Confessions of a Bedraggled Parent

Luke 18:1-8; Psalm 121

            When my children were little they could get on my last nerve with their persistent begging for things.           

            Can we play outside? Can I have a cookie? Can I watch TV? Can I have some candy? Can we play a game? Can I have money for this? Can I have money for that? Can I, can I, can I?

            There were times when I was absolutely firm and successfully held my ground. “No,” I would answer, and “no” meant “no”.

            Then there were, well, those other times; the times when I caved; I gave in.

            They got the cookie 15 minutes before we were going to eat dinner – especially if they gave me a good story for why they “needed” it. They got to play outside before they did their homework, even though this was against the rules, but always, of course, with the stipulation that it would get done right after dinner.

            Yes, their persistent begging wore me down, until finally they got their way. Sometimes. It didn’t happen all the time. I won’t tell you how often it happened, but it was often enough that it gave them hope that strengthened their resolve for the next time they wanted something. Justice was not done on those days. We didn’t follow the law (the rules of the house).  

            Today we have a little plaque in our house that reads, “What happens at Grandma’s stays at Grandma’s” so, I plead the fifth where our grandson is concerned because, well, it stays at Grandma’s!”. I am sure you understand. You understand that it’s not just about giving in to nagging – it’s also about love – which leaves us particularly vulnerable.

            Most of us have probably had that experience – either as the petitioner, begging and pleading our cause before our loved ones –

            where we pretty well know their weak spots

                        and the vulnerabilities we can prey upon,

                        or as the judge and arbiter of justice and all things sweet and sticky.

            In any case, on those days when my kids wore me down, I guess I was like the judge in the gospel lesson today who – at least sometimes - does the right thing for the wrong reason.

            The parable in our gospel lesson today is often referred to as “The Parable of the Unjust Judge.” Just a look at the description of this man in the gospel text, and we understand how it got that name;

            “he neither feared God nor had respect for people.”

            Someone who has no respect for people doesn’t care one whit for a widow. In Jesus’ time widows had no power. They were completely dependent upon and vulnerable to those who wanted to take advantage of them and they were in many ways helpless.

            The widow in this parable has been victimized by circumstance – she is a widow after all - and she has most likely been victimized by the system as well. The law of the day was that when a man died all his wealth and property would pass on to his sons if he had any, and to his brothers if he did not, and then to more distant male relatives when those closer descendants were lacking.

            There was an expectation that a widow would be looked after by the one who inherited the estate, and widows with good family systems might be cared for, yet they were still totally dependent on the decency of those who inherited.

            The most common types of complaint that a judge like this was likely to deal with were land and property disputes, disputes over inheritance, and the widow’s is the messiest kind of these cases. Because really, “expectations” aside, the law works for her opponent and against her.

            And yet, our widow remains relentless. She continues to pursue what she sees as justice for herself, or at the very least, mercy.

            She continues to fight for her survival.

            She gives up her helplessness and pursues, persists, and perseveres, seeking what she calls “justice.”

            Despite her widowhood and accompanying helplessness this widow sees herself as having hope.  

            Rather than voiceless, the way most marginalized people have no voice, this widow speaks with purposefulness and insistence that she be heard.

             Instead of giving up on the judge, she trusts, she believes, that ultimately she or, rather, justice will prevail, even against an unjust judge - Even against the prevailing wisdom and law of the time. This woman believes and trusts that all evidence to the contrary, justice will triumph for her sake. Otherwise, how could she continue to appeal to this man who neither feared God nor respected people?

            Jesus told this tale as a parable about the need to pray always and not to lose heart. Jesus also twice repeats the idea of fearing God and respecting people.

            Justice for all people, and especially for the weak, the vulnerable, the lost, and the lifeless ones is not only important to God, it is at the very heart of God.

