Luke 7:1-10
Before I begin, I am going to
provide a little explanation, because I am about to unload some Episcopal
jargon on you. You will note in our
Prayer Book that we have two rites. We
essentially have two different versions of the words that we use in the service
(our liturgy). Rite 1 is similar to the
1928 prayer book. Some of you will remember the 1928 prayer book with great
fondness, some of you do not know that our prayer book has a date. The Rite 1 language sounds a little more old
fashioned. It is more penitential,
meaning it talks about sin and our need to be forgiven. We use that rite during Lent and Advent. Rite 2 is what we use the rest of the
time. I did not grow up with the 1928
prayer book. I became an Episcopalian long after the 1979 prayer book became
standard. Nor did I grow up using the
Rite 1 liturgy. I grew up with the Roman
Catholic liturgy, which is pretty similar to our liturgy.
While I did not grow up with the Rite 1
language, I find myself longing for it at times, especially one prayer in
particular that was left out of Rite 2.
It is called the Prayer of Humble Access. We say it right before we receive the
Eucharist. It starts like this, “We do
not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own
righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather the
crumbs under thy table.” I think one of
the things that appeals to me about this prayer is that it reminds me of one of
my favorite prayers in the Catholic Church.
“Lord we are not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and we
shall be healed.” [1]
Both of these prayers reference
parts of today’s Gospel story. In
today’s Gospel, we hear a story of a centurion who asks for Jesus’ help with
his sick servant. A centurion is a Roman
soldier. This meant that he was not
Jewish. He was a Gentile. The Jews and the Gentiles did not get along
most of the time. A Jew could not enter
the home of a Gentile nor could a Jew welcome a Gentile into his home. Not only
was this man a Gentile, he was a Roman soldier.
He was a member of the army that was oppressing the Jewish people. It was odd that he was even requesting the
assistance of a Jew. What is even stranger
is that he was appealing to his Jewish acquaintances to petition this other
Jew. He was a high ranking
official. He could have just sent some soldiers
and had Jesus brought to him. That is
not what he did.
Already we know that the centurion
was unique. The Jews proclaimed that he
was “worthy of having you do this for him.”
According to the Jewish elders, he was worthy not only of Jesus’
presence, but his assistance. He had
been a friend to the Jewish people. He
had even built them a synagogue. For
those reasons, the Jewish elders proclaimed him worthy. We do not know whether it was the
recommendation of the Jewish elders or simply the request of the centurion, but
Jesus did not hesitate. He immediately
went to this man’s home. However, before Jesus arrived at his home, the
centurion sent a message saying, “Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not
worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to
you. But only speak the word and my servant will be healed.” This statement left Jesus amazed. Jesus was amazed.
Often times we hear about people being
amazed in the Bible. However, it is
usually people being amazed by Jesus…not the other way around. The centurion’s
words by themselves don’t seem that amazing.
They were respectful. They were
humble. But come on- that seems
appropriate given that he was speaking to the Son of God and asking for a
miracle.
I have often heard people express that
they are uncomfortable with some of the language of our Rite 1 liturgy,
particularly the Prayer of Humble Access.
The statement, “We are not worthy….” brings up all kinds of negative
feelings. It might remind us of our own
insecurities. It might remind us of a
Christian somewhere sometime who made us feel bad about ourselves. Surely, God loves us all
unconditionally. If so why are we using
this kind of language? Why do we have to
feel bad about ourselves in order to receive the Eucharist?
Here’s the thing. We aren’t worthy. By ourselves, without the grace of God, we
aren’t worthy. No one likes to hear
that. You are all probably regretting telling me that you missed me the last
couple of months if this is what I am going to tell you. But it’s not about feeling bad about
ourselves. Much like the centurion- it’s
about approaching God with humility.
It’s about asking for things instead of expecting them.
One of the others words for worthy
is sufficient, or enough. The centurion
was admitting to Jesus that he wasn’t quite sufficient to receive Jesus into
his home. This is something that really
resonates with me, the idea of not being enough. I struggle with that often and I don’t think
I am the only person who does. That notion of feeling as though we are not good
enough can have a devastating effect on our soul. We are constantly trying to
please others and please ourselves. We
have to be better than others. We have
to be better than we were the day before. As a result we are constantly
disappointed that we aren’t good enough.
We could be so much more content and at peace if we stopped trying to be
enough.
Now you might be thinking, hey you
just told us we are not worthy, what’s the deal? Here it is. What if we could accept the fact
that we are not quite good enough, but that recognizing our unworthiness amazes
God? Let me say that again. What if we
could accept the fact that we are not quite good enough, but that recognizing
our unworthiness not only pleases God, but amazes God? We can amaze God not by being good enough, not
by being worthy, but simply by displaying humility and admitting that we need
God. Like the centurion we can admit
that God has the power to make up for whatever we lack. We are not sufficient
without Jesus. But with Jesus, we are
more than enough.
Here’s the other amazing thing. We pray the Prayer of Humble Access right
before we receive the body and blood of Christ.
Immediately after we admit that we are not worthy, we kneel at the rail
and receive the body and blood of Jesus.
We never say that prayer and skip communion. Because when we approach Christ with
humility, when we ask for his presence in our lives…he always says yes. Saying that we are not worthy is not about
beating ourselves up. It’s about freeing
ourselves so that we can truly appreciate the gift that God has for us. It creates space in our heart and our souls
to receive Jesus.
[1] The
Roman Catholic Church has changed this portion to better reflect the text. I use this text as that was what I grew up
with.
