LESSON: Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 3:5-8; 1 Peter 1:17-21, NRSVA

SERMON TITLE: Daring to Trust

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INTRODUCTION:

"The story is told of a traveling vacuum cleaner salesman. His technique of sales was to get his foot in the door of a prospective home and throw a bag of manure on the entrance carpet before the resident had a chance to object.

"As fate would have it, one day the salesman approached a home, knocked on the door, and as the elderly owner of the home answered the door, he threw a bag of manure on the carpet.

"Before the woman could object, the salesman explained: 'Lady, this vacuum is so powerful, and I have so much confidence in its ability, that I believe this vacuum will pick up every speck of this manure or I will personally get on my hands and knees and pick up every speck by hand.'

"To which the lady replied, 'Well, come right on in, young man. We don't have any electricity.'" (1)

  1. Have you ever found yourself is a similar type of situation?
    1. It really helps to realize that this salesman was operating under certain assumptions.
    2. The word assumption is a very interesting one for it can refer to:
      1. The act of taking something for one's self.
      2. Something to be taken without proof.
      3. Excessive and arrogant self-confidence.
    3. The assumptions of the vacuum salesperson included:
      1. That his vacuum cleaner would do the job.
        1. This he trusted.
        2. It had been tried and it worked magnificently.
      2. That there would be electricity.
        1. Obviously this illustration may come from a time when not everyone had electricity.
        2. I imagine that there are people in the country who may not have electricity in their places of residence.
    4. Of these two major assumptions the latter proved his undoing.
    5. He had to crawl on his hands and knees and pick up every speck of manure.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. In this country we have been operating under certain assumptions about safety and security.
    1. In recent days our assumptions have been blasted and we have been forced to critically examine the role of the organizations that provide information and security.
    2. We have lost a measure of trust.
      1. People are not traveling by air.
      2. The tourist industry is losing millions of dollars. Trust is one of the most important, if not the most important component of one's life.
      3. The stock market to a hit with great losses.
    3. Without trust, What is there?
      1. There can be no hope
      2. There can be no faith
      3. There can be no love
      4. There can be no satisfactory relationships
    4. There is only the living in individual isolation that is filled with fear and dread.
  2. It is important to understand that trust is the sub-structure on which all else is built.
    1. Currently we have a trust deficit.
    2. To build trust we need information and experience.
  3. Leonard Sweet in Homiletics Magazine writes that "To combat this trust deficit, we need to develop a new set of Ten Commandments -- what we are calling a Ten Commandments of Trust.
    1. By following these new/old commands, we can begin to dig ourselves out of the hole that threatens to swallow our sense of community, of well-being, of security. (2)
    2. What are the Ten Commandments of Trust

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  4. The Ten commandments of Trust include:

(1) You shall turn only to trustworthy sources.

      1. In a world where trust is one of our most endangered virtues and values, where are the righteous to turn?
      2. Scripture has always been the trusted source, the divine font, of comfort and truth.

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NRSVA), 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart,and do not rely on your own insight. 6In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make straight your paths. 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. 8It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body.

(2) You shall give up the illusion of control, and trust the Spirit.

You are not in control.
You never have been in control.
You never will be in control.
You never should be in control.
You are not in control -- of everything ....
You don't make the sun come up.
You don't make the sun go down.
You don't make your heart beat.
You don't make your blood circulate.
You are not in control--of anything.

      1. Every day ask yourself, 'Are you God?' Answer with these words, 'I am not God.'"

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(3) You shall place trust at the very heart of faith.

      1. A Christian perspective on the world is one of radical trust, a willingness to trust God and, therefore, an ability to trust others.
      2. Our good news for our modern culture must proclaim a God who can be trusted to care of us, to hold of us, to heal us, to save us, and a community that can itself be trusted.
      3. This is the message of Psalm 27, especially verses 1 through 6

Psalm 37:1-11 (NRSVA), 1Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, 2for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 4Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. 6He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 7Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. 8Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret--it leads only to evil. 9For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. 10Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. 11But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

(4) You shall "trust and obey."

      1. Trust is a matter of obedience (cf. Deuteronomy 9:23-24).
      2. As the song says, "Trust and Obey."
        1. It's not "Trust when you feel like it and obey when you can."
        2. It is "Trust and obey."
        3. It's not "Trust or obey."
        4. It's not "Trust, then obey."
        5. It's Trust and Obey.
      3. You say: But I don't feel like trusting.

Actress Ingrid Bergman once told director Alfred Hitchcock that a certain scene just didn't feel "natural."

She then explained why she didn't feel "natural" doing what the script called her to do.

Hitchcock said: "Fine. If you can't do it naturally, then fake it."

      1. You don't feel you can trust God "naturally"?
        1. You don't feel you can cast yourself on the waters?
        2. You don't feel natural living by faith and not by sight?
        3. Fine. Then fake it.
        4. Do it unnaturally. Do it supernaturally.
        5. this is the message of 1 Peter 1:17-21, especially verse 21.

1 Peter 1:17-21 (NRSVA), 17If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

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(5) You shall trust that God is sovereign.

Donald W. McCullough, president of San Francisco Theological Seminary and senior editor of Christianity Today, argues that "The worst sin of the church at the end of the 20th century has been the trivialization of God."

By playing at being God so often and in so many different guises, we have succeeded in trivializing the whole concept of God.

Instead of "have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3), we have a pantheon of trivial gods.

