Do You Trust Jesus?

“Do you trust me?”

It's THE question. It's the question Aladdin asks Jasmine as they are escaping the palace guards and before she climbs onto the magic carpet to experience a whole new world. It's the question Donna Pinciotti asks Eric Forman in the epic Dine and Dash episode on That's 70's Show. It's a version of the statement Han Solo says to Lando Calrissian as he rescues Lando from the Sarlaac pit in Return of the Jedi. It's the question every sixteen year old asks their parents when they want to borrow the car. It's the question Jesus is, in a way, asking Thomas and Phillip. It's the question Jesus asks us on a daily basis. “Do you trust me?”

Well, do you?

John 14 is part of a larger story that is taking place. Jesus is gathered in the upper room with his disciples. He just instituted the last supper and he begins to lay some heavy news on his disciples. He informs them that one of them will betray him. He tells them that where is going, they cannot go. He informs Peter that he will deny Jesus three times. After laying the heavy news on Peter, he continues, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust in me also. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a palace for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas says, “We do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” In other words, “Do you trust me, Thomas?”

I'm sure there was stunned silence when Jesus made this declaration. I'm sure the disciples have been in stunned silence when the night began. Philip makes a statement. It's a bold statement. Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father , and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; bu the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.” In other words, “Do you trust me, Philip?”

It's an amazingly difficult question to ask a group of friends after dispelling them with bad news. It's an amazingly difficult question to answer when your best friend, your mentor, your teacher, your Lord is about to die. Jesus puts Peter, Thomas, Philip, and the others in a tight spot. How can they answer him knowing what he just told them? How can they answer with any word but yes? Perhaps that is why Philip's statement is the last statement from a disciple until John 16:29. Perhaps that is why, when they do speak, they say, “Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” Perhaps that is why Jesus tells them, “In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

In other words, “Do you trust me?”

I can see why John 14 is used at funerals. It's a very comforting chapter. It's comforting when standing in the shadow of death to hear that Aunt Mildred has entered the room Jesus has prepared for her. It's comforting when confronted by the evilness of death to hear that Uncle Ben is in a better place because Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” John 14 is very comforting but the question Jesus asks, the question that lies underneath his claims, is not a very comforting question. “Do you trust me?” It's the amazingly difficult question presented in the midst of comforting words that leaves us with the inability to answer with any other word but yes. Plus, who among us wants to be the only one to answer no?

But do we really trust Jesus?

We're quick to say we do. We're quick to prove it by quoting a few scripture verses. We're quick to say a pray and say out loud, “I trust Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.” We do not have a problem saying, “Yes we trust Jesus.” But do we really trust Jesus when he says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”? Do we really trust Jesus when he says, “Because you have seen me, you have seen God”? Do we really trust Jesus when he says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Put your trust in me and in God. I am going to prepare place for you and in my Father's house, there are many rooms and room for all”?

Do we really trust Jesus?

I believe if we were honest with one another, our answer would be no. It's difficult to trust Jesus when he says, “I am the gate; I am the good shepherd; I am the bread of life; I am the vine; I am the resurrection and the life; I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” It's difficult because we're afraid he cannot keep his word. We struggle to trust Jesus because our culture is full of reasons to not trust anyone's word. It is difficult to trust words that bring life when they bring pain as well. It is difficult to trust one who said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. And, by the way, you are going to persecuted and die because of me.” It is difficult for us to trust the Son of God when he says, “It is finished.”

Do we really trust Jesus?

Fear is a powerful thing. It can turn your heart black you can trust. It can take a God filled soul and fill it with devils and dust. Fear enters our hearts, our minds, our souls causing us to lose the strength to trust in words of one whom we have never met. Fear causes us to lose our faith in Christ and look for certainty. We fear that there is something in God, in Christ, other than love. Often we see God's love surrounded by limitations and conditions; since our own love for one another is built on conditions and limitations. We fear that what presents itself to us as the truest form of love will lead us to disappoint me so we look for moments of certainty. In our fear, we look for bible studies that are concerned about certain salvation instead of studies on trusting in God's unfailing love. We concern ourselves with talks of raptures, end times, heaven and hell, instead of talks about how to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and with all our strength. We fear that it isn't true when Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” We fear that God isn't big enough to overcome our human limits. We fear death is stronger than God's love. We fear God did not accomplish everything God set out to do in Christ. And that is our greatest fear.

