Seeing Ourselves Clearly

Luke 7:1-10

Let’s remind ourselves again what Paul says in Romans 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Last night we took a step towards living unashamed, in learning how to see God more clearly. This morning, we learn more about what it means to live unashamed—seeing ourselves clearly. This connects to last night’s lesson, b/c if we’re not seeing God through the right lens (Scripture), we’re not seeing ourselves through the right lens.

Mirror Example:

If I were to ask you to stand in front of a mirror and look at your reflection, and then tell me the first two or three things that come to mind about yourself, what would they be? How would you describe this person? What is it you, “see,” when you look at yourself?

Other People Example:

Now, taking what you just described about that person (you)

Would that change when you’re around your parents are?

Would that change when you’re hanging out with your friends?

Would that change around your B/F or G/F—or even the boy or girl you liked and wanted to impress?

Would that change when you’re at church/youth group—did it change in coming here?

We want to people to see us a certain way, b/c we have a need to feel accepted

We want our parents to approve of us, so we will look/act a certain way

We want our friends to approve of us, so we will look/act a certain way

We want our B/F or G/F to approve of us (like us), so we will look/act a certain way

We want God to accept us, so again, we will look a different way

Talk in “Christian language” only in Christian environments

Act with “Christian behavior” only in Christian environments or when Christian people are around.

How many different lenses you are wearing? How many times do you switch lenses everyday in order to “fit in,” “be liked,” or “feel accepted and loved.” So long as your “lenses” are worldly “lenses,” you will struggle to live in the “lens,” rather image you were created to bear.

This morning’s lesson teaches us a lesson on seeing ourselves clearly. Our Scripture comes from Luke 7:1-10 and our example from an unlikely source—a Roman Centurion.

What we know of Roman Soldiers

They were highly trained military men, not known for their compassion

Their responsibility was to Caesar and Rome and so was there allegiance—to go against this allegiance would most certainly mean death

They were to keep the peace by whatever means necessary

They were bullies, bride takers, and bad news

What we known about a Roman Centurion (a name which means, “captain of 100”)

Considered the backbone of the Roman army, they were infantry-men known as “Legionaries”

Considered to be fierce warriors and fierce supporters of Caesar and Rome (they had to be in order to be in the Roman army)

What we know about slaves in Jesus day:

Slaves were labeled as “nothing,” as “tools,” or “something to be used as the owner wished.”

Slaves had no rights whatsoever, not even the right to live

Slaves could be mistreated and killed by their master(s) without the master having to give an account

If anyone had a worldly lens to look through, it was him

Yet what we will see through the statements and actions of the Roman Centurion in Luke 7 is a truth about how we are to see ourselves.

(READ LUKE 7:1-10)

I. (v.1-2) Setting and Set-Up

Luke 7:1–2 “Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.”

(CONTEXT) Seeing ourselves clearly requires great faith:

There was something different about this Roman Centurion

He was respected by the Jewish elders of the town—note what they said of him:

“And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.””

He was a man, unlike so many Roman soldiers, who cared deeply for people: “…who was dear to him…”.

To hold a person “dear” (in the Greek) meant to esteem and honor them, or hold them precious and prized.

He was man who personally looked after this slave—who meant meant absolutely nothing to anyone else

He was man, willing to do all he could for this person, who was utterly helpless

How the centurion could have looked at himself:

Through the lens of pride—pride of his position and authority

Through the lens of the culture—again, it was of no consequence if a slave were mistreated, died, or was killed while under their masters care

Through the lens of what others might have thought—if I help this man, “friends” might think less of me or “disown” me

Through the lens of fear—to depend and align oneself on anything contrary to “Rome,” especially someone who’s message and claims were completely contrary to Rome could have resulted in the loss—of his job, of his citizenship, or even his life.

However, the centurion refused to look through these lenses and instead looked through the lens of what he knew about Jesus…and what he knew about Jesus, made him feel unworthy.

II. (v.3) The Centurion saw himself clearly, b/c he put himself in a positions to learn about Jesus

Luke 7:3 “So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.”

