Help me trust in You

Let’s talk about trust — it’s probably the key element, the bedrock of any genuine relationship. Without it, it’s hard to see a path that can grow a relationship much beyond a very superficial stage. Sure, you can coexist, work together, and sometimes even raise a family together. But a real, genuine, fruitful, nurturing relationship? Without real trust, not a chance.

All too often, though, preconceived notions, expectations, assumptions, and prejudices get in the way of trust and building a fruitful, rewarding relationship. We get in our own way and sabotage ourselves. And if those trust issues are with God, the results can be disastrous.

Look at Naaman the Syrian in our first reading today. A powerful man in a dominant kingdom, but he’s got a big problem. He’s a leper, and desperately wants to be healed. Clearly he WANTS to trust in this strange God of Israel. He makes the journey to Israel with a fine retinue and all kinds of gold and silver to find God’s prophet Elisha, trusting in God to heal him.

And what happens? God’s prophet Elisha and his simple instructions don’t measure up to Naaman’s expectations, and he can’t get past it. Rather than trust, he turns away angry, ready to abandon his quest. If not for his servants’ pleading, Naaman would’ve turned his back on God’s healing mercy, because he couldn’t let go and open himself to trust.

The Jews in today’s Gospel have the same problem. They’ve heard stories of the miracles Jesus has performed in Capernaum. Now he’s standing in their synagogue, reading Torah and preaching. They’re AMAZED at his eloquence. Immediately before today’s Gospel though, they heard Jesus read the Messianic proclamation from Isaiah,and proclaim “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” — basically, the Kingdom of God is at hand!

And that’s a problem. They KNOW Jesus. They watched him grow up — he’s “the carpenter’s kid” from down the block. In spite of everything they’ve seen and heard about him, they just can’t get past themselves to accept the Truth before them. So they do what most of us so often do when things don’t match our expectations. They reject it out of hand, get mad — furious even — and try to make it go away.

            That’s the story we see throughout the Lenten Gospels — Jesus reaching out to the Jews, BEGGING them to trust and believe in him, to accept the loving relationship he so desperately seeks with them. But they can’t get past themselves to do it. And we end up at Holy Thursday and the cross on Good Friday.

That’s the relationship Jesus is offering us, too. Like any relationship, though, it requires trusting Him, even when it’s hard or requires sacrifice. Sometimes we have trust issues too. We SAY we trust Jesus. We WANT to trust him. But when things don’t meet our expectations // or our prayers aren’t answered like we want, that trust and our faith falters. We start to turn away and hide within ourselves, shutting ourselves off from Jesus’ outstretched hand.

That’s what Lent’s about — trying to get past ourselves and the things of this world — to let Jesus in just as he IS, not as we want him to be — to TRUST him without hesitation, even when we don’t understand. It all starts with trust, and sometimes that’s hard. So maybe let’s begin with a simple Lenten prayer: “Jesus, I trust in you. Help me to trust you more.”