Nag, Nag, Nag
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For October 16, 2022:
Nag, Nag, Nag
by Mary Austin
Luke 18:1-8
“Sunk cost, honey,” my accountant husband often says. “Sunk cost.” He’s reminding me that even though I’ve already invested time or money in something, I don’t have to keep going. Social scientists say that I’m not alone — we all have a tendency to keep adding more money or time to our original outlay. We don't want to lose everything we’ve already put in, so we keep adding more, even when it would make sense to stop.
Is the widow in Luke’s parable so persistent because of all the time and energy she’s already spent on tracking down this lazy judge? Does she keep going to him out of habit, even though it might make more sense to find a different judge?
Author and professional poker player Annie Duke says the opposite. We need to see the value in quitting. She notes that we have all kinds of “great words for grit including heroism, steadfast, perseverance.” We like grit, she says, and sticktuitiveness. “But when you look at quit, there's hardly any words that are nice. And, in fact, one of the synonyms for quit is the word coward.”
So, is there a spiritual value to persistence? What are Jesus, the widow, and the judge trying to teach us?
In the News
We love persistence, especially when there’s a happy ending. But often it’s foolish to keep going. In Ukraine, Russia is amping up its military efforts, bombarding Ukrainian cities after a series of defeats. The attacks include “a far-reaching series of missile strikes against cities across Ukraine on Monday morning, hitting the heart of the capital and other areas far from the front line in its broadest aerial assault against civilians and critical infrastructure since the early days of its invasion.” The war has caused economic devastation for Russia, and Putin recently resorted to an unpopular draft to procure more soldiers. Is persistence the right value here?
Closer to home, a number of people died during Hurricane Ian when they stayed home, in spite of evacuation orders. Crews — including cadaver dogs — are searching for bodies in wrecked homes and abandoned cars. People who stayed have horrific stories about friends who couldn’t reach the second story, or people who were swept away. “Sixty percent of the nearly 90 victims for whom a cause of death has been provided drowned, underscoring what experts call a frequently overlooked reality: Water usually kills more people than wind. Storm surge as high as 18 feet blasted through homes, trapping some people inside while sweeping others into brownish rivers.” Some people ran out of options, while others chose to stay in their homes.
As the November election approaches, conservatives are sticking with Herschel Walker as their candidate, despite the children he has with women other than his wife, and the abortion he financed for a past girlfriend, the mother of another of his children. Their persistence “reflects an approach conservative Christians successfully honed during the Trump era, overlooking the personal morality of candidates in exchange for political power to further their policy objectives. After some hesitation in 2016, white evangelicals supported Mr. Trump in high numbers after reports about his history of unwanted advances toward women and vulgar comments about them. They stood by Roy Moore, who ran a failed campaign for Senate in Alabama, after he was accused of sexual misconduct and assault by multiple women.”
Human beings persist when we should quit, and it’s hard to know whether to follow the widow’s example, or find another path.
In the Scriptures
Shortly before this parable, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the reign of God will arrive. Jesus answers, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed.” Then he seems to change his mind, and adds, “In fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
This parable follows up on that observation. It’s hard to know if Jesus says that the parable is about prayer, or if Luke adds the frame to the original parable. Traditionally, this is interpreted as an if-then parable. If even a lazy, self-absorbed judge will finally hear fervent petitions, and grant justice, then how much more will a loving God provide? But what if God is like the judge? God often seems to act too slowly, and to do too little, in the face of human suffering. No doubt the people of Ukraine feel like this widow, begging God for an end to the war. Surely the people of Florida feel like this woman, praying for a way to restore their homes.
The parable is easiest for us when we admire the widow and deplore the judge. However, scholar Amy-Jill Levine finds both the judge and the widow unsympathetic. She writes, “The parable of the Widow and the Judge defies any sort of fairness. The “justice” the “unjust judge” (we should not forget that description) offers is not the justice of God or a program of fairness; it is granting a legal decision based not on merit, but on threat. There is no reconciliation in this parable; there is only revenge. There is no compassion, neither by the judge for the widow nor by the widow for the judge. With his story, Jesus forces us to find a moral compass. At the same time, we learn that to do so, we need to interrogate our stereotypes and then ask the right questions, the ones we hesitate to ask.” (from Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi)
The parable feels too simple, given the complexity of most of Jesus’ parables. They twist and turn, defying easy line-ups and this one feels too simple. Yet, digging deeper, we hear the widow threaten to give the judge a black eye, and we see the judge makes his decision based on fear instead of justice. It turns out that neither character is very admirable. Where are we to find the reign of God in this?
