Rev. David Holwick H
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 3, 2013
Luke 7:1-10
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I. A man of amazement.
A. You know who I am talking about.
1) Ron Watson. His wife Debbie is always exclaiming, "Ron --
what an amazing man!"
2) The Bible mentions another candidate.
a) If you are thinking Jesus, I can't disagree with you,
but I am thinking of someone Jesus himself was
amazed at.
b) There are only two candidates in the Gospels:
1> In Mark 6:6, Jesus is amazed by the people in his
hometown of Nazareth - not because they were so
great, but because they had so little faith.
2> Here in Luke 7, Jesus is amazed by a Gentile
soldier.
A> This guy was the opposite - he had tremendous
faith.
B> It was greater than anything he had encountered
among Jews.
#24451
3) What would Jesus think about YOUR faith?
a) Would it amaze him? Or appall him?
B. Today's passage gives a lot of insight into Biblical faith.
1) People have weird ideas about what faith is.
a) They think faith is believing in things that can't be
proved, or imaginary things, or irrational things.
b) Or faith is something you try to conjure up within
yourself.
2) I like Pastor Steve Zeisler's succinct definition:
"Faith is a willingness to bet your very life on the
promises and character of God." [1]
II. His faith was not based on his own awesome spiritual qualities.
A. Others thought differently.
1) The Jews themselves described him as an awesome benefactor.
a) He had done a lot for the Jewish community.
b) He backed up his love with practical help.
2) They tell Jesus the centurion "deserves" the healing. 7:4
B. Many people today have the same attitude.
1) They deserve salvation and heaven because they are good.
a) They do religious stuff.
b) They live moral lives.
c) God therefore owes them.
2) The Bible calls this "salvation by works."
a) You get to heaven on your own power.
b) It can work - it did for Jesus.
1> But you are not perfect like him.
2> And God's standard is perfection, not "better than
average."
C. The man himself explicitly rejects this approach. 7:6
1) He doesn't deserve to have Jesus come to him.
a) He is not even worthy enough to go to Jesus himself.
b) Perhaps he was sensitive enough to know that a good Jew
would be made unclean by visiting a Gentile like him.
2) This non-commissioned officer knows he needs help, he knows
Jesus can give it, and he comes with nothing but a
humble heart.
III. There are three things that characterized this man's faith.
A. He had a love that crossed barriers.
1) He loved Jews, which was unusual for Gentiles.
a) Jews had tight restrictions on sex, whereas Gentiles
wanted it open-ended.
b) But some Gentiles did admire the high morality of Jews.
1> The teachings on helping the poor and extending
forgiveness were appealing.
2> So was the simplified religion of only one God.
c) Even so, Jews were very exclusive and kept to themselves.
1> They didn't try to rope Gentiles in.
2> The centurion had made an effort to get close to
them.
2) He loved his servant.
a) Slaves were common back then, but compassion for them
was not.
One commentator notes that an ancient publication on
farm management recommended that farmers examine
their tools each year and throw out the broken
or old ones.
Then they should do the same thing with their slaves.
(William Barclay)
b) However, this centurion loved his servant and wanted
him to be healed.
1> He was a compassionate guy.
B. He was excited about the work of God.
1) He may have been a "God-fearer," an outsider who appreciated
the moral and spiritual truths of Judaism, but could not
bring themselves to officially join them.
2) He backed up his devotion with hard, cold cash.
a) I don't know how the equivalent of a captain could
afford to put up a synagogue.
b) Perhaps he didn't do it single-handedly, but was a major
contributor.
c) Even so, it wasn't just a mild curiosity.
1> He put his heart into it.
C. He had explicit trust in the power of Jesus.
1) He had only heard about Jesus.
a) Apparently he had not seen a miracle up close.
b) But he believed anyway.
2) The centurion took a military approach to it.
a) Through his friends, he asks Jesus to say the word.
1> He had confidence that that would be sufficient.
2> No big show, just do it from a distance.
3> The guy really believed!
b) Anyone in the military knows the "chain of command."
1> Everyone answers to someone above them.
2> The centurion puts Jesus at the top of the heap.
3) The healing is almost an after-thought.
IV. Faith is more than a rigid belief.
A. Some groups apply the chain of command in a literal way.
1) Our Methodist pastor, Joe Monahan, is leaving this summer
because his bishop has ordered him to another church.
2) In many denominations, power flows from the top down.
a) Orders are given, and they are expected to be obeyed.
3) Baptists are different.
a) Power is supposed to flow from the bottom up.
b) Every Christian can be a leader, a worker.
c) But we still believe Jesus is in charge.
B. How much credit do you give to Jesus?
1) When you face various troubles, do you think he can make a
difference?
2) The centurion certainly had confidence.
a) Say it, and it will be done.
b) We tend to waver a little. We HOPE it will be done.
V. Faith doesn't just depend on us.
Catholic missionary Vincent Donovan had been working among
the Masai tribesmen in Tanzania, Africa, south of Kenya.
The Masai were herdsmen and followed their cows as they
migrated each year.
It was difficult work, and at times, Donovan's faith faltered.
At one point, Donovan spoke with a Masai elder about the agony
of belief and unbelief.
In their conversation, the Masai elder pointed out that the word
Donovan had been using in Swahili to convey the word "faith"
was not a very good word in their language.
The word they were using for "faith" meant literally, "to agree
to."
The Masai elder said that to believe like that was similar to
a white hunter shooting an animal from a great distance.
Only his eyes and his finger got into it.
The Masai elder then said that for one to really believe is
more like a lion going after its prey.
The lion's nose and ears sense the prey.
He sniffs the air and locates it.
Then he crouches, and slithers along the ground virtually
invisible.
(Housecats sometimes do that too.)
A cat thinks it becomes invisible as it stalks the prey.
The lion gets into position, and when everything is optimum,
the lion pounces.
All the power of his body is involved and as the animal goes
down, the lion envelopes it in his arms, pulls it to himself,
and makes it a part of himself.
This, said the elder, is the way one believes, making faith a
part of oneself.
Donovan nodded in complete agreement, almost overcome with the
elder's wisdom.
But the elder was not done yet.
The old African became thoughtful.
Then he said to Donovan: "We did not search you out, Padri.
We did not even want you to come to us.
You searched us out.
You told us of the High God.
You told us we must search for the High God.
But we have not done this.
Instead, the High God has searched us out and found us!
All the time we think we are the lion.
In the end, the lion is God!"
#8781
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] This quote, and the points in section III, are borrowed from
Rev. Steve Zeisler's sermon "Surprised By Faith," Kerux Sermon #6232,
Paul Apple Collection. Zeisler was the pastor of the Peninsula
Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, http://www.pbc.org/.
# 8781 “Faith Is Like a Lion,” Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator
Supplements; from a sermon by Norm Lawson of Central
Protestant Church in Richland, Washington. June 27, 1999.
#24451 “What Blows Jesus' Mind,” Peggy Willison, Abe Kudra Collection.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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