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Vicar's message from October, 2007
don't forget to change page title on Format menu| A Sermon at Saint Patrick's Proper 24 -- Year C -- Oct. 21, 2007 Text: Luke 18:1-8a; Genesis 32:3-8, 22-30; Psalm 121:1-8 ------------- Last week, Kim-Anh and I attended the Bishop's Fall Clergy Retreat at Shrine Mont, and on the way home we stopped at a farm to buy apples. As Kim-Anh picked the apples, I saw a cow that was standing in a fenced area, licking dirt from a manger that had no food. I was curious, so I stood at the fence to watch her. I did not grow up in a rural area, and I did not know much about cows. This cow seemed hungry and she was skinny. I gathered that she was a young calf. I had touched a horse before, but I had never touched a cow. I wanted to beckon her to come to me, but I did not know how. I whistled at her, and then I said, "Come, come here!" But she just looked at me, and then she looked away. I do not know how to speak cow language. So I turned and walked away. As soon as I walked away, she came to the fence. When I turned again and walked toward her; she walked away. Again I withdrew, and again she came to the fence. Each time I approached her she withdrew. She obviously wished to keep a safe distance from me. So I stood there for a while to look at her, but I could not remain there indefinitely. Upon leaving, I pondered about what had just transpired. Was she afraid of me? Was I too cautious. Do cows bite? Did she know that I had dined on roast beef the night before at Shrine Mont? Had I remained at the fence long enough, the cow might have come to me, but I no longer felt the urge to touch the cow. So I left her. It is interesting to contemplate about how living things learn to trust each other. --------- The Collect assigned for today speaks of steadfast faith with perseverance, and the idea is about unwavering trust in God. The prayer reads, "Preserve the work of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name." This is something for us to ponder this week. We have come together in this very building, in a safe place, seeking refuge for our souls. Out there, the world is a confusing place. Amidst the bad news of war, global warming, oppression and poverty, God seems to be the only safe haven for us. Do we have faith in God? Jacob, in the Book of Genesis, was drawing nearer to God when he began to take God seriously. Jacob had become a rich person. He had two wives plus concubines. They bore him many children. He had a lot of sheep and goats, and he had servants to assist him. Yet he had never really settled down. He was constantly on the move. Through devious means, he had been successful, and he had been quite satisfied with what he got. He had always been about winning, not about caring, and he had made enemies out of his loved ones. First, by being deceitful, he made an enemy out of his own brother; and then, through manipulation, he angered his uncle. Jacob did not think much about God. All that he was concerned about was the blessings. He did not even attempt to reconcile the animosity between himself and his brother, and he focused instead on just accumulating more wealth for himself. He wanted to have more of everything! Yet the time for Jacob to face his brother had come, and his life was threatened. Esau and four hundred strong men were approaching, and Jacob was fearful. The story does not describe a praying Jacob. Instead, the story depicts a Jacob who relied on his own innate skills, readying himself for a deadly battle. Jacob never realized that God was near. That night, while he was alone, a man came to wrestle with him. They did not exchange words; they just wrestled in the darkness, for the entire night. During their wrestling, Jacob came to realize that he was actually struggling with God. God must have had a funny idea. He let Jacob win. He let Jacob hold on to him; God did not push Jacob away. God cared about Jacob. God came to Jacob when Jacob was not expecting Him, when Jacob had panicked and had no hope. Jacob had never taken God seriously, but God had always been serious about Jacob. The Lord asked, "What is your name?" "Jacob,” he answered. "Your name is no longer Jacob. You name is now Israel." The word "Israel" means "May God persevere." The changing of the name means the transformation of the person. Wealth, success and shrewdness could not help Jacob at all. During the struggle, the stranger struck Jacob on the hip socket, and the hip was put out of joint. Perhaps the pain made him attentive to God's presence. Transformation can be a painful experience. --------------- How do we understand the parable of the unjust judge in the Gospel of Luke? Is God like the judge in the story, so that we need to keep praying over and over about one thing until we get the desired result? Is the parable merely a teaching about persistence in supplication? The Parable of the unjust judge that Jesus told his disciples about came at the time when they were fearful about the future. Jesus foretold of tribulation and persecution, and the disciples were confused. They needed a clearer understanding of the situation. They needed to know what they should do. Widows of Jesus' times were very poor and powerless. Widows were outcasts, because they did not have money to go to a physician when they became ill, and they had no money to offer sacrifices. In many cases, they were considered ‘unclean.’ In the case of this particular widow, justice may have been denied her. The judge in the story was not a good man. He was dishonest. He did not wish to rule in her favor. Perhaps the judge was involved in politics. He might have turned his eyes away from cases of murder and genocide. He might have refused to listen to the cries against torture. Jesus said that this woman, powerless as she was, was persistent in her supplication, and she prevailed at last. ----------------------- Jesus did not compare the unjust judge to God. Jesus meant to say that if a human judge -- powerful yet sinful and unjust as he is -- gives in to persistent requests of an outcast, how much more attentive will God be to the prayer of his elect. God hears our prayer. The problem is that we have not taken God seriously enough. The issue is not the absence of God; the issue is the absence of faith. Out of fear, we may have behaved like the unjust judge in the story, or like Jacob in the Book of Genesis, designing our own schemes, denying truth and giving in to deceit. We may not have been serious about God. Being fearful that our interests may be adversely affected, we keep silence about injustice. From the pulpit we often hear only about good work and positive thinking or the promises of the afterlife. Most of our prayers are about our bodily health and our need. We pray as though we are submitting a ‘wish list’ to God. Perhaps we believe that persistent prayer may change God. We may even believe that if we pray long enough for a person or for something, God will change his mind and grant us the things we wish to have. Some of us may believe that certain people can pray more effectively than others. The danger here is that we can become superstitious, believing that God can be bribed with gifts, and that God can be persuaded by humans who know the right things to say. -------------------- But this is not what Jesus taught. ------------------- Prayer is not about changing God. Prayer is about changing us. ------------------- Spiritually speaking, prayer can lead us to where we might find ourselves in an awkward position. Issues that we once might not have ever thought about, such as the treatment of detainees, may come to bother the Christian conscience. Last week, at the clergy retreat at Shrine Mont, a priest in our diocese asked the Bishops why the Church had been quiet about the alleged practice of torturing terrorist suspects. He asked if Christians believe in torture. // Prayer may open our eyes to the things we have not seen before. Prayer brings people together, urging them to make peace with one another. If you pray, but in your heart you hold on to bitterness against your brothers and sisters, your prayer cannot work. Sometimes you feel the urge to come forward, but you are too fearful about the situation, and you dare not. You keep delaying, and your heart becomes hardened. You then choose to forget about how conflict began, and may even pretend that the person does not exist. Yet Jesus is still speaking, each time you pray. Prayer must be like that of Jacob in the wrestling match: the person who prays must use all his or her strength, with both arms, both hands, legs and feet, holding on to God and refusing to let God go, until God strikes you on your hip socket, knocking it out of joint, and then God changes your name. Prayer makes resurrection happen, as it makes us aware of pain. Prayer can bring you to a place where you take God seriously and have concern for the poor. You cannot do God-talk without being mindful about the poor. At the "Eat In to Help Out" dinner of our youth and their partners, on Friday night, I witnessed our young people praying for and making a decision on where to send their gifts and how the gifts should be used to help the poor. It was quite moving listening to our young people as they expressed their ideas. Their prayers inspired me to pray, and to seek transformation, for oftentimes I had found myself neglecting the poor. In prayer we may be able to envision our lives and the lives of those we love -- we may be able to look to the future with confidence, and see how we can cooperate with God in proclaiming his love. At the vestry meeting of this month there was a discussion of Saint Patrick's of the year 2017. Without prayer, none of us can envision the future church, nor see God at work in the present church. Without prayer, our vision is limited. Prayer can make us mature in spirit, so that we will not despair over little things but focus instead on our primary mission of taking up our cross to follow Him, Christ our Lord. Prayer can make us strong, to face the challenges of the journey. All that Jesus wanted to say in telling the parable of the unjust judge is "Take God seriously." God works wonders, and nothing is more certain than his mercy for his own people. English writer C.S. Lewis once said, "Prayer does not change God, but prayer can change us." Jesus tells us to pray always, and to not lose heart. "Lord, may we persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name. Amen |
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