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October 16, 2016: Pentecost + 22
Luke 18:1-8: Only God
I wonder if any one here this morning would say they know what it is like to feel weak, vulnerable and powerless. Anyone willing to raise their hand and make that admission? I need someone to explain to me what that is like.
The first time I remember feeling that was was the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore year of college. I broke my ankle. It happened, of all places, at a practice for my church softball team. We were being timed running from home to second, and I wasn’t wearing my cleats, so I went really wide on first. As a result, my friend beat me. I knew I was faster than him, so I took another run at it. My plan was to hit first base hard and basically kick off it. I kicked so hard my ankle just snapped. People standing nearby heard it. The pain didn’t really start to set in until I got to second. But I did beat my friend’s time. Which is all that really mattered.
This was the first time I had broken a bone, and under the circumstances, it was embarrassing. I made up a story to tell people that involved a baby, railroad tracks, and a daring rescue. But the worst thing about it was that feeling, being completely helpless, powerless. In those days I lifted weights a lot, and was maybe a little proud of the way I looked. I’ll be honest, I had more ripples than a bag of chips. You can ask Dawn. But I have this clear memory of standing in front of the bathroom mirror, on one leg of course, and realizing that whatever strength I had was not enough to compensate for this broken ankle, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Maybe some of you could relate to that. You have experienced some kind of physical calamity, maybe even something far worse, far more serious than a broken ankle, and you have felt weak and powerless in the face of it.
Maybe you could relate to a more recent experience I have had. Dealing with the the hospital over the bill I received for my kidney stone. Some of you are used to the astronomical costs for healthcare, but this was a total shock to me. I won’t go into details, because it wouldn’t be decent, but I will say this: It cost me more to give birth to Rocky than for Dawn to give birth to both of our children. Financially speaking. I would never claim to know the physical pain of childbirth, not when women were present.
But I have made several phone calls in protest, I have sent emails, I have completed surveys, I have met with people in person, and it has accomplished nothing. The whole experience has made me aware of how broken our healthcare system is, and how completely powerless I am to do anything about it. The hospital, the insurance company, the government, they are all way bigger than I am. And if you have ever had to deal with this kind of thing, you can relate to what I’m describing. But to quote Donald Trump, “Believe me…I’m not complaining.”
Speaking of Donald Trump, you probably never thought you would hear Donald Trump quoted in a sermon, or Hillary Clinton for that matter. Politics are not supposed to be mixed with religion. But I want to speak with you for a minute about the election. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you who to vote for.
What I am about to say may be true about every election, but perhaps more true of this election than any other in recent memory. This election has caused many people to to feel weak, vulnerable, and powerless, in the face of this very important decision of who will be the leader of this country.
Our country is broken. The healthcare system is an obvious example. Racial tension. Attacks on law enforcement. Moral decline. A rising national debt. The threat of terrorism. And we could go on. But you are already depressed enough.
And there are many people who don’t feel any of the candidates still in the race have the ability to fix all or any of what is broken. In fact, there is researchthat suggests that at no point in the history of this country have there been two less-popular candidates than those running in this election. I have heard many people wonder aloud, “how is it, that in a country with over three hundred million people, this is the best we can come up with?”
But how does a person even have a say in the candidates set before them? And how does a person go about making their choice? With powerful media personalities, celebrities, and agenda-driven organizations handing us the information about each candidate, how can we really know the objective, unbiased truth?
It’s enough to make anyone feel weak, vulnerable, and helpless. But what can we do about it?
In our text today Jesus told a parable about someone who was feeling weak, vulnerable and helpless. But to know exactly to what extent, we would need to know a little more about the judicial system in 1st century Palestine, and how different it was than our own.
If you or I were to experience some injustice: for example, if someone stole something from us, we would call the police, and they would take it from there. They would investigate the crime, identify the offender, who would then be prosecuted by an attorney, and if found guilty, would be punished accordingly.
If the same thing happened to us while we were living in 1st century Palestine, we would be the ones responsible for identifying the guilty party and bringing charges against them. We would have to gain an audience with a judge, make our case before him, and hope he ruled in our favor. If he didn’t we were out of luck.
