Podcast Sept 4, 2016

Getting What We Deserve (Luke 7:1-10)

Getting what you deserve, the saying goes, is justice; not getting what you deserve is mercy; getting what you don’t deserve is grace. The story in this scripture passage illustrates all three.

After an extended period of open-air teaching, Jesus and his disciples entered the town of Capernaum where, they would soon learn, a Roman centurion’s servant was dying. The centurion heard that Jesus was in town and sent some of the Jewish elders to ask him to help the servant. Remember that the Romans were an occupying force, so it’s interesting that these elders were so eager to plead his case. “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built the synagogue.” So even though the centurion was part of the occupying army, he was not their enemy. Please, they said, helping this man is the right thing, the just thing, to do. He deserves your help because he’s been a friend to us. So Jesus went with them, because our God is a God of justice.

Now, we need to pause here for a moment. Remember the words of Paul: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”(Romans 3:23). And God had laid down the law long ago in the first garden, where original sin earned the ultimate punishment: “dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3: 19). All people, from the first people to the centurion and his servant to us modern humans, are sinners, and the penalty for our sin is death. Death is what we all deserve, but Jesus wasn’t going to curse the centurion’s servant. Instead, he was going to offer the servant mercy. Just as he offers us salvation from the death we deserve, because our God is a God of mercy.

Back to the story. Just before Jesus arrived at the centurion’s home, some of the soldier’s friends met up with him and his disciples. These friends spoke for the centurion: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.” This centurion understood authority. He had men over him that he had to obey, and he had men under his command who had to obey him. Clearly, the centurion was aware of the reputation Jesus had built as he went around teaching, preaching, and healing. And he acknowledged that Jesus had authority over illness and disease. He believed Jesus could heal his servant at a distance with only a word. (Makes you wonder what else he believed about Jesus, doesn’t it?) The centurion, a sinner, didn’t deserve favor from God. The servant, a sinner, didn’t deserve healing. But Jesus offered them both grace, God’s unmerited favor, and healed the servant. We don’t deserve God’s favor either, but God generously offers it anyway, because our God is a God of grace.

What are we to make of this story?

Is it only an illustration of God’s justice, mercy, and grace, a story that reminds us who God is and how he cares for us? Or is it also intended to instruct us in the way we, who are made in God’s image, are to interact with our fellow human beings? We all want justice for the people who harm us or our loved ones, but how often do we demand justice for the downtrodden? We all want mercy for ourselves, but how often do we offer mercy to those who have wronged us? And we all want grace for ourselves, but how often do we offer grace to those who, granted, don’t deserve it, but who does? By definition, grace is unmerited favor. How can we accept God’s favor for ourselves and refuse to extend it to others?

Wouldn’t it be nice to know whether the centurion’s life was changed by this experience? We know he was already charitable toward the Jewish people, despite the fact that he was a Gentile and a Roman soldier. We just don’t know whether he made any life [...]