The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews is the vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick. The sermon for Sunday, October 16, 2022, was preached as a response to Luke 18.1-8 using the manuscript below.
As Jesus continues his trek to Jerusalem,
Luke doesn’t tell us much about this parable.
He doesn’t tell us where they are.
He does tell us
that Jesus is talking to the disciples,
not to the crowds
and not to his adversaries and opponents.
And before Jesus tells the parable,
Luke tells us the point.
Jesus told his disciples a parable
about their need to pray always
and not to lose heart.
Their need to pray always
and not to lose heart.
Then Jesus tells a parable
about a widow and a judge.
This is a judge
who is clearly not doing his job.
The widow who continues to come to him
needs help in getting justice.
Having no husband
and possibly no male family members
has rendered her as someone
with no voice.
This is why throughout scriptures
there is an unmistakable directive
in Hebrew scriptures and Christian ones
to care for widows and orphans
not care by individuals
but care by the whole community.
In addition to whatever judging he’s doing
this judge is bound to do that, too.
Except Jesus is very upfront:
this judge neither fears God
nor has respect for the people.
Taking a pot shot at certain judges that we feel this way about
would be low hanging fruit
and would distort and miss the point of the parable.
Jesus is talking to the disciples
and Luke is writing for the church.
To that end, Jesus is writing to us,
as we try to follow him
as we gather in Jesus’ name
hope to have our lives transformed
and are sent to do the work he has given us to do.
The church at about 100 CE was feeling tired.
Jesus hadn’t come back.
The church has never been a conflict free zone
because it’s never been made up of perfect beings
and has always been made of humans muddling along.
Today is no different in that way.
We’re going to start our fall pledge campaign
I don’t know, probably in the next two weeks.
Yesterday morning Josh Rawley,
a presbyterian pastor in Vancouver, WA,
asked of twitter,
“Any other clergy feeling
like the post-pandemic rebuilding of your church
is as hard as the pandemic was?”[1]
The responses were telling
but not surprising.
In short,
yes.
We were planning for and then celebrating Topher’s birthday
so I didn’t spend much time with the full replies.
I know, however, that the responses
aren’t just representative of the cleric here
at St. Hilda St. Patrick.
At the same time, though
we’re still here.
Not just me,
not just the Bishop’s Committee.
Us.
You, the choir.
You the families with kids.
You the retirees,
you the young singles,
you the working grandparents.
You the people whose children were babysat
by friends of mine from New York
and you the people who found us online
or joined us for Easter
or watch the live steam live
or whole service on demand
from West Africa to Canada
to the Olympic Peninsula.
Jesus told his disciples a parable
about their need to pray always
and not to lose heart.
Luke wants the church to be reminded
of their need to pray always
and not to lose heart.
The judge in Jesus’ parable doesn’t fear God
and doesn’t respect the people he judges.
That doesn’t stop the widow
who keeps showing up and wears him down.
“I will grant her justice,
so that she may not wear me out
by continually coming.”
We can all certainly understand changing our minds
because we’ve just been worn down!
There’s also the possibility here
that the judge is concerned about his appearance.
Another reading of “wear me out”
could be “give me a mark under my eye”
as in give me a black eye
for not doing what’s right.
This parable is a great example
of why we can’t assign one-to-one interpretations
where characters are stand-ins for God or us.
This judge is persistent in being unjust
but not as persistent as the widow.
Jesus contrasts that
with God’s love and behavior.
“Will not God grant justice
to his chosen ones
who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them?
I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.”
God is not an unjust judge
who needs wearing down
or fears being given a metaphorical black eye
among God’s peers.
God is a God of endless and boundless
grace and love,
ready to meet our needs
and change the world through our actions.
I didn’t spend too much time
in the responses to Pastor Rawley’s words.
On reply stuck with me, though
from Greg Brewer, the bishop of Central Florida.
“Rebuilding is easier
when you know that you are not actually rebuilding
but building a new and different church.
Some people will never come back.
Work with those who are there
and pray into a new future.”[2]
Jesus told his disciples a parable
about their need to pray always
and not to lose heart.
Work with those who are there
and pray into a new future.
Who’s here?
We are.
As we gather,
seek transformation
and are sent,
we need to pray always
and not lose heart.
We don’t lose heart
because we know we can just wear God down
if we keep showing up.
We don’t lose heart
because it’ll all work out anyway
with rose-colored glasses on.
As Fr. Justin Cheng,
a priest to our our north
in the Diocese of New Westminster said,
“Christian hope isn’t a cheery optimism,
because that insults the many, many victims of history
who have gone to their grave
with little or no earthly success.
It is the tenacious conviction
that the worst of the grave
cannot eclipse the love of God.”[3]
All of the parables we’re hearing right now
about living between the time of Jesus’ ascension
and his coming in final glory
are stories of stewardship.
How are we managing the gifts God has given us?
Are we praying always,
and not losing heart?
Like our passage today ends,
when the Son of Man comes,
will he find faith on earth?
We’re going to talk about stewardship
at the Bishop’s Committee meeting.
We’re going to talk about the budget, too.
Beyond those two things’ relationship
we’re going to pray always
and not lose heart.
With the movement of the Spirit,
with the tenacious conviction
that the worst of the grave
cannot eclipse the love of God,
we’re going to work with those who are here
and pray into a new future
building a new and different church.
Amen.
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