            There is good reason that Jesus would use this story to teach his followers about the necessity of prayer in their lives, even prayer that seeks the seeming impossible, even when hope appears determinedly dead in the water.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where sin and injustice will converge in his arrest and trial, his conviction and passion, his death and resurrection.

            It is not lost on us that Jesus, who himself fervently prayed throughout his life and especially when difficulties and challenges arose, encourages constant prayer; the Son of God, who prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he died for “this cup to pass,” declares that God will grant justice to those who pray both day and night.

            Those experiences like the one I shared with you of my parental successes and failures at giving in to the nagging of my children, teach us that “no” is never really “no”. and our experience of God is that God’s “yes” comes out of a place of pure love and mercy and grace that supersedes any rules we may have put in place. 

            We are primed by our experience of being the parent occasionally worn down by persistent begging, or of having been the beggar who has worn down our own parent, to interpret this parable as a story that teaches that all we have to do is nag God with our prayers and we, too, should get what we want, even when there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

            The thing is, this gospel points to an ever greater truth. The extension of God’s mercy is not dependent of “fairness” or “law” as we interpret it. God’s response is one of grace for God’s beloved children. Prayer is not so much about wearing down God as it is about building up our relationship with God, and having that relationship strengthen us in our life of faith. 

            This parable demonstrates God’s character through contrast. The point is that God is not like the unjust judge. Rather, God is just and loving, cares about the needs of people, and hears our every prayer. We can expect justice and mercy from this God.

            Of course, there is a lot of mystery that surrounds prayer. How does it work? Why does it seem that some prayers are answered and others go unheard? I don’t have answers for those questions.

Perhaps it is easy to hear this story and conclude “Well, obviously the widow is a good example of persistence and faith because she ultimately receives what she wants”— What about the woman who knocks and knocks and knocks and never receives a reply?

              Who among us hasn’t prayed for something—   persistently, faithfully, constantly, and not received that for which we prayed?  Is the widow a better pray-er than I am? Am I just not good enough at prayer? Simply being faithful in prayer doesn’t guarantee that we’ll receive the response we want. 

            But being faithful in prayer does strengthen our relationship with God.  Being faithful in prayer does remind us constantly of who God is, and who we are, beloved children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ.

            Being faithful in prayer grounds us in God’s promises and gifts, gives us an outlet for both the grief that threatens to destroy, and the joy that sometimes overwhelms. Being faithful in prayer gives us hope that no matter what may come, God will somehow bring us to a good end. Immersing ourselves in a healthy prayer life gives us the means to faithfully, consistently give God thanks and praise for God being God.  

            Two weeks ago, I asked you to write down on cards I gave you, something you had done in faith. Those cards are in this basket. The single most common answer was “prayer.” You got it! You know that it takes faith to pray – even if it is Jesus’ faith we rely on. Because when we are unable to pray, we have a community surrounding us that prays for us in our stead, and the Holy Spirit interceding for us.

            Last week, you wrote down something you are grateful for. Those cards are here too, and again you gave great answers, including things like faith and life, family, health, education, church, Jesus, and prayer. Some of these cards are completely full, others have just a word or two. Some responses are written on these cards and others are on paper torn from the pages of your bulletin. Each response is valid, important, and communicates something about our relationship with God, as do the prayers we pray.

            Today, our third and final exercise links together the messages of these three weeks. Faith, gratitude and prayer work together as essential aspects of our relationship with God. They are three parts of our spiritual lives informed by scripture, blessed by the Holy Spirit and blessed for our use in the work Christ has set before us.

            So today, I ask that you write down something that you are praying about or would like to pray about. I will include some of these in the prayers of the people.

            Yet remember, prayer is not simply nagging God until our needs are satisfied—our prayers are our participation in the reign of God. While our “nagging” prayers might not always be resolved the way we want them too, by continually being in prayer, and not giving up hope, we are drawn closer to God and proclaim with confidence that God has not abandoned this world.

            By praying constantly, we practice faith that we might have strength for these troubled days. We practice faith that we might be a part of God’s coming kingdom, the kingdom of justice and peace.  

