Krista’s Reflection “Praying from the Heart” & “Three Things to Remember” for October 16, 2022
Scriptures:
Jeremiah 31:27‒34 God’s new covenant is written on our hearts.
Luke 18:1‒8 The parable of the widow and the unjust judge.
Scripture Summary:
The Old Law God gave to the Israelites through Moses did not make them turn to God. So God will give them a New Covenant – where the “law” of Love is written on people’s hearts. As Christians we can interpret this New Covenant as the Gospel of Christ, where sins are forgiven, and Love rules.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus uses the parable of the widow bothering the unjust judge, asking for justice against her opponent. In the olden days, widows and orphans were supposed to be protected by the law, but she has no one to represent her. She wears him down with her persistence, and he does the right thing despite himself. Jesus says, if an unjust judge will do the right thing, surely you can trust God to answer your persistent prayers? Jesus asks us to not lose heart but keep on praying, knowing that God will come to give justice quickly.
Sermon Focus Statement:
God’s law is written on our hearts. Praying to God constantly will bring justice. God answers our prayers.
Sermon Function Statement: Pray to God constantly to bring justice and peace to our world.
Krista’s 3 Things to Remember from Last Week:
1. Write down or say 3 things you’re grateful for every morning or night.
2. Say Thank you to a friend or neighbour who has helped you.
3. Thank God for all Good things and invite Jesus to be your spiritual provider.
Krista’s Reflection – “Praying from the Heart”
I dream of a world of justice and peace,
Where all are cared for, comforted, and loved.
Where all are provided for.
Where children eat and sleep, dream and play in safety.
Where our churches are full of faithful people singing,
Where our gardens bloom across the earth with bountiful food shared with all.
Where birds sing their constant great praises to God.
Where Jesus reigns supreme.
Where there is no more terror, or pain or sadness,
no separation from loved ones, and no more death.
Where everyone receives their fair due, and no one is left out.
Everyone has enough.
God’s dream for the world is not far from that. In the Old Testament passage today, Jeremiah talks of a new relationship with God. God gave the Law through Moses to give the people safety, to make sure they protect the innocent, and do right by their neighbour. It was really a contract to prevent them from separating themselves from God or hurting each other. God wanted them to be faithful. But the many stories of the Old Testament show us that they strayed too far. They forgot about God and committed many crimes against each other. They
worshipped other gods and lost their way. There was no justice in the land. That is why God gave them the law, but it didn’t bring justice.
In the Gospel message, Jesus uses the example of a widow going to an unjust judge to receive justice against her opponent. Widows and orphans were supposed to be protected. But some people would abuse or cheat them. This unjust judge was not a Godly man and didn’t do the right thing right away. So this widow had to defend herself. She had to go to him constantly until he would give her justice. It was unfair.
But the world is unfair.
I can relate to how unfair this world can be. From simple things to big things, the world is full of iniquity.
For example, just a few days ago I was on the phone for over three hours with my bank because someone had used my credit card number to rack up charges that were not mine. I saw these charges go back in time and I was horrified. I tried to lock my card and get my money back, but this happened multiple times and I was losing heart.
I felt so discouraged that every time I tried to call it was over an hour wait time. Then I would talk to someone, and they would send me to someone else. I was almost ready to give up and just pay the money myself. There was no one else to advocate for the consumer. It seemed like no one cared.
And the companies where my number was confiscated did nothing to protect me. They got richer, and hackers and scammers seemed to be able to take from innocent people who worked hard for their money.
Last week Barry (at Churchill) told us about the OPP Learning
series in Beeton (Oct 21) where we can learn how to protect
ourselves from Frauds and Scams – and you can check your bulletin or newsletter for more information. The point is – we must be vigilant against these sorts of things and stand up for ourselves and for each other to protect the innocent and vulnerable.
On the bigger world stage, I see images of women in Iran
demanding justice, after an innocent young woman was killed for not following oppressive rules. These girls and women just want the right to go to school, to have the freedom to be themselves, to reach their full potential, to live in peace without the fear of oppression or violence. And I wondered, will anybody hear their voices, hear their prayers? Will justice ever come?
