A Matter of Trust

On Super Bowl Sunday, my sermon was on the the reasons we can trust Jesus. In the sermon*, I called Him a magnificent Savior. Now, you might say that is a matter of opinion, and I would agree to a point, but ultimately it is a matter of faith. We all place our faith in something. For instance, I am sitting in a chair as I type this. Without even thinking about it, I sat down in this chair fully expecting it to support my weight. I expect the back of the chair to provide support for my back and a small pillow to provide lumbar support so my back will not hurt later. In reality, I have no idea which company sold this chair, which manufacturer made this chair, and which employee (or employees) actually assembled the parts. But I have faith that they knew what they were doing, and for nearly five years the chair has supported me fine (and presumably the same is true for a pastor, two, or more before me).

My point is that we all exercise our faith everyday. When a light switch is flipped on, we expect the power to be there to light the room. When preparing to get dressed, we expect our clothes to be where we left them, and to still fit. And, of course, we expect gravity to remain in effect. When these type of expectations fail in movies or television shows, it creates suspense (a light doesn't come on), or humor (overnight growth in the movie "Big") or perhaps some other reaction. We take so many aspects of life for granted in ways that we don't require an active faith - rather our faith has become an assumption, or expectation.

And the same is true for faith in Jesus. Many discount Jesus because He has not been seen, is not known to be real, or any number of other reasons. But no one has seen gravity, only it's effect. Well, I contend that Jesus can be seen throughout every aspect of life, if we will only look. And it is more than simply knowing He could be present, it is expecting Him to be. And it is more than simply expecting Him to be present, it is having faith that He truly is. And it is more than having faith that He is present, it is exercising our faith because He is.

The exercise of one's faith is because we have trust in the object of our faith. For me, I wish that object was Jesus more often than it is sometimes. Yet, the true object of my true faith is Jesus. What I mean is that my devotion may waver, my faith may wander, but my intention is to have faith in, and to live by faith because of, Jesus. That requires trust. For me, the issue of the Bible's truth is resolved. The issue of Jesus' life is settled. And I find Him to be a magnificent Savior, not just because of what I have read in the Bible, not just because I have now seen many of the biblical sites firsthand, but because of the changes in my life that are only possible by having faith in Him.

For me, Jesus is worth trusting. For me, Jesus is worth following. I wish I was more faithful in following, in trusting, in living by my faith. But I know that Jesus has a plan for me, just as He does for each of us. The question is do we trust Him enough - as our magnificent Savior - to follow, to trust, and to devote our lives to Him?

So, in what, or in whom, do you place your faith? We all place it somewhere whether we think about it or not. But to become more than you are today, you need to consider where you are heading...what is worth seeking/following...what is worth your devotion. It is simply knowing what is important - to you. Truly, it is simply just a matter of in whom, or what, you will place your trust.

* The blog post on the church's page is an edited transcript of the sermon. To listen to the actual sermon, click here.