            By praying unceasingly, we follow the path of our Lord. We place our trust in God above all else.

            Let us be a people of prayer. Let us be a people of prayer in this place, at this time: PRAY.

           

Blessed Are You

Matthew 5:1-12

I have moved around a bit in my life, and with each move, with each new situation and context, I have met new people, developed new relationships, and ultimately, formed new friendships. It’s not always an easy thing to do; for one thing, it takes time. It takes risking a certain amount of vulnerability all over again. I am an introvert, and as such, I am sometimes challenged to reach out and put myself out there, to connect in a deep and meaningful way with someone new. I wonder if it’s any different for you. Connection doesn’t happen instantaneously. You can’t force it. Friendships and relationships are organic. They grow and change and morph and as they do, there may be surprises – many of them (let’s hope most of them) delightful, along the way.

I wonder if you can think back to a time when you met someone new? How did the relationship come about? It’s likely you spent time with this person, that you listened to what they had to say, that you learned something about their story and as you did, you came to understand what was important to them, which in turn told you even more about who they were as a person. When you first met them, you probably exchanged the basic information; name, rank and serial number – or something like that, right? But as you became more familiar with one another, your understanding of the other deepened, broadened, and became more meaningful.

So it is with our relationship with God, now revealed through Jesus Christ. Led by the Spirit of God, this relationship also grows as we spend time with God, in the Word and in prayer.  We listen to what is important to God, and now, through the incarnation of God in Jesus, as we learn who and what Jesus values, we become more in touch with God’s subversive love come to fruition in the kingdom of heaven. As we come to know Jesus better, we also come to know about this kingdom of God that sets a new frame of reference for what blessedness is and what being blessed means.

We’ve been doing a lot of getting acquainted with God and God’s ways in the time since our we were introduced to Jesus at Christmas. In the past few weeks, guided by scriptures appointed for each week, we have moved from Jesus’ baptism to the early days of his ministry including the calling of Jesus’ first disciples and his early teaching, preaching and healing ministry. This movement now takes us to the Sermon on the Mount, and a picture of Jesus has begun to take shape. Like a flower that begins as a tightly closed bud and then gradually opens to reveal layers of intricately patterned blossom, we begin to see more and more clearly this Jesus of Nazareth, this God incarnate, and the new way of life he proclaims. Through Jesus’ ministry and teaching, God is revealed. In the ways this kingdom works, the way this household is run, in its values and priorities, God is made known.

In the gospel of Matthew up to this point, Jesus has been unveiling a new reality which he identifies as the “kingdom of heaven”, a kingdom of God that is packed with layers and textures that are frequently surprising, often unexpected, and destined to turn the status quo on its proverbial head.

“Kingdom of heaven” is a phrase that we will hear over and over again throughout the gospel of Matthew. Already, in the verses before these, Jesus has introduced us to it, as Jesus has called those who wish to follow him into discipleship. Discipleship is created as we come to know Jesus better through these texts, and we are introduced to a re-ordering of reality that was initiated with the inauguration of the kingdom of heaven at the coming of Christ. Discipleship is deepened as our relationship is deepened, as we come to know Jesus more fully, and introduce him to others as well.

The text from Gospel of Matthew that we read today opens a discourse by Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. We’ll become familiar with Jesus’ teaching through this discourse in the next couple of weeks, but for today, we are reminded of these introductory words, sometimes called the “blessed bes”, otherwise known as the beatitudes. While these beatitudes may read like a laundry list of those who are blessed, it is a scripture passage that reminds us that God’s economy is not like our economy. Being “blessed” does not depend on health, wealth, status or happiness, as we define happiness. It doesn’t depend on self-satisfaction and is not measured by levels of success or power. It is not reward for a job well done or for being correct, or for fulfilling all righteousness or duty.

