WHO DO YOU TRUST?

Sermon Summary, 10/22/17, “Who Do You Trust?” (Ex 40:16, 20-21a)

Recall the old quiz show, “Who do you trust?”  It begs the question, “Wo do you trust?”  It is a big issue today, with couples, between friends, even families, and certainly with and among public servants.  A book was published just this week that claims the foremost bias in our nation today is against others of a different political viewpoint.  A friend reinforced that by saying that in forming a new bridge club in her town, the only person on the list not invited, held different political views than the rest.  In other words, the bridge club was formed completely of one political party.  You just can’t trust the other folks.

Here’s the big issue: Can you trust God?  Especially this week when we’ve lost one of our own, can we trust God?  That was the issue in the Exodus story.  Moses tells God (paraphrasing) “God, how can I trust you?  I don’t even know your name.”  Pharaoh didn’t trust God.  That’s easy.  They were of different political parties.  The Children of Israel didn’t trust God.  They mumbled saying, “If we’d only died in Egypt where we had our fill.” 

We need trust.  We need to restore our trust in one another.  God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and rules to live in community because he cared how they lived.  He told them He would be with them in pillars of fire and cloud.  They could rely on Him to be there for them.  In the fulness of time, Jesus came to live among us.  He told us “I am the Good Shepherd.”  The Good Shepherd cares for his sheep.  Then he told us “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” Later he would say, “No one has greater love than this that to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  Jesus cares for you.  Jesus loves you.  And Jesus told us that he would be with us even till the end of the age.  You can trust God. You can rely on God. You can know that God cares.

The elements of trust are simply this: That you can rely on the other; and that you know that the other cares for you.  We began by talking about a lack of trust.  Whenever trust breaks down, it is because one of these two elements has broken town.  Remember when we used to say “A man’s word was his bond”?  We could rely on them.  Teddy Roosevelt said, “People don’t care about how much you know until they first know how much you care.”  What if we knew today that we could rely on our politicians and that we knew today that our public servants cared about us?  What if?

What about our relationships?  Can others rely on us?  Are we able to convey that we care for them?  Trust is essential to personal relationships.  As followers of Jesus, we need to let the world know that they can rely on us, that we care, that the world can trust the followers of Jesus.