| “A PLACE FOR US” Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Luke 7:1-10 Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA © Rev. Linda Jaymes, 9/17/09 |
Many of us will no doubt remember the smash Broadway musical of the late 1950’s, “West Side Story.” In case you
missed it on Broadway or in the movies, it was a 1950’s setting of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo & Juliet tragedy. Tony &
Maria, the romantic leads in the story, agonized over their cross-cultural love because it was unacceptable to their families and
their world of that time. One of the poignant songs from that musical, entitled, “Somewhere, 1” speaks of the longing of these
lovers to find that one, special place and time where they and their love would be right and acceptable; a place where they
would be free to experience life and love as it was meant to be. They sang:
There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.
There's a time for us.
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to look, time to care
Some day!
Somewhere
We'll find a new way of living,
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere.
There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're half way there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there.
Somehow, Some day, Somewhere.
I don’t know how many of us can identify with the feelings of these star-crossed lovers, but it seems to me that all of us,
whether we are in love or not and whether we are even aware of it or not, do have a sense that somewhere there is a place for
us, and we spend a great portion of our lives and energy looking for it. Some of us look for that place in a relationship. Some
of us look for that place in a career. Some of us look for it in a cause. This drive we have to find our place is so strong that it
is as if God himself has planted this longing for “place” within us. Indeed, scripture reinforces that idea. In Ecclesiastes we are
told, “God has set eternity in our hearts, yet we cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Eccles. 3:11) And
in the book of Acts we are told that God has predetermined the exact times and places of each of our lives, that we might seek
and find our “place” in God. (Acts 17:26-28)
From the very beginning, starting with the creation of the first humans, Adam and Eve, God tried to communicate to
humans their place in the grand scheme of things; their place in the order of creation. And it is a wonderful place—the place of
human beings is just a little lower than the angels! God put these first humans in their place and made it clear that He is God;
He is in charge of them and in turn, they are to be in charge of the creation and take care of it in a way that glorifies God. God
also made it clear that He delights in the humans He creates and He desires an intimate relationship with them. But also from the
very beginning, unfortunately, humans have not been content with their place in the order of things. They have rejected that
place and have tried to take over God’s place instead. Foolishly, they have not understood that their human place was the
perfect place for them. By seeking to put themselves in God’s place, they not only failed as God but failed as humans as well.
But God didn’t give up on the human race. He called out one small group of people in order to work very closely with
them, so that they might find their rightful place in the order of things once again, and be an example so that others might learn
to know their place, too. Through the prophet Moses, God gave this people the Law—the Ten Commandments—so that they
could not possibly mistake their place in the order of things or misunderstand God’s intentions for them. But even when their
proper place was written in stone and reiterated generation after generation they still refused to accept that place. They didn’t
want to be told what they could and could not do; what and whom they could and could not worship and love, when they could
and could not rest! They didn’t want to believe that the One who created them, who knew them inside and out, also knew
what was best for them and which place was exactly right for them.
How tragic that this people would reject God’s unique place for them. How tragic that generation after generation,
humanity continues to do the same thing. How tragic that God has made a place for us, has put within us a longing for that
very place, and yet we have spent so much of our lives avoiding it—avoiding Him—thinking that we will make a place for
ourselves—thank you very much! Like all of humanity since Adam and Eve, we don’t want to submit to God’s order; we don’
t like it when anyone else has authority over us; we resent having to live up to someone else’s standards; we cringe at the
negativity embodied in the words “don’t do this” and “don’t do that.” We want to be our own person, individuals with
individual freedoms and no one telling us what we can and cannot do. The thought that God created us to be part of a
hierarchy in which we are not at the top is hard to take! Perhaps it is no wonder that we so often look for a place of our own
outside of God’s intentions. But that will never satisfy— neither God nor us. And so we need to remember that words and
concepts like order, authority, commandments, laws, and hierarchy aren’t automatically bad or negative. In fact, they are
necessary if we are ever to find our intended place in the grand scheme of things.
