The Quality of One's Friends...

          A miraculous itinerate rabbi, a Roman soldier who loves his slave, Jews that value the gentile that built their synagogue, and a miracle completed just because of one man’s belief.  I must admit my friends, this is one of my favorite texts in Luke, superceded only by the parable of the prodigal son.  It is such a brief, odd, but incredible little story.  It is unfortunate, however, that we as a culture have lost just how odd and incredible this story really is.  We read it and see merely a soldier, a servant, and Jesus; only a tale about the ultimate power of belief.  Make no mistake, all those elements are there, but they are not the only ones.

                In seminary and law school, you learn very quickly about the incredible importance of context.  It can mean many dull hours at books too dusty and too old for reasonable humans, and it can mean a lot of discomfort as old understandings need to be tilled up and the seeds of new understandings get sown.  But this is no mere mental exercise.  For those of us called to this path it becomes very clear how important this work is because in the end you realize there are real people going to be affected by it for weal or woe.  Whether a man borrows something or is stealing something depends on the context, and whether someone kills in self defense or will be found guilty of murder depends on the knowing the exact situation in which it happened.  If context means so much, then it is clear we as faithful people are going to have to master it.

                So what is our gospel lesson in context, what did it mean to a first century Gentile living within the confines of the Roman Empire?  We’re going to find out, but instead of my usual means, instead going into the Greek, instead of talking about first century Judean history, I am rather going translate our lesson culturally, changing only the names and the setting in which the story occurs.  Listen, and see if you can’t hear the difference.

      “After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Civil War era Georgia as a black preacher.  A white plantation owner there had a female slave whom he loved dearly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he had the elders of the African- American community come to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.  When they came to Jesus, the elders appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our church for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the Plantation owner sent his friends to say to the black preacher, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I also am a slave set under authority with people under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servants, 'Do this,' and they do it."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in all the South have I found such faith."  When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

                A little different isn’t it?  Let’s try something more modern.

“After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered modern day Palestine as a rabbi.  A Hezbollah soldier there had a gay partner whom he loved dearly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he had other Israelis ask him to come and heal his partner.  When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the soldier sent his Muslim friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my love be healed.  For I also am a servant set 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 lover, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in all Israel have I found such faith."  When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the man’s partner in good health.

                Beginning to see how really shocking this story really is?  Are we starting to see the elements we have been missing?  Let us now go back to the original text, filling it in with what would have been unwritten but obvious to an ancient audience. 

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum, a Jewish fishing village under gentile control.  A centurion, an enforcer of the Roman governor’s whims, had a male slave lover who was ill and close to death.  When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.  They came to Jesus without hesitation, appealing to him earnestly, saying, "The centurion is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent his Roman friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for despite my station I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I also am a man set 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 this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even among Jews have I found such faith in God." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health - without Jesus having to say a word.”

                Reads a lot differently now doesn’t it?  Yes there is the faith of the centurion and the power of belief, but there is so much more to it.  Each character in the story is defying the supposed order of things, recognizing the era in which they live but also loving past it.  There is the centurion, a Roman soldier, the very kind of person who in but a generation will put every Israelite in Jerusalem to the sword.  But he is not cruel to the Israelites, he does not force them to worship the emperor or the Roman gods, indeed he builds their synagogue for them.  He has such a relationship with the Israelites that he can ask the Jewish elders to go talk to this dangerous new rabbi for him.  The elders, who by all accounts know that even being seen talking to this upstart, this rabbi with no formal education who constantly challenges the religious elite, could get them into real trouble, but for this centurion they do it.  And this needs to be explored further, the risks they are taking are no less phenomenal than the reasons they are taking them.  They approach this Jewish radical, this rabbi who does miraculous works on the Sabbath and that declares all foods to be clean, a man who is upsetting every Jewish authority at a time when doing so would literally get you killed.  Not only that, they are approaching this rabbi as a favor for a man viewed as a Jewish oppressor so that man can continue a relationship many Jewish leaders would not consider legitimate.  But the elders didn’t care about any of that.  This centurion had developed such a friendship, had such a meaningful impact on their lives, they approach Jesus without a second thought.  They don’t come to Jesus saying, we have to relay a message to you.  NO!  They say “this man is worthy of having you do this for him.”  In a world that would be all too quick to brand you a traitor, they knew the price of compassion in this instance and they didn’t flinch for a moment.  Their friend’s well being and joy meant so much more to them.

But after the Jewish elders show the quality of their character the Romans in Capernaum show theirs.  Jesus, of course, would know the repercussions of entering into the house of an unclean gentile, but He doesn’t care.  He goes anyway.  But the centurion, the centurion sees Jesus coming and has his Roman friends meet a conquered Jew and tell him not to come.  “Our friend knows the stigma that will be attached to you if you come to his house,” they say.  “But this is his message, ‘My Lord,’”… Incredible!  His friends see that this man of military station is debasing himself, calling a conquered Israelite My Lord, but they don’t care.  They relay the message anyway.  “My Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof and so I did not presume that I was worthy to see you.  Do not trouble yourself on my account.  Simply say the word and I know he will be healed for I myself am a man who both is a master and has a master, just like anybody else.  Just as when I give a command my will is done, I know when you issue the order thy will be done.

Jesus is astounded, amazed by this, and the story ends by Jesus doing something equally shocking.  He turns to his fellow Israelites and says, “I wish Jews had this much faith.”

Ladies and gentlemen, if the world needs anything it needs this story.  In a day and age where Christians mix with Muslims, Hindu’s, and Neo-Pagans, where those in the fishing villages of the world must live with the whims of the Caesars of the world, this story of risk-taking love and borderless compassion shows us the world as it could be.  A world where politics and disagreements mean so much less than one another’s happiness and the miracles that can happen when we do not let other people’s discomfort and disapproval rob us of our care.  But we don’t choose that world, ladies and gentlemen.  Instead we only love those like us, love when there is no cost to us.  One of my heroes, a German Lutheran Pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer, coined a term for this: He called it cheap grace.  Ladies and gentlemen, I look upon an America more fractured than I have ever seen it, I look upon a world more ready to burn than I have ever seen it.  This is the answer, my friends.  If you don’t like somebody –befriend them.  If you are concerned about a social movement -  host their rallies.  If you despise an entire religion – build their synagogue for them.  Scream at the top of that mountain that no matter how different we are, how much we disagree or how much you don’t like me there will NEVER be a time when I don’t have your best interests and your happiness in my heart, that under no circumstance will I EVER be your enemy.  That is how we change the world, ladies and gentlemen, and that is how we make the miracles fly. 

Because if we only love those who love us, how is that to our credit?