INCESSANT POUNDING

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

October 21, 2001

Text: "the widow keeps bothering me." (Luke 18:5)

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Those of you who suffer from migraine headaches know what incessant pounding can be. Migraines have a very definite pattern of behavior. They give the person clues about what to expect along the way. They begin with jagged edges seen in the corner of the eye. Soon those little lightening bolts move to the center of one’s vision and sight becomes impaired. For example, whereas normal peripheral vision allows the reader to see an entire line or sentence, the migraine normally progresses to the point where only one word is visible at a time. To read the title of this morning’s sermon in the bulletin would mean seeing only "incessant" and then moving the eye to read "pounding."

If the migraine is not stopped along the way the next progression will be an incessant pounding that will virtually render the person incapacitated. People have been known to go to bed, close all the blinds in the room and lie in agony with a cold cloth covering their face for three days. Of course, the incessant pounding is only compounded by the nausea that accompanies the headache, which only increases the pain, and the cycle repeats itself over and over. Many chronic migraine sufferers carry medication with them wherever they go, so that, should an episode begin they can quickly curtail its effects and go on about their business.

Today, it’s as though every one of us is living a migraine. The symptoms are obvious. No sooner do we get ourselves back into some semblance of routine when we experience a new lightening bolt out the corner of our eye. This past week it was anthrax. This past Thursday’s Sun carried an article where a jailed Taliban warned of a nuclear device exploding somewhere in this country. Friday they found a bomb in the Philadelphia Greyhound depot. People can no longer focus on the big picture. Their sight is limited to whatever happens to be the latest threat. They go from threat to threat. Some people are depressed. All they want to do is pull the covers over their heads and wait until the pounding stops.

Thank God help is available! It comes this morning not in the form of some pill we have to carry with us every day. It comes in the form of God’s word that speaks to us with very specific guidance. We enter with the widow pounding on the judge’s door. Immediately the cast of characters is important to Jesus’ telling of the story. As in our society the judge would have some status within the community. The widow, as with many widows, would be the embodiment of defenselessness. Apparently, she’s on her own, without an advocate to plead her case. Jesus tells her complaint in plain language, "Grant me justice against my opponent." At first, the judge does nothing. The pounding continues. The widow will not be deterred. Finally, he comes to his senses. "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 may not wear me out by continually coming."

People’s reaction to what’s going in our nation varies. Undoubtedly there’s those who just want the pounding to cease. They can’t take anymore and they’ve absolutely no idea what will happen next. Others are angry with God. People have said to me that they will no longer darken the door of a church that worships a god who would let such a thing happen. There are those who want justice. At the Presbytery meeting the other day we debated at length sending a statement to the churches regarding the events of the past month. The presbytery couldn’t agree on what language to use. Some wanted a more militant response, supporting our troops in Afghanistan. Others wanted a more peaceful approach, saying how violence begets violence. Finally, the presbytery voted to adopt the National Council of Churches statement, which charts a middle course through both viewpoints.

After telling the story of the widow, Jesus tells the disciples, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Therein lie our hope and our challenge.

You and I both know that our hope lies in God. One of the signs of hope amidst all the rubble in lower Manhattan is St. Paul’s Chapel. While "all around it, once-mighty buildings are either in a heap of rubble, charred black and windowless, or still smoldering…St. Paul’s Chapel, Manhattan’s oldest public building and the house of worship George Washington visited in 1789 after his inauguration at nearby Federal Hall, is intact. A block away from the World Trade Center, the small, ornate chapel doesn’t even have a broken window or a crack in its vaulted ceiling.

"In a speech before thousands of New Yorkers at a prayer service…at Yankee Stadium, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani described the unblemished brownstones and ionic pillars of St. Paul’s as the ‘miracle of Sept.11. The presence of that chapel,’ he said, ‘standing defiant and serene amid the ruins, sends an eloquent message about the strength and resilience of the people of New York City and the people of America.’ Chunks of steel, a blizzard of paper and assorted rubble were scattered all around the chapel. Ash several inches thick coated the Georgian masonry and drifted through an open window, dusting much of the sanctuary inside. But everything was intact." (David Abel, The Boston Globe, Arizona Daily Star, September 30, 2001, page A11)

The presence of St. Paul’s Chapel in lower Manhattan stands as a metaphor of hope that we can have in God. There, in the midst of utter chaos, God’s presence stands intact as sanctuary, as refuge, as a place of peace and shelter. There in the midst of utter chaos stands a beacon guiding all who will enter to that almighty reassurance that nothing can separate us from that God who brought Jesus Christ into the world.

God does bless America! God will continue to bless America! "And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them." Ah, but along with that hope, that reassurance, there’s also a challenge! "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Lois McCarren shared this story with me.

"An atheist was walking through the woods, admiring all that the ‘accident of evolution’ had created. ‘What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!’ he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning, he saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the grizzly was closing in. Somehow, he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run faster. He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but the bear was right over him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him. At that instant the atheist cried, ‘Oh my God!’

"Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, ‘You deny my existence for all these years, teach others that I don’t exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Yet now you call to me and expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?

"The atheist looked directly into the light, ‘I am a man of principle and it would be hypocritical to become religious and ask for your help after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a believer.’ ‘Very well,’ said the voice. The light went out. The river ran. The sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed its head and spoke, ‘Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful!’"

Two weeks after 911, churches across the county were full. People came to church wanting to be comforted, to find a sense of community, to hear that things would be all right, that God would indeed bless them. And, in a sense, like St. Paul’s, that’s what the church should be these days, that beacon of hope. But along with that hope comes a challenge. As Jesus concludes the parable, "will the Son of Man find faith on earth?" He’s not talking about just a "crisis intervention" kind of faith that only wants a "nod from God" when frightening events occur. He’s talking about an abiding foundation upon which people can stand with assurance and conviction in the midst of all the pounding that’s going on.

He’s talking about the faith that Jeremiah talks about. "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." The past few weeks, attendance of worship has returned to normal. True, I would say that more people are turning to religion. They’re re-evaluating their lives and their priorities, but I don’t see that kind of abiding discipline of "knowing the Lord" that Jeremiah speaks of. Or, hear again what the letter to Timothy writes, "As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully."

There’s no sense of hypocrisy here. Rather, all three, Jeremiah, Timothy and Jesus challenge the believer to use this time as the opportunity it is to bring others to that beacon of hope we call the God of hope and the God of Justice. Now is the time to get our houses in order, our houses of faith, our houses of prayer, our houses of Scripture, our houses of mission, our houses of witness to the community, our houses of evangelism, and our houses of stewardship. Now is the time to take each of those bricks of our commitment and build them into a bastion of faith that will show the people of the world that of which we’re made. The widow did it, "Grant me justice against my opponent!" Will the Son of Man find faith on earth?

Thanks be to God,

Amen