November 4, 2014
Dear St. Paul's Family,
Today, citizens around the country will be heading to their local voting precinct to exercise their civic duty. Regardless of your party affiliation, we can all celebrate that by day's end, we will have a welcomed respite from the barrage of negative ads that have snuck into our airwaves and bandwidths. I think I can speak for many of us out of my own weariness of politicians who have slung mud, polarized us with their rhetoric, and catered to our least common denominators. Most wearisome are campaigns that lobby for the Christian vote by feigning theological language and thinly veiled religious values.
As a salve to such pandering, and to prepare myself spiritually for the day, I took some time to re-read what has become my go-to gospel text for stemming civil religion and redefining the relationship between the state and the church:
When Jesus went to Capernaum, a centurion approached, pleading with him, “Lord, my servant is flat on his back at home, paralyzed, and his suffering is awful.”
Jesus responded, “I’ll come and heal him.”
But the centurion replied, “Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. I’m a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was impressed and said to the people following him, “I say to you with all seriousness that even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this. I say to you that there are many who will come from east and west and sit down to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.” Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you just as you have believed.” And his servant was healed that very moment. (Matthew 8:5-13)
Matthew portrays the centurion as a man of the state, with extraordinary influence and power. He was a soldier, a defender of the kingdom, and a servant of Caesar. He commanded about one hundred soldiers and many servants, not for frontline combat or conquering new territory, but for maintaining law and order as a peacekeeping force throughout the empire. He was a constant visual reminder to all citizens of the power of the state.
As modern-day hearers of Matthew's story, we might see the centurion as a symbol for all the political kingdoms of our world, including those of our own country. Matthew would want us to see the meeting of the centurion and Jesus as one of cosmic significance: it is the State meeting the Church. It is the kingdoms of this world confronting the Kingdom of God. It is political, economic, and military power, man to man with the Son of Man.
This compelling cage match follows suit with some of the great religious-political confrontations throughout the Bible:
Moses challenging the Egyptian Pharoah.
Nathan condemning the great King David.
Elijah confronting evil King Ahab.
And now, this centurion talking to Jesus.
Except there is one major difference in this story from the others. Here, the centurion comes to Jesus, and not the other way around. This story is also in Luke, but there, the centurion sends some messengers, they talk to Jesus, and they carry his message back to the centurion. It’s a back and forth game that continues until the servant is healed. Jesus and the centurion never meet in Luke, but they do in Matthew.
I think we know why: Matthew wants to suggest that even the greatest kingdoms of this earth, including those in this country – are in need of Jesus. And here we learn the first of three challenging notions we would do well to remember on this election day:
Challenging Notion #1: Despite all our power, we are ultimately powerless.
The centurion comes to Jesus begging for his paralyzed servant’s life, and asks for help by acknowledging the paradox of his own existence: he is extremely powerful, but he is so utterly powerless. Listen again to the impressive resume he offers Jesus:
“Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. I’m a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”
Pretty impressive. But what is compelling here is not that the centurion shares his resume with Jesus, but why. Not to impress him with his power. Not to intimidate him with his influence. Not to coerce Jesus into helping him.
The centurion is simply recognizing the ambiguity of his own existence. All of this power at his disposal was not enough to conquer death and disease. He had ascended to prestige and influence among his peers, amassing countless numbers of subjects below him, yet when faced with evil, tragedy, and chaos, he could do nothing.
Likewise, this country is so powerful, yet it remains so powerless. We, too, must recognize the ambiguity of our existence. Only when we humbly acknowledge that our own political, economic, and military power alone is not sufficient to build God’s kingdom on earth will we ever find a solace to our suffering.
And like the centurion, we need to go to God, rather than demand that God come to serve us. When politicians coerce the faith for political expedience, it's like trying to get God on their side. Instead, we should ask if we are on God's side.
After all, remember that this story comes directly on the heels of the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." And here is a man who embodied just that.
Challenging Notion #2: We must care for the oppressed.
The second surprising thing we learn is that the centurion had compassion for his subjects. It would have been very easy for the centurion to just go find someone else to replace his ailing servant. People died under his command all the time, and he could have sought a quick substitute. But not this centurion. He cared about the powerless. He cared about the oppressed. He saw someone under his authority who was suffering, and he felt compelled to do everything he could to ensure that he would live. He risked his reputation as a strong, self-sufficient Roman official by going to a Jew - an outsider - for help.
It means nothing to have all the power in the world if you don’t care for the powerless. The only way to true greatness comes when we take all of the manufactured power of our human energies and channel them toward the benefit and restoration of all those who are left out in the cold. Our country, and all the political systems within it, is called to exercise not the power of dominance, retribution, and aggression, but of justice, mercy, love, and healing. To pursue the former is fleeting. To pursue the latter is kingdom-building.
Again, this story immediately follows Jesus’ challenge that “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” And the centurion exhibited that very quality.
The actions of this centurion were so astonishing. He came to Jesus, when he could have ordered Jesus to come to him. He was humble and meek, when we'd expect him to be self-aggrandizing and self-sufficient. He was caring and compassionate, though we'd expect him to be authoritarian and insensitive.
No wonder Jesus was so impressed by this centurion. “I say to you with all seriousness that even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this."
Challenging Notion #3: God’s reign knows no human boundaries.
But we have one more surprise in this text. Not only do we discover that human institutional power is ultimately powerless against evil. Not only do we learn that true power comes in caring for the well-being of the oppressed. But listen to this radical vision of the kingdom of God:
"I say to you that there are many who will come from east and west and sit down to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.”
Now it’s fair to say at this point, “Aw, Jesus, why did you have to say that?” Wouldn’t it have been easier, and a whole lot cleaner, to simply go ahead and heal the servant after acknowledging the centurion’s faith?
Instead, Jesus is so amazed by this Gentile’s faith that he describes a vision for the kingdom of God that knows no political, ethnic, or social boundaries. This is a radically inclusive vision of the kingdom that is wide enough and big enough to include both Jew and Gentile. To include both oppressed and oppressor. To include both saint and sinner. To include both male and female, Democrat and Republican, gay and straight, poor and rich, American and foreigner. It is an expansive, exhaustive, and ultimately tireless vision of a God who will go from east to west to find residents of this kingdom.
The kingdom of God is not confined by human institutional political boundaries. God is not tied to obedience to any one throne, does not belong to any one political party, does not pledge allegiance to any one flag, and does not favor any one people group over another. It is not a question of which country God blesses the most. Because God wants them all.
This, after all, is the same Jesus who had just said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The centurion is someone who understood that the kingdom of heaven was available for even him, a foreigner and an outsider.
Then, this powerful story ends simply and abruptly. Jesus says to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you just as you have believed.” And his servant was healed that very moment. Nothing fancy. No elaborate rituals, no mysterious performance. The powerless centurion acknowledged the power of Jesus. He exercised compassion for his servant, and learned about the radically inclusive love of God. So, according to his faith, his servant was healed.
Today, as we head out to the polls and perform our civic duties as citizens of this country, let us acknowledge that we are foremost citizens of the Kingdom of God. And let us remember that true and lasting healing for the brokenness of our world rests in humble surrender to the compassionate heart and radically inclusive love of God.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org
STEWARDSHIP PACKETS
For those who did not pick up their packet of stewardship material after church last Sunday, look for it in the mail this week. It contains important information regarding our campaign to reduce the kitchen and dining hall debt, as well as our budget for next year. Prayerfully consider your financial commitments for 2015 and return your pledge card to the church by Commitment Sunday, November 23.
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