Tellico Village Community Church

Sunday, October 18, 1998

Luke 18:1-8

Here's a cute story - hot off the email - from Andy and Barb Snow: A minister dies and goes to heaven. Ahead of him in line is a guy dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. St. Peter speaks to this fellow: "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?"

The guy replies, "I'm Joe Cohen, New York City taxi driver."

St. Peter consults his list. The he smiles and says, "Take this silk robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

So the taxi driver enters the pearly gates, and its the minister's turn. He stands regally erect and announces in a booming voice, "I am Joseph Snow, pastor of St. Mary's for the past 43 years."

St. Peter consults his list, then says, "Okay, take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Just one MINUTE", objects the minister. "That man was a taxi driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this be?"

St. Peter pauses for a moment, then replies "Up here we work by results. While YOU preached, people SLEPT; while HE drove, people PRAYED!"

Today's Gospel lesson from St. Luke reveals that there is indeed a relationship between prayer on the one hand, and results, on the other. But its not the relationship most of us think. And if you can open your mind and heart wide enough to really hear what Jesus is teaching, this passage has some powerful applications that can help in our lives.

Luke begins by saying that one day Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

You see, the disciples - like many of us - were drawn to the practice of prayer. They prayed for big things - like the coming of the kingdom, the eradication of poverty, the vindication of the poor, and global stuff like that. And - like us - they prayed for more everyday mundane things too. Like being able to overcome alcoholism. Or for change in the life of a problem child. Or for help in dealing with a problem. Or for healing from a tragic loss. Or for a parking place near the main doors of the mall on a rainy day. Well, maybe not that one exactly.

And people are people when it comes to prayer. I don't think it would be at all unfair to say that the followers of Jesus in every generation have had a similar relationship with prayer as you do today. And like you and me, one of the great issues they had to come to grips with was what seemed to be unanswered prayer.

Contrary to what many people think about the early Christians, there were loved ones they prayed for who were NOT healed. There were situations they prayed about that were NOT changed. There were needs they asked to have met that were NEVER fulfilled.

Have you ever fallen on your knees and called out to God for something - and all you heard in the distance was silence? I have. Many times. And whenever its been over a real personal thing - like one of my kids, or someone else I love - unanswered prayer shakes the very bottom of my soul.

Maybe it shakes your soul too.

When Luke wrote his Gospel, several generations of Christians had come and gone. Most of the Apostles had died. The community had begun with a strong belief that Jesus would soon return to establish his kingdom on earth. And with this unshaking belief in Christ's imminent return, the early Christians had endured great persecution and terrible hardship. A vital part of their daily prayer was what we pray even today: Thy kingdom come.

But now 50 years or so had passed. And Jesus had not returned.

Like some of our prayers, their main prayer was still unanswered.

And now - just like us - some of them felt they may as well give up.

Are there important prayers in your life that you've given up praying?

Well, listen carefully, for right at the outset Luke tells us that Jesus tells this parable for people who are tempted to give up. And he begins by writing that Jesus told his followers this parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

And you know how it goes. There's a poor widow who's been taken advantage of by some unscrupulous telemarketing firm that's convinced her she's a winner in a contest she never entered. And in order to claim her large cash prize, all she has to do is sign over all her future Social Security checks to pay the taxes on the prize. They say desperate people do desperate things and she must have been a very desperate woman. She gives them all her money. And, of course, she gets nothing in return.

So this widow hires a lawyer and files a lawsuit against the company. Sadly, the judge turns out to be one these prima donnas who doesn't care about justice and thinks old ladies ought to be smarter than that. He refuses to hear the case. All the widow gets out of it is a big bill from the lawyer which she has to sell her house to pay.

And now she's getting really ticked off.

So she goes down to the local library and looks up the law. She learns how to file briefs, how to subpoena witnesses, how to use very specific definitions in depositions. Then, briefcase in hand, the widow goes back to court and knocks on the door. The judge refuses to see her. She goes to a pay phone and calls him up. The judge hangs up. She sends him letters. The judge won't open them. She goes back and knocks on the door some more. The judge hides in his chambers. That night, the judge sneaks out the back door and jumps into a taxi to go home. Guess who's driving the taxi?

Now listen to this: "The judge said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice so that she will not wear me out.'"

