Who is worthy?

Monday, September 12, 2016

From the Gospel according to Luke (7:10-10)

Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; . . .

say the word and my servant shall be healed.

These words from the Gospel of Saint Luke provide the basis of the prayer we say at every single Mass right before receiving the Eucharist: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. They were originally spoken by a Roman Centurion who was asking the Lord to heal his servant. Jesus marveled at his faith and healed the servant from afar. We can certainly imagine that some among the Jewish leaders were completely scandalized by this little scene. Jesus spoke to heal a Roman, the hated enemies and suppressors of Israel. This should indeed be a sign to us that Jesus’ love and compassion and healing power was to be extended to those who were not of the self-acknowledged “proper” members of His people. But what Jesus was demonstrating to them that “His people” included those they would consider as improper and, indeed, unworthy.

The Centurion acknowledges this: “I am not worthy.” But as a man of power and authority, he recognizes that power and authority that Jesus has---which is something that many of his own people refused to see and respect, let along to celebrate that fact that such a marvelous sign was being performed among them. As Saint John would say in the prologue to his Gospel: “To his own he came, yet his own did not accept him. Any who did accept him he empowered to become children of God.”

So the Centurion and his servant are embraced into the divine family above and beyond of those who should have been automatically included but whose hardness of heart refused to accept this gift.

So what does this mean for us? I’d like to point out the following:

·         We are not worthy. No one is worthy to receive the very Body and Blood of the Lord into his or her own body.

·         The fact that we are not worthy does not mean that the Lord refuses to give us this gift.

·         Those that we may feel or think are not worthy are also included in the family of God by virtue of their faith, not their worthiness or suitableness. Some of these the Church itself declares to be (temporarily) excluded from receiving the gift, and there are many within the Church these days who are disturbed by this contradiction, but we must remember that Jesus said to Peter, “what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (This statement is recorded twice in Matthew’s Gospel: 16:19 and 18:18). (I for one pray that the day will come when the Eucharist is open to all no matter what their circumstances, for all are unworthy and all need the gift that Christ died to give us.)

·         Having acknowledged our unworthiness, we then turn our attention to what we all need so desperately: Healing. And by placing this statement so close to the moment when we receive the Eucharist, the Church is underscoring the reality that the Eucharist is, first and foremost, about healing.

·         Sometimes we recite these words mindlessly, and fail to realize that we are about to receive what works healing within us. It would be a far better thing if we were to be truly mindful that we are, indeed, approaching the altar so that might be healed. As one Lutheran writer once said (and I forget his name): Sometimes we come to the service and our arms are not open enough to receive all the blessings the Lord is waiting to pour upon us. Approach the altar with arms wide open, with heart wide open, and awestruck that the Lord will do so much for someone who is so basically unworthy. This gets to the very heart of the Lord’s mercy and compassion: mercy and compassion that is meant for all who will believe.

God bless you!