Persistent Prayer

Luke 18:1-8

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, so he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean." "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!" As if he hadn't heard, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he turned, smiled and said, "It made a difference to that one!"

If I were to use one word to describe this man who was saving the starfish I would use the word persistent.  He knew the job of saving the starfish was a huge task, but he kept right on doing it.  He wanted to make a difference and he did just that.  He knew he couldn’t save them all, but with his persistent attitude he could still make a difference in the lives of some of them.

The same word could summarize our Gospel lesson today.  In order to illustrate the need to pray always Jesus uses the story of this persistent widow.  Jesus wants our prayer life to reflect the persistence of this widow.  Jesus wants our prayer life to be persistent.  He wants us to continually come to him in prayer.  Our persistence in prayer should get to point of almost being bothersome or annoying to God, like this widow was to the judge.  Even though we will never be bothersome or annoying to God.

Jesus also says that this parable should illustrate our need to never lose heart.  That exemplifies true persistence.  Like the persistent widow this is prayer that never stops and even though it is not answered the way want in the timing we would like it just keeps going.  The persistent widow never gives up.  She just keeps continually coming to the judge day in and day out asking for justice.  Sure, she gets annoying and bothersome.  Yet, she never loses heart.  His refusal never gets to her.  It never makes her stop and reconsider her persistence.

Now remember prayer is not just about us and our wants.  Prayers that are self-centered, concerned only with petty issues, or irrelevant must take the back seat.  Prayers like this do not take the power of prayer seriously.  Prayer is about our needs.  Prayer is also about other people.  It is meant to make us look outward, outside of ourselves, for the other people in our world who need us to intercede in prayer on their behalf.  So much happens in our world that needs prayer.  Things happen close by, in our communities and neighborhoods.  Things also happen far away to people who we have never met and will never know.  These are the people on whose behalf we are called to be persistent prayer warriors.

Often in parables we can make the claim that if God does this for this person, then how much more will God do for us.  In this parable we could make the claim that if the persistent widow is granted justice by this judge, then how much more will God grant us justice if we too are persistent?  If we believe that claim to be true then we must be persistent in our prayer life on behalf of others and for ourselves.

Be persistent as you pray for countries at war.

Be persistent as you pray for people with illness.

Be persistent as you pray for children who are sold into slavery and tortured.

Be persistent as you pray for ranchers after this storm.

Be persistent as you pray for countries amidst political unrest and violence.

Be persistent as you pray for those who received a lot of damage from the storm.

Be persistent as you pray for the people involved in recent vehicle accidents.

Be persistent as you pray for families involved in house fires.

Be persistent as you pray for people that are hungry.

Be persistent as you pray for countries without clean drinking water.

Be persistent as you pray for our neighbors near and far.

Be persistent as you pray for those who are regarded as unimportant.

Be persistent as you pray for those who are powerless.

Be persistent as you pray for those who are alone.

Be persistent as you pray for the leaders of our nation and our military.

Be persistent as you pray for our congregation.

Be persistent as you pray for yourself and your family.

That list is not even the tip of the iceberg for our prayer life.  And at times it can feel just a little too daunting.  Those are the times when even though we are trying to be persistent, we still can’t do it.  Yes, there are times when it gets too difficult to pray for this broken world.  Know this, when you stop persisting in prayer, God will continue to be persistent.  God will continue to put people in our lives so that we can know the presence of God.  When we can’t reach out to God, God will reach out to us.  Because that is who our God is – a persistent God.  So, be persistent as you pray to our persistent God and never lose heart.  Amen.

Blizzards, Lepers and Gratitude

Luke 17:11-19

            Jesus was traveling through South Dakota.  As he entered the village of Rapid City, ten families that had been stuck in a blizzard without power for three days approached him.  They called out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  When he saw them he said “Go talk to the power company.”  And as they went on their way their power was restored.  Then one family, when they saw that the power was restored to their home, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  They all lay down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  And they were nonbelievers.