There wasn’t an appeals process, or trial by jury, or judicial review, or any of that; we would be completely dependent upon the judge to bring us justice. With very little accountability, the only things that would compel a judge in 1st century Palestine to perform their job with fairness and integrity were a fear of God and respect for their fellow human beings. And this judge had neither. It was therefore pointless for this widow to seek justice from this judge, but she had no other choice.
Widows were among the most vulnerable members of their society, second only to orphans. There was no such thing as life insurance policies. They had no right to their husband’s estate once he passed away because women could not inherit anything. Their opportunities for re-marriage were limited. They could rarely earn enough money to support themselves and their children, without resorting to prostitution.
There were laws in place to provide for them, other family members that were required to take them in, but these laws were not always followed. We might imagine that is the reason why this widow was seeking an audience with the judge, so that he would compel someone to adhere to the law and provide her with some support. For the reasons mentioned he refused to help her, but because she had no other alternatives, she persisted.
She came to him, probably on a daily basis and asked him to hear her case. Day after day he refused, but over time she started to get on his nerves. When he finally did grant her request, one of the reasons he gave was that he didn’t want her to wear him out by continually coming. The literal translation of that phrase is that he didn’t want her to give him a black eye, which is a metaphor for public embarrassment. Maybe she had started standing in front of his house with a big sign. Whatever she did, it worked, and she got her day in court.
Clearly this woman is to be commended for taking matters into her own hands, and then for being so persistent. Through her efforts, her situation was rectified.
Likewise, when you and I feel weak, vulnerable, and powerless, victims of some injustice, there are things we can do to try and make things right. This is far better alternative than doing nothing, and if the stakes are high enough, as they were for this woman, doing nothing is not an option.
If it is a physical ailment that we are dealing with, we can do things to work toward our recovery. We can seek out the right physicians. We can serve as our own advocate, asking questions, doing what our doctors ask of us. We can do our own research on possible treatments.
If we have experienced injustice at the hands of an organization, or a business, we can make phone calls, we can write letters, send emails, schedule meetings. Maybe write a nasty, but kind review on Google. Or contact the Better Business Bureau.
When it comes to this year’s election, or politics in general, there are ways we can involve ourselves in the political process. We can write letters to our political leaders. We can seek out the best sources of objective, unbiased information. We can find ways to support our favorite candidates. Of course we can vote, and not just in the big elections. That is the easiest way to have your voice be heard.
So there are things we can do in situations where we feel weak, and vulnerable and powerless. And we should do them. But will these things truly solve the problem? Will all the persistence in the world rid the world of all injustice and unfairness? Think about the woman in the parable. She received justice for herself, but the system was still broken, that corrupt judge was still in his position of power, the chances are good that vulnerable individuals continued to be victimized by him.
There are physical ailments we might suffer from where all the effort in the world will not bring about a cure. There are situations we might encounter with a business or an organization where all the letters, emails, phone calls, etc. won’t get them to budge. Even if we use every avenue available to us to try to get a particular person elected for president, we are only one person, with only one vote.
This parable really gets to the heart of who we put our hope in. Who we expect to solve our problems. Who we expect to give us justice. Who we believe will take all that is wrong in the world, and make it right.
Only God can fix what is broken, in our lives, in our country, and in the world. Hundreds of years ago the Psalmist said these words, “I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
So when we are feeling weak, vulnerable, and powerless, the most important thing we can do is pray, and pray, and pray some more. In the words of Jesus, we should pray always and not give up.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t take any steps we can take to solve our problems. We should utilize every available avenue to fix whatever is broken, but we should persist in prayer more than anything else.
Think about the last time you took action to make a wrong situation right, did you put as much energy and time into prayer as you did with everything else. Think about this election and how passionately you have argued on behalf of the candidate of your choice. Have you put as much passion into your prayers, that God would take over, that God would do what no president has ever done and could ever do, change hearts and change lives? When you are down in the valley, feeling weak, vulnerable, and powerless, who do you hope to come to your aid? Who do you hope to see coming over the rise?
In just a few short weeks, some of you will be excited because your candidate won. Some of you will be depressed, because your candidate lost. Prayer will help you keep this election and every election in perspective. Prayer will remind you that your faith is in God, that you are waiting for him to make all things new. And he will. He has promised. And our God keeps his word.