19 Pentecost Yr C Proper 24 Oct 16 2022

19 Pentecost Yr C Proper 24 Oct 16 2022

Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 121, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Luke 18:1-8

 

What an odd sort of story from Luke. Keeping in mind that when Jesus tells a parable, he is trying to shake us up, make us see and hear things differently, what might this parable have to say to us today? I wonder if it has to do with taking a long view. I wonder if it has to do with staying in and participating in our relationship with God.

 

Let’s take a look at a couple of scenarios that may shed some light on this very odd little story. First of all, we know that at this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. This story is one of a series of stories of Jesus imparting as much wisdom to the disciples as possible before arriving in Jerusalem. We are overhearing Jesus instructing the disciples, and it seems like Luke really means for us to overhear these instructions. 

 

And yet we have this very puzzling judge, and an equally puzzling woman. It seems to me that a character in a story Luke is telling should be an upstanding character. In a culture that values honor and assigns shame in its absence, like this one, it seems that the judge in this story should have been honorable, but instead this judge is associated with shame, we learn that because the judge neither feared God nor had respect for people. Eventually the judge granted this woman’s need out of convenience for himself, nothing more noble than that, he just didn’t want to be bothered anymore. The widow should have been respected, but she was powerless, so this was life and death for her. And her coming to this court and this judge was constant and repetitive.

 

There are all sorts of ways this could go; you’ve probably heard many of them. But despite what the world would say to us, despite those whom we encounter that would have us believe God is inconsequential, or God is irrelevant, like this judge in our story, I want to offer something different. First, I think God is calling us to stay in this relationship, God is calling us to participate in this relationship, God is calling us to partner with Jesus in loving one another. And in our world today, that is a hard thing to do. And secondly, having a relationship with God needs a long view. 

 

So staying in relationship with God, participating with God in loving all creation, co-conspiring with Jesus in healing, is about taking the long view. I saw a meme on Facebook this week, a picture of an apple with these words, “the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.”

 

Staying in this relationship with God. Staying in when the going gets tough. Staying in when all evidence suggests it’s a lost cause. Staying in when God doesn’t seem to answer your prayers as you wish. Staying in when death looks you in the eyes. Staying in when everything and everyone in our culture says you are foolish. Staying in is what God calls us to and staying in any relationship is hard. But you can do hard things.

 

The going gets tough, doesn’t it? We have learned to expect results instantly. Our internet speed must be instantaneous. Our email must be answered immediately. Our texts read and responded to right away. Everything we experience today regarding the gathering of information is about having it in the palm of our hand right now. We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom, while starving for relationship. We have lost sight of the value of waiting, of patience, of obedience in the same direction.

 

God calls us to stay in, even when the evidence suggests it’s a lost cause. But that evidence is interpreted through a lens that may not have God in focus. The story of Jesus’ life and death look like a lost cause. People looked to Jesus as leader, as king, and maybe even as magician. And yet, Jesus was put to death on a cross and laid in a tomb and left for dead. Stay in, hold on, wait for it…. Mary and the other women return to the tomb to anoint the body and God does a new thing. 

 

Remember that seed? The day you plant it, it looks nothing like the fruit you will eventually pick and eat. When the seed goes into the ground, it sure doesn’t look like the apple that one day hangs on the tree. Burying the seed in the ground looks a lot like death, and yet what emerges is new life. Letting go of our old selves, our addictions, our need to control, our need for power, our belief in our unworthiness, is a lot like being buried with Jesus, to rise again as new creations. Stay in for the long haul, the arc bends toward joy.

 

Stay in when God doesn’t answer your prayers the way you want God to answer your prayers. How hard is that? You and I both know God is God, and we are not. How many times have you heard from God no, not now, maybe even no, not ever. What we think is best for us is often not what is best for us. And yet, God loves us so very much God lets us choose, God even lets us fail. These are not the times to turn our back on God because God didn’t do it our way. Stay in, participate in this relationship God gives us. Stay in and don’t let the world beat you down.

 

Stay in even when following Jesus may look foolish. Some would say, look out only for yourself, make money at the expense of others, guard your walls so that no one who challenges your carefully constructed contours may show you something new and different. Because looking out for the least and the lost, feeding those who are hungry, caring for those on the margins, won’t get you anywhere, won’t make you money, and surely won’t buy you happiness. Stay in when following Jesus may look foolish, the arc bends toward hope.

 

Stay in because death is not the worst thing that happens to us. The worst thing is not living while we are alive. God gives us this great gift of love, and mercy, and compassion. God gives us this great gift of new life today. Let go of the stuff that gets in the way of relationship, let go of the stuff that pulls us apart, let go of the addictions, let go of the anger, let go, so that you can stay in and your heart may love.

 

Stay in for the long haul, the arc bends toward joy, hope, and love. And as you stay in this relationship that God offers you through Jesus Christ, and through all those you encounter, you are empowered and equipped to love with your whole heart, and what happens then? Love wins. Amen.