WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today we meet the centurion

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coming to Jesus to ask for help with his paralyzed

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young servant, a Roman, and thus a Gentile, non

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-Israelite. The centurion recognizes and states

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plainly, His unworthiness before Jesus, whom

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he repeatedly calls Lord twice in a short passage.

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Not simply a title for Jesus, like despot or

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master, but Kyrios, a designation for the name

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of Israel's God, said by a Gentile. Besides that,

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being a Gentile, the centurion knows. that he

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is not worthy of Jesus to come into his house,

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even though Jesus is willing to come and be present

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with his young servant. Because of his human

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servants, those who are under his authority,

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the centurion reasons that he himself doesn't

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always have to be physically present to get something

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done. Understanding what it is to have authority,

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the centurion can tell so -and -so servant to

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do something and it somehow gets done. And to

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tell another so -and -so something and it somehow

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gets done. Unlike the centurion, however, since

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Jesus is Lord, Kyrios, as Lord, he himself doesn't

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technically need to be there. does he need human

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servants to carry out his will? Technically speaking,

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Jesus can simply say a word according to this

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Roman centurion, and this centurion's young servant

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will be healed. In this way, the Gentile, the

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Roman, the Gentile centurion mysteriously utters

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the words of the Israelite psalmist. He sent

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out his word and healed them and rescued them

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from their pit or corruption. And it's at this

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point that Jesus marvels. Jesus is amazed. Jesus

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wonders, saying to his followers, not technically

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the centurion, but to his followers, not even

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in Israel. The best rendering. Not even in Israel

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have I found such faith. And repeats to the centurion

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something the Roman authority figure would himself

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say to a servant. Go, but adds these words, let

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it be done for you as you have believed. as the

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servant is immediately healed from a distance.

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For us, the story clearly wants us to examine

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our faith. What kind of faith do we have? Throughout

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Matthew's gospel, faith appears in three different

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ways and in three different degrees. types of

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faith, or perhaps you could say it's kind of

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a spectrum of faith. We could think of faith

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from one way, as an intellectual assent that

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Jesus is who he says he is. There is that in

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the Gospel of Matthew. We could think of faith

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a second way, as a trust in Jesus that produces

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loyalty, faithfulness. And obedient to him. That's

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there in Matthew as well. But there is a third

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faith. And a faith that Jesus is in fact looking

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for. A belief in Jesus' power to work wonders.

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A belief in Jesus' power to overcome obstacles

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that seem impossible. And typically used. This

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faith is typically used to help someone else.

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What Jesus calls a faith that can move even mountains.

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That last kind of faith is the faith that overcomes

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the exclusion of Gentiles in the kingdom of God.

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In Matthew's gospel where Jesus very clearly

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states that he was only sent. for the lost sheep

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of the house of Israel. That last kind of faith

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is the kind of faith that produces healing, salvation,

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help, and new life. In all of Matthew's gospel,

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only twice, only two times, does Jesus respond

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to a Gentile's request. Here with this Roman

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centurion, and seven chapters later with the

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Canaanite woman. to have Jesus help her daughter,

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whom Jesus only helps after calling her a dog

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and telling her that he has come simply for the

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lost sheep of Israel's house. I think it's hard

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for us, most of us here who are Gentiles, to

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really feel the weight of that reality and fact.

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Up until this point, that was a reality and fact.

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And it isn't until the end of Matthew's Gospel

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that Jesus actually tells the apostles to go

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forth into the world and make disciples of all

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nations, to make disciples of all the Gentiles,

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even non -Israelites, only after he resurrects

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from the dead, because it's the resurrection

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that tears down the divisions between Jew. and

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Gentile. But here we see a faith that believes

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in that same power, that same power that bursts

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forth from the resurrection against an inability

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towards life and a faith that is present even

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in absence and across distances. Jesus promises

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to his followers that more will come like this

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centurion, Gentiles, non -Israelites, who will

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share in this kind of faith, a faith that will

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seat them at the same table next to Abraham,

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Isaac, and Jacob, next to Abraham, who was ready

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to offer his own son up in faith, knowing, knowing

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that God's power could revive him even from the

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dead, as Hebrews tells us. And Abraham, who believed

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that God can overcome the barrenness of his wife,

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who was so aged, Sarah, just like Isaac and Jacob

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believed that God could overcome the barrenness

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of their wives, Rebecca and Rachel. Next to Jacob,

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at that same table who trusted that God could

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bring his supposedly dead son Joseph back to

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him after the two were separated for years and

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years and years. We could go on. The centurion

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exemplifies a similar kind of faith, a faith

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in Jesus to overcome seemingly desperate situations,

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to overcome distance. To let go of manipulation

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and control and not try to co -opt Jesus for

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one's own end. Because Jesus is kind, he has

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enough space in himself, as it were, to deal

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with control freaks. And he even has mercy on

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them. But according to Matthew, it's the ones

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who let go of their control. that sense their

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unworthiness, that they should not even be near

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him, that trust that Jesus will act and be there

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to help, even when he doesn't seem to be there

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at all. Those are the ones that Jesus looks at

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their faith, and Jesus wonders, Jesus marvels

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in their ability to look past obstacles. and

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to put their faith in him to act in their life.