“So when he heard about Jesus…” (we will see this phrase again)

The centurion was in a place where he could hear about Jesus—hear about the message of hope and healing, restoration and redemption; but he also would have learned something about himself

He was a sinner, a terrible sinner—a Roman heathen, totally unworthy and rejected in the eyes of most and in sending Jewish elders, more than likely assumed Jesus would count him unworthy and reject him as well

He was soldier, who being trained to take like, had more than likely done just that—and this was contrary to Christ’s message of love and brotherhood

“…sent elders of the Jews to Him…”

The Centurion asked for intercession—for help; this teaches us

Despite his sense of unworthiness, he didn’t allow that to defeat him

Despite his sense of unworthiness, he wasn’t too proud to ask for help (despite his position of authority)

III. (v.4-5) The Centurion saw himself clearly, b/c he believed no one else but Jesus could help his servant—he believed in the power and authority of Jesus.

Luke 7:4–5 “And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.””

IV. (v.6-8) The Centurion saw himself clearly, through the lens of the gospel

Luke 7:6–8 “Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.””

V. (v.9.10)The Centurion saw God act towards him and his servant in seeing God and himself clearly

————

How does the story of this Roman Centurion teach us to see ourselves clearly?

I. To start, we must delight in spending time with God (Psalm 1:2–3):

When you put yourself in places to learn more about Jesus, your awareness of God grows, as does the awareness of yourself (I will show you a chart later)

Our awareness of ourselves reveals an uncomfortable truth: Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” exposing ourselves to the Gospel (good news)—means exposing ourselves to the truth about ourselves;

We are sinners, we (apart from Jesus Christ) are not good and we “sin and fall short,” of God’s glory

I. How do we do this?

How many of you (us) tend to put on a front when they’re around other people

How many of you (us) tend to show others, “you’ve got it all together,” when inside you are falling apart?

How many of you (us) tend to hide parts of yourselves, so we seem better than we really are?

How many of you (us) are living a life of self-reliance/self-dependency/, and self-righteousness?

How many of you (us) perform religious works to disguise our sins or “fake it till you make it.”

II. What is actually happening when we live in these ways and others, is

We are shrinking the cross and we are not living Gospel-centered lives

III. What is it we need to learn from the Roman Centurion?

Seeing ourselves clearly, through the lens of the gospel, reveals an uncomfortable truth—that we are sinners

The more we learn about God and His holiness, His benefits, and His

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Seeing ourselves clearly, through the lens of the gospel, also reveals a comforting and reassuring truth

We are ALL created in the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:27, 2:7, Psalm 33)

(FIRST) In order to see ourselves clearly, we must see God more clearly.

Adam and Eve hid, tried to cover their nakedness (and sin), b/c they were afraid. Their sin had caused them to run and hide from the image they were created in.

QUESTION #2 is a two-parter (and I am going to ask you to be brutally honest—it’s

How would you fill in the blanks:

“When I see myself, I see________________?”

“When others see me, they see___________”

What you use to fill in the blank are those things you think of yourself, and ultimately the “masks” you wear (whether you know it or not) around your family, friends, a b/f or g/f, even in front of God

The masks we wear or the “front” we put on, all come our need to feel adequate, to feel accepted and approved, to feel “good enough:”

With others, maybe you think:

“If I’m athletic enough, I will be adequate and others will accept me, even my parents.”

“If I’m athletic enough, I will be adequate and others will accept me, even my parents.”

“If I look a certain way or dress a certain way, I will be adequate and others will accept me.”

“What my friends say or think of me, determines my adequacy, or lack there of.”

“What my B/F or G/F says of me, determines my adequacy”

Whether we know it or not, we do it with God

“If I am religious enough, then God will accept me

“If I am good enough (or my good is better than others), then God will accept me”

“If I work hard enough, then God will

Yet in seeing God more clearly, we see how we were created and Who we were created for, we can know in acknowledging this not-so-fun truth about ourselves, God mercy and grace stands at the ready, to help us step into or be reminded that we created in the likeness and image of God—that in salvation there’s no need to be ashamed, there’s no need to wear fake masks, b/c our acceptance and approval is found in God through Jesus Christ.