I really like the story of the
centurion which we read about today in Luke’s gospel because it has a lot to
say to us about prayer and faith and the authority of God.
This morning I’d like to look at this
story and see what we can learn from it. And then look at how we can build our
faith so that like the centurion, we too can receive what we need from God.
So to start with, this centurion has
a slave he values and cares for who is dying. Now for many people this may have
looked like a situation which could only end in death – but the centurion has
hope – because he has faith in Jesus.
We have no idea where he gained this
faith – because we’re not told. My guess is that at some point he himself had probably
gone to see Jesus and heard him speak and watched him heal people.
However he’d come to faith – the
important thing is that he recognised that Jesus had authority over sickness
and disease - the authority to heal and restore people to health.
As a centurion he understood the concept
of authority very well – because as he says in verse 8 - “I am a man set under
authority with soldiers under me.”
He would have had command over a
group of 80 soldiers and he knew very well that if he gave an order to his men
- it would be obeyed. Whatever he commanded would be done.
And he understood that when it came
to sickness and disease, whatever
Jesus commanded would be done. This is why he
says in verse 7 “only speak the word and let my servant be healed,” - or as the
NIV puts it –“just say the word and my servant will be healed.”
So this Roman centurion – although he
was a Gentile and not a Jew – obviously believed that Jesus was who he claimed
to be – the Messiah, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob made flesh, the creator
of the universe.
And we can see this from the humility
he displays in verse 6 - where he addresses Jesus as “Lord” and recognises that
he is not worthy to have him come to his home.
Even though as a Roman officer – he
was part of the ruling elite - he does not presume to come himself and ask Jesus
for healing. Instead, he sends his Jewish friends to ask on his behalf.
He obviously recognised also that the
Jews were God’s chosen people. We’re told in verse 5 - he loved the Jewish
people and had built a synagogue at his own expense for them.
I’ve noticed that there is a lot of
anti-Jewish feeling around at the moment particularly on the political left and
among the liberal intelligentsia. Much of this stems from Israel’s treatment of
Palestinians.
The Jewish nation like all nations is
far from perfect – and it’s OK to be critical of their actions. However, as
Christians we need to be wary of harbouring anti-Jewish feelings – because
these feelings do not come from God.
The Jewish people are still very much
in God’s heart – and in the future the bible tells us clearly that God will
turn away Godlessness from the Jews and they will come to recognise Jesus as
their Messiah.
Indeed – my understanding of
scripture is that at some point in the future, the church will be raptured and
removed from the world.
And at this point - when the seven-year
period of the Tribulation begins and the Anti-Christ comes to power - the Jews
will once again be God’s chosen people to share the message of salvation with
the world.
We may be living in the time of the
church but the Jews still have a central role to play in God’s plans for the
future. As Christians, we may not agree with some of their government’s actions
– but nonetheless like the centurion, we should love them and seek to bless their
nation.
There is a chain of people involved
in the healing of this servant. The servant himself is too ill to be aware of
the events unfolding around him.
But he has a master who loves and
cares about him and this master in turn has Jewish friends who are happy to
approach Jesus on his behalf.
The crucial link in this chain though
is the faith of the centurion – and his conviction that if Jesus will only speak
the words of command – his servant’s healing will occur.
As Christians we lift people to God in
prayer - many of whom will be totally unaware that we are praying for them. And
we can ask our friends to pray for them too.
And for us also, the crucial link in
this chain of prayer is faith – the belief that if only God will speak those
words which we are praying for – our prayers will be answered.
When we pray we need to understand
that God has ultimate authority over both the physical and spiritual realms - and
that He exercises this authority by speaking.
He didn’t create this world with a large
team of angels with shovels. He spoke creation into being.
He planned and envisaged in his mind
what He wanted to create and then
He spoke words of command to bring that
creation into being.
When God speaks words of command - his
creative power and authority are released – and whatever God speaks will surely
come to pass.
If you’re a Christian it is because
God has spoken words of command over your life. He has commanded that spiritual
darkness must depart from you and that your spiritual eyes be opened to
recognise Him.
And every child that is born – exists
because God has spoken – because He has envisaged in his mind the person he
wanted to create and has spoken their existence into being and has breathed
life into them.
God is the Lord and creator of all
things and because He is love - He creates everything in love. In other words,
He loves his creation and that includes you.