In the Sermon
What if the roles in the parable are switched, and the persistent widow stands in for God? What if God is the one who keeps seeking justice, and we are like the reluctant judge? We can imagine that God is persistently asking us to attend to the environment, to work for racial and gender justice, to feed the hungry and welcome the lost. God asks, cajoles and nudges us to do better, and we are slow to respond. What if God is the seeker, and we are the ones who are too slow to act when we should? The sermon might explore this version of the parable.
Or, the sermon might return to the widow, and explore the ways that she embodies the kingdom of heaven. If the kingdom of God is among us, as Jesus says, how does this woman demonstrate it? Is it her gutsiness? Her perseverance? Her ability to see past the judge’s stature to the person he is underneath? Is it her willingness to get justice by any means possible, using the world’s tools to face up to a corrupt system?
The sermon might explore whether we love the widow because she’s persistent, even when we would do it differently. Doctoral student turned poker player turned author Annie Duke says that our heroes are “the ones who persevere beyond the point of physical or emotional or mental wellbeing in order to push past that and cross the chasm. But the problem of course, is that, a lot of times, those people have put themselves in danger in a situation where you really ought to have turned around. And what I think is really interesting…is that from a narrative standpoint, we'd prefer somebody to push past the point of sensibility and persevere and actually perish to somebody who rightly quits early.” Amy-Jill Levine doesn’t find the widow persuasive, and argues that the widow threatens the judge into taking action, adding to the circle of injustice and disrespect in the story. Could we love the widow if she gave up?
A Starbucks employee named Carrie recently landed in the news for praying with a customer in the drive-thru line. A delighted customer posted the news, noting that Carrie prayed with the customer because the customer “needed it.” Is this a laudable and generous gift for someone having a bad day? An intrusion into someone’s life? An aggravation for everyone else in line? Is Carrie praying with other customers, and taking a courageous stance against the time demands of Starbucks? Or is she over-stepping her role? Like the widow and the judge, we can see this exercise of faith from several angles.
Jesus rarely makes things simple, and this parable has layers and layers of things to dislike, plus some to admire. We have to be careful to place our approval in the right place, and to ponder where God is asking us to persist, and where God invites us to let go. As the parable asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
SECOND THOUGHTS
Promises of Protection
by Chris Keating
Psalm 121
Growing up in the smog-filled basins around 1970s Los Angeles, you knew that the mountains were never far away even if you could not see them. We held to the idea that an expeditious driver could theoretically cruise the foothills in the morning and still make it to the beach for lunch.
But it was the mountains that I looked for every day on the way to school. On clear mornings, the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains popped out like scenery on a Hollywood backlot. Looking at them seemed to echo verse one of Psalm 121 in the King James’ Version. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
For a 9th grader headed into an algebra test, those words offered a puzzling promise. It was a longshot to believe the Lord would come barreling down the hills to fend off my mathematical adversaries, but a boy could hope. The fullness of God’s promises began to make more sense to me as I learned that the first verse was a question, and not a statement.
It’s a question we continue to ask. Ukrainians, subjected to a barrage of missile attacks this weekend, might look to the hills, and wonder where they will find the courage to endure the atrocities they are experiencing. Residents of west-central Oregon might look to the hills that have been blazing since August and wonder from where their help will come. It is the question asked by a malnourished woman who ran from her kidnapper’s house last week in the hills of western Missouri. Held against her will for “a significant period of time,” she told police she believed there were other victims as well.
The comforting words of Psalm 121 speak to us because we know what it means to feel our feet slip out from under us. The psalm’s reference to hills remains ambiguous, though the realities of the pains the sojourner has felt are clear. What’s less clear is whether the hills are Mount Zion, the habitation of the Most High, or some other range. Perhaps, as Eugene H. Peterson noted in his classic book, A Long Obedience In the Same Direction, the author imagined the hills were practitioners of idol worship that plied their craft and offered sacrifices.
Wherever their location, the reference to hills and mountains provides the psalm’s overall motif of a prayer of pilgrimage. These Psalms of Ascent offer more than mere travel hints or tourist tips, however. Each of the fifteen psalms (120-134) offer a bare-knuckle awareness of the harder realities of life.
That Psalm 121 remains a favorite of many suggests that its lasting value may come from the hope it offers to those who feel they have trudged up and down the hills of razor-sharp realities. It provides comfort to those living in the valley of international conflict as well as to those fighting cancer. It lifts up the downcast eyes of those suffering from depression and anxiety, even as it steadies the feet of those battling injustice. It is a song of hope for every generation who find themselves travelling what James Weldon Johnson so eloquently called “the long stony road watered by the tears of enslaved ancestors.”
