TRUST – the WAY and the DESTINATION
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me…” — Jesus, John 14:1
“TRUST” is the main issue on Jesus’ heart as he gives his disciples a “farewell” speech. There is such deep Trinitarian theology in these few chapters, I’m really looking forward to dwelling in the reality of the Godhead over the next few days. But truly, Jesus does not begin his final talk with his disciples by reinforcing their doctrinal beliefs, or by pop-quizzing them on their Trinitarian orthodoxy…no, to Jesus there is something far more important than anything else.
Deeper than theology, deeper than doctrine…is TRUST. It is the first developmental task a human must achieve.
Fully-formed adults all around us are still waiting for someone to teach them how to trust, and thus still function as scared, insecure little infants. The cynicism and skepticism of this age is profound, and I believe it is partly because we put our trust in things that will inevitably fail us. Politicians, love-relationships, money, our health…
But Jesus promotes an attitude of TRUST. Trust in him. He is worthy of your trust…quite possibly your most precious asset. Not only is it the avenue by which Christ can enter our hearts and we enter his, but it transforms our approach to life! If you have an ATTITUDE of TRUST, then your APPROACH to every relationship will grow out of faith, not fearfulness. Jesus, no matter what happens in this election, or relationship, or job, or doctor’s appointment…JESUS will always be trustworthy – he will never fail us.
In what, specifically, is Jesus asking us to trust him? From his words, it seems he wants us to trust that he is both the WAY and the DESTINATION.
Speaking with his disciples, Jesus begins admitting to them that he is leaving and preparing a place for them with the Father. He tells them that they “know the way,” and will come after him to get there. Thomas, thankfully, asks a clarifying question – “How will we know the way if we’ve never been there before?”
Jesus then turns the metaphor of “way” on its head and says that they know the Way because they know him – Jesus IS the Way! But he goes on to say that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Also, he says that the place that God dwells is in Christ – the new Temple.
If we see Jesus as both destination and way, we will develop a sense of spiritual satisfaction, and continued development in our maturity as disciples. We aren’t left hungering and craving something new all the time (new ideas about God, a new church or community to meet my needs, etc) – we already have complete “arrival” in the person of Jesus – but we don’t see the Way of Jesus as a once-and-for-all list of propositions to be defended…we are always on a journey with him – he our “trailblazer” (Heb 6:20) and we are his followers! In following Jesus, we live in humility – realizing that we haven’t “arrived” yet – we are still “the Wandering People of God,” hoping and longing for the complete rest waiting for us when we know and can see with our own eyes the answers to all our questions.
Agent B 12:27 am on December 5, 2009 Permalink
I don’t think any real human listens to Kenny G
Guy Muse 11:35 am on December 6, 2009 Permalink
A lot to chew on in this post. For me it is a good way to define who the “Samaritans” are amongst us. Often we can identify our Jerusalem, Judea, and have a good idea about who the “ends of the earth” are, but few of us can clearly put a face to the Samaritans in our midst.
Sean Landolt 6:48 pm on December 12, 2009 Permalink
This is a good post and I’m interested in where you find the resources and what drew you to them. Why does inter-religious conversation catch your eye?
Up in Canada I’m finding that people are very closed off from any religious conversation. Its not even a deeply personal issue its just a social taboo to talk about it. You can’t open up about it until you have developed a close friendship where you are each sharing your opinions openly. This is terribly frustrating becuase it means I have to put a lot into a person before I find out where they stand with God (on a side note though this does force you to learn how to love poeple for you they are rather than trying to change them). I’m doing a little looking around for inter-religious conversation, but I haven’t found anything yet. I think the culture up here in general is more interested in moving up in social status than in spirituality. This is probably why the culture has been seperated from Christianity sence the sixties. Once Christianity no longer held social statues people quite going to church. But I’m pritty new to the area, and people are like unions up here. Thanks for the post you got me thinkin’. And seriously how are you finding these books?
Mark 7:15 pm on December 12, 2009 Permalink
Yo Sean! I’m with the Ooze Viral Bloggers, an online Magazine that does among other things book reviews. They send me a free book as long as I do a review of it (good or bad).
Hey – ya otta check out Meetup.com – its a great way to link up with people in your area. Each time a new “spirituality” meetup group starts in my neighborhood, Meetup.com sends me an email notifying me of it. Pretty cool! Some groups are wacko, others are legit. That’s how we linked up with these guys – a great resource.