Standing In for Others
based on
Luke 7:1-10
by
Rev. Frank Schaefer
Luke 7:1-10:
7:1 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in
the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.
7:2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued
highly, and who was ill and close to death.
7:3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish
elders to him, asking him to come and heal his
slave.
7:4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him
earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do
this for him,
7:5 for he loves our people, and it is he who
built our synagogue for us."
7:6 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;
7:7 therefore I did not presume to come to you.
But only speak the word, and let my servant be
healed.
7:8 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."
7:9 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."
7:10 When those who had been sent returned to the
house, they found the slave in good health.
I just came across a website entitled Martyrs
in the History of Christianity which tells of a Polish priest by the name of
Maximilian Kolbe. At sixteen he chose to become a Franciscan. Very soon his life
took an extraordinary turn. With very reduced financial means he started a
publishing network which circulated books by the million." Well known in Poland,
he was arrested for the first time during the German offensive of 1939 and sent
to a concentration camp. He was freed but once again he was arrested for the
second time on February 17, 1941, and was then deported to Auschwitz. He arrived
there on May 28, 1941, and it was here that he offered his life in substitution
for a man who had been condemned to die (because of somebody else's successful
prison escape).
The man who survived describes this moment as
follows:
“He [Kolbe] stood before the Camp Commandant at
attention and identified himself. I heard a conversation in German. Later I
learned from Dr. Viodarki, who was standing nearby, the content of the
conversation. What does this Polish pig want asked Fritsch, very angry. Kolbe
replied, "I am a fairly old Catholic priest and I would like to take his place,
and the finger was pointed in my direction. He has a wife and children".
Stupefied, the Commandant could only reply, "here’s a crazy priest." And he
simply added, "alright".
I was put back into my place without having had
time to say anything to Maxmilian Kolbe. I was saved. And I owe to him the fact
that I could tell you all this. The news quickly spread all round the camp. It
was the first and the last time that such an incident happened in the whole
history of Auschwitz. [1]
Like Father Kolbe, our centurion in the gospel
story was also a stand-in for someone else-albeit in a much less dramatic way.
Perhaps we can relate a bit more to what the centurion did in our gospel story
than what Father Kolbe did at Auschwitz. Both are examples of selfless acts of
love for the proverbial “neighbor.”
Did you also think that Jesus seemed a little
surprised when he heard about the centurion's request? I think Jesus was taken
aback a little; this was the first (and maybe last?) time someone stood in for
another person as they asked for a “long-distance” healing. It says it right
here in verse 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."
The faith of the centurion is actually very
surprising. Perhaps his request does not surprise us as much today as we see
Jesus in terms of being fully God in addition to being fully human. However,
during Jesus' life-time most people saw him as a rabbi and faith healer.
Faith healers in first-century Judea were viewed
much like alternative medical practitioners today, such as chiropractors,
homeopathic doctors, chi masters, acupuncturists, etc. When you go to any of
those practitioners you expect them to crack something, manipulate some nerve
ending, or stick a needle into some sensitive area. And the same was true for 1st
century faith healers. It was considered a “hands-on” job.
Stand-in as an act of loving your neighbor
I think what impressed Jesus besides the
centurion's remarkable faith in Jesus' power was the selflessness of his action.
The concept of standing in for another is right up Jesus' ally, of course as
he himself summarized the entire law of Moses in one two-part sentence: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ” Matthew 22:39
Of course, we're all familiar with the kind of
stand-in we occasionally do here at the church for healing services. And that is
actually a real good example of how our Scripture passage can be applied to real
life. We can stand it for a friend or loved one and get anointed and prayed over
in their place, believing in our heart that God will honor the stand-in as God
did in the case of the centurion.
However, there are more ways in which we can
apply the stand-in principle that Jesus praised so extensively.
Standing in for somebody else means . . .
1. to understand them (listen, truly care)
In order to truly understand a person, we need
to really care about them and listen to them. There are a lot of people in this
world that feel like nobody cares because they try to communicate their needs
and to them it feels like nobody is listening.
I experience this most every time I deal with
any insurance company, state agency, telephone, electric, and or cable company.
The frustration already begins when I call the toll-free company number and a
robotic voice greets me. Then you have to give your information by using the
dial keys or your voice. I end up having to use the dial keys because of my
accent; the computer never gets my answers right. If you're lucky you get to
talk to real live person after 15 to 20 minutes. And then I get frustrated
because I have to give the same information all over again even though for 20
minutes I typed all that info into the computer during the robotic phase of the
call. Even after you get past that part you often have a feeling that the
representative is not really listening to you as they go through standard
questions such as: “is the device plugged into a wall outlet?”
Being a stand-in starts with being there for the
person in need; it means to listen to them, really listen, and truly caring for
what they go through. Jesus once called us to laugh with those who laugh and
weep with those who weep. That means we need to truly emphasize with others;
listen closely to their needs opening up emotionally. When we're letting
ourselves be affected emotionally by a person's story, we start to truly care
and deeply understand them.
2. to become an advocate for them
Once we truly understand a person, we can become
their advocate. The word advocate is also used to describe the work of the Holy
Spirit. In John 15:26, Jesus says: "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to
you from the Father--the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father--he will
testify about me.”
Just recently I talked to a pastor who had been
a clergy counsel for another pastor who was innocently accused of an
inappropriate act. This pastor, listened to the respondent's story and said: “I
want to stand by this man and speak for him.” And so he did and helped him to be
cleared of these very serious charges that could have cost the respondent his
livelihood and everything he owned.
Being an advocate for someone else, means at
times that we put ourselves at risk and possibly in harm's way as we speak up
and for them. We may draw criticism upon our own person for being an advocate
and we may risk being ostracized. Being an advocate is an act of true love, the
kind of love Jesus talks about when he says: “greater love has no one that he
who lays down his life for another.”
3. to be willing to put their needs above
ours
being a true advocate means to put their needs
above our own needs, at least during the time of advocacy. I am sure that the
centurion had a busy schedule and I'm sure it wasn't easy for him to get through
the crowd to be anywhere near Jesus. Being a soldier, he probably demanded some
respect. But what this man did for his servant was remarkable; he must have
blocked out a day for this to happen. To be a stand-in means that we have to put
your own needs on the shelf for a while and make the needs of our loved one the number
one priority!
I want to close this sermon as I opened it, with
a story of a man who was a willing stand-in for others. I am talking about our
Lord Jesus who took the place of everyone when he died on that cross. Being
totally innocent and pure, he paid the price for our release so that all of us
could be forgiven and reconciled to God, our heavenly Father.
In light of what Jesus did, the way he stood in
for all of us, let us say “yes” to selflessly standing in for others, by
accepting them, loving them, and by being their advovates.. And if we get a chance to
stand up for someone by offering our life as a substitute for theirs, let us be
martyrs for the sake of him who lovingly became a martyr for us. Amen.
1. Martyrs in the History of Christianity by Franklyn J.
Balasundaram (ed.) -
http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1570&C=1473
