Epiphany 3 The Sunday of the Leper and the Centurion (Life Sunday) January 22, 2017
Epiphany 3 (Life Sunday)
Matthew 8:1-13
January 22, 2017
“Lord, We Are Not Worthy”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We celebrate Life Sunday every year in January, because 44 years ago, in January 1973, the United States Supreme Court made abortion legal. Since then, over 59 million babies have been murdered by abortion. However, Life Sunday isn’t, in any way, only about abortion. Life Sunday is a reminder to all of us Christians that every single life is worthy in God’s eyes. Every life. From a tiny embryo just conceived in the mother’s womb that you can barely even see—all the way to an elderly life barely hanging on at the very end. Every single one is worthy to live and worthy of our love. No matter if the life is small or great. No matter if the life is poor or rich. No matter if the life is super intelligent or has severe mental difficulties. No matter if the life is black or white or any other color. No matter if the life is male or female. All are equally worthy of life and equally worthy in God’s eyes.
Now why do you and I need to hear this? Maybe you say, “Well, duh, we all know that.” Well, the truth is that we don’t get it. Part of our nature as sinners is that we will be tempted over and over again to think that some lives are more worthy than others. We all do it. No one is righteous in this regard. There will always be people that we think aren’t as worthy as other people. If you have more money, we think you’re more worthy. If you’re famous, we think you’re more worthy. If you’re more attractive, we think you’re more worthy. If you’re smarter, we think you’re more worthy. That’s the way we sinners go.
And right now this sinfulness is running wild in our country. We are incredibly divided. And each side thinks they are more worthy than the other side. Depending on how you vote, you’re more worthy or less worthy. Depending on where you live, what part of the country, you’re more worthy or less worthy. Depending on what you look like, you’re more worthy or less worthy. It’s ridiculous.
But understand…that’s the sin that’s in each and every one of our hearts. We all have labels for the certain people that just aren’t quite as worthy as the rest of us. We call names. We poke fun. We talk about “those people”. And all the while we ignore the black hole in our own hearts. Call it what you will…elitism, racism, ageism…we all discriminate who’s worthy and who is not.
Jesus, though, has a different heart for us. Jesus has a heart full of love and grace for each and every one of us sinners. No matter who we are, where we’re from, how we look, how we vote, or how smart we aren’t. He loves each and every one of us.
And He gives us two fine examples of His love in the Gospel reading today. Love for a leper and love for a Gentile centurion. Maybe neither one of them was worthy in a lot of people’s eyes—but they were worthy in Jesus’ eyes.
He was coming down the mountain after just having delivered His powerful Sermon on the Mount. And as He comes down, behold, a leper is coming toward Him. “Behold,” Matthew says, because this is a big deal. A strange deal. It’s not supposed to happen. Lepers are supposed to stay away from everybody and everybody stays away from them. They don’t just walk right up to people and beg to be healed.
So does Jesus gesture for him to get out of here and say, “You’re not worthy of my time or my healing?!” No. Jesus loves every sinner. Leprosy or not. And not only is Jesus willing to heal this leper, but He’s even willing to touch him. Something you were most certainly not supposed to do. But Jesus does. Because all are worthy in Jesus’ eyes. Even lepers.
And then what about this Gentile centurion? A centurion was a soldier in the Roman guard. Not necessarily a Roman but most definitely not a Jew. Most definitely a Gentile. And most definitely someone that most Jews would’ve thought was not as worthy as they were. He was one of those people. One of those people that you wouldn’t be comfortable going to their house. One of those people that you consider to be inferior to the rest. But not Jesus. Jesus is ready to go to his house. Ready to heal the guy’s servant just as he asked.
But now listen to what the centurion says. “No, Lord,” he says, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” Wow. Wow. Do you see the difference there in this centurion from our usual elitism? He realizes he’s not worthy of Jesus. And he really isn’t. He speaks the truth. He’s not worthy.
