October 15, 2016
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
The Rev. J.D. McQueen, II - All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Diego, CA
“Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus gives us a much-needed reminder of our need to pray always and not to lose heart.
- In his parable, he gives the example of a widow stubbornly demanding justice from an unjust judge, who finally gives in simply to get rid of her.
- Of course his point is that if persistence can bring about justice through an unjust judge, we should have the utmost confidence in coming to God, who is Justice and Love itself.
Even though we know we need God’s help to meet the challenges of our lives, we don’t always have the same “holy tenacity” of that widow.
- We give up too easily when we can’t see anything happening and God seems silent, and the effects of this can be devastating.
- Far too many people let this experience gradually dim the light of God in their lives, and even extinguish it when a particularly desperate plea seems to have gone unanswered.
Jesus shows us this tragedy from God’s point of view in the rhetorical question I began with: “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
- This actually completes the last verse of this passage, but for some reason the lectionary omits it, which is unfortunate.
- Because while this might sound like exasperation or cynicism, what we’re really seeing is Jesus baring his own broken heart, and that of the Father, to us.
Jesus has just promised that God will never abandon us, that he doesn’t delay, and that we should expect him to appear at any moment.
- And yet, he knows that for some, that won’t be soon enough, and they’ll give up on God even though he’s already on the way.
- So Jesus expresses an anguished plea of his own, hoping that we might be encouraged to trust and persevere, to stick with him through thick and thin, and not let life’s difficulties wear us down.
We can’t ever let ourselves forget that God always hears us, that he always comes and answers us, and that we have to keep coming to him in faith.
- First and foremost, we do this because God loves us and made us for his love.
- Also, we never know what the future holds, whether our faith might be shaken by something we see or experience.
It’s easy to let this slide when everything seems fine and our faith in the love of God isn’t challenged.
- But when people give up on God, it’s not something that happened in an instant.
- It’s like a boxer who, after several rounds of body blows, can’t keep his hands up anymore.
- Then, as soon as he drops them, takes one right on the chin, and gets knocked out.
Life is filled with all kinds of sufferings; sadness, disappointments, failures, unmet expectations, and so on.
- Now, if we’re not bringing those things to God, even if they seem small and our lives are mostly happy, they’ll eventually to take a toll on us.
- In fact, this will even be the case if we do bring them to God, but don’t wait for his answer.
Unanswered prayer shouldn’t be just another little sadness – it should be a sign that in God’s loving plan of salvation, there is an alternative to our request that is infinitely better for us and all of creation than what we had in mind.
- But we have to get accustomed to being quiet enough to notice when he’s moving us in another direction and humble enough to let his will be done.
- If we do that, God will take the sting out of even the worst of our suffering, so that instead of creating a lingering pain that leaves us vulnerable, it only makes us stronger.
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- Now, obviously that’s important for us, but also for everyone around us.
- If we’ve experienced firsthand the peace and comfort that Jesus can bring to bear on any situation, we can be a source of hope for someone else.
- When we can see that someone is carrying something heavy, sometimes the most powerful thing we can say is, “When I was struggling, this is what Jesus did for me.”
If we’ve seen God change the direction of our lives, we’ll be able to recognize when he’s doing the same thing in someone else.
- We’ll be able to reassure them that God is with them, that he is saying something, and we’ll be able to help them hear it.
- But we have to pray – because we can’t offer a gift we haven’t received, we can’t share what we don’t have.
- A very simple way to start is with 10 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes in the middle of the day, and another 10 at night.
Don’t make it complicated – just share what’s going on in your life:
- What are you thankful for today? What saddened or frustrated you?
- What are the dreams and desires of your heart? What are your fears and anxieties?
- Ask God to show you what he wants to share with you and what he wants you to share with him.
Whatever you do, always be sure to leave space for silence, to sit and listen with an open heart and mind. If we’re faithful in doing this, we’ll soon find that it would be harder to stop going to God than to keep coming.