27 January 2019
Text: Matt 8:1-13 (2 Kings 5:1-15a, Rom 1:8-17)
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
The great enemy of the Christian faith is pride. For pride is a particular vice that actually gets in the way of receiving help. Pride fills us with a sense of shame that we should depend on others. Pride teaches us that we don’t need anyone’s assistance, because we’re good enough to get by on our own.
The problem is that we can’t. And only those with the humility to seek help actually receive help. Hence the famous passage from the Book of Proverbs: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
In our fallen world, having a position of authority is often a source of pride rather than what it ought to be: a sense of humility and obligation. It’s a story that seems to be repeated again and again among men of great power. In 500 BC, King Tarquin was the last of the tyrants of Rome. He was overthrown and Rome became a republic. Tarquin is known to history as Tarquin the Proud.
But there are many much older examples, including the example of “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria” from about 800 BC, recorded in our Old Testament lesson. Naaman was a great general, a man of power and arrogance, albeit a leper. Leprosy was a terrible disease that was incurable until the 1940s. It disfigured its victims and eventually killed them.
Naaman was told by a Hebrew servant girl that the prophet Elisha could cure his leprosy. He sent a letter to the king of Israel, who “tore his clothes” in fear that Naaman was coming to cause trouble. Elisha the prophet told Naaman, by means of a messenger, to “go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”
But rather than humbly submit to the word of the prophet, Naaman “was angry” and “went away, saying, ‘Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman’s pride was wounded, first by feeling snubbed by Elisha, and second, by this sense of Syrian supremacy. But fortunately, his servants calmed him down. Naaman humbled himself to obey the word of the prophet, which was the Word of God, “and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
How often pride gets in the way of the Lord’s work! How often we think we know better than God! How many blessings we miss out on because humility is too great a price to pay. For even the original sin of Satan was pride: pride that prevented his submission to God, as well as pride that was spread to Adam and Eve in their quest to “be like God.” And their pride went before the Fall indeed!
And this is why, eight centuries after Naaman, our Lord Jesus Christ “marveled” at his own encounter with a powerful military officer. He was a centurion: a captain of about hundred Roman legionaries.
Only this officer “appeals” to Jesus, even addressing Him as “Lord,” saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Jesus hears his prayer and promises to go to the centurion’s home to heal his servant. And here is where the centurion amazes Jesus: “Lord,” says the captain, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Imagine this! A mighty Roman officer saying to a lowly Jew that he is unworthy! He is sensitive to the fact that Jews were not permitted under the roof of a Gentile, and he bids Jesus, in whom he has faith, to “only say the word,” and his servant “will be healed.”
And he explains to Jesus that he knows how authority works. As an officer, he knows that he can just give orders, and those orders will be obeyed. He knows that Jesus has authority even over things like sickness and health. He may or may not understand that Jesus is God, but he certainly ascribes to Jesus powers that seem to be divine. And he expresses faith in our Lord’s Word, that a mere utterance from Him can cure.
Our Lord “marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” He tells the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was cured indeed by the spoken word of Jesus, by His authority, for even nature is under the command of Jesus.
And though we don’t know this man’s name, we honor him for his example of faith. He is not haughty, but humble. He does not try to get what he wants by force, but rather by prayer. He believes in the power of Jesus, and in His Word. He trusts in our Lord’s ability to save.
We also remember the centurion’s faith in the words of our church’s liturgy. In visiting people in their homes or in the hospital, the pastor often prays the general confession for, and with, the person he is visiting. Often, the person may not be able to speak, so the pastor prays for both himself and the penitent. He will then ask the person he is visiting: “Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?” When the ailing person nods or answers in the affirmative, the pastor says: “Let it be done for you as you believe. I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” For how often have we heard our Lord tell people, “Your faith has made you well.”? The faith of the centurion received the Lord’s power and mercy. And our faith in the Word of Jesus is the means by which His forgiveness is received by us.