Today’s gospel reading from Luke about the Roman centurion gives us an example of what it means to understand and
accept one’s place within a set order, as well as how important it is to respect authority and use it properly so that good can be
accomplished. In this particular story, we are told that the centurion’s highly valued servant was at the point of death. But this
centurion had heard about Jesus, presumably through the news of the many miracles of healing the Lord had performed in the
area. So he asked some Jewish elders, friends of his, to approach Jesus and ask Him to come and heal his beloved servant.
To understand this story a little better, it may help us to know something about centurions besides what we have seen in
the movies. Roman centurions were roughly equivalent in rank to a sergeant major, and they were no ordinary soldiers. They
were selected for certain leadership qualities, among them courage, wisdom and good judgment. They weren’t thrill seekers;
they weren’t constantly looking for danger or for the next fight, but they were men who could command, men who were
steady and reliable, and above all, men who could keep a clear head in the midst of battle. They had a keen sense of judgment
and balance and were not over-anxious to rush into the action. But when hard-pressed, they were ready to hold their ground
and if necessary, to die at their posts.
In the case of this particular centurion, we are told that he was also a supporter of the Jews. At some point, he must have
heard about the Hebrew God and came to believe that this God was indeed the one and only true God of the universe, in
contrast to his Roman counterparts, who worshipped an array of gods. His conviction about the Hebrew God led him not only
to support and befriend the Jews, but also to build them a synagogue. Scripture goes so far as to say that he loved the Jewish
nation, and therefore these Jews felt that if anyone deserved Jesus’ help, he certainly did.
Interestingly enough, this soldier did not have that same opinion of himself. He didn’t feel that he was worthy of anything,
despite his standing as a centurion. He didn’t believe he was worthy to go and meet Jesus or to have Jesus come into his
house. But he recognized authority when he saw it. He understood how authority works, because as a soldier, his entire life
revolved around it and in fact depended on it. He had a certain amount of authority himself, and he knew what it was to obey
and to be obeyed. He understood “chain of command” and he knew what those with authority could do. But perhaps the most
amazing part of this story, the part which caused even Jesus to marvel, was the fact that this centurion recognized his proper
place in relation to the authority of God.
That recognition took the form of faith, a faith that Jesus said He had not seen in all of Israel. Here was this outsider to the
Jewish religion, who didn’t have all the advantages of Jewish heritage and teaching, but who nonetheless recognized his place
not only in the hierarchy of the Roman army but within God’s created order as well. He knew that his proper place within that
order was a place of submission to the authority of God, an authority that extended even to the words of Jesus. The centurion
recognized that Jesus possessed the very authority of God, and nothing and no one could outrank that authority. He believed
that by submitting to it, things would run smoothly. The centurion also trusted that by that authority, all Jesus had to do was
say the word, and his servant would be healed. It had nothing to do with the worthiness of the centurion, but everything to do
with the authority of God. The centurion had a healthy view of that authority, and knew his place in relation to it. Even the
power of illness knew its place in relation to the authority of God, and it fled at Jesus’ command.
We would do well to ask ourselves whether we have as healthy a view of authority and “place” as that centurion. Perhaps
we need to realize that the word “authority” comes from the Latin root, “author,” meaning “that which allows growth and life.”
Instead of refusing authority and rebelling against it as so many are wont to do we should welcome it, as the centurion did. He
understood that to resent authority, especially the authority of God in Jesus Christ, is sheer foolishness. God has provided a
place for us under his all-powerful and protective authority, and only when we find our place there will we find the wholeness
and freedom to become everything that God intends humans to be. The paradox is that only when we surrender ourselves to
our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, do we discover the freedom to be fully human. Only then do we find our true identity—our
place—in relation to the God who transcends us—the God who is greater and higher than we are. And until we find God’s
place for us, we will never be the people He created us to be.
