He deserves it... There are all kinds of stories of dumb criminals; crooks who perhaps didn't plan their capers too well or didn't have some sort of a backup plan in place for that something that went wrong. You have heard of the type. There is the robber who breaks into a house by sliding down the chimney, only to get stuck in the chimney. There is a bank robber who actually leaves a bank with less money than he walks in with. What about the car thief who ends up in an accident in the car he has stolen and dies. In each case, there is a sense of irony or poetic justice; the crook gets his just desserts.

But what about the good people? You know the kind...the good Samaritans that go unrecognized. Or there are the anonymous donors to a good cause or charity. What about the doctors who perform medical procedures for free? These all deserve to have good things happen to them.

And so it was for the centurion in Capernaum. Normally, Roman centurions were not this well liked, as they were an occupational force that demanded the Jews' obedience and taxed them heavily. In the minds of the elders of Capernaum, however, the resident centurion was an upstanding citizen. He kept the town up. He built their synagogue. Now, one of his servants was ill—about to die—and Jesus is in town. So, the centurion sends the elders to Him, and they plead his case to Him: "O Worker of Miracles, a great man is deserving of your powers...come, heal his servant." In their minds, He deserves a favor from God...perhaps God even owes him.

The centurion, on the other hand, has a very different view of his own worthiness. While he did send for Jesus, he knew that he was undeserving of the grace of God. While the elders pleaded his case, the centurion plainly has Jesus told that he has no merit even to see Jesus in person. In his humility, the centurion confesses that he does not deserve to stand in the presence of God—he confesses that because of his sin, he cannot live to have God in his home. If Jesus could be so gracious as only to say a word, then his servant can be healed.

But how is it with us?

In our logical sense of justice, we seek to reward those who do and are good and punish those who do and are evil. We wish to see the underdog, who wears white because he is a good guy, triumph over the evil juggernaut.

In fact, we may go so far as to plead the case of the good, the underdog. We pray to God on his behalf, pointing out all the good things he has done, how virtuous he is, and even minimizing the faults, or overlooking them altogether! And if things don't go his way, we complain, blame others and God, or even wonder if there is a God who cares.

Isn't that how it goes? Much like the elders of Capernaum, we would like to believe that those who do good deserve God's grace. We would like to believe that they have earned it. Those who built our community, donated money for our cause, even gave of themselves for the church are in good with God, or so we would like to believe.

Better yet is when we believe that we are that good person. We may think, "I have done all these wonderful and good things. I have given money to the church. In fact, I put the most money in the plate on Sunday. I am at the church all the time, taking care of it. I am always helping my neighbor. I am always making sure the community runs smoothly. Look at me...I am a great and wonderful person; I deserve God's grace—no, I have earned God's grace."

So, what happens when bad things happen to good people? Or what about when good things happen to bad people? What happens when bad things happen to me, this great and wonderful person? Well, we get upset, don't we? We question God and His logic. We wonder why God will not fit into our logic scheme. That, of course, leads to getting angry with God. We curse God because we have done so much for Him...he now owes us. Yes, we sin against God; and though we think we deserve His grace, when we sin, we deserve nothing more than His wrath. You see, God follows His own logic scheme. What is God's logic? "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

In other words, God is in control. That which He causes and allows to happen—the good and the bad—are all part of His greater plan. God's logic also states, "[I]n all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

For those of us who have been called by His grace (according to His purpose)—claimed by Him as dear children—He allows the good and the bad to happen so that His glory may be revealed in us. For we are urged by Scripture to praise God in all that may come; the Psalms are full of songs of praise amidst trial and hardship. But God also allows the bad to happen so that in those times when we get full of ourselves, we are brought back down in humility and reminded that it was God who created and redeemed us—that it was God who called us according to His purpose. For we are reminded by the Scriptures that God our Heavenly Father disciplines us like our earthly fathers do.

For we have indeed been called and claimed by God, set apart by Him as holy people, justified by His grace and forgiven of all our sins by the death and resurrection of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And there are certainly times when we need to be reminded of that. So God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, gives us the faith and grace to say like the centurion, "I do not deserve to have you come under my roof...simply say the word, and I will be healed" and restored!

And God's grace in this is amazing (as it always is), for He gazed down upon a world full of undeserving sinners, and sent His Son to redeem them. Though we were not worthy to have God enter our house—earth—and take on our likeness, God descended to us in the person of His Son, took on our flesh, and died in our place that we would be made worthy to be called children of God! Now being made worthy, He claimed us (or will claim us) as His children in our Baptisms!

Now, being made worthy and claimed as His children, we can approach the throne of God with all humility and confidence, to ask of our Father in Heaven what we need, as children ask their earthy fathers. We can approach our Lord in boldness, as the centurion first did, to make confession of all our wants and desires. God may grant them out of the kindness of His grace, for it is that same grace which makes us worthy to make the request.

God, in His infinite mercy and grace, has forgiven us all our sins in place of the wrath we deserve. "All for which it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him." It's as the Australian music group Newsboys once sang, "When we don't get what we deserve, that's a real good thing; when we get what we don't deserve, that's a real good thing."