Jeremiah 17:5-10, Psalm 1, Luke 16:19-31
In God We Trust?
When I was discerning my vocation to the priesthood I made a pilgrimage to nowhere in particular. For five months I rode my bicycle across Canada sleeping outdoors, meeting new people and basically opening my heart to what it was that God was trying to call me to be. One of the best lessons I learned during that trip was about trust and it came from a hobo I met at the side of the road.
I was miles from anywhere when I spotted the man hitchhiking. He walked in sandals and wore blue jean cutoff shorts and a faded worn out t-shirt. He had a small day pack which looked half empty slung over his shoulder. I couldn’t offer him a ride but I stopped to talk. For the next half hour he shared his adventures with me of traveling around the world living from one day to the next not knowing where life was going to take him. I felt a kindred spirit with this man, me and my bicycle, and I shared with him my own dream of simplifying my life and riding across the country and beyond. My ego was somewhat deflated when he asked simply, as he look at me in my clean new riding clothes and at my bike piled high with camping gear, “Why do you have so much stuff?”
Of course not everyone can or should escape the grid and so called rat race of life to become a vagabond even if we do dream about it from time to time. But there is something to be said for asking ourselves the questions; Why do we need so much? What is it that we are afraid of? Why can’t we be more trusting in God who will provide what we need?
The parable of Lazarus at the gate of the Rich man is a simple morality tale with a simple plot. The rich man who relies only on his wealth goes to hell and poor Lazarus who has no one to trust but God gets a place in heaven. The provocative part of the story occurs when the Rich man, having learned his lesson about life’s proper priorities asks Abraham to send a messenger to warn his brothers. “What good could that possibly do”, replies Abraham, “they wouldn’t listen even if someone came back from the dead.” Is it possible that we could be so deaf that we can’t hear what God is trying to say to us?
The prophet Jeremiah speaks about trust in God as a source of life. Without it we are shrubs without roots, subject to the perils of this life. But with God we discover that our roots go deep and the waters that sustain us are never ending.
Unfortunately we all too often find ourselves like the man that has fallen off a cliff and is clinging to a branch. Unknown to him his feet are dangling only 6 inches from the ground and safety but in desperation to save his own life he clings to that gnarled branch for all he is worth.
“Let go” God says, “Trust in me” and you will be saved.
What branches are you clinging to?
Do a personal inventory. Ask yourself how much you really need?