In our fear, we reject those who are hungry, those who are naked, those who are sick, those who imprisoned. In our fear we cling to the past. In our fear we demand proof from those who ask for help. In our fear, we only give ten percent. In our fear, we become blind to the one who says, “Because you have known me, you have known God.” In our fear, we become dispassionate. In our fear, we forget that Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. In our fear we continue to return to the voice of despair instead of the voice of love. Fear is a powerful thing.

Jesus lived his life with the trust that God's love is stronger than death and that death does not have the last word. We are called to live the same. We are called place our faith and trust in the one who says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. I am the resurrection. I am the good shepherd. I am the gate.” We are called to place our faith and trust in the one who commanded us to love one another as he loved us. We are not called to be a people of certainty but a people of faith. So, we return to the question that Jesus asks, “Do you trust me?”

I have found myself being forced to answer that question over the past few weeks, over the past few months. I have found myself being forced to answer that question in places I never expected. Last week, I encountered two situations in which I could hear Christ ask, “Do you trust me?” The first was in the form of a black man who walked six miles looking for food for his family. He wandered into the church office desperate for help. He came looking for something I knew we were supposed to provide. I became uncomfortable when, through his tears, he asked me if I could do anything. I walked him to the door, handed him some cash. Then he asked for something I did not expect. He asked for a ride to the store. I began to think of the reasons why I shouldn't but I could hear God's voice, “Do you trust me?” So, I drove a stranger to the store. But I failed when pressed to give up more of myself when he asked to have his prescriptions filled.

Do you trust me?

I was asked that question again last Sunday. Two hitchhikers on their way to West Virginia, found their way into our traditional service. They sat in the balcony and afterward, solemnly approached me asking for food and other supplies for their trip. In their voice I could hear the voice of Christ ask me, “Do you trust me?” In the presence of two strangers, I encountered the voice of the one who I had just preached. I took them over to the Lamb's basket drop box and we began to search. Fortunately, David Lynn was there and had more food to give them. As I left, these two strangers were gathering their things to begin a long trek to a new home. Yet, I could hear the voice of the one asking me again, “Do you trust me? There's more you could do.” I could feel the grip of fear on me. I could feel myself shrinking because I knew I had only trusted a little.

When we come to recognize that in and through Jesus we are called to be daughters and sons of God and listen to him with total trust and surrender, we will see that we are invited to be no less compassionate than Jesus himself. When we come to believe that in God nothing exists love and mercy, we will see Christ in our neighbors. When we come to trust and place are faith in the unending love and grace of Jesus Christ, we will live without fear and we will give up own lives because they do not belong to us. When we fully believe we are loved for who we are; when we fully believe God requires only us; when we fully believe that God is love, we will truly believe that in Jesus we have seen God because Jesus is love and Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him.

So, we once again return to the question, “Do you really trust Jesus?” Only you can answer that; but know this, no matter your answer, God's love remains with you because we have seen Christ, we have seen God.

Our Prayer

You have the words of eternal life,

you are food and drink,

you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

You are the light that shines in the darkness,

the lamp on the lamp-stand,

the house on the hilltop.

You are the perfect Icon of God.

In and through you we can see the Heavenly Father,

and with you we can find our way to him.

Be our Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer,

our Guide, our Consular, our Comforter,

our hope, our Joy, and our Peace.

To you we want to give all that we are.

Let us give you all--

all we have, think, do, and feel.

It is yours, O Lord.

Please accept it and make it fully your own.

Amen. (Henri Nouwen)