October 17, 2004; The 20th Sunday after Pentecost Readings: Genesis 32:3-8, 22-30; 2 Timothy 3:14—4:5; Luke 18:1-8a; Psalm 121.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith Struggling with God/Persistence God is always with us—intimately involved with you and me and all people. That is a core belief of the Christian faith. Jesus told us, "I am with you always even to the end." God is always seeking to care for us and guide us. And, yet, for many people, God seems distant or even non-existent. For many faithful churchgoers God seems distant. For many "heroes" of the faith, such as St. John of the Cross, God seemed absent for a time. How do we deal with those dark nights of the soul? What makes the difference between knowing God as savior and friend or not? How is it that when the psalmist looked to the hills, he knew that his help would come from the Lord? Have you ever looked into the distance, and wondered how you would make it through a painful time? I have. Today’s readings urge us to be persistent. We are to be persistent in our relationship with God, who watches over us. Jesus knew that it easy to get distracted or to lose heart. So often the things of life—our daily concerns—take much of our time and energy. That’s normal. Amid our daily concerns, how do we remain aware of God and of God’s care for us? It takes practice and persistence on our part. Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. The NIV translation of the Bible reads: "and not give up." God will never give up on us. Jesus tells us not to give up either. We may find ourselves struggling with God as Jacob did. Struggling is better than giving up. This adventure of the Christian faith is a relationship. As happens in a marriage or a close friendship, our relationship with God will change and develop. There can be dry times; there can be times of feeling so close to God. There can be everything in between. Jesus knew that there would be difficult times ahead for the disciples. Jesus knew that his death would be a dark night for their souls. Their community would be disrupted by events beyond their control. So Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not give up. There was a judge, who neither feared God nor had respect for people. A widow kept bothering the judge with her plea for justice. The judge did not care about her at all, but in order to stop her nagging he granted her request. Her persistence achieved results. Jesus then states what seems obvious—if the Judge who does not care, responds to persistence, then God, who does care will, certainly respond to our persistence. This issue of how prayer works can get confusing. After, all, doesn’t God care for us even when we don’t pray. Remember that great scene in the movie Shadowlands? Anthony Hopkins is playing C.S. Lewis, whose wife Joy is dying of cancer. Joy goes into remission, and Lewis’ priest (the Anglican church does not come off very well in this) says that Lewis had been praying very hard and that God had responded. To which, Lewis says: "Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes me." God cares always. God seeks to bring healing, wholeness and freedom to all. We do not always see that manifested in the physical world. God’s power is not limited to what we perceive. Prayer changes us. It unites us with God in God’s work of redemption. That makes a difference in our world and in our lives and the lives of those whom we love. Note the connection that Jesus makes between prayer and not losing heart. Prayer changes us and helps us grow closer to God. Prayer unites us in God’s work of redemption. Prayer nourishes us with God’s grace. Through prayer, we are strengthened to face the daily tasks as well as the dark times. It is prayer itself, not the result of pray, that enables us to persist. Prayer itself enables us to say with the psalmist that our help comes from the Lord, who watches over us, preserves us from evil, and keeps us safe. You know how valuable that knowledge is, that knowledge that we are not alone even when we feel lonely. We are not without help, even when times are hard. That is valuable knowledge. We as a church are called to let others know about this God we love— who watches over us, preserves us from evil, and keeps us safe. We can let others know one on one, and we let them know by working through the church. We let them know by having a priest who cares for all and seeks to nourish all from the riches of God’s grace. We let them know by developing a youth group that is open to questions and a place of discovery. We let them know by developing our music program and employing a first-rate musician. We let people know about God by supporting our church’s ministry with our time, talent, and money. I bet you didn’t realize this was going to be a stewardship sermon! Well it is and it isn’t. It’s really about God, who loves us, helps us, and keeps us safe. Don’t you want to let everybody know about that? Amen.