It is important to make a good first impression. Everyone knows this. According to researchers, our tinder trained minds form a first impressions within milliseconds of seeing another person[1]. That is not very encouraging news for a guy like me who is more of an acquired taste (I asked Michelle on a date 17 times before she finally said yes, and it took ten years of dating to convince her to marry me).

A lot of our first impressions come from things we can’t do anything about, like our natural scent, how "baby-like" our faces are, or how big our bald spots are. There is not much we can do to influence the impressions people are making within milliseconds of meeting us, but there are a few things that might help. For example, researchers say feminine, happy, “baby-like” faces are perceived to be more trustworthy. So put on some lipstick, smile, and drool if you want to give people the impression that they can trust you. If you want people to perceive you as attractive, get a tattoo, but only if you are a man. A 2007 British study found that women with visible tattoos were perceived by men and women as less attractive, heavier drinkers, and more promiscuous than females without any ink.[2] What you wear and how you dress can also affect the impressions you make. People wearing name-brand clothes are seen as having a higher status than folks wearing non-designer clothes and well-tailored clothing gives people the impression that you are successful at what you do and more likely to get a promotion. (That probably means I should stop buying my clothes at Costco.) Finally, be sure to make plenty of eye contact and speak in a low tone of voice. Eye contact gives people the impression that you are intelligent, and a low tone of voice gives the impression that you are leadership material. So, whatever you do, when you meet someone for the first time, don’t blink… and maybe try to make occasional grunting noises. That is a lot to remember in a millisecond, but, if you want to make a good first impression...

In our gospel lesson from Luke 7:1-10 we read about a soldier who made a great impression on Jesus. Luke describes Jesus’ impression of the soldier by telling us Jesus was “amazed at him”. Listen to what Jesus says about the soldier in verse 9, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Jesus is amazed at the soldier’s great faith. There are only two occasions recorded in the gospels where we read about people making this kind of impression on Jesus. One was the woman of Canaan who begged like a dog for Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. The other occasion is the account of this soldier.

Somehow the soldier in our gospel lesson amazed Jesus. I wonder if I do. Don’t you? Do you ever think about that? Do you ever wonder what kind of impression you have made on Jesus? Do you amaze Him? I am not so sure that I do. I want to, I mean who wouldn’t. Who wouldn’t want to make a good impression on the Guy who is described in Scripture as the gateway into heaven? Speaking of Jesus, Paul says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”[3] And once we get into heaven, Jesus is the one we will stand before as we are judged. Again, speaking of Jesus, Paul says, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”[4] Only through Jesus can we get into heaven and only through Jesus are we allowed to stay in heaven. It makes sense that we would want to make a good impression on Him, but I am not overly confident that I do. Are you?

Let’s take a closer look at the soldier in our gospel lesson to see if we can figure out how he made such a great impression on Jesus. Maybe we will learn something that will help us make a good impression on Jesus? Listen as I re-read verses 2-3. There Luke writes, “a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.” The soldier is identified as a centurion. A centurion was a Roman soldier in command of about 100 men. Centurions were prestigious members of the military. They were chosen for their character, intelligence, and dependability. The centurion was similar to a knight (think Sir Galahad; not sir Elton John). This centurion was likely in command of the Roman garrison in the thriving trade city of Capernaum. Luke tells us the centurion had a sick servant. Matthew’s account of this event tells us the servant was “paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”[5] Typically a centurion was not allowed to have a family until he retired from active duety. As a result, very often bonds of affection similar to the ones found among family members developed between a centurion and his servants. We see the centurion’s affection express itself as he turns to Jesus for help on behalf of his servant.

The impression the centurion makes on us is one of selflessness. He turns to Jesus seeking blessings for someone other than himself. I wonder, do we do that? A quick examination of our prayers should give us our answer. When you think about your prayers, that is the times you turn to Jesus for blessings, what are the majority of your prayers about? Are they about other people? Are the majority of your prayers asking Jesus to bless other people, or are the majority of our prayers about three people specifically; me, myself, and I? I can’t help but wonder if the impression we are making is more selfish than selfless.

Let’s see what else we can learn about making a good impression from the centurion. In verses 4-5 Luke writes, “When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” The “they” who came to Jesus were some of the Jewish elders. What is remarkable about this is, the centurion is a soldier of Rome. Rome is the occupying empire that rules over the Jewish nation. As a result, relations between Romans and Jews were not the friendliest. The Romans were largely amused by the Jews. They thought their customs strange and unusual (try to explain the practice of circumcision to someone who doesn’t know about the covenant God made with Abraham). The Romans thought the Jews were odd and often made them the punchline of their jokes and the subjects of their satires. The Jews chaffed under the Roman rule that scoffed at their way of life. I mention all of this to point out how remarkable it is that Jewish elders would speak so highly of a Roman soldier.

