Loving God, even though you reach out to us in love, it often seems so hard for us to trust you.  Strengthen us in our faith by the power of your Holy Spirit, that we might know your presence and power in every situation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Have any of you ever wrestled with God, or felt like you wanted to wrestle with God?  Have any of you ever prayed and prayed for something and felt as if your prayers were being ignored?  Have any of you ever looked around, seen things looking worse and worse, and wondered if God is in the picture at all?  If you have, you are in very good company.  For many over the years have cried out, “How long, O Lord?” and “Where are you, Lord?” and “How do I know what to do?”.

    We find this all through the Old Testament – long before Jacob, and long after him.  We find the same thing in the New Testament, especially as those in the early church waited for Jesus to return and to inaugurate the kingdom of God in all its fulness.  And so, Jesus, knowing that the time would seem long and that people might begin to lose heart, tells a parable.

    In the parable, there is a corrupt judge who abuses his position of power.  He is only in it for himself, makes no attempt to serve in a God-pleasing way, and has no respect for the people who come to him for judgment.  And in the same city there is a widow who is seeking justice with somebody who has wronged her.  In those days, a widow was one of the most powerless people in society, and certainly wouldn’t have the resources to be able to persuade the judge to rule in her favour.

    However, what the widow does have is persistence.  She keeps coming back to the judge again and again, pleading with him to grant her justice.  And eventually the judge gives in to her – not because he wants to see justice done, but simply so that she will stop bothering him.

    Jesus tells this parable and says, “Look!  Your God is not corrupt, and is all about justice and righteousness.  In fact, your God loves you.  Do you really think that God is going to ignore your pleas for help, when even a corrupt judge will give in to a persistent plea?  God is faithful and wise and will not abandon those who are God’s children.”

    I can’t help but think of the different responses of people who are faced with a natural disaster.  Whether it is a hurricane in New Orleans, or an earthquake in Haiti, or floods in Pakistan, some respond with faith and trust, and others are convinced that God has forgotten them.  One person who has lost everything will say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).  Another person in the same situation will ask, “What did I ever do to deserve this?  Where is God, anyway?”

    The underlying question for us seems to be one of trust.  Do we trust God enough to believe that God always has our best interest at heart?  Do we trust that God knows the proper timing for everything?  Do we trust in God’s power to save and to heal, regardless of our circumstances at the time?  Do we trust God’s judgment in answering our prayers according to what is best in the greater scheme of things?  And if we don’t have this kind of trust, how do we get there?

    In order to begin to answer this question, we need to first acknowledge that, no matter where we are in our faith journey right now, there is somebody in the Bible who is in the same place.  This means, of course, that it helps to know the people of the Bible, for only then will we be able to see ourselves in them.  In fact, each of the Biblical stories tells us something about ourselves.

    Take Jacob, for example, whom we meet in today’s first reading.  Jacob, like many people, had moments where he acted in faith and moments where he lied and cheated and stole.  He took the birthright and the blessing from his brother Esau, one by trickery and one by a shrewd trade.  In fact, he is just on his way to meet his brother Esau for the first time in many years in today’s reading from Genesis, and he is afraid.

    While Jacob does express his trust in God on various occasions, this is not one of those occasions, and Jacob is not at peace.  Thus, he spends the night wrestling with the angel of the Lord, which in the Hebrew understanding is the same as wrestling with God (cf. Judg. 13:17-21).  It is also, apparently, the origin of the name of Israel, which means “one who wrestles with God,” and as the history of Israel continues through the rest of the Old Testament, we can see how that wrestling back and forth with God continues for many years to come.

    And so some of us, depending upon what is going on in our lives, might see a little bit of ourselves in Jacob, or in any of the other people of the Bible.  One of the people from the Scriptures in whom we actually see the movement from fear to trust is Peter, and in Peter’s case, it is fairly obvious what makes the difference.

    When we first meet Peter in the gospels, he often speaks and acts impetuously and boldly, but then sinks into fear when it comes right down to it.  He is ready to step out of the boat onto the water with Jesus, but soon is overcome by fear and begins to sink.  He proclaims that he’s ready to go to prison or even to death with Jesus, but then denies ever knowing Jesus and runs away.  Ultimately, it is only after Peter has received the Holy Spirit that his trust in God cannot be shaken.  With the Holy Spirit empowering him, Peter is no longer afraid, and knows that God is in control even when he faces prison or death.

    And so, for us, how do we get to the point where we are able to trust God in all circumstances?  Certainly, knowledge of the Scriptures helps, for then we are able to see how God has always been faithful and trustworthy in the past.  We also get a sense of the big picture and the passage of time, for some of the most significant promises in the Bible took hundreds of years before they were fulfilled.  Thus, we really shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus has not yet reappeared, for God’s sense of timing is often totally different from ours!

    However, familiarity with the Bible is only part of the picture.  Just like Peter, we need the Holy Spirit working in our lives if we are ever going to have a solid faith.  We can try to believe all we want, but if the Holy Spirit isn’t there, giving us the gift of faith, we will be trying in vain.  The Holy Spirit is given at Baptism, and the Holy Spirit is given at confirmation, and we are free to either open ourselves to the Spirit’s power or to close ourselves off.  We are also free to pray for the Holy Spirit, for God promises to give the Spirit to those who ask in good faith.  And so, the Holy Spirit leads us into faith and trust.

    Yet, once again, faith does not grow into trust until we put it into practice.  It can be a simple thing like, “Lord, I don’t know what to say to this person, but I ask that you will speak through me,” and then allowing it to happen.  It can be stepping out in faith financially and saying, “Lord, I know that all things come from you, and I’m going to give to you first, and I’m going to trust that you will continue to provide.”  It can be listening and watching for God’s direction as to how we can best serve God in our day to day lives, willing to test it out, and to see where God is leading us.  However it happens for us, our trust does not grow until we step out in faith and see the power of God at work.

    Our God is trustworthy, and is worthy of worship and praise.  When Jesus comes, may he indeed find faith on earth, and may he find it also among us.  Amen.

Lectionary 29(C)                                Luke 18:1-8
October 17, 2010                                Genesis 32:22-31
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2010 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved