Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

If you have your Bible, you can open it to Luke 23. This is the last message in our Dying to Live series. As Jesus was hanging on the cross, he made seven different statements that are recorded in the Bible. And what we have found throughout this series is that these statements are invitations for us to enter into the life that God had planned for us. It is evident in his own words that Jesus was dying for us to live. And today we’ve arrived at the very end of Jesus’ life. The statement we’ll listen to today was the very last thing that Jesus said before he died.

Let’s pick things up in Luke 23:44. “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:44-46, TNIV)

In the very first message in this series, we affirmed that a person’s last words can be significant. What a person says in death often reveals what they have valued in life. Jesus chose to use his very last breath to say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Actually, we see from our story that he didn’t just say it. He shouted it. Most last words are whispers. Jesus’ last words were a shout of victory! And more than that, his words are a significant teaching for us. In his last words, Jesus reminded us that God can be trusted.

Jesus’ life had been a consistent example of placing faith and trust in God. And his death was no different. Jesus died as he lived. Placing himself in God’s trustworthy hands. Trusting God to faithfully hold him, even as he slipped from life into death.

We all know Johnny Carson as the man who hosted the Tonight Show for an amazing 30 year run. But before he ruled late night TV, he hosted a show that aired on weekday afternoons. In 1958, Johnny Carson began hosting this show that was called Who Do You Trust? Some of you are old enough to remember the show. Even though the name of the show was grammatically incorrect (it should have been Whom Do You Trust?), it still did very well in the daytime ratings. Johnny would engage in banter with two guests who didn't necessarily know each other and then pull out his quiz cards so that the contestants could try to win some money by deciding who they would trust.

Who to trust is a key question. It’s a lot more important than a goofy little game show from the ‘50s. Who or what to trust can be the most significant decision of our lives. There is no option to not trust. That’s simply not a choice we have. We all put our trust in something or someone. The question is, “What is that something? Who is that someone?” When you think about what our world has to offer us, it probably leaves you a little empty in the trust department.

Investments flop. Cars break down. Medicines fail. Friends disappoint. Teams lose. Gas prices go up. Good looks are temporary. Weather destroys. Children stray. Governments collapse. Enemies attack. Jobs are downsized. Businesses fold. Computers crash. People die.

Our world cannot be trusted. That’s why Jesus placed himself in God’s hands. Jesus didn’t commit his spirit into the hands of his 401k. He didn’t place his trust in his fame or status. Jesus’ placed his trust in the only one who is trustworthy, or worthy of trust. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus knew what we sometimes forget: nothing in our world is completely trustworthy. But God can be trusted totally and completely.

God can be trusted because he is always present in our world. There’s a significant line in our story that you probably missed when we read it. Look again.

Right before Luke tells us Jesus’ dying words, he says that “…the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” (Luke 23:45b, TNIV)

The temple referred to the Jewish place of worship. And this curtain that Luke mentions hung at the entrance to the part of the temple known as the Most Holy Place. This was more than a thin, decorative curtain that you might hang in your window. It was a huge, heavy, thick veil that blocked entrance to the Most Holy Place. No one could enter the Most Holy Place, except the high priest. And he was only allowed to enter once a year on the Day of Atonement when he would go into the Most Holy Place to seek forgiveness for the people’s sins. The Most Holy Place symbolized the presence of God, and the curtain hung as a constant reminder of the divide that existed between God and man. But Jesus’ death changed everything. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain was torn in two. We know from other Bible accounts that this thick curtain, which hung very high, was torn in two from top to bottom, not from bottom to top because it was God that did the tearing.

Why does this matter? Because God tore the very thing that symbolized the division between himself and us. Because Jesus had paid the price for our sin, there was no longer anything to keep us and God apart.

God can be trusted because he is always present in our world. There is nothing to keep him away from you anymore. When you explore the Bible, you’ll find that God’s most frequent promise is, “I will be with you.” John Ortberg said that, “God is determined that you should be in every respect his friend, his companion, his dwelling place.” God is present in our world. But make it more personal. God is present in my world. Say that out loud with me. God is present in my world.

When you’re sipping a latté at Starbucks, you’re doing it with God. When you’re unloading the dishwasher, God is beside you. When you kiss your children goodnight, God kisses them as well. Your world is filled up with God. There is nothing you can do, nowhere you can go that is outside of his presence.