Perhaps there is nothing like a death in the family—the church family—to cause us to think about the serious side of life
and our very fleeting part in it. It is at times like this that God speaks to us about life and death issues, the things that really
matter. Last week as I stood at Gladys’ graveside I was once again reminded of the literal “gravity”—the seriousness—
weightiness—of our time here on earth. Being in a cemetery makes one think about how many generations of people have
come and gone since Adam and Eve and how long the human race has been at this business of life. And yet we never manage
to “get it right.” Each generation struggles to make its way, its mark, and find its place in history, and that is not easy to do.
Yet even so, difficult and serious times like this should also remind us what a privilege it is to have been born at all. How
amazing that God should ordain that you and I have a place in the vastness of the cosmic order, in the grand scheme of things!
How incredible that the God of the universe desires a relationship with us, and has made a place for us in his heart. Standing in
that cemetery also reminded me that every headstone there represents a life, a life desired and created and loved by God, a life
marked off by a particular time and space set by God, a life that by the grace of God, laughed and cried and touched other lives,
and most important of all, a life whose purpose was to find its proper place in relation to God, that special place He has set aside
for each of us. Thankfully, we can confidently say that Gladys found that place in her life here on earth, and just as surely she
is now home in the place Jesus had long ago prepared for her in heaven.
To say that “somewhere, there’s a place for us” is to speak a great truth, indeed, a serious truth, perhaps even a grave
truth. But it need not be a tragedy, in spite of the fact that unless Jesus returns soon, a grave will probably mark the end of
human existence for every one of us. Yet even that is no cause for alarm if, while we still have life, we find our place in the
order of things, if we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and seek our highest meaning and purpose and identity
not in others or in work or even in a noble cause, but in God.
Truly, “somewhere” there is a place for us, but it’s not that far away or so difficult to find. In fact, it’s closer than we
can imagine, within the loving arms of the God who made a place for us just a little lower than the angels. This God longs for
us to find that place, and He has already spoken the Word in Jesus Christ that will get us there. He has extended his hand to us
in Jesus Christ, in order to bring us to this place at his side, this place where there is “a new way of living, a way of forgiving,”
not “somehow, some day, somewhere,” but here and now, through a simple faith that trusts in the authority of the Master, even
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us pray.
1. Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. © 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed. Leonard Bernstein Music
Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.
missed it on Broadway or in the movies, it was a 1950’s setting of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo & Juliet tragedy. Tony &
Maria, the romantic leads in the story, agonized over their cross-cultural love because it was unacceptable to their families and
their world of that time. One of the poignant songs from that musical, entitled, “Somewhere, 1” speaks of the longing of these
lovers to find that one, special place and time where they and their love would be right and acceptable; a place where they
would be free to experience life and love as it was meant to be. They sang:
There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.
There's a time for us.
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to look, time to care
Some day!
Somewhere
We'll find a new way of living,
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere.
There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're half way there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there.
Somehow, Some day, Somewhere.
I don’t know how many of us can identify with the feelings of these star-crossed lovers, but it seems to me that all of us,
whether we are in love or not and whether we are even aware of it or not, do have a sense that somewhere there is a place for
us, and we spend a great portion of our lives and energy looking for it. Some of us look for that place in a relationship. Some
of us look for that place in a career. Some of us look for it in a cause. This drive we have to find our place is so strong that it
is as if God himself has planted this longing for “place” within us. Indeed, scripture reinforces that idea. In Ecclesiastes we are
told, “God has set eternity in our hearts, yet we cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Eccles. 3:11) And
in the book of Acts we are told that God has predetermined the exact times and places of each of our lives, that we might seek
and find our “place” in God. (Acts 17:26-28)
From the very beginning, starting with the creation of the first humans, Adam and Eve, God tried to communicate to
humans their place in the grand scheme of things; their place in the order of creation. And it is a wonderful place—the place of
human beings is just a little lower than the angels! God put these first humans in their place and made it clear that He is God;
He is in charge of them and in turn, they are to be in charge of the creation and take care of it in a way that glorifies God. God
also made it clear that He delights in the humans He creates and He desires an intimate relationship with them. But also from the
very beginning, unfortunately, humans have not been content with their place in the order of things. They have rejected that
place and have tried to take over God’s place instead. Foolishly, they have not understood that their human place was the
perfect place for them. By seeking to put themselves in God’s place, they not only failed as God but failed as humans as well.
