Today’s Lectionary readings address the problem of trust, an attitude that many feel lacking in American society today. The first reading is from a seldom-read biblical book, the Wisdom of Solomon, written in Egypt just before the time of Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus holds up to his disciples a model of behavior – a child. The readings will make more sense if we read them as commenting on a significant characteristic of our culture, trust or the lack of it.
The Wisdom of Solomon holds up as an ideal a “son of God,” a devout person individual living in a violent and dangerous world. A certain group of people in the society of that time took great offence at this individual’s unashamed trust in God as his father. That hostile group took the individual’s trust as a rejection of their own conviction that events in the universe were ruled by chance, permitting them to do anything they wanted without suffering any consequences. Motivated by resentment and anger, they tested his trust – killing him to find out whether his trust in God would save him from the murder they planned to carry out. In the book, a judgment scene follows the murder in which God publicly vindicates the righteous person raising him from the dead. His enemies see they had it all wrong. Death will be their lot, whereas the individual they hated is granted life. The death and resurrection of the trusting person unmasks the false world, and reveals the true and lasting world that the murderous group never suspected existed.
In our culture, trust in institutions is diminishing, according to polls. But that does not mean that trusting other people and institutions is foolish. It’s necessary, and invited by God’s powerful though unseen presence in the world. Living trustfully, avoiding cynicism, has its risks, to be sure, and can make one appear naïve. The trusting person in Wisdom of Solomon was not spared from death, but his vindication brought the real world into visibility. The righteous individual correctly trusts God’s gracious wisdom, like a powerful electric current, guiding the world to God’s goal.
In the Gospel, Jesus places a child in the midst of the disciples as they argue which of them is the greatest. Jesus holds up the child not so much as a model of trust, but rather as a child was regarded in that culture – a non-person, someone that people of that culture paid no attention to. Jesus demonstrates to his squabbling disciples that he loves and embraces this “non-person,” this “insignificant child,” which provides an unforgettable picture of God’s commitment to the least among us. The Gospel scene invites us to acknowledge that God is the protector of the poor and to recognize too that Jesus urges kindness toward those who trust in God’s governing of the world.