3rd Epiphany 2016, Letting Go

3rd Epiphany

Jesus Heals Leper

Matthew 8, 1-13

When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And behold, a man with leprosy approached him, and kneeling down before him said, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

And immediately he was cleared of his leprosy. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priests and offer to them the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony of your cleansing.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Roman captain, leader of a hundred soldiers, approached him, pleading with him and saying, “Lord, my boy lies at home, paralyzed, suffering great pain.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Just say a word, and my boy will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. If I say one word to this one—‘Go, ’  he goes, and if I tell another ‘Come,’ he comes. If I tell my servant ‘Do this,’ he does it.

Jesus Heals Centurion's Boy

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, the truth I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great power of trust. And I tell you, that many will come from the east and from the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the darkness of [godforsaken] external existence, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go home.  Let it be done to you as you have believed.”

And the boy was healed in that hour.

3rd Epiphany

January 24, 2016

Matthew 8, 1-13

If we hold a stone, we trust that if we let go, it will fall to the ground. If it is a helium balloon, we trust that if we let go, it will rise to the sky. It does no good to demand that they do otherwise than what God has ordained them to do.

In the gospel reading, a lowly outcast approaches Jesus, and in courage and trust asks to be healed. He trusts that Jesus will heal him if Jesus wills it. And a high officer does the same. He approaches Jesus in humility for the sake of another. He trusts Jesus the same way he would trust his own commanding officer. It is their trust in Christ that allows for their healing. The souls are healthy; only the body is ill. They ask, and then they cede control; they let go and bow in humility before God’s will.

Roland Tiller

In our lives, too, we can trust in Christ’s destiny guidance. We can ask in humility for cleansing and healing. And in humility we can let go of control, trusting in what God has ordained.

And at the same time, we can trust that whatever the outcome, whether we rise or fall, Christ is accompanying the direction of our lives, and especially the direction of our souls. As it says in the service, our ‘housing’ may be sick, yet Christ’s creative word enables us to change and evolve; our souls can become healthy. Our humble courage and trust in asking for soul healing makes straight the paths of the Lord of Karma into our lives.