But God didn’t give up on the human race. He called out one small group of people in order to work very closely with
them, so that they might find their rightful place in the order of things once again, and be an example so that others might learn
to know their place, too. Through the prophet Moses, God gave this people the Law—the Ten Commandments—so that they
could not possibly mistake their place in the order of things or misunderstand God’s intentions for them. But even when their
proper place was written in stone and reiterated generation after generation they still refused to accept that place. They didn’t
want to be told what they could and could not do; what and whom they could and could not worship and love, when they could
and could not rest! They didn’t want to believe that the One who created them, who knew them inside and out, also knew
what was best for them and which place was exactly right for them.
How tragic that this people would reject God’s unique place for them. How tragic that generation after generation,
humanity continues to do the same thing. How tragic that God has made a place for us, has put within us a longing for that
very place, and yet we have spent so much of our lives avoiding it—avoiding Him—thinking that we will make a place for
ourselves—thank you very much! Like all of humanity since Adam and Eve, we don’t want to submit to God’s order; we don’
t like it when anyone else has authority over us; we resent having to live up to someone else’s standards; we cringe at the
negativity embodied in the words “don’t do this” and “don’t do that.” We want to be our own person, individuals with
individual freedoms and no one telling us what we can and cannot do. The thought that God created us to be part of a
hierarchy in which we are not at the top is hard to take! Perhaps it is no wonder that we so often look for a place of our own
outside of God’s intentions. But that will never satisfy— neither God nor us. And so we need to remember that words and
concepts like order, authority, commandments, laws, and hierarchy aren’t automatically bad or negative. In fact, they are
necessary if we are ever to find our intended place in the grand scheme of things.
Today’s gospel reading from Luke about the Roman centurion gives us an example of what it means to understand and
accept one’s place within a set order, as well as how important it is to respect authority and use it properly so that good can be
accomplished. In this particular story, we are told that the centurion’s highly valued servant was at the point of death. But this
centurion had heard about Jesus, presumably through the news of the many miracles of healing the Lord had performed in the
area. So he asked some Jewish elders, friends of his, to approach Jesus and ask Him to come and heal his beloved servant.
To understand this story a little better, it may help us to know something about centurions besides what we have seen in
the movies. Roman centurions were roughly equivalent in rank to a sergeant major, and they were no ordinary soldiers. They
were selected for certain leadership qualities, among them courage, wisdom and good judgment. They weren’t thrill seekers;
they weren’t constantly looking for danger or for the next fight, but they were men who could command, men who were
steady and reliable, and above all, men who could keep a clear head in the midst of battle. They had a keen sense of judgment
and balance and were not over-anxious to rush into the action. But when hard-pressed, they were ready to hold their ground
and if necessary, to die at their posts.
In the case of this particular centurion, we are told that he was also a supporter of the Jews. At some point, he must have
heard about the Hebrew God and came to believe that this God was indeed the one and only true God of the universe, in
contrast to his Roman counterparts, who worshipped an array of gods. His conviction about the Hebrew God led him not only
to support and befriend the Jews, but also to build them a synagogue. Scripture goes so far as to say that he loved the Jewish
nation, and therefore these Jews felt that if anyone deserved Jesus’ help, he certainly did.
Interestingly enough, this soldier did not have that same opinion of himself. He didn’t feel that he was worthy of anything,
despite his standing as a centurion. He didn’t believe he was worthy to go and meet Jesus or to have Jesus come into his
house. But he recognized authority when he saw it. He understood how authority works, because as a soldier, his entire life
revolved around it and in fact depended on it. He had a certain amount of authority himself, and he knew what it was to obey
and to be obeyed. He understood “chain of command” and he knew what those with authority could do. But perhaps the most
amazing part of this story, the part which caused even Jesus to marvel, was the fact that this centurion recognized his proper
place in relation to the authority of God.
