MPC, 12th November 2000.Matthew 8:5-13 - A Soldier Meets Jesus
Phil Campbell MPC, 12th November 2000.
I want you blokes who are visiting us this morning to know that this time last week, Mick George was a very worried man. He took me aside and he said, LISTEN PHIL, I'm telling all these blokes they've got to come to church next Sunday, and they're NOT USED TO IT. And he said, I want you to take extra special CARE. He said, they probably reckon it's all GIRLY STUFF. Tea and scones. So he said, BE CAREFUL.
So I figure Mick doesn't want me to DO ANYTHING DUMB LIKE INVITE YOU TO MY KNITTING CLASS. Mick, I've only done a few rows. And I PROMISE... I won't say ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I'll save it til next week.
But here you are, guys, a bunch of diggers, you've done six months in East Timor; and done it tough. And I can understand it if you'd rather be sitting by a pool somewhere with a beer in your hand right now. And instead of that, you're here with us. And it made me think, during the week, why is it that CHRISTIANITY and CHURCH have got such a reputation for being a bit WIMPY. When back at the start it was exactly the OPPOSITE? Why is it that maybe for MOST AUSTRALIAN BLOKES this Jesus stuff has turned into something for the TEA AND SCONE brigade. When in the beginning it wasn't that way at all.
And so I want to spend a few minutes this morning to go back to the beginning. And in honour of the Charlie Company guys here this morning, I want to talk to you for a few minutes about A SOLDIER... WHO MEETS JESUS. As we do that, I want you to spend a few minutes thinking with me about HOW YOU RECOGNISE AUTHORITY.
If you're here from C Company you'll probably say it's easy. All you've got to do is COUNT THE STRIPES. And I guess you know straight away when you do that whether it's someone YOU TAKE ORDERS FROM... or someone you GIVE ORDERS TO. It's easy.
I was driving along Samford Road yesterday. Coming at me the other way was a big silver Ford Ltd with a FLAG on the front. And a special number plate with two stars on it. There was the driver in the front, and I couldn't see the bloke in the back 'cause of the tinted windows. Grant Dibden tells me it was General Mowlan. And that when the stars on the front are uncovered, it means he's in the car and you're meant to SALUTE. But even a dummy like me could figure it out. In the back, there's someone with AUTHORITY.
But REAL AUTHORITY goes deeper than that, doesn't it. I mean, it's possible to imagine a situation where the guy with the stripes, when you look behind the uniform, doesn't have REAL AUTHORITY AT ALL. At which point you might DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD because you HAVE TO. Rather than out of respect.
And I guess it's easy enough to imagine the opposite. Someone with no stripes on his uniform at all; not even a UNIFORM TO PUT STRIPES ON. And yet something about him tells you THERE'S REAL AUTHORITY THERE. Maybe NO RANK. But plenty of the REAL STUFF. Which is what happens when the soldier in the bible passage we read runs into Jesus.
He's a Roman solider. A centurion. In charge of 100 men; which is about the equivalent of a MAJOR in charge of you guys. It's all in the bible passage we read from the sheet, and it comes straight out of Matthews gospel, chapter 8. At this point in history, the Romans are an occupying force in Israel. Where Jesus is. So here's your centurion, he looks just like Russell Crowe in GLADIATOR with the helmet and the spear and stuff; he's living at the Roman barracks in the town of Capernaum, and JESUS COMES TO TOWN.
Now like everyone else, this Centurion's heard stories about what Jesus is doing. PREACHING out in the hills about the Kingdom of God. And as well as that, HEALING PEOPLE, including a guy with leprosy - healed him with a word. BE CLEAN, and he's CLEAN.
So Jesus comes into Capernaum, local Roman army base town; and this tough-guy Russell Crowe type army officer COMES TO HIM, and he ASKS HIM FOR HELP. If you want to follow the story as it's printed on the sheet you've got, we're right at the start, it's marked as verse number 5. Out of Matthew Chapter 8. "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a CENTURION CAME TO HIM, asking for help."
