Who Do You Trust?

In the former USSR during the days of Stalin, teachers would instruct their grade school class to close their eyes and ask God for candy. Of course none appeared. Then they would ask their students to close their eyes and ask Stalin for candy. Of course there would be a piece of candy on each student's desk. Then the teacher would reinforce the notion that they could trust their great leader and the savior state, but that a belief in God was foolishness. Over the last 50 years we, as a nation, have been learning the same lessons. However, I think some of us (even people who are not Christians) are beginning to realize we have already passed the limits of what the savior state can accomplish.

As I move toward retirement I am beginning to understand that with the passage of time I will become more dependent on others. I won’t be earning a salary connected to what I can do, but rather a salary connected to what I have done that will be highly influenced by the vagarities of American politics. Do I really trust God, or do I trust some combination of health science, the savior state and my own cunning?
As I write this blog, hoping to help others even as I am learn how to better manage my personal finances, I hear something whispering in my ear, “If you are such a good Christian, command this stone that it be made bread.” Unlike my Savior, I do not have any such power and I know it. In financial matters, I have been blessed. I also know it could all disappear in a moment. Could I then in honesty say, “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD?” I doubt it.

In times when the kingdoms of this World are in trouble we hear a voice saying, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” For the charismatic few, the temptation to believe their own rhetoric is very real. Throughout history many great leaders demanded worship from their subjects. I expect many more believed they were worthy of such worship. For the rest of us, the temptation is following one of these false messiahs into the wilderness of our own damnation and destruction. We should remember that the next time we hear politicians promising answers to all our problems. We should also remember that whenever we start to believe in our own infallibility.

Common sense has its role in Faith. While an overabundance of faith has never been my problem, I have seen too many Christians teetering on the edge of some financial decision listen to a voice saying, “If you are such a good Christian, cast yourself off this ledge, for it is written, He shall give his angles charge over thee, to keep thee.” When are our decisions, tempting the Lord? When are they radical Faith? Still, at some point I will leap into retirement. My prayer is that those angels will bear me up in their hands, lest at any time I could dash my foot against a stone.

At some point we are all going to face a situation that requires trust in something beyond our own resources. This morning I read that Hugo Chavez, the Leader of Venezuela, has enlisted the services of shamans from the Yekuana, Jivi and Wayuu tribes to assist in his battle against cancer. It is reported that they danced, sang and prayed as they invoked their ancestors to protect the Venezuelan leader. I suppose, in moments like that we will know who or what it is that we really trust.

[1] And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
[2] Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
[3] And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
[4] And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
[5] And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
[6] And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
[7] If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
[8] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
[9] And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
[10] For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
[11] And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
[12] And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
[13] And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.