Also, just before receiving the Lord’s Supper in the Divine Service, it is customary to pray: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof,” just as the centurion said. And we continue, “but only say the word and my soul will be healed.”
For the Lord comes under our roof: our home that is this fallen world. We are truly not worthy that He should come to us, and yet He does. And we know that His Word brought the universe into being. His Word combined with water cured Naaman, not only of his leprosy, but also of his pride. We know that His Word, received in faith by the centurion, cured the centurion’s servant.
We have the Word of Christ when He promises to be with us in His Supper. We have His Word and promise in that Holy Supper when our Lord says, concerning His blood that we receive in the cup, that it is: “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
And this is why we, as did the centurion, can express our unworthiness, and yet trust in the Word and promise and authority of Jesus. For His blood was shed for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. And in the Greek language of the New Testament, to be saved is to be healed, and to be healed is to be saved.
For our sinful flesh is like the flesh of a leper. To be healed is to be forgiven of our sins. To be saved is to be healed, to have our own flesh to be “restored like the flesh of a little child,” as was Naaman’s flesh. Moreover, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament actually describes the experience of Naaman in receiving the healing and saving Word of God by means of water by using the Greek word “baptism.”
Dear friends, we too have been washed clean by water given under the promise and command of Jesus. We too have been saved from the rotting flesh of our mortality, all by God’s grace. We too receive His gift of eternal life in humble faith, knowing that we are not too good and too haughty to ask for help, for we most assuredly cannot save ourselves.
The power of the Lord’s Word resides in His divinity. And the way that this power to heal and to save is applied to us is by our faith in His Word: faith received in baptismal water; faith received by His blood shed on the cross and given to us in the cup; faith that is received in humility.
For though we ask in humility, dear friends, we are not ashamed. We confess with St. Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
For faith is the means by which we receive salvation from the God the Father. Faith assures us that we depend on the Son and His Word for our healing. Faith teaches us that we are saved by grace alone through the working of the Holy Spirit by means of water, wafer, and wine – all combined with the Word.
“Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The great enemy of the Christian faith is pride. For pride is a particular vice that actually gets in the way of receiving help. Pride fills us with a sense of shame that we should depend on others. Pride teaches us that we don’t need anyone’s assistance, because we’re good enough to get by on our own.
The problem is that we can’t. And only those with the humility to seek help actually receive help. Hence the famous passage from the Book of Proverbs: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
In our fallen world, having a position of authority is often a source of pride rather than what it ought to be: a sense of humility and obligation. It’s a story that seems to be repeated again and again among men of great power. In 500 BC, King Tarquin was the last of the tyrants of Rome. He was overthrown and Rome became a republic. Tarquin is known to history as Tarquin the Proud.
But there are many much older examples, including the example of “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria” from about 800 BC, recorded in our Old Testament lesson. Naaman was a great general, a man of power and arrogance, albeit a leper. Leprosy was a terrible disease that was incurable until the 1940s. It disfigured its victims and eventually killed them.
Naaman was told by a Hebrew servant girl that the prophet Elisha could cure his leprosy. He sent a letter to the king of Israel, who “tore his clothes” in fear that Naaman was coming to cause trouble. Elisha the prophet told Naaman, by means of a messenger, to “go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”
But rather than humbly submit to the word of the prophet, Naaman “was angry” and “went away, saying, ‘Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman’s pride was wounded, first by feeling snubbed by Elisha, and second, by this sense of Syrian supremacy. But fortunately, his servants calmed him down. Naaman humbled himself to obey the word of the prophet, which was the Word of God, “and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
How often pride gets in the way of the Lord’s work! How often we think we know better than God! How many blessings we miss out on because humility is too great a price to pay. For even the original sin of Satan was pride: pride that prevented his submission to God, as well as pride that was spread to Adam and Eve in their quest to “be like God.” And their pride went before the Fall indeed!
