Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
December 21, 2003 - W0351

What is the greatest gift this Christmas season? Sometimes the answer depends on whom you ask. Some people may answer with: ìHow much do you have to spend?î You could be like Britney Spears, who, in one day last Christmas spent $155,000 for family and friends. She would be a shadow to Ben Affleck who bought Jennifer Lopezís mother a $230, 000 Mercedes-Benz. Not wanting to leave J.Lo out of the picture, he bought his girlfriend a $70,000 fur and an engagement ring that cost just over $1million. Yet, is there something you could give to God and He would say, ìWow!î to?  What does the Bible have to say to this question? The Bible mentions one of these ìgreatest giftsî.

Q. 1: What is the most ìexpensiveî gift youíve ever received/ given?

There is a story in the Bible about a Roman centurion or Roman soldier. This soldier had a servant who was deathly ill and he asked Jesus to heal him. ìNow when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, ëTruly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israelíî (Matt. 8:10).

Did you know that there are levels of faith? Jesus was so touched by this Roman soldierís request that he commended him and could not compare him to anyone in Israel. What kind of faith marvels the Lord and causes Heaven to take notice? I want you to notice that it wasnít a great Rabbi, theologian, government official, or celebrity that exemplified this elite type of faith. Sometimes we think that great faith that marvels God requires a ìgreatî person with excellent speaking abilities or are well-known, etc. but it was an ordinary person, a soldier in the army.

w        THE GREATEST KIND OF FATIH IS:

1.      A FAITH THAT IDENTIFIES WITH GOD.

A little background on this ordinary Roman centurion: in order to secure devotion from these centurions to the emperor or Cesar, they would set up the ruler as a demi-god. A demi-god is someone who is half-god and half-man. In that way, when this ìdemi-godî would speak, there would be an immediate allegiance. If in anyway one would ignore the emperorís voice, one would receive the curses of the Roman gods. Therefore, if a Roman centurion would take this devotion and instead give it to Jesus Christ, it would be considered a blasphemous act and worthy of death. This act would be equivalent to taking allegiance to one god and switching to another. This Roman centurion had to make a choice to identify with God; he couldnít go both ways. It was a massive identity switch that even risked death to ask for help openly.

ìAnd when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him...saying, ëLord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.í Jesus said to him, ëI will come and heal himí. But the centurion said, ëLord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healedíî (Matt. 8: 5-8).

ìI am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone...î (Rom. 1:16).

One of the things that marvel God and heaven is when we choose to identify with Him. It is so easy to be a ìChameleonî Christian. A chameleon is a lizard that can change colors. If you put it on a brown branch, it will turn brown. If you put it on a green leaf, it starts to turn green. It turns the color of its environment. Sometimes as Christians, we compromise and try to blend in with the worldís environments too. Many times, it makes us ashamed of the gospel. God is looking for people unashamed of the gospel and each of us gets to learn the value of identifying with Christ.

I remember a time when I was first saved I had a bumper sticker that said: ìSelect Jesus Christ as your Saviorî on my car. At the time, I was about to go to Bible college and before I left, a friend called me to go to a huge going-away keggar party. I said I would go; it would be a ìlast flingî thing. As I was driving there I remembered the bumper sticker and thought, oh no, I have Jesus on my bumper! So, I pulled over, peeled it off and threw it on the back seat. When I got to the party, I started drinking and smoking pakalolo (marijuana). But, right in the middle of it I suddenly wondered what I was doing there? I didnít even want to do those things. I felt like I was in a foreign country. I remember leaving and on the way home, I remembered what I did to that bumper sticker. I started crying because I had chosen not to identify with Jesus. It was the worst feeling in the world. I pulled over into this place called Fred Meyer and started pulling apart the crumpled sticker and through my tears, apologizing to God. I put that sticker back on my car with scotch tape and it wasnít taken off until I sold it. It was like God saying: are you willing to identify with me or are you ashamed of me? Iíve never forgotten that. The neat thing with God is that he changes our hearts before he changes our behavior. If our hearts are changed, all those behaviors that are not of Him begin to fade away. We become a new creation and not just a remodeled one. Bury the old, dead person.

Q. 2: Is there a time when you became a ìChameleonî Christian to blend in? What made it difficult to identify with Christ in the situation?

So the first thing to remember about the greatest kind of faith is that it is a faith that identifies with God. The next is:

2.      A COMPLETE TRUST IN GODíS WORD.

ìThe centurion said, ëLord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one ìGo!î and he goes, and to another, ìCome!î and he comes, and to my slave, ìDo this!î and he does itíî (Matt. 8:8-9).