Talk about good timing with this parable!  I think in the past week we have all had a moment of thankfulness or gratitude after that blizzard.  For some it was having power restored and for others it was the sound of running water.  For some it was being rescued from their car or home.  For others it was having their car plowed out.  For some it was finding that some of their herd of livestock had survived the storm.  For me as a people person and an extrovert, someone who gains energy from being around others, it was finally seeing people again.  At that moment I was so thankful and grateful to God that I had survived the blizzard and that I could be back around the people that gave me energy.  I would imagine that you had a similar moment of gratitude and thankfulness this week after blizzard Atlas.

That gratitude and thankfulness is a lesson to be learned in our text today from Luke.  There are ten lepers.  Lepers had a skin disease that was highly contagious, so they were cast out of their families and out of their homes.  They were sent out of the camp or community to live with other lepers, so no one else would catch their disease.  If they were healed of their leprosy they needed to go to the priest, who was the only one who could certify that they were now clean and could return to their community. 

            So when Jesus came through their village they called out in loud voices asking Jesus to heal them, to have mercy on them.  Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest and as they went they were made clean.  Then one of them recognized the miracle healing that had just happened.  And he recognized who it was who had just sent them to the priest and who it was who had healed them.  So he decided to return to Jesus.  He praised God and then lay down in front of Jesus feet and thanked him for making him clean.

            This leper-made-clean was a Samaritan.  Remember that Samaritans were unbelievers.  They were outsiders.  Regardless, this man knew what had just happened and he was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and infused with a sense of gratitude.  He knew he needed to give thanks and praise to the one who had made him clean.  On that day the Samaritan leper received more than he ever dreamed he was asking for when he and his fellow lepers asked Jesus to have mercy on them.  He received a second blessing by Jesus.  Because he had returned, Jesus gave him one more blessing saying, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”  An even better translation of the Greek would be “your faith has saved you.”  Yes, Jesus provides salvation for this Samaritan – this nonbeliever.  Even though he was a Samaritan Jesus blesses him, loves him and saves him, just the way he is.

            But what about the other nine lepers that were made clean that day?  What happened to them?  Why didn’t they return to Jesus to say “thank you”?  Now, I am not sure that they did anything wrong.  They did what Jesus said.  They went to show themselves to the priest.  After all, Jesus didn’t tell them to make sure to come back and say thank you.  So they had followed directions and done what Jesus had told them to do.  According to the text, they did not give public verbal thanks for their blessing.  We don’t know if they gave thanks in private, maybe without even using any audible words.

            The one leper, the Samaritan, was able to receive the blessing that Jesus had given him, recognize it and give thanks for it.  That is a powerful thing.  Those two little words pack a powerful punch – “thank you.”  They mean a lot when we say them and when we have them said to us.  Thanksgiving is born out of our perception, our ability to recognize a blessing.  It is also created from articulation, our ability to put words around our gratitude.

            So, what?  How can this text intersect with our life?  For starters, we have plenty to be thankful for in our daily lives.  All too often, we take that for granted.  So be thankful.  Be thankful for a roof over your head and clothing on your back.  Be thankful for hot water and electricity.  Be thankful for health and life.  Be thankful for money in the bank and in your wallet.  Be thankful for food to eat and water to drink.  Most of all be thankful that you are a loved and forgiven child of God.

This text can also apply to our lives because we are lepers of sorts.  Now I don’t mean we have a skin disease, but we are infected with the disease of sin.  We need to be made clean.  We need to call out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  Then we need to allow the power that Jesus has to forgive our sins to soak into those sinful places of our lives.  Through the waters of baptism, the bread and wine of communion, and the words of confession and absolution we are offered forgiveness. 

And in response to the forgiveness we are granted and all the good gifts that are bestowed on us we need to have the perception to recognize the blessing that has just happened.  Then we put articulation with that and put words around the deep gratitude we have for our Savior, that he would forgive us our sins, love us, provide for us and save us.  Today Jesus says to you and to me, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has saved you.”  What is your response?  Amen.