And this is why, eight centuries after Naaman, our Lord Jesus Christ “marveled” at his own encounter with a powerful military officer. He was a centurion: a captain of about hundred Roman legionaries.
Only this officer “appeals” to Jesus, even addressing Him as “Lord,” saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Jesus hears his prayer and promises to go to the centurion’s home to heal his servant. And here is where the centurion amazes Jesus: “Lord,” says the captain, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Imagine this! A mighty Roman officer saying to a lowly Jew that he is unworthy! He is sensitive to the fact that Jews were not permitted under the roof of a Gentile, and he bids Jesus, in whom he has faith, to “only say the word,” and his servant “will be healed.”
And he explains to Jesus that he knows how authority works. As an officer, he knows that he can just give orders, and those orders will be obeyed. He knows that Jesus has authority even over things like sickness and health. He may or may not understand that Jesus is God, but he certainly ascribes to Jesus powers that seem to be divine. And he expresses faith in our Lord’s Word, that a mere utterance from Him can cure.
Our Lord “marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” He tells the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was cured indeed by the spoken word of Jesus, by His authority, for even nature is under the command of Jesus.
And though we don’t know this man’s name, we honor him for his example of faith. He is not haughty, but humble. He does not try to get what he wants by force, but rather by prayer. He believes in the power of Jesus, and in His Word. He trusts in our Lord’s ability to save.
We also remember the centurion’s faith in the words of our church’s liturgy. In visiting people in their homes or in the hospital, the pastor often prays the general confession for, and with, the person he is visiting. Often, the person may not be able to speak, so the pastor prays for both himself and the penitent. He will then ask the person he is visiting: “Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?” When the ailing person nods or answers in the affirmative, the pastor says: “Let it be done for you as you believe. I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” For how often have we heard our Lord tell people, “Your faith has made you well.”? The faith of the centurion received the Lord’s power and mercy. And our faith in the Word of Jesus is the means by which His forgiveness is received by us.
Also, just before receiving the Lord’s Supper in the Divine Service, it is customary to pray: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof,” just as the centurion said. And we continue, “but only say the word and my soul will be healed.”
For the Lord comes under our roof: our home that is this fallen world. We are truly not worthy that He should come to us, and yet He does. And we know that His Word brought the universe into being. His Word combined with water cured Naaman, not only of his leprosy, but also of his pride. We know that His Word, received in faith by the centurion, cured the centurion’s servant.
We have the Word of Christ when He promises to be with us in His Supper. We have His Word and promise in that Holy Supper when our Lord says, concerning His blood that we receive in the cup, that it is: “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
And this is why we, as did the centurion, can express our unworthiness, and yet trust in the Word and promise and authority of Jesus. For His blood was shed for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. And in the Greek language of the New Testament, to be saved is to be healed, and to be healed is to be saved.
For our sinful flesh is like the flesh of a leper. To be healed is to be forgiven of our sins. To be saved is to be healed, to have our own flesh to be “restored like the flesh of a little child,” as was Naaman’s flesh. Moreover, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament actually describes the experience of Naaman in receiving the healing and saving Word of God by means of water by using the Greek word “baptism.”
Dear friends, we too have been washed clean by water given under the promise and command of Jesus. We too have been saved from the rotting flesh of our mortality, all by God’s grace. We too receive His gift of eternal life in humble faith, knowing that we are not too good and too haughty to ask for help, for we most assuredly cannot save ourselves.
The power of the Lord’s Word resides in His divinity. And the way that this power to heal and to save is applied to us is by our faith in His Word: faith received in baptismal water; faith received by His blood shed on the cross and given to us in the cup; faith that is received in humility.
For though we ask in humility, dear friends, we are not ashamed. We confess with St. Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
For faith is the means by which we receive salvation from the God the Father. Faith assures us that we depend on the Son and His Word for our healing. Faith teaches us that we are saved by grace alone through the working of the Holy Spirit by means of water, wafer, and wine – all combined with the Word.
“Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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