Epiphany 3 January 27, 2019 The Sunday of the Leper & the Centurion
Epiphany 3
Matthew 8:1-13
January 27, 2019
“It’s a Great Word. Won’t You Do It?”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Being a good husband, I tell my wife all my aches and pains. That’s what a good husband does, right? And being a good wife, she tells me things I can do to take care of it. But I don’t do it. Why not? Sinful pride. I don’t trust that my wife knows what she’s talking about. Even though she usually does. And she’s had a good laugh when it turns out someone else, like a doctor, for instance, tells me to do the exact thing she said in the first place. Truth be told, I’ve started to learn to actually do what she says.
This is the affliction that we sinners bring to the Word of God. This is the same thing we do to the Word of God. We don’t trust that He knows what He’s talking about. It’s sinful pride. His Word is a good word. Why don’t we do it? Why do people live together before they’re married and think it will be good for them? Why don’t we trust God’s Word? Why do people hold grudges instead of forgiving and think it’s good for them? Why don’t we trust God’s Word? Why do people not pray and not go to Church and think it doesn’t matter? Because we don’t trust God’s Word. His Word is a great Word. Why don’t we do it?
Now I’m borrowing those words from the story of Naaman in our Old Testament reading today. His servant is the one who says to him, “My father, it’s a great word the prophet has spoken to you; won’t you do it?” Naaman, who was a big shot in the Syrian army, had gotten leprosy. Leprosy, you remember, was a skin disease that was very painful and very hard to cure. Now he had a servant girl in his house from Israel who knew about the prophet Elisha. She told Naaman to go to Elisha and get help. Now in Naaman’s defense, he does do what the servant girl tells him to do. He listens. Because he’s desperate. And he’ll take any help he can get.
BUT, when he gets to Elisha’s house, Elisha won’t even come out to talk to him. Elisha just sends his servant out to say to Naaman, “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times.” Now this is where Naaman is just like me not doing what my wife says or like every single one of us not doing what God says—he’s prideful. And he thinks, “This idiot doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Go and wash in the Jordan?! That’s ridiculous. That’s not going to do anything. I came all this way and this is what I get! He could’ve told me to wash in one of the great waters of Damascus, at least. But the Jordan?!” And so Naaman’s pride keeps him from seeing that the word is good and it might actually work.
But it’s his servant who brings him back down to earth with these simple words, “It’s a great word. Won’t you do it?” Why is it a great word? Because that Word has come from God. From his prophet Elisha. And the Word of God is always a great Word. Whether you think it is or not. So Naaman relents. He goes and washes in the Jordan River seven times and he’s healed. His leprosy is gone. And lo and behold, what does he say when he gets out? He says, “Now I know that there’s no God in all the earth except in Israel.”
God’s Word is great. Why won’t we do it? In the Gospel reading, we actually have two examples of men who do realize how great God’s Word is. First there’s the man with leprosy, same as Naaman that we just talked about, who simply says to Jesus, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” What faith?! He knows the Word of Jesus is great! He knows the Word of Jesus can heal him.
And then there’s the Roman centurion. Now you have to appreciate that this isn’t a Jew. This isn’t someone who’s supposed to know that God’s Word is great. This would be like someone in town here who’s never, ever, ever been to Church—all of a sudden comes to a pastor quoting Bible verses and talking about how great God is and how wonderful His Word and Sacraments are. And the pastor’s saying just like Jesus says, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in my congregation have I found such faith!”
That’s the big deal. This Roman centurion believes better than anyone else Jesus has found in all of Israel! What does he believe? He believes that God’s Word is so great, that Jesus doesn’t even need to come to his house for the paralyzed servant to be healed. Doesn’t even need to come to the house! The centurion says, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed.” He knows the Word of God is great. And Jesus marvels at his faith. And the servant is healed exactly as the centurion believed.
God’s Word is great! Won’t you and I do it?
