14th Sunday after Pentecost 29 August 2021 Trust in God
We still do not trust God. No mater how many miracles He has worked we still doubt the next one!
Our Lord challenges us to have more faith (Gospel). Consider the lilies of the field. They do not spin or reap (Mt 6,28).
It is strange that we put more faith in other things than in God Himself.
We know the precise time of sunrise and sunset, which can be calculated far in advance.
We trust fellow human beings to manage difficult tasks –
like surgeons, pilots, artists
We trust technology for all sorts of things.
Yet we do not extend the same confidence to God. We profess
faith in Him verbally on many occasions yet still manage to doubt.
It could be said that we have faith in God in a general way, but not necessarily in the particular way that confronts us at any given moment.
We cannot always summon the requisite faith when it is needed. We need faith which is strong enough to bear any adversity - so that we can draw upon all our knowledge and experience of God from a whole lifetime, and bring that faith to the present moment.
It is not only our own personal history but the history of the whole of God's people, going back to Abraham.
God has delivered us time and again, and all He asks is that we would trust Him for the future as much as for the past.
If we look from God's side He is unchangeable and always the same (Heb 13,8).
He is the same God with all the same characteristics, whether we personally are having a good or a bad time.
He always has goodwill towards us, offering kindness and mercy.
We draw upon that goodness in our prayer and sacraments, and let it work in us.
The eternal sameness of God is our strength when we think our world is falling apart.
What about the fact that people do starve and suffer other deprivations?
We have to go back to how it all started. If we (as the human race) had ever taken God at His word with sufficient conviction these things would not happen.
Overall the human race has not trusted and so we do not see a lot of miracles; and we have so much disorder, such as war.
Had we not sinned, or at least not so much, we would live in a much happier world.
We can still go some way to establishing that world. Thy kingdom come.
When we ask for food and clothing, or any particular request, it is always with this background understanding that we need a spiritual healing of the whole world.
Repentance is required in any request. We cannot treat God like a machine that will give us whatever we order. We have to be on the right footing before we can ask for favours.
Our prayer would be so much more powerful if we (the human race) would position ourselves rightly before God.
We ask for that as well – a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.(Ps 50,17). The prayer of the humble man will pierce the clouds (Sir 35,21).
We make it easier for God to help us by cooperating with His will.
If we ask the right way there will be many miracles, and even a change in the way things usually happen.
The biggest miracle would be that most people in the world would have an enduring faith, and a true love of God.
For that we pray day and night!
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