A word of encouragement.
Keep on going, you can make it, don’t quit, keeping holding on, don’t let go, just keep putting one step in front of the other, you can do it, you are not alone, you are not forgotten, help is on the way.
A word of encouragement.
The parable of the widow and the unjust judge is first of all a word of encouragement. It is not about the squeaky wheel always getting the grease, it is about encouraging us that God is worth holding on to, despite all appearances otherwise, God is there, God brings mercy, help and justice, don’t let go, never let go, someone is there, we are heard, we are not forgotten, help is on the way.
A word of encouragement.
Be tenacious, be importunate, be stubborn as a bent nail, this is the prayer of holding onto God. It isn’t easy. One of the great lies of the modern world is that holding onto God is somehow easy, that Jesus is our buddy, all chummy, that God is a cozy kitten or puppy keeping our laps warm.
The biblical witness is otherwise, God is wild, untamed, demanding, predictably unpredictable, holy, a consuming flame, dangerous. Not so much a cozy pet as a great fish that has swallowed us whole taking us we don’t know where, not so much a feather pillow as a pole cat in a poke, mean as a mink and sweet as sodee-pop.
God heard the cries of his people in Egypt, he sent Moses, and plagues, and the angle of death.
Jacob wrestled God, he wouldn’t let go until he received a blessing, and God blessed him with a broken hip and changed Jacob’s name to Israel, he who strives with God.
Job demanded justice and faithfulness from God, his friends told Job that his pain and grief were his own fault. Job would not relent or give in. Job demanded that God be faithful and just. And eventually God showed up and the first thing God says is, “Gird up your loins Job and step outside, I want to show you something!” The answer to Job’s prayers was God’s own self, a whirlwind of glory that drove Job to overwhelmed and overawed silence.
Not to mention Jonah and being swallowed up whole by that great fish.
The modern lie is that God can be domesticated: we don’t need to hold on tight, God is at our beck and call like a well trained pet. The lie lulls us into the sleep of easy belief, effortless faith, polite prayers and cheap grace.
Moses knows better, Jacob would never dream of thinking so, Job would just laugh at our foolishness, Jonah would splash us right in the eye and Jesus…Jesus bleeds on the cross.
This parable is a word of encouragement to those who can’t hold on any longer, God is coming, God is coming, something is about to happen, something unexpected, never let go, no retreat, no surrender, a whirlwind of glory is about to still our hearts, give it your all and then give some more.
Grace Church is heading into a pivotal time in our history. We are finishing up our 160th year, 16 decades, sweet sixteen.
We have some challenges up ahead that will require our all, our stubborn commitment, our relentless prayer and constant giving. And I’m going to be like that importunate widow holding up the expectations that this community continue to be faithful, committed, responsive and responsible.
You should have received the stewardship letter for the 2011 pledge campaign. If you have read the letter you know that if things don’t change, the way that Grace Church is staffed will be noticeably reduced. Basically we have to give more or the ministry of the parish will suffer.
I choose to see this as a timely and appropriate challenge. This is happening at the same time as we are heading into a capital campaign that will in stages restore, repair, update and expand our outdated, leaking property that can no longer be patched together as it has been in the past.
This is timely and appropriate because I think that both the leadership of the parish and the community as a whole has matured to a new level of faithfulness and responsiveness, not because it is easy or convenient but because we love God and we love each other. Grace Church is very alive, things are happening, and going backward or holding still is no longer acceptable, too much has been given and given up to get us this far. As your priest I will call up short any attempt to drive us backward or to sabotage the good work that has been done.
It is time to go forward with many things, Grace Church must continue to grow and mature in our faithfulness to God and our neighbors. And that will require more from all of us.
The widow in the parable is often called importunate, “the importunate widow”, meaning she is relentless, tireless and tenacious; she wears everyone down, like a force of nature, like the river slowly eroding a mountain into a pile of sand. We are supposed to be like that toward God, knowing that God is there and that somehow, someway we will be answered.
But here is the other side of the parable: God is twice as bad, twice as stubborn and twice as importunate as that widow will ever be on her worst day. God’s steadfast love in Jesus Christ will not let us settle for easy belief, effortless faith, polite prayers and cheap grace. The blood of the cross is too precious and powerful to be politely set aside until an imaginary better or more appropriate time.
God is inviting us to gird up our loins and step outside. There is a whirlwind of glory waiting to stir us up into a holy silence. Don’t let go. Don’t you dare let go. You can do it.