A HOMILY FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
About Undoubting Faith and Humility Before the Lord
Brothers and sisters!
After delivering His famous “Sermon on the Mount,” our Lord Jesus Christ entered the city of Capernaum and, as you heard in today’s Gospel, a Roman centurion, the commander of about a hundred soldiers, came to Him and told Him that his servant was paralyzed and was lying in agony. Before the centurion could even ask for help, the Lord Jesus, the Knower of hearts, perceived the full depth of this foreigner’s faith and his tender love for his suffering servant, and immediately declared, I will come and heal him. A strict Jew would never defile himself by entering the house of a Gentile, but this was an exceptional case. This Gentile, this pagan, had faith such as Christ had never found in a single one of the Jews. Therefore, the Giver of the Law was more than ready to overturn the tradition of the rabbis in order to reward the centurion. To do so, however, proved unnecessary, for when the Saviour announced His intention, the centurion protested, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Therefore, the Lord told him, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in that selfsame hour. In truth, as the wise Sirach says, The prayer of the humble man pierceth the clouds![1] And as the Lord Himself says by the mouth of the holy prophet Isaiah: Upon whom shall I look, but upon the humble and meek, and the man that trembleth at My words?[2]
To these things Christ added that many -- meaning, many Gentiles like the centurion -- shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of heaven. But the children of the Kingdom, He said -- the chosen Hebrew people -- shall be cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for them, on account of their unbelief.
One hardly knows what to marvel at more: the Lord’s compassion, which extended even to a man who was formally still a pagan, or the centurion’s deep faith and profound humility. The one and the other are equally astounding. It is as the Scriptures say: The Lord will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth,[3] and, The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him, to all that call on Him in truth.[4] Therefore, He did not turn away from the Roman centurion, just as He did not reject the humble Canaanite woman -- also a heathen -- after testing her humility.
What makes the humility of the centurion especially remarkable was that he was a tough officer in the army that had just completed the conquest of the better part of the known world. The Romans of that time, who admired strength above all else, generally looked down on the Jews with contempt, and were hardly given to displays of humility, especially before the eyes of subject peoples.
It is also important to note that the servant was healed, not because of his own entreaty, or his own faith and humility, but because of that of a third party, the centurion. This is a reminder to us that we should offer the Lord prayer, praise, and thanksgiving not only on our own behalf, but for others, and that we should cultivate virtue not to benefit ourselves only, but others as well, for virtue strengthens our prayer on behalf of others. As the Apostle James put it, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.[5]
And so, let us learn faith, brothers and sisters, from the centurion, and let us also learn from him simplicity of spirit, humility, and loving concern for others. The Lord is the same now as he was then; He is as near to us as we go about our day as He was to the people of Galilee and Judaea when He walked their streets and roads. He is the same Wonderworker, Physician, Saviour, and Helper. He is as accessible as ever to those who draw near to Him with faith and humble repentance; He is the same Bestower of heavenly and earthly blessings. Therefore let us pray to Him for all our needs with childlike simplicity of spirit; with faith, love, and devotion; and we shall not fail in our hope. Let us thank Him from the bottom of our heart whenever we receive our petitions and, no less, when He sends instead what we did not understand would truly be to our benefit. Let us beseech Him not to forsake us in the future, whatever our needs. And how many are those needs! For the needs of the soul are countless, and those of the body are no fewer. But the soul’s needs are infinitely more important than the body’s, because the soul is by far the higher, more important part of man, and is immortal, whereas the body is short-lived and corruptible. For this reason, what is mostly necessary is to beg the Lord to fulfill the needs of the soul; for example, to increase our faith, to strengthen our Christian hope, to help us love Him and our neighbor as we should, to create in us a clean heart, to grant us a humble and contrite spirit, and to teach us to repent. Then, having fervently and persistently entreated Him for what is chief, we may also venture to ask a very little for what is much less: health of body, success in our worldly undertakings, and temporal prosperity.
Dear Christians, may the Roman centurion’s example teach us undoubting faith and sincere humility before the Lord, Who is with us alway, even unto the end of the world.[6] Believe as the centurion did, live piously, repent sincerely and fervently, and correct your faults, and you will hear the Beloved Voice say to you as to the centurion of old: Go thy way: and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee, even as He grants you everything necessary for your eternal salvation and your temporal well-being. Amen.
[1] Wisdom of Sirach 35:17
[2] Is. 66:2
[3] I Tim. 2:4
[4] Ps. 144:19
[5] James 5:16
[6] Matt. 28:20
