Sermon for The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, October 21, 2007

The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 24

Year C

October 21, 2007

Jeremiah 31:27-34 Psalm 119:97-104

II Timothy 3:14—4:5 St. Luke 18:1-8

Have you ever met someone you simply could not get away from? The kind of person that just can’t take a hint to leave you alone. No matter how hard you try to get away, they follow you and will simply not leave you alone. We can be irritated by people like this. This was the kind of woman we face in the story today.

Not that she did not have reason for being so persistent. As the Gospel story says repeatedly her cause is justice. And yet she has been unable to get justice. In the United States today, that might seem hard for us to grasp. We think of our justice system as fair and our judges as impartial. While that may or may not be true, the reality is that it was not true at all in her time. Judges could be unfair, unmerciful and downright dishonest back then. In fact, the only reason this woman received justice was her willingness to be that very kind of person most of us prefer to avoid.

Interestingly enough, this person, the kind most of us would try and flee from is given as the example for us to follow in the lesson from the Gospel of Luke today focusing on the need to pray. As Jesus rightly observes, we “need to pray always and not to lose heart.” That is the bottom line in the parable found in the Gospel of Luke today.

As Christian’s our lives should be focused on prayer, which when you think about it should not be all that hard of a thing to ask. Until you remember that our focus is supposed to be in the model of the person who would never give up. Sometimes I think we are too ready to give up in our prayers if they are now immediately answered. And I wonder how each of us, were we to keep a close eye on our schedule would actually be spending very much time in pray over the course of a day or a week.

Not only does Jesus tell us about our need to pray and not lose heart, he also demonstrated it in his own life, slipping off for prayers on his own. But I find the statement “to pray always and not lose heart” interesting. Why would we be warned to “not lose heart”? Perhaps it is because Jesus knew that there would be times when in our prayer life we are indeed tempted to lose heart.

The parable today tells of a woman seeking justice. In fact, the words grant justice appear four times in this parable. This woman was not asking for something out of line, she was pleading for justice. Her case had merit. And yet, she had to be persistent with the judge before she was granted her justice. Her persistence was such, that the judge, who was not really concerned about justice at all, finally granted her request just to get her off his back.

It is often easy to tell people that perhaps their prayers are not being answered because they are not asking for the right thing or because the answer from God is no. Prayers that seem selfish or self-centered are easily explained away when unanswered because the motive is wrong.

But what about the times when our prayers would seem to be quite in line with something Jesus would be asking, but are still not granted as we desire. Often we pray for justice, for the relief of poverty and famine and yet those prayers are not always answered. They are prayers for justice. They are prayers that Jesus would pray. These are the kinds of prayers we must not lose heart in praying.

I have people ask me how long it is ok to pray to God for something. They are concerned that God will be irritated by their continuing to pray for something which never seems to happen. My answer is that you keep praying for it until it is answered. I think that is clearly the lesson in the Gospel today. God will not get irritated at us for asking for justice and peace in the world until God returned which, when you think about it, will be an answer to that prayer.

I know in my own life there are some things I have been praying about for years now. But I believe in my heart that God has called me to pray for them and so I continue, faithful in the believe that I’m doing what God wants me to do.

Prayer is more than folding our hands and bowing our heads. Pray is also action. Our lives, our vocations, our work, our free time should all be acts of prayer to God. The Benedictine monastic tradition had it right in their understanding that prayer was their work and their physical work was also prayer offered to God.

In all of these ways of expressing our pray life to God the constant from this lesson remains. We are not to give up. God has called us to be people of prayer. Jesus has let us in his example of prayer. So when you think God is distant or not listening to your pray life, then is the time to continue in faith. Continue in faith knowing that God has called you to his practice in your life.

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Feb, 12, 2006

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Feb, 12, 2006

In the name of the God the Creator, Jesus the Liberator, and the Holy Spirit the Sustainer. AMEN.

The story today in Second Kings is one of my favorites. It is a story of healing, power, faith, pride, prejudice, and fear all wrapped up in one gripping story.

Naaman has a serious problem – leprosy. Not a good thing to have. Sort of the equivalent of AIDS and HIV when it first struck and no one was sure how to protect themselves against it, but knew that getting it was fatal. People suffering from it were shunned and feared by most. So it was with leprosy. Naaman must suffer the fear and prejudice of others as a result of his infirmity.

Naaman and his family and friends must have all been in great distress over this turn of events in his health. But out of the blue hope and healing is offered. The little servant girl from Israel know of someone who could cure him! This was a very, very lucky break for Naaman.

So Naaman heads over to see the King of Israel. Of course this is not the person the servant was talking about, but political courtesy’s must be respected. Naaman’s own ruler is very excited about the possibility of his best general being healed so he also sends a letter to the King of Israel asking for him to heal Naaman. Now relations have not been the best between these nations and Israel is definitely the underdog. It is sort of like the president of the United States sending a letter to a very weak country, but one he would like to pick a fight with asking for the impossible. Perhaps like the president sending a letter to prime minister of Luxemburg telling him to cure Colin Powel. When the King of Israel gets this letter he is sure that he is being set up.

Fortunately Elisha got word of the goings on at the palace and of the King of Israel’s great distress and tells him to send Naaman right over.

Now when Naaman traveled it was not like you or I getting in our car and driving off. Naaman traveled in style. Sort of like a presidential motorcade. So Naaman arrives at Elisha’s humble abode with all the trappings of power and pride.

But that insufferable Elisha didn’t even have the common courtesy to go out and greet such an exalted guest such as Naaman in person. Instead he sends a servant with a simple message: go and dip in the Jordan seven times and you will be healed.” Naaman is incensed with this answer, perhaps even more so since Elisha didn’t even have the courtesy to greet him at the door.

Naaman wanted to be healed by he wanted it done his way. Naaman wanted to do what he wanted to do not what God wanted to do. Naaman wanted Elisha to make a big show of it all. Something spectacular and flashy for an important guy like me he must have been thinking. Something worth of Naaman’s exalted and high status. But not only did Naaman not get what he wanted, on top of that slight he was told to go wash in the Jordan. This was just too much. The Jordan was a rather dirty river, nothing nice about it at all. Naaman knew that he had much better rivers than this back at home. Why did he have to go to all this trouble only to be told to wash in the Jordan, barely a river by comparison to the wonderful rivers at home. Naaman was not a happy camper.

Naaman was willing to call it quits and give up. His anger eclipsed his desire for healing and wholeness. IN the end a cooler head prevailed and pointed out to Naaman how foolish he was acting.

I wonder how often in our own lives we act like Naaman. We want God to ask on our terms. We want God to act like we expect her to act. Naaman wanted a showy God. Naaman wanted a God which would actually draw attention to himself.

What are our own ideas of God? When you pray to God do you clearly know how you want her to respond to your needs? Naaman though he had God all figured out. But Naaman got the unexpected. When he was truly open to the work of God his response was “now I know that there is no God in all the earth except Israel.” Had Naaman not been willing to change his life and his attitude he would have missed the healing and new life possible through God. When Naaman actually allowed God to work in his life, it changed him forever.

God is in the business of changing lives. But our God is not a pushy God. Naaman could have stormed off and he would have never had the opportunity to see God working so powerfully in his life. All because Naaman expected God to work in a certain way.

Is that the case in our own lives? Do we expect God to work in a particular way? Do we walk away just when God is ready to transform our life because it is not what we want or expect?

We live our lives in the face of a simple choice. Do we want God to be God or do we want God to be the God we expect. Will we try to limit God’s ability to touch our lives by refusing him like Naaman almost did?