It was after this statement that Jesus marveled. The centurion understood that Jesus just had to  ìsay the wordî and his servant would be healed. In Psalms 33 we see how God would speak and stars would stay still. In Isaiah 55:11 God says ìMy word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent itî. In Hebrews 4:12, it says that the word of God is living and active. The centurion understood the power of the word. He didnít have to question, debate, or doubt it. Essentially, what he is saying is that when we believe/obey Godís word, we honor the one who speaks them. If we disobey or question Godís word, then we doubt the one who sent it.

Another point to notice here is that the centurion was not asking healing for himself, but, for another. Not only that but, he was imploring God on behalf of a servant! This soldier was a Roman centurion; an important soldier and his servant could have been disposable. He was risking his life and interceding not on behalf of himself but for another.  Did you know that the greatest kind of faith comes not when we use Godís word for ìusî? It is totally the opposite. In fact, it is exactly the kind of self-sacrificing faith that Jesus had because even Jesus said that he came not to be served but to serve.

Q. 3: How much percent of our prayers are for ourselves? Have you ever prayed all day but about yourself?

When you start praying for others, you start to exemplify the greatest kind of faith. I remember a time when my wife Anna and I had Amy as a baby and she was sick, there was something wrong with her stomach and we didnít know what to do. Amy kept crying and Anna was just worn out and she needed some rest. So I took her and it got to be 2 in the morning and Amy was still crying. I felt so bad for her and began to pray: ìLord, this child has no idea whatís causing the pain or even what pain means. Lord, would you please, please answer this prayer and take this sickness and give it to me.î And, you know, God was so gracious because she started to settle down and I didnít get sick at all. He taught me that the greatest kind of faith is when we implore His power on behalf of another. There is nothing at all wrong with praying for ourselves, but letís balance it out and pray for others too.

And finally, the greatest kind of faith isÖ

3.  ACTING ON WHAT WE BELIEVE REGARDLESS OF WHAT WE SEE.

ìAnd Jesus said to the centurion, ëGo; it shall be done for you as you have believed.í And the servant was healed that momentî (Matt. 8:13).  

Even though Jesus said that he would heal the centurionís servant, the soldier still had to walk home and find that out. He didnít see the healing happen in front of him. What do you think was going on in his heart as he made that journey home?  Well, he had to live in such a way that he believed the servant was healed without physical evidence. He had to walk home by faith that the healing had already taken place even though he hadnít yet seen it with his own eyes. If we can live with such a state of heart without seeing it but believing what God has said, God is saying that this is the greatest kind of faith. A lot of times we see and then we thank God for it. Many times we question that if we canít see it, we canít praise God for it. But, God gives us a promise and a hope for future things. It is similar to Thomas, one of Jesusí disciples who doubted Jesus.

ìJesus said to him, ëbecause you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believedíî (John 20:29).

Let me finish with a story of a kid that used to be in my youth group in Oregon before I came to Hawaii, Don Mahalka. He had come to know the Lord in California and I asked him how. He said that it was from someone who chose to identify with God. This guy was a hero to him. He was in a large science class and it was in a large lecture hall. The teacher taught about how we humans came about through evolution. The teacher then said that he hoped people didnít believe in the fairytale or fable of the Bible and how God created man out of dirt; it just happened. Then one kid raised his hand and said yes, that he did believe. Don and all the rest of the kids couldnít believe it. The teacher then ushered the student to come down from his seat as all the eyes of the classroom was focused on them.

ìYou mean to tell me that,î the teacher said as he poked the student, ìthat you believe that stuff?î

The student replied, ìYes, sir. I do.î

ìAnd you believe God.î

ìYes.î

ìAnd you believe God does miracles?î

ìYes. I believe He can.î

ìThen if I drop this test tube and drop it on the cement, God would not allow it if you prayed?î

ìYes. I believe if God doesnít want it break, it wonít.î

ìGood. Then Iíll drop it,î the teacher sneered.

ìUh, before you drop that, could I pray?î the student asked.

ìGreat. Pray,î the teacher scoffed.

Don told me that this guy got on his knees in front of the whole classroom and said: ìLord, I know You are real but everyone here does not. Somehow, would You prove Youíre real? In Jesus Christ, Amen.î  With that, the teacher dropped the test tube. It landed on his shoe and rolled onto the floor.

What if we lived like this? God encourages us to identify with Him and entreat for others and not just for ourselves with complete trust in His word. God encourages us to act on what we believe regardless of the circumstances. If we live in such a way God says that we are operating in the greatest level of faith there is.

Q. 4: How would you rate your faith? Do you struggle with identifying with Christ, trusting His word or with acting on what you believe rather than your feelings? To what extent?

Q. 5: What are some specific steps you can take to start living a more ìfaith-fullî life?

Much mahalo, Liz Texeira (our newest volunteer wirter) for this week's summary. Great job! ! !