Luke tells us what caused this Roman to receive Jewish praise. The centurion built the synagogue! A word for word translation of the text seems to imply that the centurion single handedly funded the building of the synagogue and that he did it with no thought as to what he might get in return. Now, centurions made a good living, but this was above and beyond what anyone could have expected of him. Even if he only funded half of the project this was still an incredibly generous thing for him to do for them.

The impression the centurion makes on us now is one of generosity. Out of the kindness of his heart the centurion builds a church for his Jewish neighbors. Again, I can’t help but ask myself if I do that. I make a good living, and when I think about how much money I give in support of the church I think I do O.K., maybe not centurion generous, but O.K. And I would have to say, looking at the resources we have to do ministry here at Messiah, it seems many of you are generous. When I think about money, I think we are generous-ish, but when I think about how generous with other things, like my time…. The other day I came home from a long day. I had spent the morning counseling a member, the afternoon translating Greek, and the evening teaching a class. It was a long day. I have heard some of you talk about the kind of hours you work; I know you understand what kind of day I am talking about. Well, when I got home from my long day, guess what I wanted to do. Nothing! I wanted to do absolutely nothing. Guess what my family wanted to do. They wanted to talk. They hadn’t seen me all day and they wanted just a few moments of my time. I wish I could tell you that I generously gave them my time, but I vaguely remember my son asking me if I was listening to him. Sound familiar? I can’t help but wonder if the impression we are making is more miserly than generous.

I am not overly optimistic about the impression we are making on Jesus so far, but let’s keep going and see what more we can learn from the centurion. In verses 6-7 Luke writes, “He [Jesus] was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.” He doesn’t see himself as worthy. Never mind the fact that the world’s most powerful empire considered him worthy of the rank of centurion and all the honor, respect, and admiration that office entailed. Never mind that the Jewish elders determined that he deserved to have Jesus show him this kindness. Never mind that he has made a better impression than people like you or I have made. Still, this centurion, when he finds out that Jesus is planning to come to his house, humbly tries to discourage Jesus saying, “I do not deserve to have you”. To us the centurion looks like a really great guy, but in his heart, the centurion knew the truth. He knew that the first, and I mean the very first impression he made on Jesus was anything but good.

The impression the centurion makes on us is one of humility. He knew that he did not deserve to have Jesus. Well, if he didn’t deserve to have Jesus, what chance do you think people like you and me have? We have only compared ourselves at two points to the centurion and still we have determined that, compared to him, we are selfish and miserly. Worse yet and unfortunately for us, our worthiness is not determined by a comparison to a man like the centurion but rather our worthiness, or lack thereof, is determined by a comparison to our holy God. When we examine ourselves in the mirror of God’s holy law, we are forced to confess that no matter what we do, on our own, we have not and are never going to make a good impression on Jesus. We do not deserve to have Jesus come to our house and we certainly don’t deserve to go to His.

Because of our sin we have failed to make a good impression on Jesus, but before we go away filled with despair let’s take one more look at the centurion. In verses 7-8 Luke writes, the centurion said to Jesus “say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” The centurion’s world is very cut and dry. Commands are given and commands are followed. This is just simply how the chain of command works. The centurion knows that he has a position of authority in the chain of command, but more than that, the centurion recognizes that Jesus also has a position in the chain of command; he recognizes that Jesus is at the very top of that chain. Jesus’ subordinates include things like all the powers and authorities of men, all the forces of nature and the laws of the universe, all the demons of hell and every one of the heavenly hosts. Jesus is at the very top of the chain of command. As a result, the centurion is confident that when Jesus gives an order it will be obeyed.

The impression the centurion makes on us is one of confidence. “Say the word”, he says to Jesus, “I trust it will be done”. We can have the same confidence as the centurion. Jesus is at the top of our chain of command as well. When Jesus gives commands they will be obeyed, when He speaks, it will be done. When, in humility, we confess that we have failed to make a good impression on Him and have sinned by being selfish with our prayers and miserly with our time and He says to us something like, “as far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed those sins from you” or “I have blotted out your transgressions and chose to remember your sins no more” or “though your sins were like scarlet they are now as white as snow, though they were as red as crimson they are now as wool”, when He says things like this to us and about us we can have confidence that what He says will be done, what He commands will be obeyed.

The centurion made an impression on his neighbors by being selfless and generous and I think he is a great example for us as we seek to live our faith. I think we can all try to be more like the selfless and generous centurion. But the centurion’s selflessness and generosity are not what amazed Jesus. What amazed Jesus was the centurion’s humility of self and confidence in Christ. When we compare ourselves to the centurion, I don’t think we are going to impress anyone, let alone Jesus with our selflessness and generosity, but when in humility we confess our sins and place our confidence in Christ to forgive those sins, we do amaze Him.

We may not have made a very good first impression on Jesus, but by the grace of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit who has led us to confess and filled us with confidence, we have mercifully made a lasting impression on Him and that, as everyone knows, is even more important the first impression. Amen

[1] http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190401-is-there-such-a-thing-as-love-at-first-sight

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144507000678

[3] Acts 4:12

[4] 2 Corinthians 5:10

[5] Matthew 8:6