I have a friend in my life who loves alcohol. He loves to drink. He hates it, too. He wishes he had never began doing the dreaded thing of filling his body with what poisons his insides and his intentions. He smokes cigarettes every day. His wife died a few years back and she was his “everything”. He owns his business and has remained in the same industry for 35 years. Success has knocked on his door multitudes of times. Money has come and gone….been there and been squandered. Leadership skills have abounded from this man. He has been a legend within his arena of life. He has seen joy that oozes through the pores of life. Somehow, he has never felt as though he found life as it was intended – only tasted the crumbs of what is so really good.
A couple months back, he had open heart surgery. We talked in the hospital and discussed his condition, his life, and his future. I told him about the time he told me about God and how “He doesn’t want anything to do with me…” as were were standing on the street shortly after the graveside service of his granddaughter. He said everything in life was messed up and that life really had no answers…only questions that do not get answered. He said it in a bit more colorful language than that. We decided to get together from time to time and pick up where we left off that day at the cemetery. Here and there we have met. Here and there we have talked, but my friend is only more wounded now than before. A man. A friend. A leader. A father. Abandoned in this life. Denying the inside emotions for the outside and physical appearance of control and economic gain. He works emphatically. Work is his life.
Recently, he stopped getting emails from his daughter-in-law. They weren’t necessarily regular or not even had they stopped – the thing about these semi regular emails was their content. They were notes of encouragement, scripture quotes with little pieces of hope. Notes of light. References to the Light of the World. Offering life in the midst of this….offering a true answer…he talked about life with its questions but there is no response to those questions – there is one Man. His name is Jesus. My friend is confused. He is lost. He would deny this truth. He asked his son recently, “Why did the emails with bible verses stop? Does she not love me anymore….what’s going on?” His son was blown away. His son was also holding on to the promises of God and how, when a man who doesn’t believe in God or His Son, stops receiving God’s word in his inbox – he asks “what happened!” and wonders about being cared for. This is worth pondering what is going on in his heart and probably yours and my heart, too. In my time alone with the Lord today this is what happened:
Today, in my time w/the Lord.
“When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2And behold, a leper[B] came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3And Jesus[C] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” The Faith of a Centurion 5When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I too am a man 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 servant,[D] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel[E] have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. Jesus Heals Many 14And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother–in–law lying sick with a fever. 15He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Mathew 8:1-17
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV
Leprosy. Shriveled hands. Hindrances abounding. Doubt in life. Illnesses. Headaches. Distractions. It all sinks in as we go about in our lives. Yet, Jesus enters the life of the Leper and willingly stretches out his hand to tell him He is willing to heal and that he is in fact healed. Then he commands his life to reflect a life of a Godly man. The centurion. A leader. A soldier. A man who has warned his scars and taken orders to gain the right to command orders. “Leadership is recognized, not appointed”, I was once told. No doubt this man, the centurion, had earned his position to be able to command others in the ranks. He was the unlikely believer. The man whom others would have said he will not trust in and believe in God. He will not follow the Way of Jesus Christ. He is ungodly. He represents Rome and destruction of the innocent. He is about the “justice” of the government. He is a strong man with no hope in God. Yet, here we get to watch this leader of a wounded man approach the God of the universe and request his healing power. The man had great faith! Faith in the Son of God to communicate that Jesus has the authority to heal and provide and command God’s statutes and offer infinite grace by His presence alone. His words would do.
Jesus used this man’s faith as an example of how my faith ought to be – strong, true-believing and with the confidence of God my Father in Heaven. Then Jesus healed the man’s servant and went to see Peter. He walked in Peter’s home and immediately went to Peter’s wife’s mother. She had been sick. Jesus healed her and she began serving them. A powerful picture of being compelled by the love of God to…..go. In His name.
Sickness borne. He bore all of them. What was the life of Christ? Love. A becoming of all we are at our core in order for us to be all God is in His core!! Righteous. Forever. And ever. Amen.
I wonder about the “faith” of my friend. I wonder about his “potential” as the centurion man. I wonder about his leadership. I wish he knew Jesus. I bet, somewhere deep within, he feels like there is an answer in this life. Yup, there really is an answer. He is the Lord of my life and apart from my faith in Christ – I would be viewed just like my friend. We are a lot alike, really. We are miles apart, too. The difference is I belong to God because of Jesus Christ. I am His, forever. Maybe the faith of this centurion can impact my friend….and you, and me – over and over. His peace.
Blessings,
-ao
