I wonder if you have a particular hero. Someone you admire and look up to, who inspires you. I was listening to the radio the other day, to an interview with a man who has been organising and equipping Christians around the world to pray for the nation of France during the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. He was saying that his inspiration, his hero, was Eric Liddell, one of the subjects of the film “Chariots of Fire”, with his integrity about his faith and his thankfulness to God for the gift of being able to run fast.
This morning we are celebrating faith, and one of the most famous passages in the Bible about faith is Hebrews 11. It starts with this amazingly helpful definition of faith:
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
And then goes on to list a whole load of “heroes of faith.” People in the Bible who showed this kind of faith in the way that they lived and the things that they did. As we read through the chapter it is inspiring and encouraging stuff. It seems to me, though, that these examples can feel quite distant from us, both in time and life experience.
It can be difficult to identify with them. For me personally, my heroes of faith are much less well known, much quieter. They are the people who believe and trust in the face of challenging lives – illness, bereavement, caring responsibilities. Those who give their time and energy to initiatives like CAP, Street Pastors, Refugee support – living out their faith. Those who quietly pray with and support their friends, neighbours, and those in their small groups. So many under the radar, non flashy, expressions of faith in action. You guys are my heroes.
In our reading from Luke’s historical account of the life and work of Jesus, we have an example of a clear, understated faith that changed lives. Let’s dive in to see what we can find to celebrate.
The first thing I’d like to draw our attention to is that the Centurion took the situation seriously and took practical action. His servant was very poorly, on the point of death and the Centurion cared about this. There were other ways in which he could have acted.
He could have decided that this was only a slave, and one that could be replaced, so there was no need to do anything about it. None of his fellow Romans would have blamed him for this. Slaves were property, and there was no moral or legal reason why the Centurion should seek help for him. He didn’t have to care.
Even given that he did care, there are still ways this could have gone where he didn’t do anything about it. He could have given into despair or apathy, and decided that there was nothing that could be done, so he wouldn’t attempt anything. He could have assumed that everything would turn out for the best, leaning into his privilege, with an arrogance and pride that didn’t allow for the possibility of bad things happening to him, because he was a Roman citizen, an officer in the greatest army in the world.
But he didn’t. He did care about his servant. He had a hope that healing was possible. He didn’t assume that it was a foregone conclusion, but knew that he had a part to play. It was up to him to send to Jesus and ask for help. He took the situation seriously, and took practical action. This is faith to celebrate.
He sent his Jewish friends to ask Jesus for help, but then it seems that he had another thought, and sent some more friends with this extraordinary message about authority.
The first thing that he says about authority is that he is under authority. He doesn’t say much about this, or give examples, but it seems to me that this is a really important part of faith. It is the part that accepts that we are under authority. It is the part that obeys God, trusting God’s commands, even when we don’t understand them, or they seem difficult. Obedience to God is a non negotiable part of faith in God.
The second thing the centurion says is that he has others under his authority, and he believes that the sickness that has afflicted his servant is under Jesus’ authority. He believes that all Jesus has to do is issue the command, and the sickness will go, just as one of his soldiers would go if he commanded it.
“Say the word and my servant will be healed.”
The centurion recognises in Jesus the authority we heard about in our reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. In this passage Isaiah is describing the authority of God, the reign of God, from the very beginning of creation.
“Do you not know, have you not heard, The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”
The centurion recognises this divine authority working in and through Jesus. This, says Jesus, is great faith, greater faith than he has found in the whole of Israel. It is faith to celebrate.
During September we’re been celebrating abundance, creativity, and faith as we think about creation, and our role in enjoying God’s gifts to us in creation, and our responsibilities in looking after it well. What insights can we gain from our celebration of faith in the way that we engage with creation care?
Firstly we can follow the Centurion’s example and care. We can allow what happens to the world around us to matter to us, we can choose to be emotionally invested in God’s creation. We can allow ourselves to be moved by the beauty and overwhelming variety of creation. We can allow ourselves to hurt when we see creation damaged and spoilt. I have seen it argued that God gave creation to humanity to do what we want with, that it is under our dominion, and is ours to exploit as we want. It seems to me that this is equivalent to the centurion treating his slave as the property that the surrounding culture told him he was.
Secondly, we can resist both despair and apathy. We can choose to believe that we can make difference, and that it is important that we make a difference. I have heard people argue that taking the climate crisis seriously shows a lack of faith in God, as it is presumptuous to think that humanity can derail God’s plans for creation. In the long run, this has some truth behind it – God will work all things for the good of those who love God, but it is also, it seems to me, nonsense. God has given us responsibility and freewill, and that there have always been real consequences to failing to fulfil our responsibilities by misusing our freewill.
As the centurion shows us, the way of faith is to recognise an issue, and to take care motivated, faith filled action. We may not be able to solve it all ourselves, but we can take action and pray.
Thirdly we can get our heads around what the centurion teaches us about authority. Faith to celebrate trusts that God has authority to change things. Part of this is to accept God’s authority over us.
When we pray about the Climate Crisis, it is right to share our fears and anxieties and concerns with God, to ask God to act. It is also right to listen to God, and obey God when answering our own prayers involves us making changes to the way that we act, the choices we make. Faith trusts God that decisions made in obedience to God, even when they seem to us to be against our own short term self interest, are in the long run best for us and the world. Faith to celebrate takes seriously that we are under authority.
But we are not the only things under God’s authority. So is the whole of creation. God made everything. One of the reasons that we have the accounts of Jesus calming the storm and walking on water was because that they demonstrate that Jesus had authority over the created order. Why was that important? Because the only one with that kind of authority is God. These signs show us that Jesus has the same authority as God, that he is God. It is being sure of this authority and trusting it as we pray for God to bring in his kingdom in the healing and restoration of creation that is a hallmark of a faith to celebrate.
We started our celebration of faith with the beginning of Hebrews 11, so let’s finish with the climax of that section of the book, at the beginning of Chapter 12:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
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