And his presence can be trusted. Not only is he always with us, but he always wants what is best for us. “For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)

This doesn’t say that you won’t have rotten days, rotten weeks, or even rotten years. What it does say is that God is with you, he has a plan for you, and that plan is good. Even on our worst days, God can be trusted because of his good and loving presence.

But it goes beyond simply being present in our world. God can be trusted because he is bigger than our world.

I don’t know about you, but I thought the commercials during the Super Bowl this year were pretty lousy, especially considering that a 30-second spot cost $2.4 million. Most commercials I saw were a waste of a lot of money. There were a couple of good ones, though. One of the commercials I remember is a Budweiser commercial where the baby Clydesdale tries to pull the big Budweiser wagon. He thinks he’s pulling it all by himself, but what he doesn’t know is that there are two full-grown Clydesdales pushing the coach from behind. The colt could pull the wagon because someone bigger was helping him.

The reason we can trust God is not just because he’s present in our world. It’s because he’s bigger than our world. That’s what the Easter story is all about. When Jesus rose from the dead, he defeated the most powerful force in our world. We cannot stop death. We have learned to prolong life through nutrition, exercise, and medical technology, but ultimately death still wins in the end. This is why I don’t exercise. People who exercise simply die tired. We can’t stop death. We can’t overcome death. It is the most unconquerable force in our world, and yet Jesus conquered it! He is bigger than our world.

Again, let’s personalize it. God is bigger than my world. Say it out loud with me. God is bigger than my world. He is bigger than any person in my world. He is bigger than any problem in my world.

When we decide to put our trust in God, we are trusting in the most intelligent mind, the most loving heart, and the most unstoppable strength ever known. Why would we trust anything or anyone else?

Psalm 20 is a great prayer of trust. “I am certain, LORD, that you will help... You will answer my prayers from your holy place in heaven, and you will save me with your mighty arm. Some people trust the power of chariots or horses, but we trust you, LORD God. Others will stumble and fall, but we will be strong and stand firm.” (Psalm 20:6-8, CEV)

Some people trust in chariots and horses. Some in their fame. Some in their money. Some in their body. Some in their pleasure. Some in their drug. Some in their technology. Some in their talent. But all of those things will let you down. Remember what we said a few minutes ago: Our world cannot be trusted. Nothing in your world is certain. Nothing, except Jesus Christ. That is why “others will stumble and fall, but we will be strong and stand firm.” Because we have learned who to trust.

Recently, we moved all our stuff from our house in Indiana to our temporary storage in Georgetown. (That temporary storage is better known as my parent’s garage, my grandma’s garage, and my in-laws’ basement.) As I was driving this U-Haul truck (the biggest truck they have), we ran into some terrible weather. I drove through blinding rain, wind that nearly blew me off the road, and hail that totally covered the road in white. As I was driving, I was thinking, “Wow. Everything we own is in my hands. We are entrusting all our possessions to my ability to navigate this mammoth truck through a wicked hailstorm. That’s a boatload of trust in me.” There were a couple of times when I was beginning to think this trust was misplaced because I wasn’t positive I was going to make it to Georgetown.

When life kicks up a storm and you’re not sure you can make it through, remember that you don’t have to trust your own abilities or knowledge or strength. We have a God that we can trust. We can trust him because he is always present in our world and because he is bigger than our world. Whatever problem I may have in my world, I have a God who is bigger. In God We Trust should be more than a motto on our money. It should be the driving force in our lives.

Let’s go back to our original question. What or who do you trust? If our answer to that question is anything except God, then our priorities are eschewed. There is something mixed up in our lives. This morning, we want to invite you to reevaluate your priorities and place your trust in the only one who is worthy of your trust. A God who died for your sin so that he would never have to leave you. A God who died on a cross for you, proving that he would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you. And He’s also a God who is bigger than anything in your world, and if you don’t believe that, he’s got an empty tomb on his résumé, proving that there is nothing in your world that can outsmart or overpower him. Your problems don’t confuse him. Your sin doesn’t scare him. That same God wants to fuse his life with yours, now and for the rest of eternity. We invite you to meet him.

Mike Edmisten