Like Psalm 121, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn that honors pathways of pain marched by pilgrims longing for freedom and the hope only God can provide. Both the psalm and the hymn remind us of the strength of those who have endured the pain of uncertain journeys.
In a more light-hearted vein, consider how the psalm functions a bit like those well-rehearsed safety instructions offered by flight attendants prior to a plane’s departure. “Ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention to the safety features on the card in the seat pocket ahead of you. In the event of an emergency, the Lord will not let your foot be moved. Follow the exit signs and know that the Lord is your keeper.” Humor aside, the difference is that instead of snoring through these instructions, the Israelite pilgrims paid rapt attention. Their worship of God was seeded in the interplay of danger and daily life.
Psalm 121 looks toward the mountains in times that are lean with guarantees. Those who sang the psalm were fully aware of the grave dangers they faced. Their exhausted, aching feet had walked over the stony roads populated by bandits, thieves, imposters, and rogues.
Anyone who has ever spent time in the hills of Appalachia knows the strength hidden beneath its crags and cliffs. The mountains of Appalachia give birth to a gritty strength heard in the songs of that region, including the music of the legendary Loretta Lynn who died last week at age 90. The hardscrabble songs of the coal miner’s daughter, not to mention her somewhat iconoclastic conservative political views, formed the core of Lynn’s outlook in life.
Admittedly, Lynn’s life was as complicated as it was celebrated. But it reflected her mountain heritage, as well as the experience of many poor Appalachian families. Arising from childhood poverty, Lynn married early in life and endured an abusive marriage. The consistent through-line for Lynn was faith, embodied in a posting she made to Instagram a couple of days before her death. The post quotes John 3:21, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
She looked up to the mountains, secure in her hope.
I travelled back to California recently to assist a sibling who is in the throes of dementia. As the plane landed, I looked around at the mountains that had framed my younger life. Their majestic peaks offered reminders of comfort mixed with equal parts pain and crisis. Unmovable, they nonetheless move me emotionally. Unchanging, they change by reminding me of my need for God. Looking up to the mountains, I recalled a promise of God who journeys with us. I was secure in hope, even if my foot would stumble.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:
2 Timothy 3:16
The Hermeuntical Circle
Certain Christians love to invoke 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” to validate the authority of scripture.
“Of course you should believe the Bible, the Bible says so!” they argue.
Well, not so fast. Using a text to prove its validity or authenticity or accuracy is what is called the Hermeneutical Circle. It’s similar to asking someone on the witness stand, “Are you telling the truth?” They are certain to say they are, but their saying it does not make it so.
People are free to believe anything they want, but they should understand that they choose to interpret texts a specific way, and others consider the same text and draw different conclusions.
* * *
2 Timothy 3:16
A Challenge
When people bring this verse to my attention I like to challenge them to draw a lesson from Leviticus 11:5: “And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.” English Standard Version
Have you reproved anyone with that verse lately?
If you doubt how cute rock badgers are, see here...
* * *
Luke 18:1-8
A little context, please
Today’s gospel lesson is part of a larger section and you’re wise to go back to 17:20 to put it into context. It is unfortunate that these verses are omitted from the lectionary. Who doesn’t want to preach, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather...”?
* * *
Psalm 121
A psalm of ascents
Psalms of ascent were sung as pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem. Jesus was on such a pilgrimage when he was separated from his parents in Luke 2. There is a good chance that the hills referred to in the psalm are not the hills surrounding Jerusalem, but rather hills that the pilgrims saw on their multiday journey to Jerusalem. Sentries may have been stationed on the hills so the pilgrims could be kept safe from bandits who knew when the roads would be filled with travelers.
* * *
Psalm 121
A contrasting ending
Psalm 121 was recited by pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem, so its conclusion is a little surprising:
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
This final verse recalls one’s leaving and returning to one’s home every day. Pious Jews have mezuzahs on their door frames. The mezuzahs hold some passages from the Torah. Jews pass them as they leave their homes to enter the wider world and when they return home.
The conclusion of the psalm takes the reader from the journey to the holiest of sites to the most pedestrian journey one takes. And God Almighty protects us on both kinds of journeys.
Here are some images of a mezuzah. It’s about three inches long.
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Jeremiah uses a metaphor of eating sour grapes to show how, when God establishes the new covenant, children will no longer have to pay for the sins of their parents or grandparents. Everyone will be responsible for their own actions.
