“Beyond Enough – Go for Great”

Scripture: Matthew 8:5-13; Romans 4:18-21

Some folks would tell us that faith is personal, and that whatever we believe will be our truth. Cultural truth is no longer absolute – it has become relative. It’s even been said that faith in God is whatever makes sense to each of us individually, and that we must make that belief fit with our personal “cultural” norms. The faith that Jesus lived, the faith of Peter, James and John, the faith of the apostle Paul, the faith of John and Charles Wesley, for many, is no longer relevant.

In John 14:1, Jesus tells us that while we believe in God, we are also to believe in him. But what does it mean to believe in Jesus? Does it simply mean that we are to confess him as Lord and Savior? To just believe in who Jesus says he is? To come to worship him in a church every once in a while? Or is there more to it?

In John 14:6, Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by him. Does Jesus pick and choose who he will invite into that kingdom? Is it enough to simply acknowledge Jesus as God, or is there more?

The Lord was a great story teller – we know them as parables – and one of them told of a man who was going away to be crowned king. He had 10 servants who he trusted with his estate while he was gone, but 7 were unfaithful, and worked to prevent his coronation. Of the remaining three, only two were truly faithful to his ways, while the third, thinking that he was faithful to his master’s assignment, refused to fully truly follow those ways. And in the end, he was treated no better than the other 7 – all would be rejected by the King. (Luke 19:11-27)

Where does that leave us? What else do we need to know if we truly wish to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus?

Read Matthew 8:5-9

The Roman soldier who is featured in this passage is the commander of 100 men – a company in today’s terms. In that day, a Roman officer only spoke to the people of an occupied nation when he was commanding them to do something. But in this instance, he is seeking help from Jesus. He had apparently heard the stories about this celebrated Rabbi – that he spoke in bold and powerful ways, that he was unlike the other “preachers” of that day, that he seemed to hold little respect for the ways of the Jewish hierarchy, and that he was a healer extraordinaire. This Roman soldier, in reaching out to this “rebel” Jew, was taking a great risk in his career. He could be demoted, he could be tried for disobedience of direct orders, and the punishment that could be handed down would have been severe.

But his servant was suffering from some unnamed ailment, and even though his reaction was atypical of Roman officials, he cared about the man – he wanted him to get well. Normally, servants were considered to be dime-a-dozen people – if one was sick, you got rid of them; if one died, you just went out and bought another. In caring about the welfare of his servant, the centurion was an unusual man, to say the least.

He understood what authority was all about – after all, he had absolute authority over the men who had been placed under his command. Whatever order he gave, they did exactly as they had been told because their lives hung in the balance. But he saw an even greater authority in Jesus – it was different from that which he held, but it contained a weight and presence far beyond his own.

And he had, somehow, accepted the limited relationship that he could have with Jesus. A Jew was prohibited from entering the home of a gentile, and a Roman was prohibited from asking for the help or advice of any resident from this foreign country. But somehow, he recognized Jesus for who he truly was, and he knew that a power beyond anything he had ever known rested upon this unusual man – a foreigner, a subservient being, an unworthy citizen of an occupied nation, but still one who held a power that could heal his servant.

This Roman soldier, and citizen of an oppressive regime, was on the verge of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Read Matthew 8:10-13

Jesus proclaims that this Gentile, this chief of domination and cruelty, had a faith in the one, true God that dwarfed even that of the most pious and faithful men in all of Israel. The Lord continues in his prophecy that, even though Israel and her leadership believes that they, and they alone, will enter the kingdom of heaven and that all others will be left on the outside of salvation, the truth is that many others who only have a relationship with this itinerant preacher, the One who is God in the Flesh, will be welcomed into glory, and that many who thought that they were “in” with their Lord are going to find themselves out in the cold, trying to figure out what had happened!

What is there about this soldier that would qualify him for eternity? Jesus tells us that it is all about the depth of his faith. He was willing to take a risk that could very possibly endanger his position, not to mention his life! He fully believed that Jesus could do all that he had heard about him, and he trusted those who had brought this renewed sense of truth to his life. He knew that he was unworthy to even approach the Lord, and yet, his need was great enough to take this great risky step in faith.

And he believed that Jesus had the Godly authority to do whatever was asked of him in faith. He knew that the healing power of Jesus always worked – that no matter where he was, and no matter how far away the need was, he could be trusted to do all that was essential for the servant’s life. It was, and he did.

It wasn’t that the centurion knew about Jesus – he knew and trusted and believed in who and why Jesus is. Bishop Robert Schnase wrote about this level of faith in his book “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” – the book that we have been considering these past three weeks. In chapter three, page 62, the Bishop writes this - “Churches that practice Intentional Faith Development offer high quality learning experiences that help people understand Scripture, faith, and life in the supportive nurture of caring relationships.” See how much deeper the word “Intentional” can take us? The centurion had someone who was mentoring him – or at least sharing all that they knew and experienced in Jesus. It may have been overheard in the city’s square, or he may have actually heard Jesus in his teaching, or it could even have been his servant who had shared Jesus with him.
For us, it means participating in Bible and personal study, it means sharing our experiences in faith with each other, it means that we put our whole life into understanding what Jesus would have us know and do. The third commandment in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) is to “…teach them to obey everything I have commanded”. That’s what someone did for the Roman. Who are we teaching spiritual understanding and obedience to?

Read Romans 4:18-21

Paul reminds the people that Abraham lived his life in faith – faith that led him from Haran to Canaan; faith that gave him a certainty to believe that even in his and his wife’s advanced ages, that they would, in God’s way, one day, have a son; faith that led him to offer his son as a sacrifice to the same God who had promised that he would be the father of many nations; faith that gave him a hope in spite of the impossibilities and limitations that worldly ways held for him.

For Abraham, God’s promise was all the assurance that he needed. He believed that his Lord had the power, the authority, the vision, the desire, the glory to do what his disciple needed in his life of faith.
Are we, as a church, instilling that level of faith in the lives of those who the Lord brings into our hearts and presence? Are we intentional and determined in our efforts to claim and develop that degree of trust, that intensity of faith, within our own lives? A simple and solitary faith will never be sufficient for the Christian life – good enough is never good enough! We must strive for an exceptional faith, an expressed faith, a shared faith, a growing faith – a Godly Faith!

The bottom line, then, is this - can we honestly claim that we are an intentional, committed, and growing congregation when it comes to the life we live in faith?

If not, why not? How will others ever come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ unless we do? Are we willing to leave them, and possibly even ourselves, “out in the cold” when the day of Judgment comes?