"PLACING YOUR TRUST"
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 14, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose Help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever.
Psalm 146:3-6 (ESV)
I have shared with a number of you the sad story of a very conservative pastor of our synod that I once knew who had such a good reputation as a parish pastor that he was highly respected even by those who disagreed with him on many theological issues. He had received an honorary degree from one of our seminaries, he was often nominated for high district offices, and he was an effective spokesman for many conservative and confessional causes. The best thing of all was that he had the complete trust and confidence of the members of his own congregation--especially those who had become members (or even become Christians) during his tenure. He had seen them through so much spiritual turmoil that they had come to look to him almost as a father. But then something terrible happened. This beloved pastor had gotten himself involved in an adulterous relationship. He was forced to resign as pastor of that congregation and was removed from the clergy roster of our synod. But he still didn't get it. He just couldn't understand how, after all of his years of faithful service, his people could no longer look to him as their shepherd under Christ. It took years for these Christians, who had had so much confidence in their pastor, to recover from this betrayal and once again serve their Lord joyfully and confidently, knowing that their spiritual needs would be met.
Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens so often that this could be a generic story, but I assure you that it's not. It really happened. But as sad as this story and others like it may be, there is a valuable lesson to be learned here for all of us. This lesson is stated very clearly in the words of our text: "Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose Help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever." Where are we to place our confidence? We have two choices: We can place our trust either in human strength (designated in this passage of Scripture by the word "princes") or in the Lord God, who has revealed Himself and His will for us most clearly in His Son Jesus Christ. Let's take a look at each of these options.
The problem with placing too much confidence in humans is that they are human. They can provide only human strength, which is very limited. I don't know about you, but I become very concerned when I see Christian churches trying to promote themselves on the basis of their beautiful building or their many social activities or their superb music program or their dynamic preacher. No matter how good any of these things may be, they cannot absolve you of your sin. None of them can spare you from the judgment of Godor give you everlasting life. Neither can they turn the hearts of sinners toward God or make sinners receptive to the Good News of God's grace in Jesus Christ. These things may indeed be of some assistance in the proclamation of the Word of God, but there is a limit to what they can accomplish. They are not a cure-all. They cannot be counted on consistently for everything.
The limitations of human strength are not the only problem with relying on such strength. No matter how strong it may be, human strength is always temporary. Even if the human in whom you have confidence doesn't betray that confidence with a moral lapse, there will nevertheless come a time when that person can no longer be counted on. I counted on my Dad for a lot of things (and any of you who know me know how highly I speak of him). I could always count on him for so much, but then one day he became disabled and there was less that I could count on him for. A few years later he died, and for the last forty-four years I haven't been able to count on him for anything. And it has nothing to do with how good he was; it's just that he was human, and humans, with all of their strength, are only temporary (at least in this world).
By contrast, consider the confidence that a person can have when he or she relies on the Lord. Look at the things that He has done to reveal His almighty power. A mere glance at the stars in the heavens will show you the greatness and order of their Creator. All of nature reveals to us a God who planned a world that would be well-balanced and provided for. The human body, with all of its intricacies, continues to be a profound mystery even to the most learned among us. It seems that the more we learn about God's creation, the more amazed we are not only by what He has made, but by His creative power itself. But the power of God is revealed most clearly and profoundly in a series of events so humble that they went unnoticed by the overwhelming majority of the people who witnessed them. I'm talking about the conception, birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. So powerful is this God of ours that He actually became human, took our sin upon Himself and in return gave us His perfect righteousness, suffered our punishment for sin, and rose from the dead to assure us that it's all real. The person whose confidence is in the Lord has confidence in One who can do anything and everything.
This God is not only almighty; unlike humans, He is also faithful at all times and in all things. He is faithful to His nature, faithful to His justice, faithful to His grace, faithful to His promises, faithful to His people. He did not compromise His Godhead when He became human, nor did He compromise His justice when He had mercy on sinners like us. He didn't close His eyes to our sin; He dealt with it. He took on human flesh and punished our sin in His own body. God became Man but still remained God. The perfect Judge forgave sinners not by compromising His standard of perfection, but by satisfying His own perfect justice when man's sin was punished in the suffering and death of His Christ. And that forgiveness of sins He continually gives to us in the means of grace. "In many and various ways" (Hebrews 1:1 RSV) God has shown His faithfulness and demonstrated that real confidence rests in Him alone.
It's been said that because of the deterioration of our culture, we long for real-life heroes. I wouldn't doubt that for a minute, but we'd better be very careful in choosing our heroes. There are countless people and things in this world that tempt us to place our confidence in them, but every last one of them will let us down sooner or later. The only real Hero and Source of confidence is our Savior Jesus Christ. He has done it all for us--perfectly and faithfully--by living and dying in our place and giving us, in Baptism, His perfect righteousness, so that we might stand before the perfect Judge not as the guilty sinners that we are but as the righteous children of God. This is our hope and our confidence amid all the failures, disappointments, and broken dreams of life, and it is also our motivation and strength to share it with others.
Amen.
May the God of peace, who brought again from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, by the blood of the everlasting covenant equip you thoroughly for the doing of His will. May He work in you everything which is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.