Shame On You ...

“Knowing” but not “doing” provides an opportunity for someone (usually your mom), to utter the phrase “shame on you”.  As an example, you walk through the kitchen spotting a sink full of dishes that need to be washed.  Your mother is already busy with another chore that needs doing around the house.  You know the dishes need to be cleaned.  You know your mom is busy.  But you keep on walking, preferring to do the thing you wanted to do, rather than the thing that needs doing, that might otherwise help out your busy mother.  On Mother’s Day, your decision seems particularly heinous.  But you have faced this same decision on many days before, and made the same one, till the point now, where it hardly dawns on you what you “could” be doing to help out your mother, if you only chose to.  Shame on you comes to mind.

And while shame usually conjures up feelings of guilt, from heaven’s perspective it has another connotation.  All those opportunities you had to serve your family and your mother, where in fact, “opportunities” to serve.  In heaven that is like gold, it is like currency is here on earth.  The population of heaven is always looking for an opportunity to do something for someone else that might have meaning or impact, or make their lives just a little bit better.  In heaven, there is no greater task to do on anyone’s agenda than this.  From the heavenly perspective the “shame” on you, is your lost opportunity to serve.  They cannot fathom why anyone would simply keep on walking when they had instead the glorious opportunity to do something for someone else that could help out, or make their lives just a little bit better.  Mom understands.  Because your decision results in mom ever so quietly doing the dishes, cleaning them for her family.  She knows those dishes are bound to be dirty again, almost as fast as she can clean them.  This does not dissuade her.  Because she loves her family, and she wants them eating from clean plates, gaining the benefits of less germs, and the satisfaction in her heart, that her love translates into service almost everywhere you look.

Sometimes it is harder on mom to serve, than she might let on.  Sometimes her human frailty makes it painful for her to keep standing, to keep cleaning, to keep serving.  But she continues on to the best of her ability.  As she ages this difficulty will only increase.  Each decision you make to simply pass by those tasks you know need doing, whether she ever calls your attention to them or not, are silent echoes of “shame on you” that should be said, or at least noticed.  We accept her service.  We come to expect it.  We come to think of it, as if by magic, our homes are homes.  But it is not magic, or elves, or gremlins, that make our homes a home, it is by the demonstration of someone’s love.  Shame on us, when that demonstration lacks our participation.  We should know better.  We should do better.  But examples that reveal what we should know do not start and end in the home.

Matthew recorded one in his gospel intended for a Jewish audience.  The snippet he records cut right to the quick of a Jewish heart in his day.  It revealed no greater shame.  The contrast was so striking, many would prefer if it did not happen, but it did.  Picking up in the eighth chapter of his gospel starting in verse 5 Matthew begins telling the story of what happened saying … “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,”  Someone was denying the pecking order.  Romans did not ask Jews for anything.  If a Roman had a need, he could simply take what he wanted, and if the Jew disagreed, he could voice his dissent from a Roman cross, or behind a Roman whip.  Centurions were even higher up the food chain.  Not only could a centurion take what he wanted, he had the added benefit of 100 Roman soldiers to insure death and destruction at the whim of his command.  But not so here, this one was different.

Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.”  OK now, we have really entered weirdo-wonderland in this day-and-age.  Not only is a Roman centurion respectfully asking Jesus for something without a single hint of force or consequences (a miracle unto itself), this Roman is worried about a mere servant who is sick at his home.  Servants are nothing in this day-and-age.  They are a dime a dozen.  You can easily just pick someone and make them a servant in your home, again, if they argue about it, they can voice their dissent behind a Roman whip, or a Roman cross.  To have a Roman care enough about a servant to seek healing for him or her is beyond comprehension to the Jewish mind.  They never do this.  Well that is up to now.  It would appear that the Holy Spirit can enter Romans just as well as He enters Jews.