John’s gospel tells us that Jesus is
the Word and that the Word was with God and the Word was God.
As the Word - Jesus brings into being
everything that His father speaks. God the Father envisages what He wants to
create and speaks - and Jesus brings it
into being.
As John tells us - All things came
into being through him. Without him, not one thing came into being.
When Jesus was on the earth, the
words of command that came out of his mouth had the power and authority of God
upon them to heal and restore life.
This why Jesus spoke words of command
when he healed people. Pick up your mat and walk. Stretch out your hand. Be
healed. Be opened. Be set free from your suffering.
As he spoke, the creative power and
authority of God rested upon His words and bought them to pass. Damaged cells
were restored; leprous body parts were re-created. Life that had departed from
people returned.
And of course like his Father, Jesus
has authority not just over the physical realm but also the spiritual realm. He
has authority over every power of darkness.
This is why demons fled and departed
at his command and begged him not to destroy them.
So when we pray we are effectively
asking God to speak over a situation or person and to use His authority to
bring His kingdom and His will into being.
And this is what the centurion
recognised about Jesus and why he was so confident that if only Jesus issued
the command his servant would be healed.
The trouble for most of us is – that
although like the centurion we may recognise God’s power and authority to answer
our prayers – we can doubt his willingness to answer them.
Although we know He could – often if
we’re honest - we can doubt that He cares enough about our particular situation
to want to intervene.
So what practically can we do about
this? What can we do to increase our faith? Well I think that the key to strong
faith is rooted in knowing how much God loves us.
The more we know deep within our
beings how much God loves us – the greater will be our faith.
And this is why Satan seeks to cause
us to doubt God’s love. If he can get us to start to doubt that God really
cares about us or our family or our situation – our faith deflates.
Have thoughts like – ‘I don’t know
why you’re praying again. It’s pointless you know. He’s not listening.’ And ‘why
should he care about your trivial problem when there are much more important
things going on in the world’ – crossed your mind?
The truth is though, that God does
care deeply about our situation – because the bible tells us so.
Peter tells us “Cast all your anxiety
on him because he cares for you.”
And when we pray of course He
listens. It’s impossible for Him not to – because He’s omniscient – He hears
and sees and knows everything.
John tells us; “This is the
confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us.”
If what you’re praying for is in line
with God’s will to save and heal people, to restore relationships and communities
and to bring peace – He hears you.
And we only have to look at the cross
to remember God’s love not just for us but for our family and friends.
He loves each one of us here today enough
to die for us. Jesus would rather die than be separated from you.
So rather than let negative thoughts
and feelings undermine our prayer lives – we need to keep on praying
persistently for God’s kingdom to come and
His will to be done in our lives and
the lives of our loved ones.
And most importantly we need to make
a deliberate effort to praise and thank God. The more we thank God for all that
is good in our lives and the many ways he has blessed us, the more our faith
will rise.
And we can thank God in advance for
speaking over our situation. Prayer with thanksgiving is powerful because it
expects results.
As Jesus said – “whatever you ask for
in prayer – believe that you have received it and it will be yours.”
As I’ve said before, Christians are
like Helium balloons that can rise up as we are filled with praise and
thanksgiving.
However, Satan is keen to puncture
our confidence and as we let negativity influence us – our faith diminishes and
we float back down towards the ground.
So to conclude what I want to say
this morning – I think there is much we can learn from the story of this
centurion’s faith.
And just as Jesus heard the
centurion’s request and healed his servant – we can be confident that he loves
us and hears our requests.
And if we will persevere in prayer in
faith with thanksgiving – we too over time will find that our prayers also are
answered – and that the living God has spoken over our situation and life.
I’d like to close with a time of
prayer.
Prayer
Although we can’t see him Jesus is
among us now. He hasn’t changed in his willingness to answer our prayers. He loves
us and wants the best for us and those we love – and he knows the thoughts and
prayers of our hearts.
In a few moments of quiet – like the
centurion - ask Jesus to speak words of command over any person or situation
which you care deeply about.
If you want to, you can say “Lord
just say the word”… and then present your request to him
Pause – time of quiet
Now thank Jesus in faith for hearing
your prayer – and for the words he has spoken over your request and continue to
thank him over the coming days.
Amen
