Trust Fall
A Homily on John 14: 15-21
by Carrie Houston
May 17, 2020
Have you ever participated in one of those dramatic team building exercises where you stand on a raised platform, like a chair or table, and then are asked to cross your arms across your chest and blindly fall backwards into a sea of prepared spotters? It’s a game that is common within youth groups, although I’ll admit, we’ve never played that game during my time at FBC. For one, I'm not a fan of heights, and I hate that feeling of falling. I typically don’t like to ask our students to do something I am unwilling to do. But this team building exercise is a perfect, real life example that demonstrates a lot of the emotions that are involved in trusting someone else.
So let’s think about it from the perspective of a teenager in this year’s graduating class -- you’re called up to do the trust fall exercise. First, there’s the anxiety of walking up to the platform. It’s a few feet above the ground, not too high, but everyone is watching you to see how you react. You look down. (HINT: NEVER LOOK DOWN). Then comes the feeling in the pit of your stomach as you see how far you have to fall... and then the fear that someone may not be there to catch you. Then there’s a moment of panic thinking about the ways you’re going to topple that 90-pound 7th grade girl who won’t be able to support your fully-grown teenage body in her hands. Cue the panic.
Yah, I'd say it’s perfectly normal to freak out a bit!
Our text today is part of Jesus’ final discourse. We can think of it sort of like his last will and testament, Jesus’ final wishes. Jesus is headed towards the cross, and he knows it.
Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples that he was going to leave them... not just leave them, but die on a cross, so I can imagine the disciples must have had feelings of fear and panic about what was to happen, of what it might feel like to be left without their beloved teacher and friend. The feelings of anxiety about the unknown and what the future looks like. This wasn’t part of their plan, I can imagine.
They’ve gotta be thinking about how there’s nothing good that can come of this!
As Jesus does over and over again in the gospel of John, he reminds his followers about the importance of trust. In fact, the word for "trust" or "belief" occurs 98 times in John’s gospel. It’s always used as a verb, not a noun, signifying a dynamic process, a word that suggests ACTION.
For a modern day person, following Jesus requires a lot of trust on our part. We’ve never seen Jesus in the flesh. So... we have to believe that Jesus is who he says he is. Jesus says that he is the way, the truth and the life. He says he is in the father and the father is in him. We just have to trust that he is who he says he is.
The thing about trust is that it’s an abstract concept with real life consequences. You put your trust in your friends to keep you from falling on your head in the trust fall team building exercise. We trust our parents to provide us with the truth when we ask hard questions so that we don’t make mistakes that could hurt us. We rely on our partner to have our best interest at heart when they confront us when we do something wrong. We trust our friends to be honest and keep safe our secrets in order to avoid embarrassment or broken relationships.
Trust isn’t something you can hold, something you can feel within your hands. You can’t manipulate it like clay on a potter’s wheel. It’s an attitude of assurance that you believe in the character, strength, abilities and truthfulness of somebody else.
It’s not without risk.
And when Jesus demands our trust, it makes sense that we might have some reservations.
Trust requires us to let go of our own control and have confidence in the person of Jesus the Christ, in the truthfulness of what he has done and is doing in our lives. We have to have faith that we aren’t being lied to. As Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Jesus promises to never leave us, even when the times get dark and we can’t see two feet in front of us. While He isn’t physically present, He promises that the Holy Spirit will live within us and be our Comforter, our Advocate, our Helper, our Counselor.
In these uncertain times, may we cling to the assurance that Christ gives us, that we are united in Spirit with the Creator, the Son, and the Holy Spirt. We won’t be abandoned and left to fend for ourselves. We are never alone anymore because the Spirit is with us.
So as you go into the future, whether you’re looking forward to big changes in your future like college, marriage, or a new job, or you’re facing uncertainty in the world around you, be reminded that everything that matters -- true intimacy and connection with the one who loves you so dearly and created you and died for you, is available to you now, in this very moment, if you’ll just believe and trust that Jesus is who he says he is.
Amen.
*photograph: "Hope" by Autumn Adair
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