Can We Trust Jesus?
Of course this caught me off guard, since most times people don’t approach you with these sorts of claims, but I guess it comes with the territory of being both spiritually and literally “clothed in Christ” as St. Paul says. So I questioned Him why he felt this way and continued to back up his position with memorized Bible verses which also surprised me. This man knew his Scriptures fairly well. His first argument was that he had given some money to a fellow man who he described as “down and out just like me,” but when he later asked for help from a woman outside a store she denied him the help.
“Give and gifts will be given to you” ~ Luke 6:38
If Jesus was speaking truthfully, then the woman would’ve helped him. I explained to him the errors in his argument explaining that God gave us free will and our actions are the result of our own decisions. Even if we are good we can’t expect all others to be good as a result of our actions, although our actions can definitely impact those of others. Our giving must be from the heart and not with the expectation of receiving an award.
He followed up by asking me to give him one dollar to prove that Jesus is trustworthy. I told him that I would give him a dollar, but after I came out of the bank since I was waiting to cash a check. He of course followed up with a rebuttal claiming that we can’t trust Jesus, because He is a liar. After all, he did say:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” ~ Matthew 7:7
So since I didn’t give him the dollar, he reasoned that Jesus lied in saying this. By this point I realized that this man was twisting the meaning of each verse to meet his own interpretation. The bank doors finally opened and he proceed to withdraw $25 from his bank account and when the teller—who apparently knew and had experience with this man on a first name basis—asked him how his day was going he proceeded to tell her that the world was going to end within seven years.
The Call to Action
The readings at Mass this past Sunday dealt exactly with this topic. We often complain and ask why God would allow bad things to happen. God assures us—through the prophet Ezekiel—that it’s not He who is unjust, but rather we, through our disobedience and sinfulness, that are unjust. His “ways” are meant to keep us on track, walking down the right path. Sure at times His “ways” are difficult to follow—especially when it comes to loving our neighbor and forgiving those who have hurt us—but just as any parent He loves us and wants what is best for us.
St. Paul reminds us that we should treat each other with love and respect and that as a community of faith, we are a family and should be “of one accord” that way we can keep each other in check. It’s harder to sin when we know those who loves us are watching, isn’t it?
Jesus tells the disciples that actions speak louder than words in the parable of the two sons. The father asks his sons to go work in the vineyard. One says yes, but doesn’t go. The other says no, but in the end he goes. Repentant sinners are holier than those who talk the talk, but fail to walk the walk. It’s easy to say that we believe, but do our lives reflect our beliefs? The Gospel is more than a bunch of stories. It calls us to action. Jesus invites to do more than just believe, he calls us to live the Gospel. Which of the two sons most represents you? I can relate to both of them. At times I fail to truly live my faith and other times I complain about the difficulty of God’s “ways.” It happens to the best of us, but through the grace of God we are able to get back up again.