THURSDAY, MAY 12
READ MATTHEW 8:5-13
MATTHEW 8:5 As Yeshua entered K’far-Nachum, a Roman army officer came up and pleaded for help. 6 “Sir, my orderly is lying at home paralyzed and suffering terribly!” 7 Yeshua said, “I will go and heal him.” 8 But the officer answered, “Sir, I am unfit to have you come into my home. Rather, if you will only give the command, my orderly will recover. 9 For I too am a man under authority. I have soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 On hearing this Yeshua was amazed and said to the people following him, “Yes! I tell you, I have not found anyone in Isra’el with such trust! 11 Moreover, I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west to take their places at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven with Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov. 12 But those born for the Kingdom will be thrown outside in the dark, where people will wail and grind their teeth!” 13 Then Yeshua said to the officer, “Go; let it be for you as you have trusted.” And his orderly was healed at that very moment.
I sit in the dentist’s chair; she is about to perform a root canal treatment. I am anesthetized, and the dentist begins.
I affirm her as a trained professional who knows how to perform the procedure, but suddenly panic hits. What if the anesthesia doesn’t work? What if the dentist hits a nerve and sends me through the roof? That’s when I realize how hard it is to let go of control.
The serious illness of a beloved servant has taken a Roman centurion to the place where control ends and faith begins. The centurion knew how to use the power of authority, the power of fear, the power of violence, and the power of death. He knew his soldiers would obey his every command. But when it comes to the illness of his trusted servant, his power is powerless. That’s when he turns to Jesus. The centurion decides to humble himself and submit to agreater authority, acknowledging his unworthiness to ask Jesus for anything.
Jesus surprisingly lifts up the humble submissive faith of the centurion. And he names it: the strongest faith he has seen so far.
In these beginning days of General Conference, this passage serves as a wonderful reminder to let go of every desire for power and control and instead receive another kind of authority from Christ based on prayer, humility, and forgiveness. If we desire to follow Christ and to walk under his authority, we let go of control and submit ourselves to him, trusting that he knows what he is doing.
Lord, we are not worthy to have you come under our roof; but only speak the word to us, and we will be healed. Amen.[Christian Alsted]
Bishop Christian Alsted has been a pastor in the United Methodist Church since 1984 – 20 years were in Copenhagen. He was elected to the episcopacy in February 2009 and serves the seven conferences in the Nordic and Baltic Episcopal area of the Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference. In addition to his role as bishop, Christian also serves as the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Baltic Theological Seminary and the chair of the European Commission on Mission (ECOM).
Special Note: The image with the meditation was designed by Rev. Todd Pick and will be used in today’s worship service at General Conference.
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