Did you ever play sports as a kid? What’s the worst part of starting a game? Picking sides! Someone appoints team captains and they line everyone up. Then each team captain picks one kid and then another and another. And who do they always end up picking first? They pick the tallest kid or the fastest kid, definitely the most athletic kid. And when they pick them, it’s like, “High five! Yeah! We got you!”
But then, all the best kids are taken, and the team captains have to choose the average players. That’s when they start to concentrate, their foreheads scowl as they focus, and their teammates whisper to them who they should choose because they’re trying to figure out which kid is just a little bit better than the others kids. This group is the moderately fast kids, maybe those kids who aren’t great at sports, but they’re not bad either.
Finally, we get to the last group. The group nobody wants to choose from. These are the skinny nerds, the boys and girls who don’t want to be there but got forced to play, and the kids that want to play, but lack size, height, and don’t have that poor hand-eye coordination. These are the freaks and geeks nobody wants.
Do we ever treat our faith this way? We look at some people and say, “Wow, you would make a great Christian!” Some we think, “You’d do okay.” And there are those that it’s just like, “No way.” Luke wrote his Gospel to show us the types of people Jesus draws to himself. Today we’re in Luke chapter 7, but do you remember back in Luke chapter 4 when Jesus described the purpose of his ministry?
Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (NIV®)
So already, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he is just starting out, we see Jesus intends to reach, the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed. They are all groups of people in that culture, and even in today’s culture, that we wouldn’t choose for a winning Christian team.
The best players, the most religious, the ones who knew their Scriptures the most were the Jews in that culture, especially the educated or socially active Jews, the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and teachers of the law. Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth recognized his power, and thought he was going to “pick them first.” But Jesus tells two stories to illustrate his message is for those standing on the outside.
Luke 4:25-26 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
The region of Sidon was in ancient Syria in “the heartland of Baal worship.” God sends Elijah out of the land of Israel to a place where people worship demons. Elijah actually ends up saving this woman and her son from starvation, but later her son dies from an illness. But Elijah performs a miracle and raises him from the dead (1 Kings 17:8-24). Salvation is for outsiders. And then Jesus continues.
Luke 4:27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” (NIV®)
This story comes in the time of Elisha, who lived around 850 years before the birth of Jesus, and was Elijah’s protégé. Naaman, also from Syria and an enemy of the state of Israel, comes down with leprosy, but his Jewish servant girl says the prophet Elisha can heal him. His king gives him permission to go, and he travels from Syria to Israel. There Elisha says to bathe seven times in the Jordan river and he will be cured. At first he refuses, but then he washes, and is healed (2 Kings 5:1-14). Salvation is for the outsider.
Throughout the many books in the Bible, God is telling a story—how he loves to give grace to people who, at first glance, don’t look like his kind of people. That’s so different than we as a culture function. We like to choose the best and the brightest. Did you know the first episode of American Idol played in 2002? That’s 16 years ago! The format of American Idol is pretty simple. A contest goes before a board of panelists and is judged on their star potential, which is some combination of how good they look and their ability to sing. And if the contests could make it through the initial tryout, and Hollywood week, 24 of them were rewarded with being judged by the entire nation till just one was left. So it wasn’t just the Hollywood judges that picked their favorites, we did too. I called in to cast my vote! And now we have lots of tv shows just like this one where we can pick who is in and who is out.
The Bible tells us God isn’t a panelist. He doesn’t pick those with the greatest star power. He picks someone different. In Luke 7, Jesus’ relives those old stories from Elijah and Elisha’s days to demonstrate that he is the same God who chooses those on the outside.
In Luke 7:11-17, the passage right after our’s today, Jesus encounters a widow whose son has just died. It’s her only son, and so she is destitute. Her son was her retirement plan. Now she has no future, no grandkids, no one to take care of her. And what does Jesus do? He has compassion on her.
Luke 7:13-15 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. (NIV®)
Jesus does the same thing Elijah’s did! He raises the widow’s son, proving that Jesus is telling the same story of grace and redemption for the needy and the poor. Jesus loves the underdogs and those picked last. Jesus loves the Sandlot kids, the Mighty Ducks, the Island of Misfit Toys.
Today’s story comes right before the raising of the widow’s son. It’s the story of the centurion in Luke 7:1-10 and his sick slave. It matches or parallels the second story of Elisha healing Naaman the Syrian because they’re both foreigners that God heals (them directly, or their servant). Jesus has a Greek speaking Roman, a foreigner, send message to him to please come and heal his servant.
Luke 7:1-3 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. (NIV®)
At first, when we hear about the centurion, we might think Jesus won’t have anything to do with him. After all, a centurion commanded about 80-100 Roman soldiers, and the Romans had invaded Israel and were ruling over the Jews against their will. This centurion may have killed Jews with his own hand, or ordered his soldiers to take their lives. He’s an outsider, but a different kind of outsider.
He falls into the category of people who are considered outsiders, but personally, he is actually quite favored by the Jews. If we’re to go back to the sports analogy, he’s like the new kid nobody wants to play with at first, until they find out he can pass like Tom Brady, then everyone wants to be his friend. The centurion may be a religious outsider, but because of the way he treats them, the Jewish people love him.
