What Makes a Christian’s Faith Great?

2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 6/23/19
Luke 7:1-10


What Makes a Christian’s Faith Great?
I. It resides in a humble heart.
II. It takes Jesus at his word.
III. It recognizes who Jesus is.


How do you define greatness? Do any of these sound close to what you consider greatness to be?

1. Greatness is a journey that begins with the impossible and turns into the unforgettable - Miguel Torres.
2. It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him - John Steinbeck.
3. Everybody can be great…because everybody can serve - Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. A great man stands on God. A small man stands on a great man - Ralph Waldo Emerson

How do you define greatness? I suppose that depends on the subject matter. Are we talking about a food recipe, visual art, a music composition, an athlete, a test grade, a friendship or a marriage? If one of those is the subject matter, we might receive as many opinions of greatness as the people we ask.

This morning’s worship theme encourages us to place our trust in Jesus because he’s worthy of it. He has provided undisputable evidence that he’s worthy of our trust. But Jesus knows that all of us, every Christian, struggles with trusting him. That doesn’t happen all the time. There are times in our lives when we’re amazed at our trust in the Lord and we give evidence of it by something that we said or did. But there are far too many times when we fail the test, when our faith is unremarkable at best and shattered at worst.

And none of us is proud of that! Am I right? As we look back on moments of weakness of faith, we’re filled with remorse. That’s not who we are. That’s not who our Savior made us to be.

But what makes a Christian’s faith great? I’m sure there are quite a few biblically sound answers to that question. But let’s focus on the three of them that are evident in the faith of the centurion before us this morning in Luke 7. Jesus himself commented about his faith, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such a great faith even in Israel.” May Jesus send us his Holy Spirit through his word this morning and produce a great faith in us!

Part I.

If I ask you to, could you name the “seven deadly sins”? I’ll bet you can name some of them. The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. I don’t think it’s any accident that pride is listed first. In fact. The Bible states, “Pride goes before destruction” (Prov. 16:18). When it comes to the reasons people so often fall into sin, sinful pride is at the top of the list. We think far more of ourselves than we should.

It would have been easy, considering his environment, for the centurion mentioned here in Luke 7 to fall into the deadly sin of pride. Pride could have easily consumed his heart. He was a centurion in the greatest army in the world at this time. You’ve heard of army pride? Surely, he possessed it. And because of it, he could have been loathed by the very people he was under orders to control—the Jews. It’s well-known that the Jews hated the Romans. But did you catch the surprising information in Luke’s account? The Jewish elders—the Jewish leaders—respected him and went out of their way to do a favor for him. He was such a good man that even people who should have hated him appreciated him and wanted to do what they could to help him. He was a good man—and he could have been filled with pride over it. In fact, he was so good—outwardly speaking—that he had even built a synagogue for the Jews. Knock me over with a Jewish feather! Might he have even used his own personal funds to do so? This guy was incredible! And it might have all gone to his head.

But notice his humility. “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.” Didn’t deserve to have a Jewish man come to the home of a Roman army official, and one who had been so helpful to the Jews?! Who would have blamed him if he expected a return favor from Jesus? He had built a house for the Jews in which to worship, so now he expected Jesus to at least show up at his house. But no! He doesn’t feel worthy. Why? Because he knows that he is a sinful human being and that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and Savior of the world and he has no business bothering the Savior to come to him.

And that’s what makes a Christian’s faith great! It resides in a humble heart.

So, by that measure, is your Christian faith great? It all depends on the attitude of your heart. What resides there? Do you comfort yourself with the feeling that, as far as human beings go, you’re better than average, even better than most? And if you can’t recall looking up at yourself, can you ever recall looking down at others? Let’s be honest. There have been times in our lives when our pride-filled attitudes would have expected a visit from Jesus. So much for our great faith in Jesus! Rather, we need to have the centurion’s heart. “Lord, I’m not worthy to have you pay any attention to me. I’ve sinned against you…daily. I beg for your forgiveness.” And he does forgive us by faith in him! What makes a Christian’s faith great? It resides in a humble heart.

Part II.

How many of your short conversations have ended abruptly under the dark cloud of these harsh words: “I told you!”? You heard them speak their words to you earlier, but you didn’t take them to heart. You didn’t follow them. Perhaps you thought you knew better. But you found out that their words actually were reliable and meant something.

Words mean something. The centurion knew that from daily experience. Listen to him speak, “But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” Do you understand what he said? His experience as a man of authority is that when he tells a subordinate to go or to do something, he goes or does it. Period. End of sentence. That’s the way it is in the ranks of the Roman army.

And if that’s the case there, then surely it is the case with the Commander of the heavenly army. This man’s great faith trusted that he could take Jesus at his word. He didn’t need Jesus to stand over his servant, touch his body in some dramatic way and, in doing so, heal him. He knew that the One who called heaven and earth into existence with his word could also heal his servant with just a word. He knew that because the word of Jesus is the word of the almighty Son of God. That’s what made his faith great.

So, take Jesus at his word! What he calls a sin is sin. What he says is pleasing to him is pleasing to him. What he tells us to do and what not to do is what God is telling us. And when he tells us to place our confidence in him, that’s what we need to do. That’s what makes a Christian’s faith great.

But that’s so hard at times. Think of how often we’ve determined that what Jesus tells us to do is simply not in our best interests. Think of how often we have decided that we know better than he does. Or, consider how often we’ve taken a position opposite the centurion’s. It goes like this: “Your word isn’t enough for me, Lord. I need you to do more.” But that’s why we’re here today – to remind ourselves of the truth that Jesus is worthy of our trust. He has never failed us. He has always kept every one of his promises to us. He kept his promise to die for us and rise again. He gives us life with him. Take him at his word! That’s a great faith!

Part III.

Have you ever gone to someone for help, but were disappointed? I’m sure you can relate. It’s happened more often than you care to admit.

So, what would cause a gentile Roman centurion to go to Jesus for help with his servant? I’m sure you know. It’s because he knew and believed Jesus was the eternal Son of God. That’s why Jesus commended his faith. Jesus wasn’t his easiest option or his cheapest option. Jesus was his ONLY option because he was convinced that Jesus is God.

He also knew and believed that Jesus was his Savior from sin. Remember, his heart was full of humility because he admitted his depravity before the holy God. In the person of Jesus he knew he had forgiveness. He knew he had a Savior.

And it’s also likely that this centurion believed that Jesus would do what was best. That’s a hard lesson for anyone to learn. But isn’t that a component of a great faith? You’re willing to accept whatever Jesus determines is best for you. That’s the mark of a great faith and Jesus declared his faith to be great.

Is your faith great? To answer that question, go through the checklist that we just created regarding the centurion’s faith. He believed that Jesus is the almighty Son of God. Check. He believed that Jesus is the only Savior from sin. Check. He believed that Jesus always does what is best for him. Check.

Did you check that last box? You can if Jesus is always your first go-to in times of trouble. You can if you never doubt your Lord Jesus. You can if you willingly endure whatever Jesus allows to come your way in life. So, are you still checking that box? For all the times that we can’t and don’t, let’s pray, “Lord, I do believe in you. Help me overcome my unbelief.” And he does! He reminds us that we are forgiven for failing to take him at his word. He sends us his Holy Spirit through word and sacrament to increase our faith. And he leads and guides us through the next storm of life. He does so, because he is the almighty Son of God and your Savior.

What makes a Christian’s faith great? It recognizes who Jesus is, who he always will be—your God and your Savior.

Trust him as your God and Savior! Now that’s a great faith! Amen.