Blessedness, instead, is a gift. It comes to us as grace. To the people for whom these words were originally spoken and recorded, the reign of God, preached to a largely Jewish audience of peasants who were oppressed by the Roman system of taxes and tributes and suffering under the demands of the tithes and offerings demanded by the Jerusalem temple, they are words of balm for the desperate ones who live on the edge: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven!”

Mary Hinkle Shore writes: “The word of grace is that blessings as Jesus describes them here are a surprising glimpse of the kingdom of heaven. They are a statement of a world turned upside down. They include those who mourn; those ones are comforted. They include those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; they are satisfied, not ignored, ridiculed or further burdened, where the meek inherit the earth rather than being ground into the dust.”

But, while that good balmy news may in fact be great news for some, it may be troubling news for others. As Scott Tunseth, General Editor of Fortress Press points out “Being poor of spirit may sound pitiful to those puffed up by their own knowledge. Being merciful might sound horribly weak to those bent of revenge. But for those who mourn, the promise of God’s comfort is an oasis of peace. For those who are pure of heart, God will surely be near.”

The beatitudes concern not just the way these words make us feel emotionally, though we may feel a deep emotional response inside; neither do they simply highlight personal qualities of those whom we may call “blessed”. Rather, the Beatitudes function to reveal God’s favor for certain human conditions, for particular human actions, and situations. Regardless of where we find ourselves, we are assured that God will act – in hopelessness and suffering, through pain and turmoil, and God’s reign will find ultimate satisfaction in the lifting up of every single one of the afflicted, and raising them to new heights.

Yet, I think there are two things we need to note about these beatitudes. The first is that while they apply to the “ones” who are poor in spirit, or mourn, or are in dire straights, they also call disciples of Christ into community and into action, where we are both blessing and blessed for one another. As we traverse the landscape of Matthew’s gospel this year, we will find that a prime objective of Matthew’s is to call up disciples of Christ. Discipleship for Matthew is found in community. It is the same today and these words can help us to define the community response to the kingdom of God as revealed through the life and ministry of Christ and those he initially invited to follow.

This revelation of God’s life is an invitation that calls for a response. By following Jesus into God’s abundant life, we will conform to the way this kingdom works, its values and priorities. We are born and reborn into new relationship with God, each other and creation. Jesus invites us: we respond. Always first, the invitation; always, the blessing; always, God reaching out acting first; always, God creating ways of new life, always, where and how we least expect it. Always!

Kingdom life is a responsive life, always seeking, always moving. Discipleship leads to community and the beatitudes call us to a hope filled community focused on God, blessed to seek connectedness through relationship to God and to one another, and embracing what God promises for the future.

Theologian James Bailey writes, “the cumulative effect of the beatitudes puts divine imprint on the community – how the community understands itself and views what God values and whom God honors.”

How poetic! What a beautiful way to describe the way that God is revealed here at Grace and anywhere God’s work is done. We bear the divine imprint as the body of Christ, community alive for the kingdom of heaven!

Henri Nouwen puts it another way:

“I am increasingly aware of how much we fearful, anxious, insecure human beings are in need of a blessing. Children need to be blessed by their parents and parents by their children. We all need each other’s blessings masters and disciples, rabbis and students, bishops and priests, doctors and patients.”

“I must tell you that claiming your own blessedness always leads to a deep desire to bless others. The characteristic of the blessed ones is that, wherever they go, they always speak words of blessing.”

It is a wonderful reminder on a day when we raise up God’s grace that blesses us through the radical nature of the kingdom of heaven, as we welcome into the Body of Christ our new sister through baptism, Lisa Buescher. We are reminded that God’s promise is for grace upon grace upon grace, as gift that is governed by the promise of God’s abundant life. As both blessing and blessed, may we each, as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, understand that all human beings are blessed by God and worthy of our love and care.

In closing I would like to remind us how Micah instructs us in bearing the divine imprint in our first scripture reading today: “He has told you, O mortal what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God?”

Amen.