May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
— Romans 15:13
If you look at any United States coin, written on the front are the words, “In God We Trust.” Over the years I have come to marvel at the implications of what it means to trust in God.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he ties together trust, hope, joy, and peace. All this is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without God, we do not have access to that power.
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ”Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, ”Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, ”Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Belief is an odd thing. Certain beliefs are accepted without question. In many cases, we believe what our parents believed, for no other reason than wanting to be part of the family. Sometimes, less often, we arrive at a belief as the result of a personal journey; a research project or extended study of some sort.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.
Jesus continues the parable about the sheep with this verse about loyalty. It seems to me that Jesus is talking about a level of relationship that is not intellectual. Sheep are not known for being deep thinkers. Can you imagine sheep thinking abstract thoughts? A sheep wouldn’t be composing Shakespearean plays or pondering mathematics. A sheep just is.
And yet, a sheep knows who to trust and who not to trust. Jesus said, ”Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19: 14) There is a kind of similarity between sheep and little children. While neither one is going to have deep thoughts, they are clearly able to tell the difference between someone they trust and someone that they do not trust.
This weekend we are babysitting our youngest granddaughter. She is only about one year old, and yet she has the spirit of a Viking and a voice to match. She is not happy that Mom has left her alone for the weekend with someone who is not Mom. If a little child and a sheep can know who to trust, why should it be so hard for you and I to know the same thing?
Life as an adult is complicated. We sometimes listen to the wrong voices and think wrong thoughts. We move away from the simplicity of childhood and get lost in the cacophony of competing voices that surround us as we get older. Sheep and children don’t have that problem. Yet Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who simply know.