That recognition took the form of faith, a faith that Jesus said He had not seen in all of Israel. Here was this outsider to the
Jewish religion, who didn’t have all the advantages of Jewish heritage and teaching, but who nonetheless recognized his place
not only in the hierarchy of the Roman army but within God’s created order as well. He knew that his proper place within that
order was a place of submission to the authority of God, an authority that extended even to the words of Jesus. The centurion
recognized that Jesus possessed the very authority of God, and nothing and no one could outrank that authority. He believed
that by submitting to it, things would run smoothly. The centurion also trusted that by that authority, all Jesus had to do was
say the word, and his servant would be healed. It had nothing to do with the worthiness of the centurion, but everything to do
with the authority of God. The centurion had a healthy view of that authority, and knew his place in relation to it. Even the
power of illness knew its place in relation to the authority of God, and it fled at Jesus’ command.
We would do well to ask ourselves whether we have as healthy a view of authority and “place” as that centurion. Perhaps
we need to realize that the word “authority” comes from the Latin root, “author,” meaning “that which allows growth and life.”
Instead of refusing authority and rebelling against it as so many are wont to do we should welcome it, as the centurion did. He
understood that to resent authority, especially the authority of God in Jesus Christ, is sheer foolishness. God has provided a
place for us under his all-powerful and protective authority, and only when we find our place there will we find the wholeness
and freedom to become everything that God intends humans to be. The paradox is that only when we surrender ourselves to
our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, do we discover the freedom to be fully human. Only then do we find our true identity—our
place—in relation to the God who transcends us—the God who is greater and higher than we are. And until we find God’s
place for us, we will never be the people He created us to be.
Perhaps there is nothing like a death in the family—the church family—to cause us to think about the serious side of life
and our very fleeting part in it. It is at times like this that God speaks to us about life and death issues, the things that really
matter. Last week as I stood at Gladys’ graveside I was once again reminded of the literal “gravity”—the seriousness—
weightiness—of our time here on earth. Being in a cemetery makes one think about how many generations of people have
come and gone since Adam and Eve and how long the human race has been at this business of life. And yet we never manage
to “get it right.” Each generation struggles to make its way, its mark, and find its place in history, and that is not easy to do.
Yet even so, difficult and serious times like this should also remind us what a privilege it is to have been born at all. How
amazing that God should ordain that you and I have a place in the vastness of the cosmic order, in the grand scheme of things!
How incredible that the God of the universe desires a relationship with us, and has made a place for us in his heart. Standing in
that cemetery also reminded me that every headstone there represents a life, a life desired and created and loved by God, a life
marked off by a particular time and space set by God, a life that by the grace of God, laughed and cried and touched other lives,
and most important of all, a life whose purpose was to find its proper place in relation to God, that special place He has set aside
for each of us. Thankfully, we can confidently say that Gladys found that place in her life here on earth, and just as surely she
is now home in the place Jesus had long ago prepared for her in heaven.
To say that “somewhere, there’s a place for us” is to speak a great truth, indeed, a serious truth, perhaps even a grave
truth. But it need not be a tragedy, in spite of the fact that unless Jesus returns soon, a grave will probably mark the end of
human existence for every one of us. Yet even that is no cause for alarm if, while we still have life, we find our place in the
order of things, if we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and seek our highest meaning and purpose and identity
not in others or in work or even in a noble cause, but in God.
Truly, “somewhere” there is a place for us, but it’s not that far away or so difficult to find. In fact, it’s closer than we
can imagine, within the loving arms of the God who made a place for us just a little lower than the angels. This God longs for
us to find that place, and He has already spoken the Word in Jesus Christ that will get us there. He has extended his hand to us
in Jesus Christ, in order to bring us to this place at his side, this place where there is “a new way of living, a way of forgiving,”
not “somehow, some day, somewhere,” but here and now, through a simple faith that trusts in the authority of the Master, even
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us pray.
1. Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. © 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed. Leonard Bernstein Music
Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.
