An Example of Trust

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Thus sings David, and thus the Church of God lives. What refuge is there for the man of God but to trust in God at all times?

Today, the Church calendar provides us with an example of what it means to trust in God at all times. St. Joseph was a just man and faithful to the Law of Moses. He was honorable and righteous, and he sought to do the right thing. He was betrothed to the Virgin Mary, and was willing to do for her according to the Law and the customs of their people. And Joseph no doubt expected her to live up to her end of the contract also. So it should come as no surprise to you that he was knocked for a loop when “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.”

What is an honorable man to do when him fiancee is found to be with child, and he is certain that it cannot be his, since they have not known one another? He would have been within his rights to stone her for fornication, or at least certainly to divorce her publicly and smear her name irretrievably. But “Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” From this, the Church has often inferred that Joseph did genuinely love the Blessed Virgin, that he would not seek the full measure of the Law's justice upon her.

But did he trust her word, about the origins of the child she was carrying? Would you?

“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'”

Now Joseph is faced with a choice: trust this vision of an angel, along with the word of Mary, or toss out the whole lot in disbelief. He would certainly have been within the pale of rational thinking to put it all aside and move on with his life.

But St. Joseph did not put Mary away. “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” He trusted in the Word of the Lord and obeyed the command of the Lord's messenger, in spite of the evidence in front of him and the rights of the Law lined up on his side.

I would not doubt that St. Joseph had more than his fair share of moments when waiting in silence for the will of the Lord to be revealed was an excruciating trial. What man wants to be the step-father of some other man's child? No doubt it got around through the village that Mary was expecting a child not from Joseph.

How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.

When the mouths of the world start gawping, the man of God can feel like a tottering fence being battered by the elements. Joseph was the wall standing between the Blessed Virgin and her Child and the rest of the world, but in the face of the gossips and busybodies of society, even the most well-reinforced wall can start to wobble.

St. Joseph had something eminently worthy to stand strong for. But what about you? What about when others come against you? Or when they do not come against you, but go around you, spreading lies and malicious gossip? What about when your private affairs become the kaffee-klatsch fodder around town?

What about when the world comes against you for your confession of the Gospel? Will you trust in the Lord to protect and support you when you are isolated from any friend or helper? Will you trust in God to deliver you from the scoffers and from those who seek your life?

The temptation for you is twofold. On one hand, you could give in and bend to the whims of the world. You could compromise your confession to make things more palatable for the ungodly to accept. “Did God really say that?” Well, perhaps what He really meant was this other thing. Perhaps we can just let this little bit in. After all, God wants us to love everybody, and all that jazz. The gossips will wag their tongues less if you just settle down and act less indignant all the time. Your blood pressure will go down if you just live and let live.

On the other hand, the temptation assails you to wag your tongues right back at the world. The congregations of the Church are no safe haven from gossip. The Eighth Commandment is broken just as often inside the sanctuary as out. Do not delude yourself – the Church is a congregation of sinners. You could rally all your indignation and rant and rail against the world, the devil, and the sins of the people around you. You could call out the heathens for oppressing the Church. You could inveigh against every politician who does not love Jesus enough for you, who does not vote to plaster the Ten Commandments all over the country.

Waiting in silence for the Lord to act is difficult. The temptation to act in His absence, or even in His stead, is great. It is easy to be shaken by the earthquakes and tempests. It is difficult to sit in silence inside the fortress and wait for your Protector to act on your behalf.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Like St. Joseph, you face temptations to turn your trust elsewhere than to the revealed Word of the Lord. Your sinful nature wants to look anywhere but where the Lord has directed you. And so you fail at your endeavors. You fail at resisting the schemes of the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh.

But the Lord nevertheless remains your salvation. Your salvation rests not in your own ability to resist the temptations of the world. Your salvation rests not in your ability to keep the leaning wall and the tottering fence upright. Your salvation rests not in your ability – or even your desire – to silence the wagging tongues of the gossips.

Your salvation rests on God, on the mighty Rock who is Christ. He is your salvation, because He alone has accomplished your salvation by His all-availing sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. At His coming all mouths are stopped and all accusations drop. At His birth the wagging tongues were stopped and St. Joseph stood tall as the Guardian of our Lord. At His death the world stood in silence as the earth shook and the curtain tore from top to bottom. And at His rising from the dead all the world was hushed in reverent awe.

Wait in silence for the Lord, because there is nothing more to be said. You have confessed your sins. You have been convicted by the Law. And you have been declared righteous by the voice from heaven which declares you well-pleasing to God for the sake of Christ. “It is finished,” declares the Lord of Hosts. Your salvation is secure. It rests not in you, but upon the head of Christ our Lord.

“Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.” Trust in the Lord. Remain silent in faith. For power belongs to God. Power to silence your fears. Power to silence those who mock you. Power to destroy sin, death, and the devil. To the Lord alone belongs steadfast love and mercy. Trust in Him at all times, for He is a refuge and fortress for you.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.