Nevertheless she persisted.

Pentecost 19 Sermon Yr C 2019

October 20, 2019

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church

The Rev. Canon Michael J. Horvath

Luke 18:1-8

            For those who are unfamiliar with the liturgy of the Episcopal Church or Anglican liturgy in general, they may be surprised that we have memorialized our prayers in our Book of Common Prayer.  They might even think it more surprising that our Book of Common Prayer only contains six forms of Prayers for the People and that a typical church only uses two or three of those forms in any given year.  That sounds quite stifling.  There appears not to be a lot of room for spontaneous prayer or creativity in there and it sounds as though it’s easy to get into a rut with the constant repetition of these prayers.  

            However, the forms in our Book of Common Prayer are suggested forms.  We can adapt them to fit specific concerns (as we do with the prayers of intercession for concerns of this congregation) and there are opportunities to address pressing and obvious topics of the day. We can shape our prayer, but we first have to make it a habit.   

            You see, there is a more significant purpose to the Prayers of the People that is often overlooked. It is about how we are called to pray without ceasing.  It is about a relationship with our God that is based on, and grows through prayer.  The Prayers of the People are baked into our liturgy because they remind us that God is ever in attendance on us. The reality is that God is always waiting for us to engage him in prayer.  And we don’t offer these prayers because we are faithful to God, but because God is faithful to us at all times, and without end.

            The parable Jesus tells us today in Luke 18 is sometimes called the Parable of the Importunate Widow. “Importunate” is a rather archaic kind of word. It means “persistent in making a request,” even to the point of becoming something of a bother. And that would describe the widow portrayed in this parable. She suffered an injustice – an injustice that in her status as a widow was unlikely to be righted.  Nevertheless she persisted. She was persistent in her seeking justice from an unjust judge. And Jesus is showing us by her example that this is how we are called to live out the Gospel imperatives of unconditional love, justice, and reconciliation.  We are called to be persistent and demanding in our response to Jesus’s call to social justice and action.

            The parable is introduced with a brief explanation that sums up the main point: Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. The “them” here would be Jesus’ disciples. He wants them–and that would include us–to be persistent in our praying and to not give up, not lose heart, not grow weary in our life as Christ’s disciples in this world. 

            It’s easy and indeed joyful being Christians when we are reaping the wonderful things that our lives have to offer – steady jobs, wonderful spouses and partners, comfortable homes, good physical and mental health, healthy children and grandchildren.  It’s a different matter when we come smack up against the wall of personal pain and suffering that we all experience or will experience at some point in our lives.  Think about how hard it might be to connect to a loving God after a tragic life event.  What was your prayer life like after the death of a loved one? What was your prayer life like after the loss of a job or a decline in financial circumstances?  What is your prayer life like when you see your child physically suffering?  How often has our prayer life drifted into nothingness when it seemed that an unjust God had abandoned us to despair and misery.  Yet it is in those same moments that we are called to pray and to pray without ceasing because God never abandons us.

            It’s not easy to be a Christian. It calls for endurance in the face of tragedy, heartbreak and injustice in our personal lives and in the lives of others. 

            On a larger level, some of us may wonder if we even have the endurance to face the tragedies that our world presents us with, on a daily basis.  The tragedy of thousands of Kurdish people being slaughtered in Syria; the image of children sitting in cages at our borders; the greed of the 20 fossil fuel companies that are directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era; and the sad reality that it has become the norm for a President of the United States to use obscenities and profanities when describing public servants and to degrade and belittle decorated veterans who have proudly served our country.  How do we endure these injustices?  Where is God when we raise our prayers to him?

            The prayer that Jesus speaks of is not about convincing, cajoling, persuading, or wearing down God so that God will finally get off his rear end and do something for us. God is not out there somewhere ignoring us; unaware or uncaring about us and this world. We don’t have to entice God to show up and act, because God is already there with us and for us. God is nothing like the unjust judge. God sees our suffering. God hears our cries. God grants justice. But when?  

            She doesn’t get the answer she wants initially, but the widow shows up day after day.  The judge finally hears her pleas and responds.  So it is with our God. How long? When will justice come? I don’t know. But I do know that waiting does not mean God has abandoned us. Waiting does not mean that the unjust have won the day. Waiting does not mean God is not already active in our lives to rectify injustices. You see, the widow does not wait on God. She waits with God. To pray always is what keeps her from losing heart. It keeps her showing up day after day trusting that God is still with her.

            To pray always is what keeps us present in relationship with God so that when God does act we will be present to God. What would have happened if the widow gave up? God doesn’t grant us the luxury of opting out of the lives of others.  We can’t stick our heads in the sand while others perpetrate injustice upon injustice on those we are called to love.  

            The depth of faith that the widow had may seem beyond our ability, but it is also the most difficult and necessary work we are called to do. Pray always and do not lose heart – have faith.  Jesus does not ask us to do what we cannot do. He does not ask to go where he has not already been.  He knows what this deep faith is and how it can change the world. The same faith the widow and Jesus had is already deep within each of us. You already have all that you need to face the unjust judge of this world, to be brave in the face of injustices that cannot go unchecked if we are to call ourselves followers of Jesus. That is prayer in action.  That is faith lived out.

            So live out your faith like this widow.  Pray without ceasing, be bothersome, be brave, be persistent.  God has faith in you and our world needs your faith more than ever.  Amen.