Such Faith

When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, 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. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 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. When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’ Matthew 8:1-17

We know the devastation and frustration we feel when our bodies are broken and filled with disease. We can feel helpless and angry that we cannot participate in life as we would like. And when someone we love is sick, we hurt, afraid and heartsick. Jesus encounters men and women who are distressed and fearful, yet still full of hope and faith. The centurion was a symbol of the occupier, he would not have been considered faithful, and yet it is this foreigner, part of an occupying army who show us what it is to have such faith. We can get all get complacent with our walk of faith, yet Jesus is calling us today to be like this stranger and outsider, a person of such faith who shows others how to have faith and believe. 

Gracious Creator, you make us your children

you love everyone as a member of your village

you welcome the stranger and rejoice in our lives

and walk with us when the road is dark and dangerous.

We are often exhausted and frustrated by our lives

we want to find someone to blame for this hurt

we want to blame the stranger for the troubles

yet you teach us that you love stranger and alien.

Lord Jesus, give us the faith of that centurion

who was faithful even as he was rejected

let us love and serve with joy and hope today

trusting that you love us and walk with us still. Amen.