Surely the Days are Coming

Proper 24C

            Pray always and do not lose heart.  I love how the author of Luke tells us right up front what this parable is about.  We are to be like the widow: persistent, pesky, pushy in our prayer life.  We are to persevere with our prayers no matter how unjust the judges of our world seem. 

            Some of these parables seem torn from the headlines – a man in power who is supposed to judge all for the common good, uphold the law who does not fear God or respect anyone else.  We have a hard time relating to such an official.  The judge in this parable is obviously not a stand-in for God, although I’ll bet he thinks he is.  We don’t know anyone like that these days. 

            Jesus and Jeremiah and Paul and our Psalmist – all today are pointing us to persistence, peskiness and pushiness in our thoughts and actions and prayers.  We are to pray always and not lose heart. 

• Surely the days are coming when we will have elected officials who look out for the common good of all, not just their donors.
• Surely the days are coming when the least and the lost and the last amongst us shall have food and shelter and healthcare.
• Surely the days are coming when a person can work at a full-time job and actually earn enough to support a child.
• Surely the days are coming when Unjust Corporations are held to a standard that respects the dignity of every human being.
• Surely the days are coming when all churches will reach out and serve their neighborhoods better than they serve themselves.
• Surely the days are coming…  What’s your prayer?  

Those are mine – for me, for my family, for my church, for my world right now. 

These are BIG hopes, BIG concerns and we are to pray and not lose heart.  As we talked about this last summer, prayer is mysterious - sometimes it changes God, sometimes it changes others, but always, always, always it changes us.  Prayer sometimes shows us a new way - opens a way we cannot even imagine yet - ways to be Christ's hands and feet in this world. 

Write yours down and pray them persistently for 5 minutes every day – be pesky, be pushy, dare to dream of your Ideal World in line with God’s World. Pray constantly and do not lose heart. AMEN.

Audio of this sermon can be heard using the PodBean Player on the sidebar.