SERMON PREVIEW: “Persist, Anyway” by The Rev. Kaji Douša

Dear Church:

I love this week’s scripture from Luke chapter 18 – the parable of the persistent widow.

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 feared God nor had 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?’

One of the most glorious components of this wonderful parable is that it really explores the idea of being worn down.

Are you worn down?

Are you exhausted, wiped out? Has something pushed you too far? Is it possible that the pushing has been God? (It’s certainly possible that it hasn’t been God, to be clear.) But sometimes the nagging feeling, the thing just won’t go away is coming from a messenger of God. Maybe ignoring God’s messengers is wearing us down, exhausting us in a way that might not happen if we would open ourselves in a new way to God’s word for us.

I invite you to read the parable again. Do you relate to the widow? Or to the judge? Or are there moments of both in your life?

The 11 am liturgy begins from a place where we acknowledge our need to be together, to join others, to stand in the company of the ones who seek the living God. Then, in our time of confession, we explore just where things can go when we aren’t able to pull off Jesus’ call, in this parable, to “pray always”, reminding ourselves that “we all fall short of the glory of God.” My hope is that this prepares us to have that openness, that willingness to see where God might be leading us today.

I look forward to encountering God’s word together. Bring a friend or two. If your friends don’t agree right away, try asking again. Persistence goes a long way in spiritual matters, or so Jesus says, anyway.

See you Sunday, church!

Pax Christi,
Kaji