Hold On
The Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost
Proper 24 Year C Luke Luke 18:1-8
The Rev. Brett P. Backus
(The following is transcribed from a sermon given without a script and is not an exact copy.)
"And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"
So in seminary there was this joke or play on words that students would say in times of high stress, when it was exam time or time to turn in a lot of papers. Instead of saying "it's time to go to the seminary," they would say, "it's time to go to the cemetery." What a great way to view your theological education! And I think that they had this joke because seminary is an intense place and in a way this saying held a lot of truth for them. Ironically, and surprisingly, this joke or play on words ended up ringing much more true for me than I ever would have expected. This is because I can honestly say that I have never felt so lost, in such a dark place spiritually, or so far away from God as I did during my three years in seminary.
As you can imagine, this was a difficult experience to deal with. My expectations were that I would go to seminary and I would be spiritually fulfilled, and enlightened by professors, and I would finally experience what it would be like to live in true Christian community with people who also felt called to live for serving the Lord. Needless to say, I didn't really know what to do in a situation like this. Of course, I had the love and support of my wife Carla, but I eventually ended up turning to a priest friend of mine who had impacted my life greatly in the past. I will never forget what he told me. It truly got me through. He said, "this is normal, we as human beings and Christians do suffer, and we will have times of spiritual darkness." And here is how we get though these times: "Think about any time in your life that you experienced God's presence, a time when the presence of God was almost palpable and where you felt God guiding, protecting, or walking with you. Remember those times and treat them kind of like precious stones or gems, and put them in your pocket. And then, when you do enter into a time of spiritual darkness, reach into your pocket and pull out those little 'God sightings' and hold on, and that will get you through." That is exactly what I did, and that is what got me through this difficult time.
I share this experience with you this morning because this is what I hear Jesus saying in this morning's Gospel. Hold On. See, when we encounter Jesus in today's Gospel He is giving a parable to His disciples, a quite funny parable actually, at least in my opinion. Jesus in a sense is telling His disciples that in their relationship with God they need to be like this nagging widow! They need to be good naggers. I cannot help to think that if all it takes for us to have a good relationship with God is to be good naggers, then I know at least a hand full of people who should really be tight with God already! No one here of course! People at Ascension do not nag! But what I think people usually get out of this Gospel lesson is a message about constant prayer. People usually hear Jesus calling us to a life of constant prayer, and I think this is right. However, I think a kind of misunderstanding happens sometimes here as well. See, I think a lot of times people see the nagging widow getting what she wants or needs from the unjust judge because she was persistent and they begin to think that what Jesus is saying is that if we want to get what we need from God, then we need to be in constant prayer. So, the emphasis gets taken off of the constant prayer and placed on the desire to get what we want from God. This of course, is not what I think Jesus is getting at in today's gospel.
You see what I hear in this morning's Gospel, what I think the key is, is found in that last line, that question that Jesus raises. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" You see what I hear in this morning's Gospel is a call to seek out God's presence in our lives, a call to constantly look for God in our lives and to hold on. And I think this is an important message for us to hear today, it is an important message to be reminded of, because regardless of that pop culture Christianity tells us, we still experience suffering as Christians in this world. Regardless of the fact that we are extremely blessed to live in this country, regardless of the fact that we are the wealthiest people in the world, regardless of the fact that we do not have to suffer in the same ways that most of the people in this world have to suffer, we still do suffer. I would say especially, we encounter spiritual suffering. So, that is the message that I want us to hear today. Seek out God constantly in our daily lives and hold on to that presence.
And I learned something actually about that dark period that I had. See, what I was saying was that I felt that God had turned His back on me, that somehow God had abandoned me. What I realize now though is that that was not the case at all. Somehow in the confusion and stress I was experiencing, it was I who somehow managed to loosen my grip on God, to let go of God, to distance myself from God. This is why my friend's advice worked, because only when I began once again to reach out and actively look for God in my life was I able to finally be pulled from the darkness. So maybe some of you all are in a dark place spiritually now. If not, you probably have been, and you will be again. Maybe you are in a dark place spiritually because you lost a loved one, or maybe you are dealing with a broken home. Maybe you are dealing with a dark time spiritually because you have seen horrific things, maybe you are a victim of abuse or maybe you have seen war. Or maybe you are going through a dark time just because you feel like God has simply abandoned you. Hear Jesus' message for us this morning. Actively search out God in your daily lives and when you find Him hold on. Actively search Him out day to day and in your moment to moment lives. Search Him out in the big experiences, the big things of this world, and search out His presence in the smallest of things in this world, and you will find His presence. When you do find Him, hold on. Only when you actively seek God's presence in your life will you find Him, and only then will you be pulled from the darkness. Hold on. Amen.
