The Centurion of Great Faith

   I've been re-reading some old notes again (unfortunately I didnt have the insight to date said notes, so when I wrote them I know not, although I suspect 2008ish). I thought I might share some of my musings. 

   So here is "The Centurion of Great Faith":

  "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!"

Luke chapter 7, verse 9b   (From the larger passage: vs 1-10)

    Roman officers in Israel had a dreadful reputation- only comparitively recently to the time of this meeting Roman Legionnaires had crucified several Jewish men concerning an attempted revolt that had backfired- remember, Israel was a nation occupied by strange foreign powers, along with their strange and wicked Gods. The Romans in Jerusalem held the High Priest's robes and the Antonian Fortress loomed over the Temple court. Legionnairies could halt and commandeer Jewish citizens to carry their packs for a whole mile at any time. Its easy to see why the populace hated the occupying forces!

   However in our passage (Luke 7 vs1-10) we are faced with a senior Roman officer, a Centurion, who not only cares for his lowly local servant boy, but, more amazingly, is well liked and respected by the elders of the Jewish synagogue! He was obviously a man who cared for the local populace- perhaps he had been a follower of John the Baptist and obeyed John's advice to the Herodian soldiers: "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." Whatever the reasons for the Centurion being held in such high esteem, we are told that he was personally responsible for the building of a synagogue, a work gladly accepted by the Rabbis and scholars. 

   The Centurion must have seen Jesus' majesty and his own unworthiness, thus he sent the Jewish Elders with his request for healing, rather than going himself. We see this clearly when Jesus agrees to come and heal the boy: the centurion knows that Jews cannot enter Gentile homes without becoming ceremonally unclean and he does not wish to inconvenience Jesus in this way. He also had faith that Jesus could heal by a word- without being present; he saw the Lord Jesus' authority and knew that it was from God. The centurion showed, through a simple analogy, how he believed in Jesus' absaloute power- in the same way that his men did exactly as he commanded, so would creation bow to the orders of its very creator. 

   Jesus response appears typical to the Jewish thought process displayed by the Rabbis, in that he seems to introduce another theme entirely, however they are closely related topics. Firstly Jesus exclaims his pleasure and commends the commander for his firm belief- indeed he has shown a faith greater than that of his own disciples:

"I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!"

   Jesus uses the example of the Centurion's faith to proclaim a truth that was thoroughly rooted in the Old Testament scriptures but nevertheless was a revolutionary idea to the Jews: Many gentiles shall be in Heaven but not all of the Israelites shall be.

  He explains to his listeners that faith and "saving grace" is neccasary and lineage is not an issue to God (a point that Paul elaborates on in his epistles)

   Jesus ends this encounter with an act of mercy and love towards the soldier and his servant:

"And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. "

   What a wonderful ending to the meeting between Jesus and the messengers of the Centurion, if only we could know what happened to that man of faith! 

    But the real point of this encounter is that Jesus, the "son of a carpenter" has authority and power over the whole of his creation- this man is the son of God, the Messiah, the Annointed one of God, come to redeem his people, Israel. And we can be certain that this Centurion was an Israelite indeed!

Grace in Nature: A very real lesson on grace

  Another week, another Sunday, another spiritual message in nature; although this week's symbolic occurance is, perhaps, not as tasteful as last week's forest fable. 

  I was seated, innocently upon a garden bench, soaking up the sun and admiring the fauna and flora. Then, to my left, there was a rustle in the bushes. Turning, I saw a young pigeon crouching furtively amongst the Holyhoks. I looked at it, it looked at me, we both looked at each other. This pigeon was fearless, not at all abashed by my presence. I soon realised why. The creature was  in some poor state of repair. Its feathers were sticking in any which way and were rough and coarse, leaves and other assorted foliage covered its back and chest. It appeared dazed and, aware how foolish this sounds, it seemed to be limping.

