It was a Grand Slam Sermon at Mass today. I even took the time to tell our priest, Father Richardson, that he delivered on of the best sermons I’ve heard in my life.

The subject was TRUST.

The sermon was based on today’s Gospel (John 9:1-41) – the story about Jesus restoring the sight of the blind man after applying a paste of mud and saliva to his eyes.  We were reminded that “back in the day” any Jew who was touched by the bodily fluid of another was considered defiled (hence people spitting on Jesus during his trial and the walk to Calvary were really mocking and degrading Him).

 At the end of the day the blind man trusted Jesus. The Pharisees ( the teachers of the law) did not – they were too caught up in the legalistic nonsense of the fact that He performed the act on the Sabaath, that they were “blinded” to the miracle of healing.

But as Father Richardson unwrapped the lesson he wanted to impart, he focused on the issue of TRUST.

He noted how easy it is for us – our modern culture – to “trust” complete strangers with our very lives. For instance he note:

• the factory worker who fills the cereal box – how do we know he did his best job the day he filled the box from which we’re now eating? How do we know it is safe to eat?
• the guy who put the door on the microwave we use — why do we trust that he did his job correctly and we’ll not be subjected to radiation when we use our appliance?
• the person who signs the inspection paper that says the elevator we’re taking to our office is in good working order. How do we KNOW they’re telling the truth?

He cited several other examples.

And then he paused.

He said, “We trust all of these people who we don’t know – who we will probably NEVER know – with our very well being. But when it comes to God THAT’s when we doubt? THAT’s when we say, ‘Hey, wait a minute?’ We’d rather trust people we will never know, but we don’t trust our God?”

There are many who would like to discount the stories in the Bible as something fanciful – something “people” just made up – some hearsay that isn’t proven.  But if you apply that same logic and reasoning you’d have to say the same thing about any newspaper published today. If WE who are consuming the “news” aren’t actually there to see if for ourselves, how do we know it’s true??? We TRUST the reporters to tell us what happened.

In this Gospel story a blind man was made to see. There were witnesses. It was recorded for history. Why are we so hard hearted that we don’t believe this to be true? Why do we need God to prove Himself to us? Do we think that the touching, feeling, seeing, smelling, hearing part is crucial to proof? Can we not take as TRUTH the stories of those who proceeded us?

What does it say about us when we are more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to an elevator mechanic than we are to God?