Goodness attracts goodness!

(For those areas where the Feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated last Thursday, use this reflection, if in your area this feast is today, use the reflection of last Thursday)

Luke 7:1-10

When Jesus had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.

Food for thought!

We have for our today's Food for thought a military man; a Roman centurion; and he was no ordinary man. The mere fact that he was a centurion meant he was no ordinary man. A centurion was the equivalent of a regimental sergeant-major; he was in charge of 100 soldiers. In the New Testment, wherever centurions are mentioned, they are spoken of well (compare Lk.23; Lk.47; Ac.10:22; Ac.22:26; Ac.23:17,23,24; Ac.24:23; Ac.27:43). 

This man had a completely unusual attitude to his slave. He loved this slave and would go to any trouble to save him. The attitude of this centurion to his slave was quite unusual, and should help us shape our attitude towards our house girls, our maids, our servers, our assistants, our secretaries at work. When his slave fell ill, the centurion sought Jesus, because "He prized him highly and didn't want to lose him."

We all know the importance of those people who work for us; the day they don't show up at work, some of us are completely lost, unable to do anything. It is easy to love your spouse, your children, your parents or even your colleagues at work. But to love your maid, your house girl, your gardener, your house servant, your driver is uncommon. And this is what makes this centurion stand out.

The centurion was a liked and likeable man. He was not a Jew, but Jews liked him. They came to Jesus and pleaded that Jesus do him a favour, ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ This is what we should be, liked and likeable. As you know, it is what people really think of you, not what they say TO YOU, that matters! If you do good to others, they will do good to you. And don't do good only to those who matter; do good even to the most simple.

 He was a humble man. He knew quite well that a strict Jew was forbidden by the law to enter the house of a gentile (Ac.10:28); just as he was forbidden to allow a gentile into his house or have any communication with him. He would not even come to Jesus himself. He persuaded his Jewish friends to approach him. This man who was accustomed to command had an amazing humility in the presence of true greatness.

He was a man of faith. His faith is based on experience. He argued from his own profession: if his authority produced the results it did, how much more must that of Jesus? If only we had a faith like that, borne out of our work experience...!

Taken aback, Jesus literally said of him to the people: "I've yet to come across this kind of simple faith anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works." Sometimes, non-christians behave better than we Christians; non church goers sometimes behave better than church goers!

For the centurion to care that much for his servant, this servant must have cared much for his boss. Lesson: loyalty begets loyalty; goodness begets goodness; kindness begets kindness. We must stop taking people for granted; let's be good to those who are good to us, and Jesus will be good to us, as he was to the centurion: "And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health."