Isn't that beautiful? Jesus is so good with stories like this. But let me caution you. Many people misinterpret this parable. They suggest that God is like the unjust judge. And you need to keep at prayer because, eventually, you'll wear God down and he'll give in to whatever you want.

I think that's a dangerous attitude to have toward God.

And its not what the parable teaches. In fact, Jesus is clear that God is not like the judge. God always listens to the cries of his people. God is always faithful!

What the parable does teach is that the things we pray about - a loved one's sickness or change of heart, an injustice, the hurt of a child, the problem you're facing, the needs you have - are often like that unjust judge.

At the beginning of this sermon, I stated that this parable speaks to the relationship between prayer and results. And it does. Because you can't even begin to understand the nature of prayer until you change your thinking about results.

Do you remember when you were a kid, and all you could think of was getting to be 16-years old so you could drive a car? And when you got that result it was great. You were so cool! For a while. But soon, the romance of that result dulled. And then your thoughts turned to other things. Like getting to be 18. Or 21. Or getting married. Or having kids. Or establishing a career. Or making it to retirement. Most of us are results-driven people, desperately reaching for what we believe will be endings and completions.

But when you carefully think about where life has led you over the years, one of the most important discoveries you can make is that life is always moving on. You may reach a goal, but then a new one forms. You may achieve a level of happiness, but then something sad happens. You may help a needy person, but then two more show up on your doorstep.

Our faith boldly declares that there are no final results in life. There are only passages until the journey is completed in heaven.

When I was a child, I used to like those paint-by-number things. Remember? The ones for smaller children have large numbered areas and only a few colors of paint. The more advanced ones have very delicate numbered areas and often a wide-variety of color combinations. And the way to succeed with these is to paint one number at a time, let it dry, and then paint another number.

Which is why I was never very good at paint-by-number. I wanted results and I wanted them now. So I would do a whole paint-by-number picture in - oh, say 5 minutes. Wouldn't look much like the picture on the box. Colors kind of ran together - after all, it takes time to clean your brush after you're done with one color.

And many of us live life this way. As though we can achieve quick final results and then be able to sit back and just enjoy life.

But that's not how life is!

Christianity teaches us that life is not short-term, but long-term. Christians must learn to think not in terms of immediacies, but in terms of the larger picture, in terms of the eternal.

Jesus said we ought always to pray, and not lose heart.

What are some of the things you are praying for?

One of the wisest things I've ever heard is the comment by H. Jackson Brown that goes like this: In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance."

You and I are called to be like streams of faith around the things and people for whom we pray. We do not ever give up because we know that God is listening, and though our prayers seem unanswered it is only because the rock is bigger than we think it is, and God will need time to work out his purposes.

And not only is this true with prayer, but also with how we live as Christian stewards of the blessings of God.

When we join with Iva and Fate Evans through Feed My Children Missionary, there may be a part of us that wants so much for the problem of hunger and poverty to be over once and for all. We wish we had some results. We may wonder if all our efforts are doing any good at all because, no matter how many people you feed this week, more will show up next week.

But listen to this parable: Keep on going, and don't lose heart! God knows, God sees, God hears, and God is at work on this boulder that is far larger than any of us can imagine! It's not going to take a day. Its not going to take a week. Its not going to take a month or a year or a decade. Its going to take the rest of your lifetime and maybe even more than that! But one day, the Kingdom will come for the poor and downtrodden as a result of all our little individual streams of faith flowing around that giant rock! That's God's promise!

In the same way, dear friends, don't ever give up on your kids and others you love who are going through difficult times. Keep on praying and don't lose heart. You know, it takes time to spiritually nurture our children. It can't be accomplished in 18 years, or in 30 or 50. It takes a lifetime of telling them you love them, of gently sharing your faith with them, of giving them help when its appropriate, of telling them "no" when its not. It will take every moment of your remaining days to faithfully remind them over and over again that you are proud of them and believe in them and are blessed by them. It takes a lifetime of gently flowing streams to smooth the heart of a child. Never give up on your kids!

What are you concerned about today? What are some of the things you're praying for?

You may think I'm a bit strange for this, but I'm still praying for loved ones who've passed into the larger life. I refuse to give up in lending them the strength of my love and hope and faith, and I pray for their joy, and the day we'll be together again.

Some prayers take more than a lifetime to answer.

For this is the promise Jesus gives us!

God hears you. God cares.

And the stream always wins!