And he needs help, he says, because his SERVANT'S PARALYSED and in AGONY. Not PARALYTIC in the sense some of you blokes might mean it, where the agony comes the next morning. But somehow, there's something wrong with this guy and he's in so much pain he can't move a muscle. Bed ridden. And you'll notice, this Centurion who's used to throwing his weight around, there's nothing he can do in the face of what's happening. No authority at all over something LIKE THIS. But he's got half an idea if anyone can help, JESUS CAN. And so he says the words you can see there on the sheet. He says LORD. SIR. And I guess he salutes. "My servant's lying at home paralysed and in TERRIBLE SUFFERING. Can you help us out?"
You know, I knew one guy once, his wife BROKE HER LEG, and they had a two storey house. So every morning, he'd CARRY HER down the stairs, so she could cook his breakfast. But I sort of get the impression with this Centurion, he's not so much asking Jesus to fix up his servant so there's someone to iron his toga and make the sandwiches. It's a genuine concern. Back then the way the servant system worked, the servant was like part of the family; and it's genuine concern. And Jesus says, LET'S GO. Verse 7. He says, "Come on then. I'll go and HEAL HIM. Easy."
Now I want you to notice at THIS POINT, the soldier says an interesting thing. Which is the real mark of the AUTHORITY he's recognised in Jesus. No uniform or stripes. No stars on his number plate. But see, Jesus isn't just the weedy blond guy with blue eyes and a dressing gown you get in the stained glass windows and the religious pictures, either. This SOLDIER knows authority when he sees it. And he can see it in Jesus. And so he says the words there in bold print in verse number 8. Humble words.
"Lord, I DO NOT DESERVE to have you come under my roof. But just SAY THE WORD. Just GIVE THE ORDER. And my servant will be healed." He says, I know how authority works. He says, "I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one GO and he goes, and that one COME and he comes. I say to my servant, DO THIS, and he does it." Except NOW I guess, when he's paralysed and in agony on the bed.
He's saying, I JUST HAVE TO SAY THE WORD... and it HAPPENS. So it MUST BE THE SAME WITH YOU! You don't even have to COME WITH ME. Just SAY THE WORD!
Now that, I want to say to you, is FAITH. Not a fuzzy religious feeling. Just a confidence that the bloke you've come to can do what you need. He says, "I know how it works. You don't have to BE THERE. All you have to do is say the word."
And you'll notice that Jesus is actually AMAZED that this guy gets it! That he sees it so clearly. Verse 10. When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith..." The Israelites, they're meant to be God's people. And they don't get it at all! And this soldier is smarter than the lot of them.
And so Jesus says to him, "GO! It will be done just as you believed it would." And so the guy heads for home.
Now I want you to HOLD IT THERE for a minute. And ask yourself this. I mean, it's one thing to ACT WITH AUTHORITY. I mean, you might have someone SICK AT HOME TODAY; and I could stand up the front here and say, GO HOME, you'll get home and she'll be CURED. And you might even think I've got the AUTHORITY TO SAY THAT, and you might BELIEVE WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT. But let me tell you, if you BELIEVE I've got that sort of authority you've made a big mistake. So how is it with Jesus? Because the real authority test is what comes next. And you can read it. And you can ask yourself, who would have ever bothered WRITING DOWN this little bit of history if it DIDN'T END THIS WAY?
"Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And he goes; and he gets home and his servant I guess meets him at the door. And he says, WHAT TIME DID YOU GET BETTER? And his servant says, gee it was amazing. About 4.30 this afternoon. Just suddenly felt better and got out of bed.
That's what it says. And his servant was healed at that very hour.
The Centurion figured Jesus had authority. He recognised the authority. And he bet on exactly the right horse.
CONCLUSION
I just want to finish up this morning by saying in a nutshell, that's why we're HERE TODAY. Because we as a church, we're simply a bunch of people who have RECOGNISED THAT SAME AUTHORITY in Jesus. And so we're just a bunch of people under orders.
He's an interesting commander to live under; because in spite of his authority, the biggest thing he did when he was here, was that HE GAVE UP HIS LIFE at the cross; representing his people. Sacrificial leadership. Which calls for sacrificial followers. Leadership that says to us, TRUST ME. And show the world that you care. Which is some small ways we've been trying to show to you guys. And we're more than happy to do that in an ongoing way. As we take our cue from that Roman Army major - quite a while ago now - who when he met Jesus, he knew... he was face to face with an authority worth bowing to.