The Gospel for October 5th, 2004
Luke 7:1-17
When he had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him saying, ‘He deserves this of you, because he is well disposed towards our people; he built us our synagogue himself.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends to say to him, ‘Sir, do not put yourself to any trouble because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and that is why I did not presume to come to you myself; let my boy be cured by your giving the word. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, “Go,” and he goes; to another, “Come here,” and he comes; to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith as great as this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health. It happened that soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then he went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you: get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and glorified God saying, ‘A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people.’ And this view of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
Yesterday's gospel for XVIII Pentecost was also from Luke, farther into the book. "Give us more faith," the Apostles asked.
Having seen the faith of the Centurion, Jesus had quite a background when he told them that if they only had as much faith as a mustard seed, they could do wonders. Yet, they were asking for "more faith."
On the other end from the Centurion's servant's healing, along the spectrum of God's grace, is the resurrection of the widow's son. We are not told whether she had even heard of Jesus, but the inference we can make is that she had not. This unbidden healing of the most grievous of conditions -- death -- is in stark opposition to the "foreign woman" with whose child Jesus at first refused to bother, since He was sent only to the chosen of Israel.
A Reflection
Many years ago, I worked with another manager who had the very strong ambition to be "an executive." Whenever our mutual boss would give him an assignment, he spent so many times going back for details that his manager finally re-assigned him to a position of lower responsibility. My peer complained bitterly that all he had ever asked was how to do the job.
When we arrive at a certain stage of career maturity, we're expected to have most of the tools required to perform at that level. The most basic of these tools is knowledge of how to do the work. Absent that capability, a manager is little more than a clerk.
And absent faith, a Christian is little more than Shakespeare's "poor player," mouthing words, and going through the motions, but always in a play-drama, never expecting any outcome other than the one on the last page of the script.
But Jesus never promised a script, or any outcome other than eternal life in union with the Father and Him. His rulebook was simple and frighteningly so! Love God, love your neighbor.
Our faithfulness must be an example of our faith. Without faithfulness to the Way, all of our drama ends at the last act; with faithfulness, our acts are part of the endless drama of our lives with Jesus.
A Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
8:04:59 PM 
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