Proper 24 Year C Luke Luke 18:1-8
The Rev. Brett P. Backus
(The following is transcribed from a sermon given without a script and is not an exact copy.)
"And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"
So in seminary there was this joke or play on words that students would say in times of high stress, when it was exam time or time to turn in a lot of papers. Instead of saying "it's time to go to the seminary," they would say, "it's time to go to the cemetery." What a great way to view your theological education! And I think that they had this joke because seminary is an intense place and in a way this saying held a lot of truth for them. Ironically, and surprisingly, this joke or play on words ended up ringing much more true for me than I ever would have expected. This is because I can honestly say that I have never felt so lost, in such a dark place spiritually, or so far away from God as I did during my three years in seminary.
As you can imagine, this was a difficult experience to deal with. My expectations were that I would go to seminary and I would be spiritually fulfilled, and enlightened by professors, and I would finally experience what it would be like to live in true Christian community with people who also felt called to live for serving the Lord. Needless to say, I didn't really know what to do in a situation like this. Of course, I had the love and support of my wife Carla, but I eventually ended up turning to a priest friend of mine who had impacted my life greatly in the past. I will never forget what he told me. It truly got me through. He said, "this is normal, we as human beings and Christians do suffer, and we will have times of spiritual darkness." And here is how we get though these times: "Think about any time in your life that you experienced God's presence, a time when the presence of God was almost palpable and where you felt God guiding, protecting, or walking with you. Remember those times and treat them kind of like precious stones or gems, and put them in your pocket. And then, when you do enter into a time of spiritual darkness, reach into your pocket and pull out those little 'God sightings' and hold on, and that will get you through." That is exactly what I did, and that is what got me through this difficult time.
I share this experience with you this morning because this is what I hear Jesus saying in this morning's Gospel. Hold On. See, when we encounter Jesus in today's Gospel He is giving a parable to His disciples, a quite funny parable actually, at least in my opinion. Jesus in a sense is telling His disciples that in their relationship with God they need to be like this nagging widow! They need to be good naggers. I cannot help to think that if all it takes for us to have a good relationship with God is to be good naggers, then I know at least a hand full of people who should really be tight with God already! No one here of course! People at Ascension do not nag! But what I think people usually get out of this Gospel lesson is a message about constant prayer. People usually hear Jesus calling us to a life of constant prayer, and I think this is right. However, I think a kind of misunderstanding happens sometimes here as well. See, I think a lot of times people see the nagging widow getting what she wants or needs from the unjust judge because she was persistent and they begin to think that what Jesus is saying is that if we want to get what we need from God, then we need to be in constant prayer. So, the emphasis gets taken off of the constant prayer and placed on the desire to get what we want from God. This of course, is not what I think Jesus is getting at in today's gospel.
You see what I hear in this morning's Gospel, what I think the key is, is found in that last line, that question that Jesus raises. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" You see what I hear in this morning's Gospel is a call to seek out God's presence in our lives, a call to constantly look for God in our lives and to hold on. And I think this is an important message for us to hear today, it is an important message to be reminded of, because regardless of that pop culture Christianity tells us, we still experience suffering as Christians in this world. Regardless of the fact that we are extremely blessed to live in this country, regardless of the fact that we are the wealthiest people in the world, regardless of the fact that we do not have to suffer in the same ways that most of the people in this world have to suffer, we still do suffer. I would say especially, we encounter spiritual suffering. So, that is the message that I want us to hear today. Seek out God constantly in our daily lives and hold on to that presence.
And I learned something actually about that dark period that I had. See, what I was saying was that I felt that God had turned His back on me, that somehow God had abandoned me. What I realize now though is that that was not the case at all. Somehow in the confusion and stress I was experiencing, it was I who somehow managed to loosen my grip on God, to let go of God, to distance myself from God. This is why my friend's advice worked, because only when I began once again to reach out and actively look for God in my life was I able to finally be pulled from the darkness. So maybe some of you all are in a dark place spiritually now. If not, you probably have been, and you will be again. Maybe you are in a dark place spiritually because you lost a loved one, or maybe you are dealing with a broken home. Maybe you are dealing with a dark time spiritually because you have seen horrific things, maybe you are a victim of abuse or maybe you have seen war. Or maybe you are going through a dark time just because you feel like God has simply abandoned you. Hear Jesus' message for us this morning. Actively search out God in your daily lives and when you find Him hold on. Actively search Him out day to day and in your moment to moment lives. Search Him out in the big experiences, the big things of this world, and search out His presence in the smallest of things in this world, and you will find His presence. When you do find Him, hold on. Only when you actively seek God's presence in your life will you find Him, and only then will you be pulled from the darkness. Hold on. Amen.
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