Question #4 is ...

THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL: LUKE 7:1-10 (MESSAGE)

When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn’t want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, “He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place.”

Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, “Master, you don’t have to go to all this trouble. I’m not that good a person, you know. I’d be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I’m a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works.” When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.

Trust is not the easiest virtue to cultivate.  Anyone who has been too trusting and been burned could tell you how hard it is to trust again.  Yet, so many people, like the Roman captain, are in relationships or professions where not trusting is not an option.  Soldiers, doctors, nurses, administrators, executives, middle managers, students, even ministers know the importance of trust.

So what happens for these folks when trust is abused or manipulated?  What happens when we are called to trust someone or something that has always been our enemy or in opposition to what we have believed to be trustworthy?  What happens when a stranger from a different religious tradition and culture asks you to trust? 

As always, for Jesus, he chose to welcome and help a person who was part of those who had been oppressing the Jews, who was of a different faith and who was from a completely different culture.  Jesus helped and healed all because he trusted.

As we continue to be asked by God and by each other to trust, please join us this Sunday, June 2 at 10:00am in Christ Church for the fourth sermon in our series New Creation:  Questions for a Changing Church.  This Sunday we will collect food for the Wellesley Food Pantry, share the Lord’s Supper and ask some really big questions.  See you in Church!