthearted end to the talk. This, of course, made the headlines,
but behind this seemingly throwaway remark, there was a lot of truth.
The truth is that we need to see through the noise of everyday life, to
see the the faith, humility and hope at the centre of the lives of other
people, and to try and consider ourselves too.
Looking for the signs of God
slowly working his purpose out.
Christ saw these in the centurion, past the uniform, the slaves and the
violence. He saw the challenge of
someone trying to find faith.
Finding
faith
The Desert Fathers, and Mothers were hermits, ascetics, and monks who
mainly lived in the desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD. The most famous, Anthony the Great
moved to the desert in 270AD and by the time he died seventy years later,
thousands of people had heard of the sayings
of the Desert Fathers and moved to the desert. Such was their influence on the growth and direction of
Christianity. It is fair to say
that almost all monastic orders grew from the desert.
Abba Arsenius, a Desert Father prayed;
“O
God, do not leave me. I have done
nothing good in your sight, but according to your goodness, let me now make a
beginning of good”
Another, called Abbot Pastor prayed;
"If someone does evil to you, you should
do good to him, so that by your good work you may drive out his malice."
This two thousand year old wisdom from the desert stands for itself, I
think you’ll agree.
Faith,
Humility and Hope
And today, Covenant
Sunday we celebrate the different
traditions in Christianity that make for a broad church. We think of our prayer partners, and we
think of the promises that were made years ago, that helped us to live together
in unity, whilst celebrating our differences.
I have an admission to make,
and it is this.
I find it difficult to come to
terms with the fact that as soon as you accept that there are other people of
faith, this then resolves not merely into an ecumenism, but an acceptance that
ALL people who wait on God to reveal his purpose are ALL the same. If faith to you means;
·
You believe
in a GOD who is actively involved in the life of the world
·
You believe
in a GOD who gives faith to counter our discouragement and doubt
·
You believe
and trust in a GOD you can’t see
·
You believe
in a GOD that gives strength for people to do what they could never do alone
Then your truth is my
truth – and perhaps, just perhaps that truth will set us free.
When I thought of Christ seeing
the faith,
humility and hope in the centurion. I thought of the people of the York Mosque, when faced
last week with a potentially volatile demonstration by the English Defence
League, the newspapers told us that they quickly defused the situation with
tea, custard creams and a game of football. Beautiful as it is to believe that, they didn’t diffuse the
situation with biscuits, sport and a drink, they diffused it with faith,
humility and hope. The
rest was a product of that.
And between the people with very different views, backgrounds, heritage
and life experience, there was a shared faith, a faith in a God who brings
his people to unity, and a God who shares our suffering.
It was a truly lovely thing in a truly tragic
week.
The tragedy of a soldier who died on the streets of London, and the
story of a soldier who called on Christ to save a loved one intermingle to
remind us what a Desert Father knew all those years ago, that;
“Good work drives out malice”
Jesus himself marveled at the
humble faith that so clearly trusted in him and his authority over sickness and
death. Here was a Roman soldier, who had faith in God that outstripped even the
Jews.
Oh, the Jews had faith, but
the centurion had great faith. It was great faith that wasn’t self-centered. It
was great faith that humbly focused on God. It was the faith of a powerful man that
trusted in God’s authority.
So, after a couple of days in
London, I returned back home and promised to take the children to the MGM
Studios where the Harry Potter films were largely shot. I still hadn’t really managed to finish
my sermon, and I was looking for something to finish my sermon for today. I wasn’t sure that I’d find anything in
Watford.
As I walked into the film set,
there was a quote in five foot letters from J.K.Rowling.
“No story lives unless someone
wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever.”
That was it! This is the end of the sermon!
No comments:
Post a Comment