Whitegate, (Little Budworth), Trinity 1, Proper 4, 2/6/2013
Never underestimate the miracles of Jesus in the gospels; it is our faith that they happened as reported in the scriptures, and that lives were changed supernaturally by the intervention of our Lord, as they still can be today. Miracles show us that Jesus heals. But also understand that the miracles often serve to underline another important aspect of Jesus’ character and mission. And so, in todays’s gospel, the miracle of the healing of the centurion’s servant involves a discussion about authority, it is a lesson in authority.
‘Lord, I am not worthy to receive you into my house’, the centurion says in verses 7 and 8, ‘but as a man with authority in my field I understand the authority that you carry; so only say the word and I know that my servant will be healed.’
Now authority is not a popular concept today. We lack confidence in so-called authority figures; endless reporting of the private misdemeanours of public figures makes us reluctant to place ourselves in the trust of politicians, priests, public servants; there are people who we recognise as ‘authority figures’ in a particular field, but outside of that particular area of expertise we’re not inclined to let them influence us.
In our highly specialised, compartmentalised, divided, society we tend to regard ourselves as autonomous individuals, able to stand on our own without reference to higher authorities. To show allegiance, to admit dependence, we regard as signs of weakness.
Yet I suggest that we do all subject ourselves to authority, to outside forces, higher powers, willingly or unwillingly, wittingly or subconsciously. I suggest that though we may think that we are islands, entire to ourselves, we aren’t - but rather, that we are formed by the values and expectations and behaviour of those around us. From the day we first begin to imitate our parents, as tiny children, to the day when we decide what career we should take, or who we should marry, we subject ourselves to the authority of others; our desires are determined by what others desire, our decisions depend on the decisions which friends and family have made around us. In a very real sense these significant others authorise our life choices.
And consider again those news stories about errant politicians and priests which we soak up unquestioningly: in so doing we demonstrate how much authority the media has in our lives. And consider the authority we give to rumour or gossip at the school gates or in the village hall...
Which is why it is so important for us Christians to read the Bible alongside the newspapers day by day, to put the authority of one in dialogue with the authority of the other. And to test what other people tell us against the values of scripture. So, returning to our miracle - the centurion carried what we might call secular authority, or temporal authority, just like military leaders or captains of industry or those who have the power to authorise us bank loans or the custody of our children, or make us their Facebook Friend (and I don’t say that lightly - it’s worth reflecting on the amount of authority which social media carries in our society today). But the centurion saw that Jesus was under the authority of a greater power - one able to break through where secular authority, temporal power, fails. One with the power to heal.
Now today we recollect the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II [2], a monarch we have been blessed with for sixty long years, a good monarch, one whose authority most of us are happy to subject ourselves to, for she is a wise and caring woman, a rock, a person of integrity and firm faith, who clearly cares for her subjects. And we can see that, in the words of the old Prayer Book, God ‘so rule[s her] heart ..., that she (knowing whose minister she is) [does] above all things [seek His] honour and glory.’
The best monarchs are those who manage to save themselves from megalomania, who avoid becoming obsessed with building themselves up at the expense of their subjects. To do this they have to have a sense of something or someone to whom they themselves are subject. And this is why Elizabeth is such an example to us, for she is explicit about her understanding of her dependence on God. In a recent Christmas Day broadcast she said,
‘I know just how much I rely on my own faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. Like others of you who draw inspiration from your own faith, I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.’
Our Queen is happy to place herself under the authority of God. It’s perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from her, to be a willing subject of God, conscious of being formed in love, of living in hope, of drawing inspiration from a greater power who is for us, not against us, a Lord who is authorised to bring healing to our broken bodies and souls in a broken world.
DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS MEOS - the Latin words alongside the image of Elizabeth on the Diamond Jubilee £5 coins mean ‘MAY THE LORD DIRECT MY STEPS’.
Our Queen willingly accepts the authority of God, and in that is a great example to us. Which is why in our old Prayer book service we can confidently pray ‘that we and all her subjects (duly considering whose authority she hath) may faithfully serve, honour, and humbly obey her, in thee, and for thee, according to thy blessed Word and ordinance; through Jesus Christ our Lord.’
So, to the Christ who convinced the centurion that he was under the authority of a greater power - one able to break through where secular authority, temporal power, fails; to the Christ who has been given the power to heal - let us place our allegience, our trust, our hope, today.
Notes
[1] A substantial part of this Whitegate sermon is based on Do you object to being a subject?, preached at services of Thanksgiving for the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in June 2012. Also preached in modified form at Little Budworth, 2/6/2013, referencing Mark 3.7-9 (Jesus authorises the twelve to cast out demons).
[2] The Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June, 1953. The liturgy of the service can be read here.
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