Yes, I'll get by with a little help from my friends

 

The gospel of the Centurion in Luke (Luke 7:1-10) and in Matthew (Matthew 8:1, 5-13) is a story of great faith especially in one who would have been considered at the very least, an outsider, if not a persecutor of Jesus. While in Matthew, the main characters are Jesus and the Centurion face to face, in Luke the Centurion never appears in person but rather is represented by his surrogates, his “friends.”  The message is not only about great faith, it is about friendship, brotherly love and community. Could there be a more disparate group of friends than those characterized in Luke? The image of Jewish elders coming forward to appeal to Jesus on the part of a humbled Roman centurion, who in turn, petitions Jesus on behalf of his slave, runs counter to what we know of the social order of the day. 

The story is enriched when the believer’s community connects the believer to God. Even the powerful centurion could not do it alone. Isn’t that the way it is with us? There are times in my life when my needs and story were being carried to God by my friends. My guess is that neither I nor they even knew it at the time. However, the threads that connect us to God are often woven by our friends. So, it's not just about me. It’s not just about you. It’s about us and Jesus and the community that nourishes us and helps us stay connected. But what about this thing called community? If it works so well, how come there are times when we would prefer to fly under the radar, unnoticed and content to be left alone?  In our men’s group discussion this past Saturday we read from Genesis 12:1. There was a passage that prompted considerable discussion: “We will be summoned to act upon the faith we profess: ‘Get up and do. Get up and  go….bring others with you.’”

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne, Meditation 17 from Devotions, 1624