* * *
Big Spill Or Small (Responsibility)
The story is told of a small hospital where a patient accidentally spilled a small cup of water on the floor. Afraid that he would slip and fall if he stepped in the spill, he asked a nurse’s aid to mop it up.
In that small hospital, there was a policy that small spills would be cleaned up by NA’s but large spills would be mopped up by the housekeeping staff. The NA in this case decided that the spill was big enough to qualify for housekeeping’s ministrations.
The woman from housekeeping arrived and declared that the spill was much too small for her to be bothered with and it was the NA’s responsibility. The NA said it was too big for her. A loud argument ensued about the size of the spill and who was responsible for cleaning it up.
Finally, exasperated, the patient picked up his water pitcher and upended it onto the floor. “Is that big enough for you two to come to some agreement?”
* * *
Your Own Mask, First (Responsibility)
I can practically recite the flight attendant’s instructions by heart, so many times have I heard it. Keep seatbelts on when in flight. All flights are non-smoking. How to use the life vest “in the unlikely event of a water landing.” But there’s always one instruction that gives me pause.
That instruction comes at the end of the bit about the oxygen mask that will fall from the ceiling should the cabin lose its air pressure. We are instructed to grab the mask, snap the cord, and then put the mask on our own face, and the attendant demonstrates how to put it on.
Then they say something that always strikes me as brilliantly important because it is so counter intuitive: If you are traveling with a child or a person with disabilities, “put your own mask on first,” then help them. In other words, even though our instinct as a parent may be to protect our child first, we can’t protect them if we’re flopping around trying to breathe. So put your own mask on, first.
Only when we have sufficiently taken responsibility for ourselves, are we able to take responsibility for others.
* * *
Who Decides When to Evacuate? (Responsibility)
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the media are reporting on efforts by residents to bring lawsuits against various government entities for not sufficiently warning them about the storm.
Chief among the complaints is that the order to evacuate the area did not come early enough. Kevin Anderson, Mayor of Fort Myers disagrees:
"Warnings for hurricane season start in June. And so, there's a degree of personal responsibility here," he said in an interview with "Face the Nation." "I think the county acted appropriately. The thing is that a certain percentage of people will not heed the warnings regardless."
In other words —
You live in a hurricane prone area. You know that it’s hurricane season. You have been told that a hurricane is headed your way and your home lies within the “cone of uncertainty” showing the area the storm may affect.
You’re an adult. Do you really need to be told that the safest bet is to evacuate the area?
* * *
8 Traits of Personal Responsibility (Responsibility)
According to the website developgoodhabits.com these are the eight most important traits of personal responsibility.
1. Strong Communication Skills – Ask what is expected of you. Ask your boss, your spouse, your kids, your friends. You can’t be responsible for things you didn’t know you were expected to know and do.
2. Ability to Create Boundaries – If you take on too much, you’ll eventually drop the ball on something and let someone down.
3. Humility – You will achieve more success in life when you’re fully honest with yourself and other people, which may require stepping away from your pride to admit when you’ve made a mistake.
4. Ability to Control Impulses – Avoid situations where you have to make split decisions. When you do have to make them, take a minute, breathe, and think before you commit.
5. Courage — Don’t be afraid to make a decision but be prepared to accept responsibility if it turns out you were wrong. Everyone is wrong at one time or another.
6. Persistence – Learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward.
7. Be Your Authentic Self – Act, don’t react. Act out of your own values and sense of self, not out of your emotional response to the stimuli that are coming at you from other sources.
8. Be Organized – Keep track of the things you are responsible for and attend to them in an appropriate order.
* * *
Psalm 119:97-104
No doubt, some people thought that God’s law was a burden, something that had to be carefully observed and obeyed under fear of eternal damnation. The psalmist, however, sees it as a gift that, if observed and followed, leads to faithful and authentic living.
* * *
Why Law Is Important (Law)
According to the web site, theimportantsite.com, there are ten reasons why it’s important for a society to have a system of laws.
"Law” is a system of rules created and enforced by governmental institutions and designed to regulate behavior in both public and private society. Here are ten reasons law is important.
1. Laws set the standard for acceptable (and unacceptable) behaviors
2. Laws provide access to justice
3. Laws keep everyone safe
4. Laws protect the most vulnerable in society
5. The process of creating laws encourages civil and political engagement
6. Laws offers people a variety of career options
7. Laws are important to maintain peace
8. Laws are important for social progress
9. Laws make human rights a reality
10. Arbitrary laws are not always good for society
* * *
2 Timothy 3:14--4:5
Paul warns Timothy that, in time, people always tend to grow tired of and drift away from the moral instruction they have received from God and God’s messengers. They will, eventually, go looking for someone who will tell them what they want to hear. Paul then tells his young protégé how to steel himself for such an eventuality.
