This week’s Prayers and Readings for the Sunday before Lent.
The Collect for this Sunday
Almighty Father, whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross: give us grace to perceive his glory, that we may be strengthened to suffer with him and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this Sunday
Holy God, we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ: may we who are partakers at his table reflect his life in word and deed, that all the world may know his power to change and save. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 96
1 O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous works among all the peoples. 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Honour and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy splendour; tremble before him, all the earth.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday is taken from the Book of1 Kings, Chapter 8, verses 22 & 23 and 41 - 43
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. 23 He said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 41 ‘Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name 42 —for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays towards this house, 43 then hear in heaven your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the book of the Galations 1 verses 1-12
1 Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the members of God’s family who are with me. To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! 10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel according to St Luke, Chapter 7, verses 1-10
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
1 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to You, o Christ !
The sermon this Sunday is delivered by Rev'd Laura Brinicombe
We have a fight on our hands in our gospel reading this week!
Luke sets the stage for a battle. We’re introduced to two camps – one is represented by Jesus, who has entered the city of Capernaum, and another, is headed by a Centurion, a middle-ranking military officer. We see messengers carrying information to and from the camps, as our leaders cover ground, moving progressively closer and closer together. And of course, the most harrowing aspect of war – death – hangs over our entire scene, as we wait to see what will happen to the servant.
War is an ever-present theme throughout the Bible. If you glance at the news, it’s easy to see why. The Geneva Academy estimates there are over 110 armed conflicts being fought in the world, right now. And conflict isn’t just physical is it? If you’re brave enough (or bonkers enough!) to engage with social media, it’s not long before you can conclude that people will find almost any excuse to fight, humiliate and dominate one another.
However, in our reading today, Luke gives us a glimpse of a very different kind of war. If you’re feeling lost and exhausted amid the storm of insults and threats and competing claims coming out of your television, I think this morning’s passage can help. Jesus has just given some instructions to His troops, He’s given His ‘Sermon on the Mount.’ In Luke 7, it’s time to see those directives in action, so that we might better understand the nature of the fight that followers of Jesus are called to join, as well as how we should approach combat.
I mentioned at the beginning that we have a fight on our hands today but the battle in our passage is highly unusual! In fact, it’s almost like a war in reverse.
We’ve got two camps, but instead of two enemies, Jesus and the Centurion - we’ve got two worthy men – possibly even allies.
The Centurion in our passage is known only by his military identity, Luke repeats his title three times. We never meet the man and we’re never told his name but his rank clearly important. A Centurion was a Gentile, a non-Jew, and the majority of soldiers in his position would have despised the local people as an inferior race.
However, as is the case with almost all the Centurion’s described in scripture, this man is said to display great care and to act with integrity.
Our Centurion is a military leader but he seems to be operating backwards.
In war, we would expect a foreign, invading force to resent the local populace but this leader appears to love and respect the Jewish people – they’ve even come to speak on his behalf. In war, we would expect those with miliary might to destroy buildings, but this man has built a place of worship for the God of Israel - the synagogue. In war, we would expect a miliary leader to send the soldiers under his command off to kill, but this Centurion is asking his men to go and get help to save his sick servant.
In war, we might expect the communication between two men in positions of authority to devolve into argument – or at least name-calling. But Luke emphasises the great humility of the Centurion, who sends two groups of messengers, in an effort to show proper respect.
‘I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.’ ‘I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.
Our fight in Luke doesn’t go as expected, nobody seems to be occupying the correct position. This local religious teacher and foreign soldier are not opposed to each other. The war being fought here is not between these two powerful men…the real enemy on the battlefield is death.
It is the death of the Centurion’s servant that the two leaders are fighting to defeat and Luke calls his readers to recognise that the real war, happening all around…is truly against sin and its horrifying consequences.
This is still a war we’re called to fight today. There is conflict raging all around but people of God need to re-draw the battlelines because they have moved. The Jews would have determined that a Gentile, like the Centurion, was a natural enemy. He was an outsider, an oppressor and their instinct would have been to close ranks and draw tighter and tighter circles of holiness around themselves to keep the ‘other’ out. Yet, the Centurion understands the grace of God far better than his Jewish acquaintances – they come to Jesus and request a favour because the Centurion ‘deserves’ Jesus’ help – but the Centurion knows he cannot earn anything from God. The Centurion knows he is not worthy and he never will be – God’s grace is a free gift that we must simply accept and enjoy.
Like the Jews who first encountered Jesus, it’s easy to be wrong about the battlelines – to forget that we’re fighting for the soul of every single person, not just those we like or agree with. Luke encourages us to re-assess our enemies. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are not our enemies. Those, like the Gentile Centurian, who lack the appropriate religious background or live a very different lifestyle to us, are not our enemies. As inconvenient as it may be for many of the worlds political leaders at the moment, other nations or races or classes are not our enemies.
