Trusting When it is Hard

 Matthew 18     Psalm 116     1 Samuel 13-14

Children will take us at our word and believe almost anything we tell them until they discover that sometimes they have been misled. When Jesus took a child on his lap, he was challenging his followers to trust him like a child trusts and until we have that level of trust, we will not understand the kingdom of heaven. If you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, make sure when God and Jesus see you trusting them like a child trusts their parent. He is not talking just about children but those that are immature on the faith journey and learning to trust God. He also warns that those that put a stumbling block before the immature even though it is going to happen. Followers of Jesus must make sure they are not the stumbling blocks.

We are to eliminate those things that lead us away from God and to invest time and energy into spreading the Word seeking out those that do not know. Note that Jesus doesn’t make the rest of the flock less valuable in seeking the one that is lost. The shepherd and friends celebrate the one that was found only because that was the one that had the need at the time.

There is a progressive way to address the sin in the life of another. I notice that those that are added into to address the sin also have to examine their motives and be of one mind before they take the next step. Jesus gives his followers great power, but it comes with even greater responsibility to be in agreement and to seek God’s will continually. Jesus promises when we gather in his name, he is in the middle of us. We need to remember when we gather in his name, we are gathering to bring glory to his name and not ours.

One of the most powerful images in this reading today is about forgiving with abundance as God forgives us with abundance so we are called to offer forgiveness to others, so they experience God like love through us. How often do we want to destroy someone because we see their sin and get angry after God has offered and we have received such great grace?

Todays song points out we love the Lord because He hears us whether we call out in praise, fear, frustration or even anger. The Lord works through the simple things in our life and it is when we are brought low that he can save us. Because we have been offered salvation, saving from our destructive ways, we can see ourselves as precious in his sight. It is a proclamation that we will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and keep our word before the Lord for He is worthy of our praise.

God’s timing is often very different than ours. Saul was 30 years old when he was declared king of Israel because the people were not happy with God as their ruler. Now Saul would be responsible to God for them. As we have seen throughout the Biblical story God often puts us in a place of deciding to if we will trust God or take on a role that is not ours. Saul has been made leader of the people, Samuel is the spiritual leader and the one that speaks for God, a prophet. Saul is waiting to Samuel to come and give him direction from God but loses patience when Samuel doesn’t come as expected. As Saul sees people leaving him, he panics and takes on Saul’s role and the cost is loss of the kingdom. However, it is important to note that he will rule for years to come but never again with the blessing of the Lord and the kingdom is slowly removed from him as we will see.

In the meantime, his son, Jonathan, is trusting in the Lord and looking for ways to live out that faith. Knowing that numbers and power mean nothing to God and he can do incredible things when we trust God he goes to the enemy camp and wins a relatively small battle that create fear in the camp of the enemy. At the same time Saul is once again failing as a leader when he demands that no one eats before the evening or be cursed. Jonathan is not in the camp so doesn’t hear and when the opportunity to take nourishment eats so better prepared for battle.

We see the first conflict as a result of this incident as Saul is ready to fulfill his vow and put Jonathan to death to keep his word, but the people see Jonathan as the leader that is effective and demand his life be spared. Saul will spend the rest of his life in conflict with the enemy, his kingdom, his family and most critically with himself.

God is the only one worthy of our trust and living as he directs is the only way to a healthy life. We see this repeatedly today through the readings. We often want to help God do what is His alone to do so that it is why we find ourselves in trouble. Being called by God to lead does not mean that we can stop seeking his guidance but means that we need to seek that out even more and trust Him to provide for our needs.