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It's this kind of faith that he likens unto Abraham,

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that trusts in the power of Christ's resurrection,

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even Jesus as the resurrection and the life.

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And of course, it holds up a mirror to us, brothers

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and sisters. What kind of faith do we have vis

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-a -vis Jesus? And why do we come here every

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week to sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac,

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and Jacob? Because after all, that's what we're

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doing when we come here. We come to the table

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next to Abraham and all the rest of the saints,

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upon which we offer ourselves as living sacrifices

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through the bread and the wine to the Father

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with Christ our God, who though being God, and

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fills all space and time, is not here in the

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way we humanly think he might be, but is at the

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right hand of the Father. And nevertheless, by

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the power of the Holy Spirit, he becomes here,

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and is in fact here, because the Father and the

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Spirit make him present to us, even in the bread

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and the wine, as they become his flesh and blood

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for our... remission of sins and our eternal

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life. And so we might ask ourselves as we come,

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as we come to recline at table, is our faith

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simply a faith of intellectual assent? We believe

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Jesus is God. We come here. We might even sing

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the creed loudly. But that's pretty much all

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it is coming for us. In his mercy, and because

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he knows our weakness, he knows that we are dust.

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In his mercy, Jesus will accept that. Is our

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faith a faith that believes all those things,

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but then tries to step in to the life of Jesus

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in obedience, in allegiance, in loyalty? in many

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prostrations, in much fasting, in coming to church

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often, in a scrupulosity to our righteousness,

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in many prayers, in obedience. And yet it feels

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like we are always working and working and working

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where we don't reach much satisfaction or life.

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Now, in his mercy, because Jesus is kind and

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Jesus knows that we are weak, Jesus will accept

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that. Or, is our faith a faith that trusts Jesus

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to move mountains in our life? To traverse time

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and space in our life? For our sakes and the

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sakes of those whom we love, because... He has

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raised himself from the dead, and nothing can

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separate us, nothing can separate him from us,

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or us from him, because he loves us, and he has

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poured out the love of God in our hearts by giving

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us the Holy Spirit. We need to believe that Jesus

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is God, but if our faith doesn't surpass intellectual

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assent, we may begin to get to that point where

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we wonder, what exactly are we doing here? What

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is the point of our faith? Why don't I just sleep

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in on Sunday and wake up to that nice cup of

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coffee? Maybe I'll walk my dog and have some

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time for myself once in a while. We need to be

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faithful and obedient. To Christ. Allegiance.

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Pledge allegiance to him. Be loyal to him. But

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if our faith doesn't surpass faithfulness and

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obedience. We may never see Jesus more than a

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brutal taskmaster. Which is what we might learn

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to see him as. Just like the older son. in the

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parable of the prodigal son, when he looks at

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his father and says, I have been slaving for

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you. For how many years have I been trying to

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please you? And misunderstands the whole point.

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If our faith is like that, we may never see Jesus

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more than that. We might only think of him as

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someone who just demands a bunch of things from

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us that we have to do as we don't really understand

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even why, and we then become crippled under the

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severe weight of it, never feeling like we can

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get up, as we try to do a bunch of things that

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Jesus likely didn't even ask us to do. But if

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our faith breaks through, to this third kind

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of faith. If ascent and faithfulness yields to

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a faith of freedom and life and healing, a true

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trust and confidence in him to keep us, a faith

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that knows that Jesus wants to help us, that

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Jesus has our best in mind, that Jesus will never

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let us go, that Jesus will change us. And even

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those around us. A faith which works through

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love. A faith that acts without needing to feel

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like we need to co -opt or control or manipulate

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Jesus somehow. Or earn something from him. And

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always leave unsatisfied. Because we can't realize

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that's not actually what it's about. But a faith.

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aware of its unworthiness and aware of our limitations,

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that we are dust, that we are broken, that we

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are Gentiles, most of us here. But knowing that

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Jesus can conquer death, distance, and his absence,

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brothers and sisters, is not actually absence

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at all, but presence with us by his Holy Spirit.

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The power to make the change in our lives again

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and again and again. What we ask the Lord to

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do. Every divine liturgy at the table over the

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bread and the wine. This is the kind of faith

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that Jesus marvels at. This is the kind of faith

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that Jesus is amazed at. That Jesus wonders in

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his people. That makes his saints wondrous and

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glorious in him. This is the kind of faith that

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reminds Jesus of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.

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May God help us acquire this kind of faith. Amen.