Hands Free Power – March 19, 2023, Fourth Sunday in Lent

Isaiah 40:21-31, Matthew 8:1-17
March 19, 2023

We live in a “hands free” world!  Think about it!  How many things in our world are now hands free?  And how many of them seemed kind of silly to us, when we first got the hands free version of them?  We used to joke that, someday, we were going to bounce our grandchildren on our knees and say, “Yeah, we used to have to get up to change the channel on our TV!”  (Of course, that wasn’t much of a chore, because there were only 3 channels!)

I may have told you before that my uncle Joe had the first tv remote control that I ever saw.  And it was a control without a wire!.  It was a box with one big white button in the middle of it.  It didn’t even have an on/off switch.  And when you pushed the button, the tuner knob on the TV went around.  “Chunk, chunk, chunk.”

Now there are remote controls for everything.  Air conditioners, lights, window shades, garage doors, cars.  My friend had a remote control for his car radio.  And I don’t mean buttons on the steering wheel.  I have those!  I mean he had an actual separate remote control!  Talk about something that seemed silly!

Of course now we have “smart speakers.”  So now we can control things remotely with just our voice!  We don’t even have to push buttons anymore!  And the Artificial Intelligence is getting scary!  Isn’t it?  In fact, just so you know, the computers already have taken over.  We just haven’t acknowledged it yet!

Well, I say all that this morning because I love this story of the centurion.  Because if you think about, Jesus healed this man’s servant, “hands free.”

This story comes right after the Sermon on the Mount, which we’ve been looking at for the last few weeks.  So this is still very early in Jesus’ ministry.  He had been preaching in the synagogues in the area of Galilee and Syria, and he had begun to make his way to Judea and Jerusalem, with the crowds, that were beginning to follow him, and with his fame and reputation spreading.  And along the way, he paused in his journey, and preached that great sermon on the mountain!

Now, here in chapter 8 of Matthew, we have the first actual “stories” of Jesus healing people.  Before it was just “reports about” healing.  Matthew told us that, “He went about all the region healing the sick and casting out demons.”  Now we’re meeting actual people that he healed.

The first is a leper.  And we’ve said this before, that this had to be shocking for those people!  Because not only did people avoid those who had leprosy, but people with leprosy were also supposed to avoid other people.  They were supposed to move away and warn people by shouting “unclean.”  But this man had the courage to approach Jesus.  (And I wonder if everyone else moved away at that moment!)  He approached Jesus because he had faith, or at least hope, that Jesus could help him.  Which he did!  So that was a story of great faith.  Or maybe just one of great desperation!

Then we have the story of this centurion.  He was a Roman soldier.  He was an officer who commanded a company of one hundred men.  Hence the title, “centurion.”  And his is also a story of great faith.  He came to Jesus and told him about his servant who was paralyzed and suffering.  And he believed Jesus could heal him, too.  And we can only imagine what this scene looked like, considering the relationship between the Jews and the Romans!  We could talk a lot about that, too!  (You think people moved away when a leper approached!)

Jesus said to the man, “Yes, I will come and heal your servant.”  Which also must have been shocking to those people!  What was he going to do, go into this Roman’s house?  But then the centurion said, “No, Jesus.  You don’t have to come.  I know you can do it right from right here!”  “I am a man in authority.  I command others, and they obey.  I believe you can “command” this healing right here and now!”

And of course, Jesus did!  He healed the servant by “remote control.”  He healed him “Hands free!”  But, not before telling everyone who was there what great faith this man had – this Roman!  And then he said, “Truly, I say to you, People will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  While others who think they will, won’t!”  I wonder how people received that statement?  How could Jesus be honoring this Roman – this Gentile?

Jesus marveled that this man had the faith to believe that he could heal his servant from a distance – “hands free.”  And I’m using that expression “hands free” intentionally.  Because healing, in a miraculous sense, was often performed by touch.  That’s what was expected!  Jesus would lay his hands on people, and they would be healed.  And again, for him to touch a leper to heal him, in the first story, was unheard of!  They would have been shocked!  They would have been murmuring, “He touched him!”  “He touched the leper.”

The act of “touching” has been a tradition for prayers for healing throughout history.  Kari talked about that the other night in the women’s bible study.  There’s something special about that physical connection that’s deeper than we can ever know.  We use that same kind of thing in an ordination service.  We do what’s called the “laying on of hands.”

But in the case of this centurion, he said to Jesus, “Just say the word.”  And that makes me think about the way we pray for healing.  Because often our prayers are for someone who is not present, aren’t they?  And, if you think about it, faith is different when we’re praying for those we are not near.  And when we do so, maybe we can remember this story, and we can recognize the power of God, which was demonstrated here in Jesus.  Because here we see both great faith, and we see God’s great power. Here we have this great healing miracle, and it’s “hands free.”  That’s the power of God we need to remember.  And we need to strive to have the faith to “match” that power.

This is a great challenge, I know.  Prayer and believing in God’s power are essential to our faith, and yet they can be hardest parts of our faith!  And it’s hard to visualize God working at a distance.  When we pray, we tend to think of the immediate spiritual connection we have with God.  And sometimes it’s hard to concentrate even on that.  It’s hard to have the faith this man had!  And of course it’s even harder for us, in that at least this man had Jesus standing before him!

So, let that be our challenge for Lent.  Let us seek to grow closer to God in prayer.  Let us seek to know his presence better.  Let us pray for one another more.  Let us try to visualize God touching those for whom we pray.  And let us strive to remember God’s power.

And as we do so, as we seek to grow closer to God in prayer, let us remember his words to Jeremiah.  “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to seek you with all our hearts.  Help us to be in tune with your Spirit when we pray.  Help us to know you are with us.  And help us to know your power in our lives, and in the lives of those for whom we pray.  Help us to trust your mercy and your Grace every day.  For we pray in the Gracious name of Jesus, Amen.