Jesus responds in verse 7 saying … “And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.”  The fall down the rabbit hole continues.  Here is Jesus, not only willing to heal this servant He has never met, He is willing to travel into a Roman’s home to do it.  NO other Rabbi would do this.  NO other Rabbi would even consider it.  Nearly every other Rabbi would be delighted to know the Roman is suffering, and would love for them to get to experience what it is like to see someone they care about suffer and perhaps die.  Turnabout is fair play in the Jewish mind, and in ours.  What goes around comes around.  All is fair in love and war.  Pick your expression.  They all have a basis in trying to screw the guy who is screwing you.  But not so with Jesus.  Jesus loves that servant and it is His will to heal them immediately.  But beyond a healing, Jesus is willing to enter a Roman home, bringing with Him Jewish honor and righteousness into a Roman home, without a moment’s hesitation.

The centurion responds in verse 8 saying … “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. [verse 9] For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”  Finally!  Some level of sanity is going to return to this story.  If Jesus does not understand the social norms of having no Jew enter a Roman household, at least the Roman gets it.  But wait a minute, look closer, look at why the Roman centurion responds as he does.  He says to Jesus “I am not worthy”.  Wow!  Someone sees their need.  Someone sees their own unrighteousness, and is afraid they may dishonor the reputation of Jesus by rubbing their own misdeeds upon the righteous Christ should He enter their doors.  The Roman is concerned about Jesus, and ashamed of himself.

The Roman does not want the honor of Jesus in his home, he does not feel he deserves it.  But wait, he still has a solution.  The Roman understands chain of command, he knows when he issues an order, it will be done, even if it is not done in his presence.  The centurion does not have to be present to witness the order being carried out.  He only has to give an order, and it will be carried out, or the one who fails to do it, can ponder his failure behind a Roman whip, or upon a Roman cross.  So the centurion has a plan to figure this out.  But then too, his plan is based on the idea that Jesus is “one” under authority.  Jesus is not just some ordinary Rabbi that people can choose to listen to, or not.  Jesus is the God behind the church of all the Rabbi’s whether they choose to accept it or not.  The centurion recognizes the authority of God in the form of Jesus.  Thus the centurion knows his plan will work.  Jesus has the authority to give a command and it “will” be carried out.  Not because any sort of whips or crosses are behind it, but because the power of God Himself is behind it, which nothing can stop or delay.

Then comes the beauty of transformation compared with those who still rely upon self for salvation.  Jesus responds in verse 10 saying … “When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”  Matthew says to his fellow Jews, to the bloodline of Abraham, to his fellow disciples … shame on us.  Jesus “marvels” at the faith of the Roman, at the simplicity of what he asks, and at his own recognition of his unworthiness to have God enter his home.  Jesus points out, He has not found so great a faith in all the people of Israel.  Yikes!  A Roman, just out did every other descendant of Abraham in a matter of faith.  Even of those who call themselves His disciples.  How could this be?  How could Jesus have said such a thing?  What kind of shame does this heap on the house of Israel, that a Roman has greater faith?  And the gentle rebuke does not end here for the Jews or for us.

Jesus continues in verse 11 saying … “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. [verse 12] But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  From my point of view this text is awesome!  For I am of Nordic descent, and what it means to me, is that my bloodline is not held against me, nor the pagan history of my ancestors, only that Jesus has extended to me an offer of salvation, of transformation, of a perfection He will work out within me if I will allow it.  And because of His grace, I will look one day across the table at the face of Abraham whose faith inspires my own.  I will meet David, whose heart reflected the passion of our God.  For if I meet them it will not be because I earned it, but because He earned it on my behalf, and saved me from myself.  It will be through Jesus Christ alone that this happens, or it will not happen at all.  This is simply a statement of fact, not intended as threat, but revealed as cause and effect.  Only Jesus can save me, I cannot save me at all.

Those children of bloodlines more closely linked to Abraham.  Of the seven other nations he spawned before his death.  Of Esau, and the nations that descended from his loins.  Of Israel and the continued blood line of Abraham himself.  The advantage of proximity is not a guarantee either, only submission to Jesus Christ guarantees the seat at the table.  A rejection of Jesus; defining him as a prophet, or outstanding Rabbi, but not as a personal savior, leaves one in darkness gnashing teeth for pain.  The universal commonality of false religion begins in the mirror, where one looks to be good enough to be saved.  Odin recognizes that idea.  Mohammed does as well.  Ganesh does as well.  So does Buddha.  And sadly, so do many many Christian religions, denominations, and sects.  Too many Christians have relegated Jesus to the Being who died, rose, and forgives;  but the idea of Him perfecting us from the inside out is foreign to them, and not based on any kind of real submission.  Too many Christians look to the actions of a religious nature they pursue to save themselves. 