The enemy of Jesus’ followers, of all creation, is sin. Sin which seeks to rob you, me, everything and everyone of life. Our enemies are the lies that come from the devil, the ‘father of lies,’ and convince us that Jesus doesn’t love us or have the power to save us - that He doesn’t also love those we find ourselves hating and have the power to save them too.
That is the real danger we face and our real enemy likes nothing more than to keep us all too busy moaning, gossiping, finger-pointing and arguing– instead of praying, forgiving and loving.
So, now we know which battle we’re supposed to be involved in. Let’s take a look at how we’re meant to fight.
The Centurion is a brilliant example of how to approach combat in this unusual kind of war. He fights with faith.
Throughout the gospels, it is normally Jesus who does or says something that surprises people but in our passage we’re told it’s His turn to be shocked. He is stunned by the quality of the Centurions faith, ‘He was amazed at him.’
We might have expected the healing of the servant to be the big moment in our story but it’s the faith of the Centurion that is the real wonder, the real weapon, that Luke wants to draw our attention to.
Instead of describing the healing itself, Luke includes a lot of detail in the messages being given to Jesus.
The Centurion explains, “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.”
The Centurion follows a straightforward chain of command. He was stationed in Capernaum and so, was likely regularly sent orders from his commanding officer in Caesarea, about fifty miles away. The Centurion would then ensure these orders, probably involving peace-keeping duties, were carried out by the soldiers responsible to him.
The Centurion expresses a very clear, simple belief. It isn’t theoretical or abstract. As in military command structures, the soldier has faith that - when Jesus commands something will be done, it will be done.
To the Centurion, Jesus is characterized as a military officer with authority over health and sickness. This is how the healing can be achieved.
We don’t know where the Centurion got this faith - presumably he’d seen Jesus perform some miracles in the surrounding area - but isn’t it spectacular?!
When Jesus commands something will be done, it will be done.
We don’t usually picture Jesus as a military commander and there are obvious problems with that image. God is not the traditional commanding officer we might have in mind – His sovereignty over the heavens and the earth is performed with unconditional love and compassion. However, God is still sovereign. His authority is absolute.
The Centurion is right when he acknowledges the reach of Jesus power.
Last week, we saw Jesus getting a tad irritated about being woken up to calm the storm, presumably a problem He could have sorted out in his sleep. This week– Jesus doesn’t need to come into the house because His authority enables Him to give out commands to all creation and they are followed because everything exists under the authority of its creator.
Jesus’ power and authority extend beyond anything seen before – His commands reach the weather, disease, demons…even sin and death.
The Centurion’s faith is spectacular because he is able to recognise who is really in charge. The one true God, the God of Isreal is sovereign over heaven and earth and this one true God is personally present and active in Jesus of Nazareth.
So what about us? How can we fight with faith, like the Centurion?
First, we can follow his lead and start engaging in this war-reversal.
The Centurion has already begun to turn his sword into a ploughshare. There is a storm of human conflict raging all around him but the Centurion is in the middle of it, loving his enemy, caring for his subordinates and building instead of tearing down. Are we focusing our energy on these things? What are the ways we can challenge the lie that to be loving is to be weak? What are the ways we can challenge the lie that the ‘other’ is something to be feared instead of welcomed? What are the ways we can challenge the lie that strength and power exist for status and personal gain and not for service?
Lastly, we can ask ourselves if there is a contrast between the Centurion’s prayer and our prayers? The Centurion is engaged in spiritual warfare but I often find myself engaged in spiritual chit-chat. Maybe this prayer sounds familiar… ‘Lord, it would be really nice if you could maybe, possibly, perhaps do something but I know you’re very busy.’ Or, ‘Lord, it would be lovely if you could do this but don’t worry because I’ve already got a back-up plan sorted.’
Jesus doesn’t answer the Centurion’s prayer because of the man’s faith – we can be extremely faith-filled and sometimes God’s answer is no - Jesus is the authority, he reserves the right to decide. But if we are serious about spiritual warfare then we should be asking for help in a way that acknowledges Jesus as the Lord of the universe.
Next time we pray, let’s say the words with a confidence that when Jesus commands something will be done, it will be done.
The Centurion’s fighting tactics work. Luke has the soldier explain to us how Jesus can save the servants life by giving the command…and then it happens. Our reading invites us to witness the great REVERSAL of war that Jesus came to initiate. In war, life is taken, but Jesus restores the life of the Centurion’s servant. Jesus, our commanding officer, did not come to take life, He came that all would have life, life in abundance, eternal life. The war He calls us to be part of is unusual - it requires us to abandon normal combat strategies and fight in reverse, with faith as our only weapon. At times, this might leave us feeling exposed and vulnerable - we can be tempted to try out more worldly tactics. In those moments, it’s important that we remember Christ, our Centurion, has already won. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection secure our victory over sin and death – it is finished. As we await His victorious return, we are not called to lash out and win by any means necessary – we are called to fight with faith, to pray with confidence and to love our enemies into life. Amen.