We might feel helpless sometimes like God is not listening to us. We see things happen in our own homes and in our communities, things that are unfair, or even downright scary – like the 2 police officers who just lost their lives in the line of duty, supporting our community. And we might wonder, is God listening to us? Are God’s promises true? When will justice come? Will God ever fix the problems we see in this world?
The good news is there is hope for all of us. Even when
things go very wrong. God never gives up on us or our world.
God offers hope through Jeremiah with the promise of a New
Covenant, which is not written on stone tablets but is written on our hearts.
One of Steve’s favourite comedic movies is Mel Brooke’s
“History of the World Part II,” where Moses comes down from the mountain, so proud, carrying these stone tablets, and he
says, “I give you these 15” and then we hear a big CRASH as he drops one of the tablets, and says (carrying only 2 stone tablets), “Oops! 10 Commandments!”
So written laws can literally be broken. It’s what is in our hearts that counts. And the prayers of our hearts reach God.
God promises that everyone will come to know God and the true meaning of God’s law which is Love. But we must ask for what we need and want – we must persist in reaching out to God. It’s not a one-time one size fits all kind of law, but a perfect law written on our hearts. It makes us yearn for God and yearn for justice. Things still go wrong but eventually it delivers what is needed, it may not be as we expect, but God will set things right, in God’s right time.
Jesus tried to teach this to his disciples – to not lose heart – to not be discouraged, but to pray constantly and trust in God.
Jesus taught his disciples how to pray – the Lord’s Prayer, the
same prayer we say or sing today. He also taught them to love God and to love one another. To defend the poor and marginalized, to offer love to all without exception. Jesus knew this would not be easy. He knew the world was full of iniquity. His Gospel ran directly against the teachings of his time – to just follow the rules and the letter of the law – which did not produce a loving people.
Instead, Jesus clarified that the law is about Love and justice
for the poor, not uniform compliance to the letter of the law which oppressed the innocent and gave no justice.
As I mentioned, in those times, widows and orphans under
Jewish law were supposed to be protected. But people dismissed them, lied, or cheated them.
So after many visits to this very busy judge who had no time for her, our hero, the widow in our story finally gets through to him. How did she do this? It was not because the unjust judge loved God or cared about people – it was because she was so persistent, she wore him down! She didn’t give up advocating for what was right.
In the same way, we need to be persistent in our prayers to
God, never give up, even when we think God is NOT listening, God is, just keep believing and praying. Like a good parent, God listens and God is always good to us.
I know many of you as parents or grandparent are good to
your children and grandchildren. And you know what it’s like
when they come to you repeatedly for something they want like ice cream or a sleepover, or favourite toy, until they just wear you down with their persistent asking or whining!…. And sometimes you give in not because you want to be good to them, but because you just want some peace and quiet! Like the unjust judge. That’s OK.
And when you say YES their eyes light up as they give you a big hug or run to tell their friends or squeal with delight. It feels
wonderful.
God wants to be good to us too. God answers our prayers. We must pray constantly from our hearts and not give up when it doesn’t show up right away. Or when things don’t turn out as we expect.
The widow asked and asked for what was right, and she
eventually got what she deserved. Not every person gets what they want, nor should they if it’s not the right thing or the right time, but if we are faithful and ask for what is right and good, God will answer us. Never stop asking God for what is right and good and trust that things will turn out in the end. Justice will come eventually. Peace will come to our world.
So after many hours on the phone, getting different people and
persistently repeating my claim, I finally got through to the right
person at the bank, who dealt with me quickly (well quickly this time, after many not so quick calls), they reversed all the fraudulent charges and issued me a new card. I was so relived!! I did a happy dance. Even my children who were visiting me at the time were happy for me, so we celebrated with a lovely supper and game night.