* * *
Micah And Ahab (Bad Advice)
In 1 Kings we are told the story of the prophet, Micaiah and Ahab, the king.
Everything was going pretty well in Judah. Ahab, the king, had built an ivory palace for himself and created a national defense system like no one had seen since King David. He had funded the start of many towns to settle the countryside and there had been three years of peace between Judah and their sworn enemy, Aram.
One day, however, it occurred to King Ahab of Judah that Aram was still occupying some Judean land that they had seized in the last conflict. He talked to Jehoshaphat, king of Israel and they agreed that it was time to take their armies to Aram and get that land back. Jehoshaphat, however, would join his army to that of Ahab, only if the word of the LORD came down that it was the correct thing to do.
So, Ahab called together 400 of his top advisors, some of whom referred to themselves as prophets, and asked them if he and Jehoshaphat should join their armies together and attack Aram. The prophets consulted with each other and agreed that it was always dangerous to disagree with the king or tell him something he didn’t want to hear. So, they told him, “Yeah, great, good idea. Attack Aram. It’s a sure thing.”
Ahab noticed, however that one prophet, Micaiah, was missing and he sent a messenger to bring him. The messenger found Micaiah and told him, “All 400 of the king’s prophets agree that it’s a good idea to attack Aram and get our land back. Why not make it 401. Whata'ya say?”
Micaiah said that he would prophesy only what the LORD told him to prophesy, nothing more, nothing less. And, when he got before the king, that’s what he did. “This is not a good idea,” he told the king. “You’ll die along with most of your soldiers if you do this. Oh, and your death will not be a dignified thing; the dogs will lick your blood from the streets.”
Ahab flew into a rage and had Micaiah arrested and put in jail until he returned from battle. He and Jehoshaphat agreed that 400 to 1 was good enough so they joined forces and went into battle against Aram.
During the battle a random arrow struck Ahab through a chink in his armor and killed him. They took his body back to Jerusalem and washed the blood from his chariot and, as prophesied by Micaiah, the feral dogs in the streets licked it up.
* * *
Luke 18:1-8
The parable of the corrupt judge and the persistent widow is not meant to compare God to a corrupt, curmudgeonly judge. Rather, it is told to show the importance of persistence and to show how, if a corrupt judge can be convinced to grant justice by a persistent widow, how much more will God, who is not corrupt, grand justice to the chosen people who cry day and night for justice?
* * *
King’s Advice (Persistence)
If we identify a successful writer by the volume of published works they have produced then, surely, Stephen King, with 64 novels, 19 screenplays, 11 collections, and 5 non-fiction books, is at the top of America’s most successful contemporary writers.
But it wasn’t always that way. King started out as an English teacher, writing stories by night and on weekends and collecting rejection slips from publishers and he often reminds young writers of his humble beginnings.
Once at a writer’s conference I attended, a young, aspiring writer asked the master how many rejections slips a person should collect before they give up on trying to be a published writer.
King gave this advice: Drive a 16-penny nail into the wall next to your writing desk. When you get a rejection slip, push it onto the nail. When you have collected so many rejection slips that the nail gets so heavy that it falls out of the wall…
Drive another nail and keep going.
* * *
Scars as Trophies (Persistence)
In 1948, four months after the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country, the right-wing National Party was elected in South Africa. Paton, together with Margaret Ballinger, Edgar Brookes, and Leo Marquard, formed the Liberal Association in early-1953.
On May 9, 1953, it became the Liberal Party of South Africa, with Paton as a founding co-president that fought against the apartheid laws introduced by the National Party government. In his autobiography, Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful, Paton tells a story of the early days when the party was first being formed.
One day, a little, old African man in a big hat walked into the office and offered to volunteer in whatever way might be helpful. The staff was reluctant to let him help. This could be dangerous, they said. They had already been threatened and very real harm could come to anyone who participated in resisting the National Party.
Why, they asked, would a man of such advanced years want to put himself into such a dangerous situation?
He responded: “One day, soon, I will stand before my maker and God will ask to see my scars. If I say to him, I have no scars, he will ask me, ‘Why? Was there nothing worth fighting for?’”
* * *
Writers Whose Persistence Paid Off (Persistence)
• William Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times before becoming published.
• James Joyce's Ulysses was judged obscene and rejected by multiple publishers.
