Ordinary Time Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 96 or Psalm 96:1-9

Old Testament: 1 Kings 18:20-21, 22-29, 30-39

 or 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

Gospel: Luke 7:1-10

Epistle: Galatians 1:1-12

Today is the start of Ordinary Time proper. To repeat a point I said a few weeks ago, during Ordinary Time we have 4 scriptural passages that don't necessarily go together. So trying to find connections between them isn't always appropriate, but sometimes they may be present. Today is also Memorial Day (it is actually tomorrow, but some churches honor it on Sunday) in the USA and not surprisingly, the Lectionary doesn't consider that theme. The Lectionary is grander and more universal than one country and one time-period. So although it is appropriate to honor secular holidays, the Lectionary constantly reminds and pulls us back into God's time and space.

Today I want to focus on the story from Luke. It is a vivid image of the type of faith we are called to, but one which I at least do not exhibit. We are all no doubt familiar with the story and it is in the told in Matthew as well and possible in John. (Matt. 8:5-13, John 4:46-54) A centurion, an army official over 100 soldiers, sent some Jewish elders to request that Jesus heal his slave, who was near death. After Jesus had agreed to go with them and they were journeying to the house, the centurion sent more servants to say that Jesus didn't need to come himself, he wasn't worthy of that, all Jesus had to do was say the word and the slave would be healed. Jesus was amazed by the centurion's great faith and healed the slave. Pretty simple narrative.

We all know the story, but there are a few strange details that are unusual compared to the other miracles Jesus performed. The first one is the sending of the Jewish elders to plead the centurion's case. This seems odd but perhaps it was showing respect to Jesus and Jewish purity laws. Pious Jews would not enter the houses of Gentiles and avoided interacting with them. By sending Jewish emissaries, and even by later sending more servants to ask Jesus to just say the word and heal his servant, the centurion honored Jesus. Of course Jesus probably would have entered the man's house anyway. The other interesting point just quickly, is that Jesus healed the servant without first meeting him and presumably never met him afterward. This is not entirely unique, but it unusual for Jesus to have healed someone without first meeting them. (see John 4:46-54 for example)

The centurion sending Jewish elders to convince Jesus to perform a miracle for a Gentile reminds me of the Canaanite women in Matt 15/Mark 7. Jesus originally told the women he wouldn't heal her because he was sent to the house of Israel. But she responded, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." To which Jesus responds to her great faith and heals the women. Perhaps the centurion is trying to preempt just such a response by sending Jews exulting his benevolence. Not to get too far astray, but I do wonder if in this story the key thing was that she was Canaanite in particular and the Israelites had received specific instructions to exterminate the Canaanites. But I may be off-base here.

The fact that the story of the Canaanite women isn't in Luke is significant. In Luke, the story of the centurion acts as a changing point in the Gospel, with a new emphasis on Jesus ministering to the social and racial outsider--the non-Jew. The groundwork was laid at his birth in the Song of Simeon (2:32) and is now coming to fruition. Also, the author of Luke parallels this story with another centurion, Cornelius, in Acts ch. 10. We looked at Cornelius' interaction with Peter a few weeks ago, but it is interesting that Luke used these two foreign soldiers of an occupying force and the enemy of the Jews to exemplify strong faith.

The message I think is clear: faith in Christ is not only possible in those outside the religious norm, but it can even be extraordinary. Twice Luke points to a Roman centurion to show what true faith looks like and who is invited into faith in Christ. And twice the religious elites (and Peter in Acts) have to overcome their own hesitations to catch what Jesus is doing. This week, let us first seek after the faith that the centurion had. He truly is an example to us all. And second, let us be attentive to what Christ is doing and where he is doing it. Let us not miss the modern-day "centurions" because we think there is no way they would want to follow Jesus. In the words of the Apostle John, "The wind [Spirit] blows where it wishes." (John 3:8)

Grace and Peace