All that worry and aggravation were gone. Justice finally came
because I didn’t give up. I just kept on going, listening to that
annoying hold music until I got through! I knew I was in the right, and eventually justice would prevail. Because I didn’t give up and believed good would come, I received my just reward, and I felt peaceful and grateful to God.
It must have been the same for that widow. I can just imagine how the judge must have looked grumpy at her, too busy to give her the time of day, trying to brush her off and make her go away.
But she just kept coming back, insisting that he hear her case.
Maybe someone had swindled her, took her money, left her high and dry. She had a small child to feed. She couldn’t afford to eat, let alone lose what little resources she had. Her opponent deserved to be brought to justice and made to give her money back.
Now the unjust judge, after hearing her multiple times, realizing she was not going to just go away, finally heard her story and agreed to settle her case. He finally gave her what she was asking for. (Kind of like that persistent child who never gives up and finally gets that ice cream cone!)
Jesus uses this parable to say – don’t give up. When we are feeling oppressed, tired, weary, worried, or afraid – ask God for help. And don’t give up expecting a good result – even if it takes longer than you hoped. He says, if an unjust judge who doesn’t love God or others could do the right thing, surely God who loves you and created you will respond to your constant cries and prayers and give you what you need.
The New Covenant Jeremiah speaks of is about developing a
personal relationship with God. Not out of obligation or arbitrary rules, but based on love, trust, and intimacy. We reach God through our prayers.
God can be your provider, your sustainer, your defender.
God can respond to your cries for help.
God can advocate for you when others won’t.
God can cause others to be good to us, even when they don’t
want to!
God loves us.
But to feel and realize that love we must come before God in
prayer. We must advocate for ourselves and others and not give up doing and believing in the right thing. We do this through prayer.
In one passage it says, “pray without ceasing.” That means
constantly! Never give up and pray to God all day and night. God will not get sick of hearing from us. God hears our prayers.
With all the unfair things that happen to us and others in this world, we might have to drop everything else we do, quit our jobs and pray full time!
Seriously, Jesus is saying to trust that God hears our prayers
and God responds. It’s a relationship. A Covenant of Love. It
works both ways.
Praying to God constantly doesn’t mean we will always get what we want. But God always answers us in some way.
Justice will eventually come, if not immediately. It may come
in unexpected ways. If someone does something bad to us, it might be someone else who comes to the rescue.
God will always respond because God is a good God, even if it is to comfort us when we go through a devastating loss. God will make up for it in some way, and will turn things around, give us strength, support, family, community, new opportunities, compensation, justice, love.
I think of the community of Innisfil suffering the loss of the two
police officers recently and the young man who also lost his life, and it seems so unfair, so unnecessary. And I see a world which doesn’t look much like my dream, where people still suffer under oppressive regimes – and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, no rainbow.
But I never give up hope that my dream will come to pass, I see glimpses all the time. In my children, in the turnarounds I have experienced like getting my bank problem fixed, or even finding my way to Churchill Gilford into a community of faith that looks out for one another and demonstrates God’s love in
multiple ways.
God’s dream for us will come, justice and peace will manifest on earth. Jesus’s promises that God answers our prayers can be trusted. God is a faithful God. God answers our prayers and cares for those who pray and cry out for justice.
Jesus says, ASK, and the door will be opened –
PRAY and justice will eventually come.
Pray for healing. Pray for peace.
Pray for restoration of families and communities, for our
world to be a safe place, a beautiful place for all.
Don’t ever tire of asking God for help. You can’t bother God.
God does not get grumpy or tire of being good to us. Because God is a loving God.
God promised through Jeremiah, “I will be your God, and
you will be my people.” Let’s be comforted by that thought. Let
us be the faithful people singing, and praying, and giving our
constant thanks and praise to God.
And we all say: Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Krista’s Three Things to Remember This Week:
Pick one and do it! (Stick this on your fridge!)
1. Stand up for yourself when you feel something is wrong.
2. Stand up for someone else whom you feel has not been
justly treated.
3. Pray to God constantly for justice, peace, and security in our
world. Like a pesky child, do not give up praying to God!