Luke 7:4-6a When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. (NIV®)
This centurion seems like a man Jesus should heal. He cares for his servant, which is an unusual character quality at that time. Slaves could be discarded like property, but the Greek says his servant was “precious” to him (Lk 7:2). When he calls him his “servant” the second time, he uses the same Greek word for “child” (Lk 7:7). Jewish elders are willing to go and appeal to Jesus on this man’s behalf, which is unusual. And they vouch for him that he loves Israel and even built them their synagogue, their version of a church. So it makes sense that Jesus would go with them, right? Because he deserves it. He’s a good guy.
If I were to put up two pictures on the screen, one photo of the most loving, caring, and kind person you can think of, someone you know and love yourself, and the other photo of someone you do not like, and who you are pretty sure does not like you—in fact, the second person has been unkind and mean to you—which one of these people deserves Jesus’ compassion more? The good person. Not the bad person. Right? But as we read the story, we see the “good guy” admits he’s not a “good guy” at all. We all have sin in us.
Luke 7:6b-7a He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “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. (NIV®)
Earlier, the elders said the centurion “deserves” Jesus to heal his servant. But what do we see the centurion saying about himself? He says, “I don’t deserve you!” And then he says it twice! “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof” and “I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you” (v. 7). The centurion is demonstrating amazing humility. Jesus is a popular Jewish Rabbi. He’s a nobody in comparison to the great nation of Rome. But the centurion humbles himself before him.
How often do we approach Jesus this way? Jesus, I’m not worthy to approach you. Jesus, all my merits are for nothing. I can’t produce anything that makes me worth saving.
I want to stop for a moment and ask a question. What’s the difference between outsiders Jesus accepts and those he doesn’t? The answer is actually not their level of poverty. This man is wealthy. Is it because he’s a foreigner? Some foreigners come to Jesus, and some don’t. Jesus doesn’t save us because of our economic or social status. It has entirely to do with our faith.
Jesus saves the outsiders who put their faith in him.
This centurion doesn’t place his hope and trust in himself or his merits but in Christ’s merits. He admits that even with all his good works and treating others fairly, he’s not worthy. Rather, he places his hope and trust in the person of Jesus, in who he is and what he can do.
Luke 7:7b-8 But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For 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.” (NIV®)
The Roman centurion uses his own chain of command as a way to illustrate the power Jesus has. At the top of this chain are those that have given him his authority, the Roman Government, Caesar (like our Congress and President). He is a military man, like an officer in our military. He uses the authority give to him to control those below him, his soldiers and his slaves, who carry out his commands and wishes (just like officers outrank and order enlisted men today). He says that Jesus has that same kind of authority. But Jesus is actually more powerful than him, because when Jesus speaks the physical world reacts. Jesus is on a different chain of command entirely, not human but divine. He has the power to heal with just his words. Although the centurion doesn’t outright say it, he implies that only God could grant Jesus that kind of authority. He sees Jesus as being something more than just a Rabbi, he has the power of God. That’s faith!
Luke 7:9-10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. (NIV®)
The word for amazement means “to wonder” or “to marvel.” This word usually describes how people felt about Jesus and his miracles, but twice it’s used to describe how Jesus himself felt, once at the unbelief of his hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:6), and once right here at the faith of the centurion. Jesus marvels at the centurion’s faith! He’s never met the centurion, but the centurion believes from afar. The centurion isn’t a practicing Jew, but he still believes. It’s not that the people in Israel don’t believe, but that this is the greatest faith Jesus has ever found. His faith is not placed in himself, but Christ.
And the story closes by saying they went home and found the servant well. Although Matthew’s account is a little different, Luke implies that it wasn’t Jesus’ words that healed the man, but the centurion’s own faith. This is what we call resurrection faith. He believed Jesus could carry his servant safely through the storm of death, and Jesus did just that.
There are several applications for us here. Saving faith does not approach Jesus with, “I deserve this” but rather “I don’t deserve this.” Saving faith doesn’t say, “look at all the good things I’ve done, or the people I know, or all my merits” it says, “I am nothing. Look at Christ’s merits.” Saving faith doesn’t say, “Look at me, Jesus” but “Look at you, Jesus.” Saving faith says, “I am unworthy but he is able.” Saving faith puts all of our hope and confidence in the person and power of Jesus Christ.
And the great news is, anyone can have this type of faith! Anyone can believe this way. Anyone can humble themselves and put all their hope and trust in Jesus to deliver them from death. If you don’t know Jesus, if he hasn’t saved you, he doesn’t ask you to clean up your life before getting to know him. He doesn’t say do community service or get off your addiction before he can love you. He doesn’t even say you need to be like all the other church people and know all your Bible stories. He just invites you to come and experience his power to heal you. Jesus saves any outsiders who put their faith in him.
Jesus saves the outsiders who put their faith in him.
Are you an outsider? Do you ever feel like you’re on a sports-team lineup and that Jesus is going down the lineup choosing the best people to play on his team? I think one of our unspoken fears is that when we die, we will wake up to find that Jesus didn’t pick us for his team, and that we will have to sit out while all the other kids play, the kids who are better, and smarter, the kids who did more for Jesus.
The Gospel tells us a different story. The Gospel tells us Jesus walks down the lineup and he doesn’t look at what the other kids see. He doesn’t look for the greatest achievers or the smartest kids. He doesn’t look for the most religious or even those with the best character. He picks those who recognize they’re nothing and yearn to be on Jesus’ team. He looks for faith. To each one of those kids, Jesus gives his team colors, and says, “Come and play on my team.” Jesus saves the outsiders who put their faith in him.
Pastor Jonathan Romig wrote and preached this message for the people of Cornerstone Congregational Church. Click here to listen to more sermons or click here to read our story.
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