Sermon: Committed to God's New Day

Luke 18:1-8

Committed to God’s New Day

James Sledge                                                                                       October 20, 2013

Last Saturday I was watching the football game between Ole Miss and Texas A&M. It was a pretty exciting contest, and Ole Miss was looking like they might pull off a big upset. But Texas A&M had come back to tie the game. Then with time running out, they moved the ball down the field to set up a potential game winning field goal on the last play.

Time out was called, and the field goal unit prepared to come out on the field. As the TV cameras panned around, trying to capture the intensity of the moment, one camera spotted the Texas A&M quarterback gathered with a small group of teammates. They were in a sort of semi-circle with their helmets off. Each was down on one knee, holding the hand of the player next to him. Then the quarterback said something and bowed his head. He seemed to be leading the group in some sort of prayer.

I couldn’t hear them, of course, so I don’t actually know what they were praying about. There had been an Ole Miss player carried off the field on a stretcher earlier. I suppose they could have been praying for him, but I doubt it. I feel pretty confident they were praying for their teammate to kick the ball squarely through the uprights. And when he did just that a few minutes later, they ran onto the field rejoicing, their prayers answered.

One of my least favorite moments in sports is the post-game interview where a winning player thanks God for the victory. I recall one boxer some years ago who went so far as saying he could feel Jesus in his fists helping him knock the other guy out. With such eloquent spokespersons, no wonder Christian faith is struggling.

Actually, I don’t think Christianity has much of a problem because of  people who thank God for the home run they hit to win the game. It would be easy enough to dismiss such utterances, that is if they didn’t fit into a larger pattern of seeing God as a cosmic sugar daddy, or seeing religion and faith as consumer items intended to make our lives a little bit better.

Liberal and progressive Christians usually join me in cringing at those who pray for a parking spot at the entrance to the mall, yet we have our own ways of turning God into a personal provider. Many of us measure religion, faith, or spirituality by how well it uplifts us, makes us feel better, or gives us what we need to get through a tough week. We may not ask God for a winning lottery ticket, at least not out loud, but we may think of Jesus as a self-help coach who can improve our lives in some way. In many Presbyterian churches, you’ll never hear talk of Jesus as “personal Lord and Savior,” but it’s not at all unusual to hear people speak of faith in personal, therapeutic, self-help terms.

And so both those Texas A&M players as well as more sophisticated people of faith sometimes act as though God or faith offers benefits for those who pray hard enough, learn the proper spiritual practice, do sufficiently uplifting worship, or find just the right contemplative pose.

That’s not a knock on spiritual or contemplative practices, uplifting worship, or regular prayer. Rather it’s a knock on the overly individualistic and personal pose that faith has taken in our culture. That pose leads Christians on both the left and right to hear passages such as today’s gospel as how-to advice to get what we’re looking for.

But look again at the passage. First, it presumes a situation of great difficulty where Jesus’ followers struggle and are tempted to lose hope. More importantly, the focus is not personal desires or contentment or happiness. It is justice. The widow in the parable is after justice. And when Jesus expounds on the parable he says, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?”

Jesus seems to assume that his followers will pray about something more than personal fulfillment or contentment. They expects them to focus on things set right, on a day that is coming when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Jesus assumes his followers will live into the blessedness of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus is not promising to provide what we want if we just pester God about it long enough. Rather he is insisting that God is on our side when we work for the justice and mercy and righteousness of God’s new day, that kingdom Jesus proclaimed, saying that it had drawn near in him.

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I tend not think the Church in America is in nearly so bad off as some others do, but we are living in a time with more challenges and opportunities than we have seen in many generations. Church membership is no longer a presumed part of living in this country. Faith and faith practice is now largely optional, making it more difficult to attract people into congregations. All this does make it more challenging to be church in this day and time.

But the church loses its way when it responds to this challenge by focusing too much on helping people find fulfillment or contentment or a spiritual high, for these are not our main purpose. They are byproducts that happen when our lives are transformed by following Jesus, when we are reoriented away from a focus on self toward a focus on God and neighbor.

Too often, congregations become clubs whose primary purpose is making the members happy. If outsiders like what is going on, they are welcome to join in, but things are geared primarily for insiders. Jesus, on the other hand, calls his followers to costly service on behalf of the other, the neighbor, the least of these, even the enemy. And he is clear that it is in this act of letting go, of losing one’s self, that we discover life in all its fullness.

No congregation lives fully into Jesus’ call, but in a somewhat counter-intuitive sense, congregations that focus more beyond their own membership tend to be much more vital and vigorous, while congregations that focus on themselves are more likely to be struggling.

There is a lot of vigor and vitality here at FCPC, and so it’s no big surprise that our leadership has committed, not simply to making sure our youth programs are excellent, but also in focusing energy outward. The expansion of Welcome Table and the development of a new worship service come from a faith pose that hears today’s gospel, not as a manual for getting what we want, but as encouragement to keep doing what Jesus calls us to do, even when it is difficult, even when we struggle or are tempted to lose hope.

Given all this, it’s hardly surprising that the Stewardship Committee chose the theme, “Called to Grow” rather than something like, “If you like our programs, help pay for them.” They realized that along with expressing our gratitude to God, Christian stewardship is about responding to Jesus’ call to follow him, not losing hope, praying continuously, giving generously, and working tirelessly for that day that is surely coming. And I am excited to be working with so many at FCPC who have heard that call, have put aside self-interest, and have dedicated themselves to the work of that new day, knowing that when we do, God is on our side.

Thanks be to God!