How profound is our trust in the Lord?
Over the centuries, fear has always been part of human decision-making, and fear undermines our ability to trust. At the time of the writing of the Book of Isaiah, the people walked in darkness until King Hezekiah tries to rebuild a kingdom, the land west of the Jordan, destroyed by alliances with the Assyrians and others. Isaiah reminds Hezekiah that the people of Israel must trust in God, not in political alliances. When they do trust, they will know abundant joy and great rejoicing, for they have seen a great light, the light of God’s faithfulness to God’s people. As Psalm 27 says, The Lord is their light and their salvation, and so they do see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. They trust, and where there is trust, there is no room for fear.
Jesus quotes this very passage from Isaiah in Luke’s Gospel, but this time Jesus himself is the fulfillment of the prophecy, the great light that has shone. In the Incarnation, Jesus is doing God’s will, and he will call others to join him: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men, he says to Simon and Andrew. There is no reason for these men to follow Jesus, yet there is something about the power of Jesus’ invitation, its very radicality, that resonates with them, and so they leave their nets and follow him. Theirs is an extraordinary measure of trust in the Lord.
It is dangerous to remain comfortable in our Christianity if we fail to see Christ’s call to more. Paul reminds the Corinthians that it is important that there be no divisions among them, but that they be united in the same mind and in the same purpose. Jesus Christ calls us to deeper faith, and to a more profound response to his love in our world, a love for all, in union. But we can only say yes to this call if we trust, trust in him and in his love at work in us, trust in our baptismal promise, trust that, as we follow, we will one day grasp the depth of his love for us with abundant joy and great rejoicing!
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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