• Several of Asimov's stories were rejected, never sold, and eventually lost.
• John le Carre's first novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, was rejected because le Carre "hasn't got any future."
• William Saroyan who received a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award for his writing, also received an astonishing 7,000 rejection slips before selling his first short story.
• Kenneth Grahame’s, The Wind in the Willows was rejected in America before appearing in England.
• James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room was called "hopelessly bad."
• Pearl Buck's first novel, West Wind received rejections from all but one publisher in New York.
• Louisa May Alcott was told by a publisher to stick to teaching.
• Agatha Christie had to wait four years for her first book to be published.
• Tony Hillerman, whose native American mystery novels were all best sellers, was told to "get rid of the Indian stuff."
• Wild West author, Zane Grey, self-published his first book after dozens of rejections.
• Marcel Proust was rejected so much he decided to pay for publication himself.
• Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen’s Chicken Soup for the Soul received 134 rejections.
• William Faulkner's book, Sanctuary, was called unpublishable.
* * *
Grandma Keeps Trying (Persistence)
Cha Sa-soon lived alone in the tiny mountain village of Sinchon in South Korea. She always wanted to learn to drive, but didn't begin the process of trying to get a license until she was in her 60s. Needless to say it was — literally — a difficult road.
Grandma Sa-soon failed the written portion, consisting of 40 multiple choice questions 949 times; the concept of many of the questions were confusing to her, being an elderly woman living in a remote village. Finally, on the 950th attempt she got a passing grade of 60 and moved on to the actual driver's test, which she only failed 4 times before getting passing marks.
By this time all of South Korea knew of her persistence and she became a national hero. She was even given a Kia Soul and appeared in their commercial.
* * * * * *
From team member Quantisha Mason-Doll:
Jeremiah 31:27-34
There is not fault
In an increasingly polarized world, those facing tragedy are quick to point the finger and place the blame somewhere else. There are, at times, deep-seated fears surrounding the claiming of failure. We see places that have been devastated by natural disasters. It is somehow everyone else’s fault when billionaires, who built their homes on stilts on a foundation of sand, have their property swept away by the tehomic waters. When tragedy strikes, we, as in the collective, look to who we can blame for inaction. What the weeping prophet Jeremiah addresses is the core of the phrase — we are facing tragedy. Jeremiah calls the collective to acknowledge that it's us, God's people, that sway the hand of God, not tragedy. No one single person is at fault yet what the prophet teaches us is that we shall be judged collectively as an embodiment of God's divine will, made manifest for this world.
* * *
Psalm 119:97-104
How do you love the Law
There are many ways to love the law. There is also more than one way that laws can be unjust. We must ask ourselves what we mean when we invoke the words of the psalmist when we proclaim our love for the law. Are we proclaiming the law of our Lord that commands us to seek justice, do kindness, and to walk humbly; or are we proclaiming the law of the land, which rebukes dignity and humanity. How do we live into the psalmist call to hate every wrong path and to obey God's word in a modern world?
* * *
Genesis 32:22-31
Your name is but a gift that can be returned
For all intents and purposes, life from the moment we were born until the moment that we die, is a fight for survival. For all that it's worth — we are gifted many things by our progenitors — one of which being our names. It can set the foundation of our identity.
Our birth names are not something that we necessarily asked for. If God has taught me anything it is that our identity is more than just our names. Our identity is formed through hard fought battles. It is through trial, tribulation, and wrestling with our lives that we truly find ourselves. Take a lesson from Israel, the person who was once known by the name of Jacob, that after a tough fight you were more than welcome to demand blessing, and if that means returning the name your parents gave you, then so be it. Your name is but a gift. God knows the strength it takes to be your true self.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Let us lift up our eyes to the hills— from where will our help come?
All: Our help comes from God, who made heaven and earth.
One: Our God is our keeper; the shade at our right hand.
All: The sun shall not strike us by day, nor the moon by night.
One: God will keep us from all evil; he will keep our life.
All: God will keep our going out and our coming in forevermore.
OR
One: Our God comes and invites us to share our lives.
All: We offer to our loving God the stories of our lives.
One: God knows our needs but in love desires us to share them.
All: We offer to our loving parent the struggles we face.
One: God hears us and invites us to imitate divine love.
All: In gratitude we will lovingly listen to others.