    At first a stab of pity hit me. Rapidly this feeling fled, as the poor creature hobbled straight towards me with a determind gaze. As the pigeon closed the distance between us to but a couple of meters, I saw the flies crawling over its body and eyes. The poor young pigeon changed instantly to a fearsome repulsive creature, a hollow croak, for it can only be described as a croak, left its scratched beak and fell on my ears. My nose scrumpled up almost into my eyebrows, and I withdrew toward the protection of the house. As I moved away from the dead-but-alive-pigeon I remembered the bird-poo-smeared windowscreen that had awaited me previous mornings when I had gotten into my car. Very little pity indeed now remained for the creature that was slowly making their way across the lawn towards me. Death, illness and repulsive pigeons can all be dealt with at a distance, but when all three are steadily limping straight towards you (and you are wearing only flip flops on your bare feet) little pity of thoughts of mercy are flowing in your mind. I hastened indoors, and left the said pigeon to continue his trek toward the flower bed.

  Now I wouldnt bring up such an unappealing topic, but for the sudden rush of symbolism that I was hit by when I had re-entered the sanctuary of the house. Two bible verses in particulary jumped to the front of my mind. The first is Isaiah 1 vs 5b-6:

    The whole head is sick,
        and the whole heart faint.
     From the sole of the foot even to the head,
        there is no soundness in it,
    but bruises and sores
        and raw wounds;
    they are not pressed out or bound up
        or softened with oil.

   Or as the King James Version puts it:

From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores.

   Do you perhaps now see how the analogy of a disgusting, sick pigeon, reeking of death, and crawling with flies actually describes us?  When God looks down upon sinful men and women he sees their sin. And this isnt the "sin" of fiction, where the devil is red and has a pointed tale. This isnt the sin Christians can piously talk about in others. No, this is the stagnant, repulsive, sickening, putrifying sin that is in each one of us. Sin is a cancer, and rapidly spreads across the entire being, notice what God says through Isaiah- "The whole head is sick.....From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it"- A small amount of petrol in a diesel engine brings the entire vehicle to a rapid halt. A small amount of leaven leavens the lump. 

   This is alarming, when God looks at me he sees me as I am: much, much, much more repulsive and undesirable than that sorry pigeon. And God has every right to do what I did to the pigeon: abandon me and leave me in my sickness. This pigeon may have survived without my assistance, and might go on to live a long and fulfilling life (relitively speaking), but imagine what will happen if the very "Author of Life", my creator and sustainer, abandons me? Take it one step further; God is Holy and pure, he cannot stand any impurity or sinfulness in his presence (and his presence spans all of His creation). What then is to happen to me?

   

    Well here is the good news, the second verse which I recalled earlier on, and this is good news indeed:

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

   How vast is Gods love?! How amazing is our King? He looked upon my putrifying sores, he looked on my transgression against himself... and loved me.  Christ died for me. Christ died so that I may go free. Christ died so that death itself may be defeated. And He did this while I was still a sinner, while I rebelled and swore against him. Isnt this just unimaginable? While we hated and detested God, while we refused his help and wallowed in our own sickly lusts and putrifying pleasures, He died for us, to redeem us!

    Well can I say with Paul: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in Heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and blameless before him.

    Shortly after meeting the pigoen I went to the evening church service. Roger preached on John 13, when Jesus said that believers must love one another, "as I love you."  That really sets the gauntlet down! How great is Christ's love, how all encompasing is Christ's love, and I must love as he does?! Roger reminded us how we often look at other Christians and think, "I would love him/her if only they were a bit more loveable. If only they werent so__________ (insert issue here). If only they didnt _________ (insert problem here)." 

That certainly isnt the love Jesus showed to us! If that was the case then we are all hopeless cases! We must love one another as Christ has loved us, however hard that may be. And when we fail at loving one another, might we praise God that he continues to love us!

   One hymn puts it like this:

Here is love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as the flood
When the prince of life our ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember
Who can cease to sing His praise
He can never be forgotten
Throughout heaven’s eternal days

   How marvelous that God reminds us of his grace and his character through nature! Although we should hardly be suprised when this happens, it is His creation after all! Psalm 148 says:

Praise him, sun and moon,
        praise him, all you shining stars!
     Praise him, you highest heavens,
        and you waters above the heavens!

