Sunday 02 June 2013

Background

This little story of an individual's trust in his faith issurely as moving to us as it was to Jesus. It is not often that weencounter such expressions of total belief 'though elsewhere in theworld many people that I have spoken to, would not consider thisrare.

Jesus had been trying to convey how important it is that we rootour faith deeply, when messengers arrived to request Christ'spresence to heal a servant. Not only was the servant at a distancefrom Jesus but the servant's master, a centurion, perfectlyillustrated what Christ had been saying. He describes how heunderstands his belief to be such an integral part of his life.Christ recognises that the centurion is very special if not unique,so that when the messengers return to the house they find theservant healed because of the centurion's faith.

The Jewish elders, whom the centurion had sent as messengers,convey a message that tells of a chain of command, a line ofauthority that begins with a declaration of the centurion'shumility. He feels unworthy to receive Jesus in his home and keepshim at a distance, whilst at the same time describing his ownsituation as one who gives orders as well as one who receivesthem.

Does he feel constrained by this line of authority? Is he stuckin a social system that he finds hard to break out of, for hismodesty, surely, would take little delight in holding such animportant rank? Yet he uses this to tell of his faith and his trustin Jesus.

What an example to us all of how to conduct our humanrelationships! So often we see people take delight in their ownsupremacy, especially over those less fortunate than themselves. Wehave only to look at some city bankers, politicians and localgovernment officers or police personnel to see how power andauthority can corrupt.

The centurion's acceptance of his place in society and theresponsibilities that it carries throws a light on how we mightbehave when we too are caught up in social chains of authority. Forit is not the supremacy of position that matters here, but how wecare for one another within the systems that exist, and how wetrust that good will happen through our own lives and the way welead them.

To Ponder

• How do we form the nature of our human relationships? Where dowe see ourselves as having authority and what is the nature of thatauthority?

• The centurion was trusting in the unseen. How might you justifyyour faith to a sceptic when so much of it relies on theunseen?