Hymns and Songs
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELW: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELW: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
For the Healing of the Nations
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
More Love to Thee, O Christ
UMH: 453
PH: 359
AAHH: 575
NNBH: 214
NCH: 456
CH: 527
AMEC: 460
Sweet Hour of Prayer
UMH: 496
AAHH: 442
NNBH: 332
NCH: 505
CH: 570
W&P: 478
AMEC: 307
Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
UMH: 500
PH: 326
AAHH: 312
NCH: 290
CH: 265
LBW: 486
ELW: 800
W&P: 132
AMEC: 189
Let It Breathe on Me
UMH: 503
AAHH: 316
NNBH: 128
NCH: 288
CH: 260
AMEC: 295
Cares Chorus
CCB: 53
As We Gather
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is our help in all times and all places:
Grant us the faith to trust that you wish us well
and desire for justice to reign through all creation;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are our constant help. At all times and in all places you come to bring redemption. Open our hearts and strengthen our faith that we may welcome you as you come in justice for all. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to look to God for help in times of trouble.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We profess our faith in you, God, but we are more likely to place our trust in money, military might, and political influence. We are quick to think of you as the unjust judge that we must pester constantly with our prayers rather than trusting that you hear us even before we pray. Strengthen our faith that we may truly trust you and find you an ever present help in times of trouble. Amen.
One: God is ever listening even when we don’t know what to say. Receive God’s grace and grant justice as freely as God does.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God, as you seek justice and mercy to rain down upon all your creation. You are the generous and just judge.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We profess our faith in you, God, but we are more likely to place our trust in money, military might, and political influence. We are quick to think of you as the unjust judge that we must pester constantly with our prayers rather than trusting that you hear us even before we pray. Strengthen our faith that we may truly trust you and find you an ever present help in times of trouble.
We give you thanks for your constant presence with us and for your love that surrounds all you have created. We thank you for those who have come to know you and work for justice in your name. We thank you for our abundance home, this earth, that supplies abundantly that all may receive its bounty.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who have been denied justice and mercy. We pray for those who have been imprisoned unfairly and for those who suffer under unjust regimes. We pray for those who face illness and death.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Who is the Widow?
by Katy Stenta
Luke 18:1-8
I’m going to tell you a story that Jesus tells.
There was a city where there was a judge who was corrupt. There was a widow wanted justice. The judge thought he was too busy to listen to her, but the widow was persistent. She kept knocking on the door, knocking and knocking and knocking, until finally, the judge thought to himself, “This widow will not give up, and though I am well off and do not need to fear this woman, or even women, I am going to grant her justice so that she will leave me alone. She is wearing me out with her knocking.”
Jesus then says that we do not need to be like the widow because God promises to grant us justice. God is nothing like the judge. God is fair and just. We do not need to be like the widow knocking on the door for justice.
Now, I want us all to imagine that we are tired, and not able to continually pray and ask for justice. Who do you think is knocking on the door and asking for justice on our behalf.
Who do you think the widow character in the story might be?
(Help the children get to God if they do not get there on their own.)
Let us pray:
God,
Thank you for being just
and working
for it
even when
we are too tired to.
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 16 issue.
Copyright 2022 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Nag, Nag, Nag by Mary Austin. Based on Luke 18:1-8.
- Second Thoughts: Promises of Protection by Chris Keating. The comforting words of Psalm 121 speak to us because we know what it means to feel our feet slip out from under us.
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen, Dean Feldmeyer, Quantisha Mason-Doll.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Who is the Widow? by Katy Stenta.
Nag, Nag, Nagby Mary Austin
Luke 18:1-8
“Sunk cost, honey,” my accountant husband often says. “Sunk cost.” He’s reminding me that even though I’ve already invested time or money in something, I don’t have to keep going. Social scientists say that I’m not alone — we all have a tendency to keep adding more money or time to our original outlay. We don't want to lose everything we’ve already put in, so we keep adding more, even when it would make sense to stop.
Is the widow in Luke’s parable so persistent because of all the time and energy she’s already spent on tracking down this lazy judge? Does she keep going to him out of habit, even though it might make more sense to find a different judge?
Author and professional poker player Annie Duke says the opposite. We need to see the value in quitting. She notes that we have all kinds of “great words for grit including heroism, steadfast, perseverance.” We like grit, she says, and sticktuitiveness. “But when you look at quit, there's hardly any words that are nice. And, in fact, one of the synonyms for quit is the word coward.”
So, is there a spiritual value to persistence? What are Jesus, the widow, and the judge trying to teach us?
