Faith Through Trust
When I was a very young child, my favorite book in the world was Uncle Wiggly’s Adventures, by Howard Garis. I loved it because my father read every story to me, and every story ended with a silly sentence followed by a hint about the next story. I was rapt even before the next story began.
Last week, our Gospel ended in the middle of a difficult situation. Jesus was in his hometown and his former friends and neighbors “dissed” him pretty badly. And it wasn’t the first time. A few chapters back, we heard about how his mother, sisters, and brothers tried to pull him out of an enthusiastic mob because they thought he was “losing his senses.” (3:20-21) Last week’s Gospel shows us that his neighbors and friends were even more disrespectful, saying, “Isn’t this the carpenter? The son of Mary? … and they took offense of him.” (6:3) With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Jesus’ goal in Nazareth was to teach a new way of living, to share his life-transforming message, to clean out unclean spirits and to cure illnesses. But as last week’s Gospel told us, Jesus was unable to do any of these things, except for an occasional cure of those few people who did not reject him. Those few – very few – had trust in him.
What is Jesus to do about this rejection? He is boxed into a corner, unable to share his way of life with the people closest to him! Lucky for us, Jesus did not stomp off, pouting, complaining of getting no respect. Instead, he realized that it was time to commission his disciples to do the work in his name. Perhaps people would not reject his followers since they were not “that carpenter”. And so his followers were to become leaders themselves.
Jesus was distrusted by his own people. He would know that being distrusted was a serious stumbling block to faith. So he set his disciples off to live in a way that engendered trust, a servant way he had been teaching from the beginning. It demonstrated selflessness, and humble and complete dependence on God. The disciples were to carry a staff, which would be useful in case of attacks by animals or bandits on the road. They would wear sandals, another consideration of the environment. They were not to carry money or an extra tunic. Why not? Without a second tunic, they would need to seek shelter from the cold air of the night; without money, they could not buy their way into the warmth of an inn but would need to ask for hospitality from the community. They carried no pack. Why would they need a pack? Instead, they trusted in God to provide for them and to lead them to the homes that would welcome them. And there they would stay where they landed, not looking for a better home, a finer home.
I’ve been thinking about their situation, going out into the unknown without provisions, but it wasn’t until Thursday night Primetime that I truly understood the importance to their listeners of the disciples’ living in dependence on God. The disciples showed what trust in God looks like when it’s not so easy to do it. The disciples showed they were not looking for financial gain, as the charlatans and magicians of the day were. The townspeople could trust these disciples.
Primetime presented a story about “Adam Dreamhealer”, a young man from Vancouver, British Columbia. Did anyone see that segment? As his pseudonym suggest, he is a healer. He doesn’t seem to bother with souls much, and concentrates on healing bodies through long-distance energy transmission. He moves the bad energy out of the way, allowing space for the healing energy to enter.
Wouldn’t it great to have a new, 21st disciple in our midst who could cure us even if we don’t have Blue Cross and Blue Shield or Kaiser? But how does Adam compare to those long-ago disciples? Does he engender your trust?
Like the disciples, Adam depends upon finding people who have faith. Unlike the disciples, who carried their message with the technology of the time – their voices – Adam presents seminars. He used to work with individual people for $150 dollars a session, but he has given that up, now working instead with those who attend his seminars. At $219 per person, per seminar. If you are interested, he’ll be in San Francisco in the middle of September.
Adam will teach you how to channel energy and cure yourself. Now, I’m not saying that channeling energy won’t cure you. And I’m not saying that you won’t be cured if you don’t buy one of his three books. I don’t even think that Primetime presented a biased, negative report about Adam. In fact, I found it to be judgment-free and balanced. Interestingly, Adam’s slick website published an eight-point defense about the program content. Maybe they were worried about a threat to their $1 million annual income.
What I am saying is that the name “Adam Dreamhealer” and the constant price tag for seminar, books, and DVDs make me distrustful. Dis-trustful. This distrust is blocking me from having faith in him. His work is so drenched in making money I lose my trust, and can’t muster up faith at all.
Trust is the basis of faith.
Jesus got his disciples attentions when he work up to calm a see so turbulent even experienced fishermen were afraid of it. Their confidence in him grew, based on his willingness to give. They noticed his selfless love of others, his free welcome to all, his hospitality to people others rejected – even his willingness to find another solution for reaching the people of Nazareth who had rejected him so completely. The disciples’ humble dependence on God allowed people to trust in their message without focusing on the messengers. As a result, the Gospel tells us, the disciples were successful in their work.
Who would think one ancient town’s obstinacy; Jesus' response and the disciples’ dependence on God would lead to trust and faith even today?