Irrevocable Trust

Genesis 15:1-6; Luke 12:32-40; Hebrews 11:8-16

Central Baptist Church, Lowesville, VA

12 August 2007

Trust is a fickle creature. It is easy to lose and very difficult thing to regain. Yet we are called upon to trust friends, family, educators, professionals, public figures, the uniformed, and even strangers. We grant others our trust, though in varying degrees. We assess hidden motives as validation for offering our trust. We use experience to gauge the trustworthiness of individuals and corporations alike. We often trust the self-interest of others, thus gauging what we might expect out of them. In such a garbled context, how can we learn to grant God our irrevocable trust?

As Abram was learning to trust God, Yahweh promised that his faith would be justified. There was little in his experience to justify that trust. Abram did not have a heritage of faith in Yahweh on which to build. It would appear that his own father had been idolatrous and Abram’s faith was leading him into uncharted territory. Now Yahweh’s promise addressed future blessing in what seemed a very uncertain future.

His question to God was consistent and logical. What blessing of importance could Yahweh grant if he did not have children? In a context where life beyond the grave was not yet understood, it was only through one’s children that one could hope for any future beyond the grave. Abram was living out his trust in Yahweh, but seemed to have little to show for it. Now, with all signs to the contrary, Yahweh promised children. God promised offspring as numerous as seemed the stars of the heavens. Somehow Abram found the courage to trust God, despite contrary evidence. Do we trust God when we can’t see the way ahead, nor how God could meet our needs?

We took a group of children and youth to see Evan Almighty. In this modern re-telling of the Noah story, the main characters must likewise learn to trust God beyond the scope of the humanly expected. Unlike Abram and ourselves, Evan is not given trust as an option. It is forced upon him as an inescapable destiny to which he is called. Even so, trust is something that he learns in the process and experience with God. Evan must struggle between carrying out his own plans and fulfilling God’s call upon his life. He slowly overcomes his fear, not by willing trust, but as an unexpected discovery in the process of grudging obedience. In our own choices between fear and trust, which wins?

The writer of Hebrews recalls Abraham’s faith as a model for our living. He is established as a model, not for knowing where he was headed, but for trusting God into the unknown. How differently do we assess those worthy of distinction! He didn’t know where he was going. He simply submitted in trust to God’s guidance. Rather than turn to what he knew and had experienced, he allowed God to take him in new directions. He chose to trust Yahweh, even before having proven God’s faithfulness. He placed his trust in God as an irrevocable trust. Whatever would or would not happen, he had determined that Yahweh would receive his trust.

Hebrews mentions Abraham’s death in the context of unfulfilled promise. It did not matter so much to Abraham that God’s promise had not reached fulfillment. It mattered that God was faithful and worthy of trust beyond what Abraham could measure. His trust and confidence were not in the events of this world, but in the character of Yahweh’s faithfulness. Because Abraham had accepted the faithfulness of God, he could place his life in God’s care without reservation. Will our lives likewise encourage others to trust God with reckless abandon?

In Rowling’s last Harry Potter novel, many individuals come to rally around Harry, even though they know nothing about Harry’s plans, or even lack of a plan. They are aware that their efforts will be fraught with danger. They are likewise aware that Harry is not sharing the details of his quest. Even so, they come to offer their aid. They understand Harry’s overall purpose to thwart Lord Voldemort. They accept Harry is worthy of their trust because of his character. Whether or not they survive the attempt to overthrow Lord Voldemort, they place their lives on the line in order to attain a better world for others. They come to Harry’s side to live for results they may never see in this life—results they deem worthy at whatever price. Do we live for eternal purposes, the results of which we may never see in this life?

As Jesus taught about trusting God for all our needs, he addressed our problem with worry. He spoke at once of God’s faithfulness and the reckless abandon with which we are to invest our resources in extending God’s reign. His words get rather uncomfortable when we look at their face value. We would rather avoid doing that. When Jesus talked about trusting God, he spoke of that reckless abandon that does not take our own needs into account, but places our all in service to God’s mission.

What does worry have to do with questions of treasure and how we invest our resources? Jesus obviously links the concepts. He addresses both issues in the same breath. His contention seems to be that if we trust God to care for our needs, we are free to redirect our resources off of ourselves and onto God’s priorities. Do we have the courage to place the balance of our resources into God’s hands? This is exactly what Jesus taught regarding storing up treasures with God by investing our resources according to God’s will.

His words were not just about finances. He spoke of placing the balance of our lives in active service to the gospel. We are called to live our trust in God’s faithful provision. The gospel is not, after all, about where we will spend eternity. It is about embarking on Abraham’s journey of faith—trusting God into the unknown and serving God’s purposes all along the way with our all. Rather than looking at the norms of faith we see in others, we are called to a greater degree of faith. Is our trust in God’s provision sufficient to enable us to serve beyond the normative service of others? Do we trust that as we give God our all God provides for all our needs?

Jesus did not preach the kind of gospel we like to hear. He did not dwell on streets of gold, pearly gates, or angelic choirs singing “Amazing Grace.” Sure, Jesus spoke of securing an eternity in God’s presence, but the essence of that gospel was entering into relationship with God. Like Abraham, this call to faith or trust was a demand for submission to fulfillment beyond the limits of our sight. It was not a gospel that the wealthy of Jesus’ day found comfortable. It was not a gospel relished by those of power, either. His was a call not to seek control and security through the ways and means of this world, but by giving our all to God in irrevocable trust.

Jesus characterized the gospel as a call to service. It is not finding a secret access code to the coffers of heaven, but an invitation to become servants of the Almighty, allowing God the responsibility to care for our needs in the process. When Abram embarked upon this gospel journey of faith, he did not even know where he was headed. When Noah began building the ark, he did not know where the water would come from. As they were called, however, they decided that Yahweh was worthy of their absolute trust. They bowed their lives into service, trusting God to meet all their needs by whatever means. Do I accept God as worthy of receiving my life as an irrevocable trust?

—©2007 Christopher B. Harbin

Click here for more sermons by Chris Harbin