We must attend church, read the Bible, pray daily, and be “good” people to our neighbors.  Outside of that, we can have the hearts of a raging demoniac, and crave the things that would destroy us, engaging in them, and then begging forgiveness.  Ever in a cycle of sin-and-forgive, never considering the idea of change, or re-creation; having lost faith that Jesus is a Creator in the first place.  But putting aside our denominations for a moment, putting aside our race, and our cultural heritage.  It only takes one thing to find salvation, it only takes a submission to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  A full surrender of our desires, our will, our decisions to Him, leads to a perfection we begin to slowly come to know, but are completely unable to explain.  This is the difference of Christianity against every other religion.  Because true Christianity is not based on self, it does not have the same results as others do.  It works.  It transforms.  And it leads us to become different, because He makes us different.

Jesus does not forget the Roman in front of Him, for the lesson He would teach His people then, or now, as he continues in verse 13 saying … “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”  Imagine the impact upon the Roman’s faith from this encounter.  Imagine the impact of the servants.  Only the Holy Spirit could have inspired the Roman to so love his servant, that he would reach out to a Jew to find healing for him/her.  Only the Holy Spirit could have convicted the Roman of the surety of the authority of Jesus to carry inside of Him the voice of God Himself.  A Roman.  A centurion at that.  A person whose job would lead them to torture Israelites, or at least unfairly treat the people of God.  The persecutor was to be loved by God so much, that the Holy Spirit would interact with him as well.  If there were to ever be a dichotomy of good and bad people, the Roman would have fallen on the bad side of that equation, and yet his faith surpasses all those on the side of the good.

The lesson is clear for us.  There are no good and bad people in the world.  We are all bad.  And we are all in need of a Savior to save us from who we are.  This is the offer Jesus makes.  Jesus would take every person in the world, no matter how bad, and redeem them unto Himself.  He loves us all.  He makes no division.  And He accepts everyone, interacts with everyone, and loves everyone with a passion we will never understand.  Finally, He can save every one of us.  Each of us.  You and me.  He is the only God offering to do so, and the only God able to follow through on that promise.  By contrast, Odin expects me to earn my place in Valhalla, dying a noble death in battle, soaked in the blood of my enemies.  The version of heaven Odin understands is forevermore repeating the battles in heaven, dying each day, resurrecting for the parties each night, and repeating the process for infinity. 

Jesus offers to perfect me for His kingdom.  He soaked Himself in His own blood on behalf of His enemies (including me).  His idea of Heaven is place where the exploration of love and discovery have no end, or upper limits.  The actions of love we take in heaven are ones of service to make the lives of others just a little bit better.  There will be no “shame on me” in His kingdom, because He bore all my shame, to exchange it for infinity with me and Him together forever united.  The contrast is so striking it can barely be comprehended.  My Jesus is my God.  Odin is only myth, and sad myth at that.  Jesus is interactive, not done with me yet, but certainly working with me every day.  Jesus does that.  Odin has never lifted off the pages of history.  Jesus is here today.  But it is not Odin I fear.  It is the man in the mirror, finding a way to never truly submit to the Jesus I know can save me.  Odin is not my enemy or the enemy of my Lord, I am.  My will is opposed to His own.  So I must learn to submit my will to Jesus instead.  What I want is in opposition to Jesus, so I must learn to want to different things, by allowing Jesus to change what I want.  How I love is dwarfed against what is possible, so I must learn to reflect the love of Jesus through me, and begin to experience what love is really like.  I give Jesus me, so that He can slay me, and re-create His version of me.  That is who I wish to be, no clinging to the legacy of who I am today.  I need to be rid of this me, that is what salvation is all about … for me.

I hope to be the guy who never walks past a stack of dirty dishes again.  Not to avoid the shame of it, but to experience the joy of service in it …