Who Can You Believe In?
Ps 146; Lk 7:11-17[1]
I think one of the hardest questions we might face these
days is “Who can you believe in?” When
the chips are down, when everything is at stake, who is it that you turn to for
help, for reassurance, and for the support you need? There was a time when the President commanded
a great deal of faith among the people of this country. While Mr. Roosevelt had his opponents, I
daresay there were few who failed to listen to his “fireside chats.” And a lot of people in this country did so
because they took a great deal of comfort from the fact that this man was
leading our country and had such inspiring words to offer in difficult
times. Unfortunately, these days,
politicians barely score higher than car salesmen and advertising professionals
in the polls of the most trusted professions![2]
There was a time when the most trusted man in this country
was Walter Cronkite. In fact, he was
actually named “the most trusted man in America” several times.[3] He reported on just about everything of
significance that happened during his tenure as anchor for CBS News. And if Walter Cronkite said it, most people
believed it to be true. These days,
journalists rank in the middle of the most trusted professions.[4] In our culture where people are so fond of
saying “I don’t believe the liberal bias of the media,” I doubt that any
journalist in our day would even come close to the kind of trust that Walter
Cronkite inspired. Of course, the
reality is that all news is biased one way or another. Which explains why these days we’re more
likely to disbelieve what we hear that to believe it.
What about public servants--police officers, fire fighters,
public school teachers? With the
exception of police officers, they don’t even show up on the polls of most
trusted professionals! Of course there
is another public servant who consistently shows up on the polls of people we
believe in the most: clergy. In 1997 we
ranked second on the list of most trusted professionals, behind pharmacists.[5] In the most recent poll, we’ve fallen to
eighth place, behind Engineers and Dentists![6] Given all the scandal that’s taken place over
the last fifteen years, I must say I’m surprised the clergy still rate so high. I would imagine it’s because despite all the
uproar many people still trust their own pastor. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misconduct
among clergy that never comes into the public eye. I feel lucky that anybody trusts me as a
pastor, given the climate of distrust that is so prevalent.
So the question remains: “Who can you believe in?” It would seem that the Psalmist had the
perspective that if you place your faith in any flesh and blood human being,
you’re going to be disappointed. In our
lesson for today, he says that “there is no help” we can count on from
“mortals.” But there is someone we can
turn to--the God who “keeps faith forever” (Ps. 146:6).[7] And if you want to know what
“keeping faith” looks like in specific terms, the Psalmist spells it out for
us: it means that the hungry are fed, the prisoners are set free, the
blind receive their sight, those who are bowed down are lifted up, the
“strangers” or resident immigrants have someone to watch over them, and the
widows and orphans are supported. [8] You get the idea--just about anybody in need
can believe in the God who keeps faith with us forever.
Last week we talked about how genuine faith isn’t based on
external proof, like miracles. But the
fact of the matter is that the Gospels are full of the miracles of Jesus. And yet I dare say that Jesus never worked a
miracle in response to the demand for him to prove himself. He worked miracles in response to human
need. And in many cases, as in our
lesson for today, the Gospels state plainly that Jesus acted out of his
compassion for those who were in need.[9] In this case it was a widow whose only son
had just died--which meant she would probably be reduced to begging if she
survived at all.[10] But Jesus intervened in a way that looks a
lot like what the Psalmist said about the way God operates in our world. In fact, one of the primary purposes of Jesus’
miracles was to demonstrate that God is indeed at work among us with the kind
of compassion and mercy the Psalmist describes.
The
only real answer to the question, “who can you believe in?” is the same one it
has always been: the God who is utterly faithful. Let’s be clear: trusting God doesn’t mean
that we can predict what the outcome will be, or that we will get exactly what
we want exactly when we want it. But we
can trust God to be at work in our lives for our best interest. In our lesson for today the Psalmist has a
lot to say about the character of God and what God is up to in this world. And Jesus, by his acts of compassion, goes
about demonstrating that God is indeed doing just what the ancient Scriptures
said: working in all our lives for his good purposes, to bring peace, and
wholeness, and joy, and new life.[11] So the next time you find yourself in between
a rock and a hard place, and you wonder who you can turn to, I think you can trust
that this God is someone we can all believe in
[1] ©
2013 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by
Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm at First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson, TX on 6/9/2013.
[2] Frank
Newport, “Congress Retains Low Honesty Rating: Nurses have highest honesty
rating; car salespeople, lowest,” Gallup News Service, December 3, 2012;
accessed at http://www.gallup.com/poll/159035/congress-retains-low-honesty-rating.aspx.
[3] Jeff Scott Cook The Elements Of Speechwriting And
Public Speaking, 17; cited from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite.
[4]
Newport, “Congress Retains Low Honesty Rating.”
[5] Leslie
McAneny, “Pharmacists Again Most Trusted; Police, Federal Lawmakers Images
Improve” Gallup News Service, January 3, 1997;
accessed at http://www.gallup.com/poll/4423/Pharmacists-Again-Most-Trusted-Police-Federal-Lawmakers-Images-Improve.aspx.
[6] Newport,
“Congress Retains Low Honesty Rating.”
[7] Augustine of Hippo, “Expositions on the Book of
Psalms,” in P. Schaff (Ed.), Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume VIII:662: “Approach, begin to
long, begin to seek and to know Him by whom thou wast made. For He will not
leave His work, if He be not left by His work.”
It seems to me that the last condition is unnecessary; God will not “leave
His work” is a good way of saying God “keeps faith forever.” Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope, 116, where he says that “God reveals himself as ‘God’”
in “the historic act of his faithfulness,” that is, by keeping his promise.
[8] J.
Clinton McCann, Jr, “The Book Of Psalms,” New
Interpreters Bible, IV:1264: these verses portray “a God who cares about
human hurt and who acts on behalf of the afflicted and the oppressed.” He adds that they constitute “a policy
statement for the kingdom
of God
[9]
Cf. Pheme Perkins, “Understanding Faith and Miracle,” The Christian Century (May 24, 1989): 555, where she says, “No one demands that Jesus intervene. He acts out of
compassion for the widow, whose only son has died. She is one of the helpless,
poor ones of the world to whom the gospel brings news of a reversal of their
fate. God comes into this life in the surprise of compassion and restored life.
Any possibility that God or fate might be arbitrary or even cruel is erased.” Cf. also Craig A. Evans, “Luke's Use Of The
Elijah/Elisha Narratives And The Ethic Of Election,” Journal
of Biblical Literature 106/1 (1987): 79.
[10]
Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” New Interpreters Bible IX: 159: “If
religion has nothing to say to a grieving widow, it has nothing to say.”
[11] Cf.
McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB
IV:1265: “Psalm 146 anticipates Jesus’ preaching of the reign of God (see Mark
1:14-15), as well as Jesus’ ... enactment of God’s will in a ministry of
justice, feeding, liberation, healing, and compassion (see Matt 11:2-6; Luke
4:16-21).”
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