The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, July 12th: Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13)

TRUSTING GOD IS HARD

In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus sent His twelve disciples out, two-by-two, to preach in the surrounding villages. Scripture explains, “He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money.”

How strange. Jesus sent them out on an important mission without any supplies at all. If I had been one of the twelve disciples, I would have complained loudly. “Hey Jesus, how do you expect us to be successful if we go wandering out there without any food or money or important stuff?”

At minimum, I would require: cash, credit cards, snacks, sunglasses, bug spray, canned food, propane stove, paper towels, bottled water, snacks, road maps, BlackBerry, flashlights, GPS, first aid kit, snacks, raincoat, umbrella, toothbrush, extra clothing, iPod, recharger, laptop computer, and just in case, extra snacks. And, of course, if we were going to be away overnight, I would need a lot MORE stuff.

If I were one of the Twelve, I would not require as much freight as, say, the touring company of “Phantom of the Opera” or the 82nd Airborne on maneuvers, but I would at least want to rent a couple of donkeys to pull a small U-Haul filled with critical supplies.

What was Jesus thinking sending those guys out with nothing but the tunic on their backs? It’s almost as if He was expecting them to trust in God for all their needs. What a weird concept. Trust in God? Who does that nowadays?

Oh sure, we believe in God…most of the time. And we trust in God to meet our needs…in an abstract, general sort of way. We know that when we’re 90 years old and on our deathbed, we’ll be able to look back on our lives and say, “Yep, God took care of me and helped me through all the tough times.” (We know this because over the years we’ve heard our elderly relatives make similar statements. It’s one of those traditional words-of-wisdom things old folks are supposed to tell their grandkids. Although, come to think of it, Grandpa didn’t seem too trusting many years ago when he spent the final six months of his life complaining that Medicare wouldn’t cover all his doctor bills and accusing family members of hiding his teeth.)

Yes, we trust in God, generally speaking, but what about the real world? What about today, tomorrow, and next week? We’ve got real problems to deal with here. The mortgage is overdue; the boss is a jerk; the car is making a funny noise again; our teenagers have pink hair and half a hardware store piercing their various body parts; the neighbor just filed a lawsuit because our dog ate another one of her stupid cats (she has about 50 of them, for crying out loud! She won’t miss a few); and we keep waking up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain just below the rib cage and a dull ache at the base of our skull. And on and on and on. You know what I mean, real problems.

Certainly we can’t get all silly and spiritual and pretend like we can trust in God to deal with real here-and-now problems, can we? Doesn’t the Bible say that God helps those who help themselves? (Well, actually, the Bible says nothing of the sort. I did a computer word search. That well-known saying ain’t in there.)

One of the main themes of Scripture is that God helps those who can’t help themselves, those who are helpless and who trust totally in Him. This is a completely foreign concept to modern Americans. We need to be in control and have all the bases covered. (Americans just love checklists!) Apparently, trusting God wasn’t a problem for Jesus’ disciples since they went out on their merry way—without ANY supplies or checklists—and had a very successful journey preaching in the countryside.

So what is Jesus trying to tell us this week, sending the guys out two-by-two but without any supplies? It’s simple: we must trust in God and depend on one another. He didn’t send them out alone. He sent them out in pairs so they could help and encourage each other.

This is the exact opposite of what we do. We don’t trust in God and we depend only on ourselves (especially us strong silent types who are too proud to admit we need a little help). And the stress of all that unnecessary responsibility makes us miserable and takes years off our lives.

One of the mottos of Alcoholics Anonymous is, “Let go and let God.” One of the hardest things in the world is to admit we can’t do everything ourselves and we need God’s help. But if we are able to take Jesus at His word and trust in Him for everything—even the here-and-now everyday stuff—our lives will be transformed.

©2009