Praise the LORD from the earth,
        you great sea creatures and all deeps,
     fire and hail, snow and mist,
        stormy wind fulfilling his word!

    Mountains and all hills,
        fruit trees and all cedars!
     Beasts and all livestock,
        creeping things and flying birds!

An Abandoned Forest

   Yesterday I went for a walk through a wood near where I live; back when we had a dog we would regularly take her along the wood track, and she would be running to and fro with her ball, panting and dribling all over our legs!

   But as we clambered around the wooden gate blocking the cart track, and started forward up the hill we soon realised that the woods of 5 years ago were no longer the woods of the now. The track was overgrown and much thinner than before, thistles and nettles encompased us on either side, and the centre of the track was bursting with grass and weeds. The further we went, deeper and deeper into the wood, the worse it became. Side tracks and pathways were totally non-negotiable, hardly distinguishable from the surrounding forest in fact. The remains of long dead trees, and rotting vegetation covered any clearings. This wood had been abandoned by the Forestry Commision long ago.

   But jump back 70 years to the height of the war time Britain and this very wood was a special ammunition dump, a vital cog in the defences of East Anglia. A railway line lead deep into the forest, complete with concealed sheds and shelters. While the war was fought this place was being maintained and was serving a valuable purpose.

   Now, in August 2010, it is not. Weeds and thistles envelop the old train line, the pathways are akin to wild jungle, and even the more modern irrigation systems are dry and barren. Places where Josie used to jump and splash and play are now cracked and empty, more weeds springing up from the ground.

   We reach the far end, and exit the woods, walking along a path that follows outside the trees. From here the forest looks grand and strong, the tall oaks appear sure and steadfast, various nuts and berries hang from the trees and bushes. A kestrel swings through the air with ease, finally resting upon on of the oaks. From our position outside of the woods it looks proud, every bit as important as it was 70 years ago.

   Maybe you can see where this is going? As we trudged back towards the start of our walk my mind wandered to the spiritual application of the natural degeneration of my surroundings.

   In the height of spiritual warfare, when it feels like Satan is throwing all he has straight at us, we turn to God in repentance and seeking His mercy, He builds us up strong and fits us for the battle. But when a moment of rest comes along, or when the battle seems won, then we weaken our defences. The world creeps in- albeit slowly, like those weeds and thistles: 5 years ago we would never have thought that those pathways and tracks could become so overgrown and wild! Oh yes, the world and Satan are prepared to wait, to bide their time. But sure enough the weeds of the world take effect, and days, months or even years down the line the ability to wage war is neutralised.

   But as I noticed earlier, from the outside of the forest it appeared to be fruitful and proud. How similar the Christian can be, while inside Satan tempts him to doubt his very salvation. Be wary of appearances. Christ was.

   It is not too late for Chicksand's Wood. Left as it is, it can do nothing for itself and will creep further and further into disrepair and will be overgrown entirely. But if the Forestry Commision moves in and takes drastic action: removing the dead vegetation, showing no kindness to the weeds and thistles, restoring pathways and tracks, then there is still hope for my wood. Thanks be to God that the same can be said for the believer, may the Holy Spirit work in us, through Christ, and bring us back to the fold!




The Christian's Armour is in such disrepair..... a few months back I found some old notes and copied them in on a blog, unfortunately I cannot find said blog, but here is the substance of it, as I feel it is relevent:



"I've been re-reading some of my old notes and found a despairing "audit" I made of the Christian's weaponary...

'The belt of truth is hanging about the knees; the shoes of the gospel of peace are, indeed, falling to pieces; the breastplate of righteousness was left out in the rain and is rusty; the shield of ...faith is bent and full of holes; the helmet of salvation is intact, but worn at a jaunty angle; and as for the sword of the Spirit- well, that is stuk fast in the sheath. "All prayer" and supplication are on the agenda, but not today....maybe tommorow.'
How have we ever let God's Armour fall into such disrepair? How have I ever let God's Armour fall into such disrepair?"