Now in one way you do know how great God’s Word is. All of you do. That’s why you’re here. And you have done His Word. You’ve been baptized into Jesus Christ just as He told you to. You know that’s a great Word. You’re His child now. You’re washed and forgiven. And you’ve done His Word which says, “Do this is remembrance of Me.” You’ve come here today to receive His body and blood for forgiveness of your sins. You know how great that Word is. So praise God that all of you here today have truly believed, “God’s Word is a great Word!”
But there are always places for you and me to grow as Christians. Always places for you and me to repent. And the fact is that there are places where you and I still haven’t accepted that God’s Word is a great Word and that we should do it. We need to learn to trust that God’s Word is great in everything that He says. To put away our sinful pride and say, “Why won’t I do what He says? It’s a great word!”
So to give you and me a specific example this morning, because I can’t cover all the examples of where you and I should trust what He says and do it, we’re going to hone in on this one Word of God from the Epistle today, Romans chapter 12. There God tells us very clearly how to handle evil. How to handle those who are evil toward us. How to handle any situation where evil is against us. God says, “Repay no one evil for evil. Instead, live peaceably with all. Don’t avenge yourselves but leave that to the wrath of God. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he’s thirsty, give him something to drink. Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
There is a great Word. Will we do it? Because, of course, if we had our choice, we’d overcome evil with what? More evil. Of course we would. That’s our natural reaction. If someone says or does something evil to us, we might like to look for some way to return the favor. Even if it’s a small, silent thing. We want some revenge.
Remember who Paul was writing to—the Christians in Rome. And you know that Rome wasn’t very friendly to Christianity in the beginning. There was a lot of evil done against Christians in the first and second centuries in Rome. So this was a very difficult word. But it was a great word. It’s the way to handle evil. It’s the way Jesus told us to handle evil also. Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. That’s overcoming evil with good.
So for you and me now, let’s talk about two different evils. Evil done against you personally and evil done against society. If it’s somebody personal to you that does the evil against you, it’s often within your power to get revenge. You can give the silent treatment, you can gossip about them and hurt their reputation, you can treat them rudely every time you see them, whatever the case. You have ways of getting back. So this makes it hard. God says not to do any of that. But to repay no one evil for evil. If a friend sends a rude message to you on Facebook, posts something that you know is evil, if you help someone and they’re totally ungrateful for it, if you’re taken advantage of in a financial situation, if your wife or husband hurts you—all of these are situations where you and I would be quick to retaliate in some form. But here is God’s Word—don’t repay evil. Repay kindness. Live peaceably and let the Lord avenge. Overcome their evil with good. Is that a good word? It is. It’s better for everyone involved. If you repay evil, that leads to more evil and more hurt. The love of God in Jesus Christ, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness—these are the goods that overcome evil.
What about evils not against you personally but against society? I ask this one because we’ve seen some real hostility and anger in our country lately. And it’s a fact that America is becoming less Christian. All the studies show less and less people claiming to be Christian and less going to Church. So that will obviously lead to more evil in our country. So what do we do?
This last week two governors did some horrible evil. One is our own Governor Pritzker. As if Governor Rauner’s policies on abortion weren’t evil enough, Governor Pritzker promised to pay for even more abortion and said he will make Illinois the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to abortion. And you may have heard that Governor Cuomo of New York also lit the Freedom Tower in pink to celebrate his new policy that basically makes abortion legal up until the time of birth. This is evil in the big time. How do we respond?
We could get angry, curse them, write nasty letter or emails. Or we could overcome their evil with good. That’s been the strength of the pro-Life movement since it started. They have started pregnancy center after pregnancy center. They’ve promoted the good of adoption and foster care. They’ve provided counseling and retreats for those who have gone through abortions and later regretted it. That’s truly how you overcome evil—with good.
Find the place in your own life where you get angry—at someone close to you, something online, at work, at school, something going on in our state, our country—and ask how you might overcome evil with good. Where can you forgive? Where can you show kindness? Where can you be patient and loving?
All of God’s Word is great. Won’t we do it? Trust Him. His Word is right and good. Always.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.