Persistent Prayer, October 21, 2007

Sermon preached by E. Suzanne Wille, Seminarian-intern

St. Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut

October 21, 2007

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to You, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Imagine. A little old lady with a big need. We don’t know what it is. Or how she’s been wronged. Day after day she hauls herself into court, stands before the judge, and pleads her case. Day in, day out, she cries out for justice. She knows people are ridiculing her. She knows people are staring. She knows you wish she would just go home and stop bothering people.

But she doesn’t give up.

Finally, in exasperation, the judge relents. He doesn’t admit the merit of her cause. He doesn’t see the injustice of her situation. He just wants to be done with her— she’s THAT annoying. Frankly, we might want to be rid of her, too. We prefer the sweet widows and orphans in the Gospels; the ones whom we’re supposed to care for. The old woman who gives her widow’s mite. But this is a pushy widow, a persistent widow. This is the old lady who knocks you out of the way, reaching for the last can of peaches on sale at the grocery store. Yet, clearly, Jesus is promoting her; recommending her behavior to us. Recommending her prayerfulness and persistence. So I try to pay attention to her. But I don’t like her very much.

When I mentioned I would be preaching on this text a friend told me she could give me some tips: she’d preached on this widow before. I didn’t think about it much. Then she called to say she’d found her widow sermon. She had preached on this parable on October 17, 2004 - one day before the release of the Windsor Report. You know, the response of the Anglican Communion to the ordination of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. That got us talking about all that’s happened in the last three years, all that’s happened since the last time this persistent widow showed up in our Sunday readings. What else has happened in the world, in our lives since October 17, 2004?

For what have we had to pray? In what have we had to persevere?

In the last three years, we have:

Continued to be at war

Feared nuclear build up in Korea and Iran

Seen a peace agreement signed to end the 20-year civil war in Sudan

Wept with London when it was struck by terrorists

Celebrated when the IRA renounced its use of violence in Ireland

Argued over end-of-life issues with the Terry Schiavo case

Watched the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the awful aftermath.

We Surged in Iraq

We breathed a sigh of relief as North Korea agreed to disable its nuclear facilities

We cheered when Al Gore won the Nobel Peace prize.

There have been wins and losses— you decide which is which. We’ve seen some problems solved; others crop up. But it all takes me back to the widow - the one who will not give up, Who persists until her pleas—or prayers—are answered.

We are meant to ask for what we need. Look at Jacob from the first reading of today. Jacob wrestles with the angel of God, or the Lord Himself, depending on whom you talk to. He gets whacked on the hip socket so hard he never walks straight again. But he gets the blessing he demands: He is renamed the father of a nation—Israel— and he has seen God face-to-face and lived.

Do we BELIEVE this?

Can we imagine being able to make demands of God? Can we imagine God responding?

For what have you had to pray?

In what have you had to persevere?

In 2004 … 2005 … 2006 … Now?

Perhaps you’ve struggled to get ahead at work. Maybe you’ve fought to make sure your parent, spouse, or partner gets needed health care. Have you labored to save a relationship or to reconcile with someone you’ve hurt? Have you worked for justice? Maybe you’ve begged that an illness would be cured, a child brought home, that you could have faith again. During this, have you always prayed? Have you not lost heart as Jesus teaches at the beginning of this parable?

But, look: This isn’t merely a self-help parable encouraging us in the merits of hard work and self-reliance. Nor is this an attempt to make you feel guilty so you’ll pray more. True, this passage begins, “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Clearly, like the widow, we do need to persist. But then Jesus focuses on the judge who grants justice for the widow even though he has no concern for justice. Jesus reminds us that even more so will God; the God who loves us and has chosen us. Even more so will that God answer our prayers. This isn’t about a Herculean effort of prayer but about faith in the goodness of God who listens and responds to us.

So, we don’t pray and persist because we believe that somehow our hard work will pay off or that we’ll twist God’s arm to get what we want. Or, like small children, we’ll whine until like an exhausted parent at Toys ‘R’ Us God gives in to our demands.

