Trust
This is my sermon text for
September 23, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 9:30-37. + pBRC
May God’s Grace through the Good
News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever. AMEN.
What
do you do when you don’t know what to do?
We
have all had those times in our lives when, either from a series of cumulative
crises crashing into our lives, or from an enormous event eradicating our
environment, we have a sense of being overwhelmed. We know we need to do
something, but cannot figure out what to do or where to start. We are lost, and
while we don’t know which way to go, we know we have to move.
For
the second time in what we believe to be a few days, those who had given up and
walked away from the families, from their homes and from their lives to follow
Jesus are told by him that his life, his mission and his ministry are going to
soon come to an abrupt and violent end. If you have been blindsided by life, or
had the comfort of normalcy taken away, you can appreciate how disorienting
this is for them.
“He was teaching his disciples, saying to
them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill
him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not
understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” (Mark 9.31-32)
They remembered what happened to Peter when he
dared to challenge Jesus about his prediction of his own death. So they don’t
even dare to ask what does that mean. Instead, they begin to argue about which
one of them is the best.
They probably started by “encouraging” one
another to ask Jesus what he meant. One would suggest another ask because he
knows Jesus better, and the discussion deteriorated from there. No one wanted
to ask the question and be thought unwise or not understanding. It is a high
school algebra class, with no one willing to ask to have the subject explained again.
It would be easy to challenge and castigate
the disciples for not asking what does all this mean. But instead, I admire
them. Because even though they believed Jesus when he said his ministry would
end in his violent death, they stayed with him.
They put their trust in him, even if it led to
the cross.
They put their trust in him, even if they
didn’t understand.
Last Monday night, I gave myself a treat. I
went to watch the WWE when they came to Oklahoma City, and I spent a little
extra to get to meet some of the wrestlers.
I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling
since I was young, and I know that the matches are predetermined and
choreographed, but I appreciate the talent it takes to get us emotionally
involved in a contest where the winner has been decided.
The best matches are between wrestlers who are
usually good friends because they absolutely trust the other person. When one
suggests that they throw the other in a precarious way, the other trust that
they will be taken care of. Given the way they are landing in the ring, or on
the ground, or on each other, you trust your opponent with your health and with
your life.
It is a similar trust between members of the
military, of law enforcement, of first responders. They go into dangerous,
unpredictable situations and they trust their partners and comrades will be
there for them, to help them get home safe and well.
The disciples, having left family and friend,
home and trade, now hear that their master’s ministry will end in his death.
Yet they continue on. They don’t understand, and will not understand until that
Easter morning. Yet they continue on.
They trust Jesus. Even though they don’t
understand, they have put their trust, their fates, and their faith in
following Jesus. Even though they don’t know what his death will mean, they
have put their trust and their faith in following Jesus.
What would that look like for us, here, today?
I think we all put our trust in God, for the
big stuff at the end of our lives. We trust that our sins will be forgiven. We
trust that we will be raised after our death and live eternally with our
Creator.
But do we trust God in the little things?
When we are faced with challenges and
opportunities to serve God and to share the Gospel but in unusual and
uncomfortable situations, do we trust God to see us through, or do we turn
inside and turn around?
Do we reach out to the person who doesn’t look
clean, and doesn’t look like they have it all together?
How do we respond when we hear someone,
whether a friend or a stranger, misrepresent and misconstrue scripture, and see
them use the Word of God to hurt and to harm, to bash and belittle?
Do we expend resources and assets, whether
ours or the church’s, in ways that offer some promise, but without guarantee,
or do we hold on tightly to what we have, being sure to save it for an
undetermined future?
Do we hold onto the identity of our church,
hold off on inviting, resisting being welcoming, rather than risking having our
church home change who it is and who it will be?
Are we willing to risk our services being
different, doing things that feed others, at the expense of leaving spiritually
satisfied, but not full?
In all of these situations and more, we may be
uncomfortable, and feel awkward. We may feel afraid and threatened. We may feel
that we are being called to give of what we have, or to lose. We may feel like
we are losing control, losing what we feel belongs to us, losing our identity.
And I come back to the question that I asked
from last week’s lesson, For Christ’s sake, what are you willing to
lose? For the sake of the Gospel, what are you willing to give up?
Sometimes, to win, you first have to lose.
Sometimes, to take one step forward, you must first take two steps back.
For the disciples, they were losing their leaders.
The man who called them from their lives tells them that he will be killed. But
they continue on. They stay with him. They follow him.
They put their trust in him. They still have
doubts. They still aren’t sure. They still have unasked question. But they
trust and they follow.
I pray that we have the strength to trust
Jesus and follow what he has taught us so we can welcome others to join with us
and follow our Lord, wherever the road may lead. AMEN.
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