None of us are. We are not worthy of Jesus’ grace. We aren’t. That’s the truth. That’s the true confession of every sinner. “We’re not worthy.” That’s what we say when we confess our sins here, “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities…” We’re not any more worthy of God’s love and grace than any other person in this world.
So what does Jesus say to the centurion? “You’re right! You’re not worthy?” No, He says, “Wow, what faith! Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith!” The centurion knew he wasn’t worthy of Jesus but simply asked Jesus to say the word and his servant would be healed. And that’s exactly what happened.
We’re not worthy but Jesus has come anyway. He has come for you and come for me and come for every other sinner. He has healed us of our disease of sin and death. He has forgiven us all our elitism and arrogance and pride and racism and ageism and every other sin in our hearts.
He has baptized us into His name and given us His Holy Spirit to mend our broken hearts and to make us worthy of God’s kingdom. He has invited all of us sinners to come and dine at His table here in the Lord’s Supper where we all stand together and equally as unworthy sinners eating at the King’s high table. He has made us worthy.
And not just you and I are worthy of this honor, but Jesus has made everyone worthy because He gave His life for everyone. Not just certain people. Not just Americans. Not just conservatives or liberals. Not just black or white. Not just rich or poor. All people are worthy in Jesus’ eyes.
This last Monday we got a day off of school and some of us from work because of one Martin Luther King, Jr. Usually in our church we’re talking about the first Martin Luther. The German who lived 500 years ago. But today I want to talk a minute about the one who was named after that first Martin Luther but lived only less than a hundred years ago here in American—Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist pastor. He was a Christian, first and foremost. And as he gave many speeches and preached many sermons during the time when he was fighting for civil rights for black people, he was clear about one thing—that all people were worthy. Not only worthy of civil rights, but worthy of God’s love in Jesus Christ. He did not make other people the enemies. The enemy is sin. And evil. And injustice. And pride. But not people.
We have something to learn from him today as Christians and in our country. But of course, Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t come up with that himself. He was simply preaching Jesus Christ and speaking the truth that Jesus Himself spoke to us. That all people are worthy.
I’ll give you just one little quote from a Martin Luther King, Jr. sermon: “When the church is true to its nature, it says, “Whosoever will, let him come.”…It’s the one place where everybody should be the same, standing before a common master and savior. And a recognition grows out of this—that all men are brothers because they are children of a common father.” The Church should be a place where all are worthy and welcome to come. Because it’s the place of Jesus. And all are worthy to Jesus. He gave His life for all.
Jesus doesn’t know people who aren’t worthy to live and worthy of His grace and His love. Abortion is wrong. Sinful. Because any human person, no matter how small and how young inside the mother’s womb, is worthy of life. Racism is wrong. Sinful. Because every human person no matter what color or culture or birthplace is worthy of life. Christ died for us all. Elitism of any kind is wrong. Because we are all children of a common father and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now we tend to get all worked up about the problems out there in the world and how can we possibly handle all of it? How can we handle all these unwanted pregnancies, all these teen pregnancies, and single mothers? How can we handle all these children born with mental illness or born with unique challenges? How can we handle all the problems of poverty and problems of terrorism and problems of abuse? And all of it?
Well, the world will never have a shortage of problems. That’s why Jesus came. Because we all have problems. Sin problems. But He came to love and save each and every one of us. We can trust in His grace and mercy. They are big enough to handle every situation.
Don’t be afraid to love your neighbor as Jesus has loved you. Don’t ever be afraid to love your neighbor. No matter who it is. No matter where they live. No matter what their political stance. No matter what their race. No matter what their size or whether they they’re born or unborn. No matter how old they are or whether they’re in a nursing home or hospital or any other institution. Don’t be afraid to love your neighbor. Because all are worthy.
Certainly that doesn’t mean we’re all going to agree on everything. And certainly it doesn’t mean you have to compromise the truth. But we do love. Because everyone is worthy of the love of Christ. Everyone including you. And me.
Jesus loves you. And even though like the centurion we say, “Jesus, we are not worthy,” He declares that we are. Because He has redeemed us all with His life. Every single one of us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.