No. We pray and persist because we trust that God listens. That God is with us. That God responds. Even while the judge said “no” to the widow, God was with her. God is with us even as we hear ‘no,’even when we are failing. We pray at those times not just to the God who changes things, but to the God who loves us and accompanies us at all times.

For what do you need to pray? For what have you been persistent in prayer?

Too often I dabble when it comes to prayer. Sure, I worry about stuff; I want stuff. I want to have a closer relationship with God. But I’m not great about the persevering part. I’m surprised when I look at the events of the last three years: How did all of that happen!?! What role did I take in any of that?

Too often, I just let things occur. But there have been occasions when I’ve been persistent. A few years ago, I prayed fervently every morning during my 45-minute commute to work. I prayed about one thing: Was I called to be a priest? The obstacles were starting to seem overwhelming - there was a long timeline, a number of other aspirants in my diocese, the matter of paying for seminary after quitting my job, covering our mortgage with one salary. Oh, and the question of whether my call was authentic. So, each morning I prayed. Out loud. Passionately. I sometimes wondered if other commuters were surprised by my animated talking since there was no phone in my hand or bluetooth in my ear.

At first, I heard nothing. But I’d been down this road before. God had responded in the past and I trusted that God would respond again. After months of pleading, God answered: “Don’t worry about it.” The voice sounded a little like Marlon Brando in The Godfather, but I knew it was God. “Don’t worry about it.”

It wasn’t exactly the answer I expected. But it was an answer. And it made clear that God was still with me even if God wasn’t going to wave a magic wand and make everything clear. So I listened and stopped worrying. I let events unfold and here I am today. God continues to answer my prayers of many years ago. Maybe your prayers—our prayers—have been answered; are being answered.

Even if they aren’t exactly the answers we expected or wanted.

Perhaps you were able to take care of your loved one making sure he or she was healed. Maybe you couldn’t save the relationship but have found a way to co-parent with your Ex. We couldn’t stop Hurricane Katrina but we mobilized to help people rebuild their lives and homes. Has your child returned to you? Keep praying, God will open a way. Is there still war and poverty in too many places in Africa? Thank God for the end of the Civil War in Sudan. Thank God for Bono and the One Campaign. Thank God for churches like St. Paul’s that respond to the needs by sending 15 barrels of clothing to Liberia. Have you noticed the radical goodness of God in a new way? Have you shared it with others?

Remember, there are two parts to this parable. There is the faith of the widow that results in the persistent plea -- the crying out-- the prayer. And there is the response from the judge. We are meant to have faith that God will respond to us and to our prayers. God certainly answers the prayers of the broken-hearted, the oppressed.

This overwhelming love and compassion of God comforts and challenges. It brings hope to those of us in pain and in need of God’s mercy and love. It also challenges us to respond quickly to the needs and cries of others. We must listen to God in prayer at least as much as we talk to God in prayer. God calls us to be God’s hands in the world; to respond to the needs of others; to answer the prayers of others. In a letter to J. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis explained why he prayed: “I do not pray to change God; I pray to change myself.”

And prayer will change us. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I prayed for the cancer to be cured. During the three years she was ill my prayers changed. I prayed that my mother would be given strength and peace. Finally, as my mother was dying I prayed that I would be humble, patient, and kind when I was with her. My prayers may not have changed God but they definitely changed me.

The widow in this parable trusts in prayer. She knows that God is with her even while she is still wronged, still begging for justice. She persists, she even annoys but she pleads her case because she trusts that mercy and compassion are due her. Jacob has this faith— wrestling until he receives the blessing of God.

Do we have the faith and the persistence of this widow? Do we believe we can pray to God and have our prayers answered? Are we willing to be changed, perhaps forever like Jacob, by our prayers and God’s answer to them? Jesus promises us that God will grant justice to those who cry out to Him; that he will not delay in helping us.

May we have the faith to cry out to God in our need, to allow ourselves to be changed by God’s answer to our prayers, and to respond out of our faith in God’s goodness to the pleas of those around us. Amen.