AfterWords: "...Shared Ministry: Outside the Lines"

 

Luke 7:1-10

While we do not know the servant’s name in this episode from Jesus’ ministry, we do know that he was dear to his master, a Roman centurion.

And, if this centurion built a synagogue for a community, he has the resources to pay the medical care of the day. As a good Roman, he would have already prayed to his Roman gods. But, it seems that neither the gods nor the healers could heal his servant. Maybe that rabbi the centurion had heard about could cure his servant?

At the request of the centurion, the elders of the synagogue find Jesus and implore him to come and heal the servant. Jesus says yes, and he goes with the elders. But as Jesus gets close to the house, the centurion sends friend with a curious message:

“Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:6b-8).

Jesus is astounded by the centurion’s faith. Jesus heals the servant.

In this beautiful story of faith and healing, Jesus draws outside the lines: He answers the prayers of a pagan Roman centurion, and he praises the faith of a Gentile, an outsider.

You see, these lines that Jesus draws outside of are not lines that God had drawn. These are lines that people drew, that tradition drew. In fact, most of the lines that we hold onto are drawn by ourselves or others…and not by God.

When I was 25 years old, I stepped outside the lines at God’s nudging. I was led as a university student to the office of a Catholic priest—someone I would not usually seek out. In and through that priest, Father Gary, I was saved from the difficult times I was going through. He gave me a gift—an icon (the one above)—a gift that reminds me every time I see it that God sometimes draws outside the lines, definitely outside of the lines I’ve drawn.

I imagine that every time the centurion saw his servant after that day, he thought of Jesus. Every time the elders of the synagogue saw the centurion, they thought of Jesus. When the servant heard the story, he thought of Jesus. I see the icon on my bookcase almost every day, and I think of how God saved me in a difficult time through a kind, Catholic priest. All of these happened because God draws outside of our lines.

What would happen if we would allow God to lead us outside the lines? How much more might we touch the lives of others? How much more could our lives be touched if we allowed “outsiders” to cross lines into our lives? Let us not be afraid to follow God outside the lines. Thanks be to a God who draws outside the lines, who drew outside the lines to enter our lives, because we, like the centurion, certainly were not worthy. Amen.

Sunday, February 9, 2025
“…Shared Ministry: Outside the Lines”
Watch/Listen: HERE