Readings for Sunday, October 21, 2007

Readings for Sunday, October 21, 2007
Proper 24, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 31:27-34 with Psalm 119:97-104 or
Genesis 32:22-31 wish Psalm 121 and
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

Life has a language.
And Scripture has a word for us.

The story Jesus tells is short, its inflections many, its message both an exhortation and an encouraging word.

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither fears God and respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ‘And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And 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. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Once again we find life speaking on all sides.

It is tempting to choose just one of the five Leading Causes of Life—coherence, connection, agency, hope and blessing—to filter the text. It would be simpler that way, just as it would be simpler this Sunday to give short shrift to Jacob’s name-changing struggle or Jeremiah’s promise and prospect of a covenant that would change hearts just as surely as Jacob’s struggle changed his stride, or Timothy’s counsel that we are to take time for prayer not once or twice but over and over again in our course of our all-too fragile lives.

But even a brief reading of the Gospel, to say nothing of the other texts, reveals all five causes at work in a remarkable way.

Prayer is nothing more, and nothing less, than the gift of connection. In prayer we speak with God; in prayer we anticipate God speaking with us and to us; in prayer we find, renew, strengthen and nurture a relationship. This establishment of a divine connection, and recognition of such a connection is not a nice idea, it is a need. When the prayers “work,” we need to pray; when the prayers seemingly fail, we need to pray. When we grow weary of prayer, we need to pray yet again, when we are discouraged we must not lose heart.

Prayer does not happen automatically. It asks for a time and a place. It will not be restricted by time, or by place, but it requires both. Wherever we are, whatever the time, prayer emphasizes both the moment and the place saying, “Here . . . and now.” Sunday mornings, for me, have always been a bit of a miracle . . . look at all the people who wake up on a day off and take the time to come to church, take the time to bring their children to church no matter how disconcerting it may be. There is a staggering amount of energy expended in these Sabbath voyages to the house of prayer. Clearly the reading is about the “doing”, the agency, of prayer and its life-giving connection.

If prayer is a matter of connection the judge Jesus tells us about is a study in disconnection. We are to love God and neighbor; the judge has no regard for either. He is dead to the connections that constitute life. As soon as Jesus tells us about him we do not like him. He is the villain. It is easy to judge him, easy to say, “I’ve known people like that.”

But then the plot thickens. Life never stands still. It always moves; always changes. Something always happens. Harsh attitudes soften, judgment proves itself to be mistaken, judges who have no desire to entertain any thoughts but their own can’t help but hear a pesky knock on the door. Life refuses to let the judge remain as he was; and life insists on a widow prevailing against her opponent. The lives of both the widow and the judge are about to change.

The widow’s actions are born of hope rather than expectation. Widows were not expected to speak, and did so at some risk. The judge had a reputation and was not expected to care about anyone’s concerns, least of all the concerns of a widow. Expectations turn out to be fragile whereas hope has the capacity to transcend circumstances. It is no wonder don’t say to couples during a wedding, “Let’s be clear about our expectations; let’s be aware of the promises being made here.” Instead we use an entirely different vocabulary: It’s not a wedding promise, it is a wedding vow inspired by hope. Justice too is inevitably born of hope.

And what do you know? The judge relents. It turns out he had a place in his heart all along, even if the pathway that led to it seems selfish. But in the end Jesus will not let us judge him too harshly. Indeed, he notes that sometimes even God is a bit slow in responding. The God who remembers can sometimes forget to remember until he hears those who cry to him “day and night” just as he once remembered the anguish of the Hebrew people during their experience of slavery.

God is not the author of chaos.

God will establish justice. The widow’s plea will be heard; the judge’s heart will make space for her; lives will change; and two thousand years later we will be blessed by the parable that provided and continues to provide a teachable moment.

This Sabbath, there are those in your church struggling for a name change but not sure what their new name should be. This Sabbath there are those in your church who find themselves up against overwhelming forces, those who wonder if they have the necessary stamina to prevail. This Sabbath, in your church, those for whom prayer has been empty will again pray, again create spaces for words that just might reshape their lives.

This Sabbath, in your church, once again . . .

Life has a language and scripture has a word for us.

Larry