- the "god-of-my-cause"
- the "god-of-my-understanding"
- the "god-of-my-nation"
- the "god-of-my-experience"
- the "god-of-my-body"
- the "god-of-my-species"
- the "god-of-my-generation"
- the "god-of-my-race"
- the "god-of-my-gender"
- the "god-of-my-class"

      1. We get into trouble when we attempt to play God.
      2. This happens more often than we may realize
      3. But only God is God, and we are not.

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(6) You shall trust that God sees and knows what you are going through, and cares.

  1. This is especially to be understood in the exposition of console and consolation that Paul reveals in Corinthians 1:3-5, (NRSVA)

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, 4who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.

(7) You shall declare before God every day, "I am no longer my own, but yours."

John Wesley began each new year by offering up this prayer at his New Year's Eve Watch Night service:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will,
Rank me with whomever you will.
Put me to doing . . .
Put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you,
Or laid aside for you.
Exalted for you, or
Brought low for you.
Let me be full,
Let me be empty.
Let me have all things,
Let me have nothing!
And now, O Father,
You are mine and I am yours.
So be it. And the covenant I am making on Earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

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(8)You shall do what you say you will do.

      1. Follow-through is crucial in everything we attempt.
      2. Good intentions spoil into bad relationships tainted with mistrust when we fail to keep our word.
      3. How much can you be counted on?
      4. Are you someone who can be trusted?
      5. Can you be counted on?

(9) You shall honestly admit your weaknesses.

      1. Hiding shortcomings may improve your image, but it doesn't build trust.
      2. There is a reason the old adage claims that "Confession is good for the soul."
      3. By trusting others with the knowledge of your faults, a bridge of trust can get under construction.

(10) You shall always tell the truth.

      1. There is no bigger roadblock to trust than deceit.
      2. It is the simplest and yet sometimes the most difficult of all these commandments.
      3. But if all of us told the truth all of the time, there would be no reason to harbor doubt.
      4. Remember, you always have to tell the truth, but you do not have to tell all the truth.
        1. There is some truth that can harm as well as heal.
        2. There is some truth that can separate as well as bring together.

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CONCLUSION:

  1. We have God who is big enough to handle the storms in our lives so that we can sleep well on stormy nights. (4)

Down along the Gulf of Mexico where many hurricanes strike, there is an old saying, You can't get ready for a hurricane after the blow starts!

Here in the Northwest, only about one storm in a generation, like the Columbus Day storm of 1962, reaches hurricane proportions. Out of such a storm comes a quaint story that is a modern parable.

The setting: a dairy farm in Southwest Washington, in the Gray's River country. With military service and urban industry pulling young men away, it was so hard to get help on the farms that many dairymen in desperation were selling their herds. But one pioneer dairyman was determined to keep going. He had advertised everywhere for help but to no avail.

Then one day, a hulking, big-boned young fellow wanted work. The dairyman could scarcely believe his good fortune. Eagerly, he plied the young man with questions. Had he worked on a farm? Could he drive a tractor? Operate a hay bailer? Milk cows? To each of these, the young man nodded assent. Obviously, he was no talker. The dairyman pushed him with two or three more quick questions.

The young fellow stood blinking his eyes, trying to form an answer. Finally, he blurted out, Mister, I know how to sleep well on a windy night! What a strange answer!

But the dairyman was desperate for help so, despite his misgivings, he hired the young man. The newly hired man proved to be a steady worker who did his work well. The weeks stretched into months. The dairyman came to take his big, quiet hired hand for granted.

Then came the night of the big storm. The wind banged on the shutters; the rain stung the windows; the great trees swayed and groaned. The dairyman, with an instinct for danger, awoke with a start. The storm was rising--a bad one! He lay in his bed for a few minutes, listening for the sound of the hired man to come down from his attic bedroom to check things out. But inside the house, all was quiet.

The farmer waited a few minutes more. Then, in disgust, he arose, dressed quickly and hurried upstairs. Through the closed door, he could hear the snoring of a contented sleeper.

Well, I might as well go out myself, grumbled the dairyman. He'd be too sleepy to know what he was doing! So, he pulled on his boots and slicker, lit the lantern and went out into the storm.

He checked out the barn first. Every door secure. Then the milk shed. Doors carefully bolted. The machine shed. In good shape. What about the big tarp over the haystack; surely by now that was blowing away! But no, the lantern light revealed every weight in place. He noted the hired man had even tied the tarp with extra ropes and stakes.

Suddenly, there in the darkness, the farmer stopped dead in his tracks. Why that young fellow wasn't so dumb after all, even if he couldn't express himself very well. He had really been telling that he knew his job, and he could be trusted to do it well, when he had nodded his head so awkwardly and then blurted out, I know how to sleep well on a windy night!

  1. Do we really know how to sleep well on a windy night?
  2. Trust in God and our trust will never be source of embarrassment or shame.

    1. Richard P. Schowalter, Igniting a New Generation of Believers (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 94.

    2. Copyright c 1999 by Communication Resources, Inc. The material on these pages is offered to assist you in the preparation of sermons and worship services. As a subscriber you are free to quote material from HOMILETICS in your sermons and worship bulletins without further permission.

    3. There is a God. You are not it. Jim Jackson of Chapelwood Church (Houston, Texas)

    4. Wesley D. Taylor, How to Sleep on a Windy Night, Tigard, Ore.

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