Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 2 March 2025.
• First Reading: 1 Kings 8: 22-23, 41-43 (Solomon’s prayer when dedicating the temple)
• Epistle: Galatians 1: 1-12 (Paul called by God)
• Gospel: Luke 7: 1-7 (Healing the Centurion’s servant. His personal confidence in Jesus)
There has always been the sense of the in-crowd and the outsiders. The family as against the community; the community as against the neighbouring town or village; our language or accent as against others – and so it goes on.
And yes, that gathering together for mutual support and defence is quite understandable. Trade of course is all about reaching out.
In the Old Testament, we have the people of Judah as against those of other tribes, especially the northern kingdom of Israel; and then there are those who worship the God of Israel in relation to the deities of other peoples.
Yet we also have the provisions of the law which require hospitality to be given to strangers and that the ‘stranger within thy gates’ be given the equal protection of the law.
And yet in today’s current affairs the issue of ‘Who is my neighbour’ continues to press us.
It could be whether it is those who land uninvited on our shores, are our neighbours – or those sheltering from missiles and drones in Ukraine, or those in Africa who are cast into hostility with their adjacent tribes folk.
And so in our Old Testament lesson, there is that clear and direct plea that God would not only heed the prayers of the people of Judah and Israel that are prayed in the newly-dedicated temple, but also those of the strangers to Israel who still come to the temple to pray.
Here is a confidence that God would deal with all people justly, and would look not to their line of family descent but to their hearts and whether these were also seeking after the God of Israel with a genuine intent and purpose.
Solomon’s confidence in God was in His universality: open to all who look to Him. And yes, keeping all the prescriptions of the law as they affected relations with friends and neighbours would be a pretty reliable guide to their intentions and loyalties.
The issue was never going to be the Lord’s justice and mercy: it was always going to be the sincerity of heart of the petitioner in prayer.
In the gospel there is a similar situation. Jesus enters Capernaum, a fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He is greeted by the elders of the synagogue, speaking on behalf of a Roman officer – who was already part of the worshipping community.
He has already found a home in the community and is supporting its spiritual life by funding the construction of their synagogue. Now his servant is desperately ill, maybe fatally so. Could Jesus come to the servant?
And so He went with them, only to be met by further messengers from the Centurion. No need to come all the way – just give the order and it will happen.
The Centurion knew all about orders. He was under orders himself and would give orders to the troops under his command. Equally he would give orders to his servants and these would be carried out.
There was no mystery here. It was just how an orderly society in an orderly universe worked. And if it applied to him in everyday life then why not in relation to the spiritual authority that Jesus had already deployed? His teaching was both authoritative and benign to the community as a whole. There were the stories of the wonderful things Jesus had done in His ministry and the depth and wisdom of His answers to difficult questions.
So: WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM? He did not need a roomful of books giving debating points or detailed histories of their times.
The evidence was already there: all folk had to do was to see it and accept its relevance.
This was not rocket-science. Just common sense and personal observation.
But then there was Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia. Here there were some problems to sort out. The gospel message had been proclaimed and had been accepted.
The salvation of all people was already granted and they only had to receive it as it was given. They certainly did not have to do anything to earn salvation, for it was always a gift and anyway it was quite unearnable. No amount of ceremony or personal performance was going to take the place of that gift of eternal life.
That was never how it worked – not then and not now. The good works that proceed from our lives are the fruit of our salvation and not a means of gaining or keeping it. They are the life of Jesus showing itself in our lives and are evidence of the genuineness of our personal faith.
So there could never be any kind of substitute for that personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No amount of right thinking or fashionably up-to-date demonstrating on current issues was ever going to substitute for that faith.
No amount of vegetarian diet, carbon-neutral energy use, support for the most attractive up-to-date causes. No number of special pronouns, national or other flags, or any other kind of personal identifiers were ever going to take the place of personal faith.
It is all much simpler, more direct and more personal: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as saviour and lord are quite enough.
