PASTOR'S PONDERINGS

The Pastor's Ponderings is a weekly note from one of the pastors that is sent to the congregation. If you would like to be included in the list of subscribers to the Ponderings, you can subscribe here.

Here is the latest Pondering. . .

When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." - Matthew 8:10

One of the issues that Jesus faced in the Gospels was the limitations of people's faith. Approximately ten times he points out someone's lack of faith or refers to their faith as "little faith". One passage even mentions that the people's lack of faith prevented him from healing people. There is a connection between the amount of a person's faith and the ability of Jesus to heal. Jesus also encouraged people by telling them that even a little faith can move mountains.

The one time that the Gospels report Jesus being surprised by faith comes from his encounter with a Roman centurion - a man who represented the occupying government that had conquered the nation of Israel. This was the same army that would crucify Jesus. What amazed Jesus was that the centurion trusted Jesus' word more than his presence. Jesus offered to come to his house and heal his servant, yet the centurion tells him to "only speak the word, and my servant will be healed." (Matthew 8:8)

I think what surprised Jesus is that others wanted him to be present to heal and often struggled to have faith, whereas the centurion trusted him at his word. Jesus sees this level of faith as big faith as opposed to "little faith". He had been seeing a lot of little faith from people and this is one of the few times he sees big faith in someone’s life.

Wouldn't you like to have this kind of faith - a kind of big faith that is fully confident in God no matter what happens in your life? That is what the Roman centurion had, and that was what impressed Jesus. He trusted what Jesus said without a doubt. He understood how authority worked and recognized the authority of Jesus. The centurion teaches us that life with big faith in God leads to big confidence in the face of life’s big trials.

We launch our sermon series, "5 Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith" this weekend. We will start by talking about this big faith and the difference it can make in our lives. Hope to see you there!

Grace & Peace,
Matt