In the News
We love persistence, especially when there’s a happy ending. But often it’s foolish to keep going. In Ukraine, Russia is amping up its military efforts, bombarding Ukrainian cities after a series of defeats. The attacks include “a far-reaching series of missile strikes against cities across Ukraine on Monday morning, hitting the heart of the capital and other areas far from the front line in its broadest aerial assault against civilians and critical infrastructure since the early days of its invasion.” The war has caused economic devastation for Russia, and Putin recently resorted to an unpopular draft to procure more soldiers. Is persistence the right value here?
Closer to home, a number of people died during Hurricane Ian when they stayed home, in spite of evacuation orders. Crews — including cadaver dogs — are searching for bodies in wrecked homes and abandoned cars. People who stayed have horrific stories about friends who couldn’t reach the second story, or people who were swept away. “Sixty percent of the nearly 90 victims for whom a cause of death has been provided drowned, underscoring what experts call a frequently overlooked reality: Water usually kills more people than wind. Storm surge as high as 18 feet blasted through homes, trapping some people inside while sweeping others into brownish rivers.” Some people ran out of options, while others chose to stay in their homes.
As the November election approaches, conservatives are sticking with Herschel Walker as their candidate, despite the children he has with women other than his wife, and the abortion he financed for a past girlfriend, the mother of another of his children. Their persistence “reflects an approach conservative Christians successfully honed during the Trump era, overlooking the personal morality of candidates in exchange for political power to further their policy objectives. After some hesitation in 2016, white evangelicals supported Mr. Trump in high numbers after reports about his history of unwanted advances toward women and vulgar comments about them. They stood by Roy Moore, who ran a failed campaign for Senate in Alabama, after he was accused of sexual misconduct and assault by multiple women.”
Human beings persist when we should quit, and it’s hard to know whether to follow the widow’s example, or find another path.
In the Scriptures
Shortly before this parable, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the reign of God will arrive. Jesus answers, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed.” Then he seems to change his mind, and adds, “In fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
This parable follows up on that observation. It’s hard to know if Jesus says that the parable is about prayer, or if Luke adds the frame to the original parable. Traditionally, this is interpreted as an if-then parable. If even a lazy, self-absorbed judge will finally hear fervent petitions, and grant justice, then how much more will a loving God provide? But what if God is like the judge? God often seems to act too slowly, and to do too little, in the face of human suffering. No doubt the people of Ukraine feel like this widow, begging God for an end to the war. Surely the people of Florida feel like this woman, praying for a way to restore their homes.
The parable is easiest for us when we admire the widow and deplore the judge. However, scholar Amy-Jill Levine finds both the judge and the widow unsympathetic. She writes, “The parable of the Widow and the Judge defies any sort of fairness. The “justice” the “unjust judge” (we should not forget that description) offers is not the justice of God or a program of fairness; it is granting a legal decision based not on merit, but on threat. There is no reconciliation in this parable; there is only revenge. There is no compassion, neither by the judge for the widow nor by the widow for the judge. With his story, Jesus forces us to find a moral compass. At the same time, we learn that to do so, we need to interrogate our stereotypes and then ask the right questions, the ones we hesitate to ask.” (from Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi)
The parable feels too simple, given the complexity of most of Jesus’ parables. They twist and turn, defying easy line-ups and this one feels too simple. Yet, digging deeper, we hear the widow threaten to give the judge a black eye, and we see the judge makes his decision based on fear instead of justice. It turns out that neither character is very admirable. Where are we to find the reign of God in this?
In the Sermon
What if the roles in the parable are switched, and the persistent widow stands in for God? What if God is the one who keeps seeking justice, and we are like the reluctant judge? We can imagine that God is persistently asking us to attend to the environment, to work for racial and gender justice, to feed the hungry and welcome the lost. God asks, cajoles and nudges us to do better, and we are slow to respond. What if God is the seeker, and we are the ones who are too slow to act when we should? The sermon might explore this version of the parable.
Or, the sermon might return to the widow, and explore the ways that she embodies the kingdom of heaven. If the kingdom of God is among us, as Jesus says, how does this woman demonstrate it? Is it her gutsiness? Her perseverance? Her ability to see past the judge’s stature to the person he is underneath? Is it her willingness to get justice by any means possible, using the world’s tools to face up to a corrupt system?
The sermon might explore whether we love the widow because she’s persistent, even when we would do it differently. Doctoral student turned poker player turned author Annie Duke says that our heroes are “the ones who persevere beyond the point of physical or emotional or mental wellbeing in order to push past that and cross the chasm. But the problem of course, is that, a lot of times, those people have put themselves in danger in a situation where you really ought to have turned around. And what I think is really interesting…is that from a narrative standpoint, we'd prefer somebody to push past the point of sensibility and persevere and actually perish to somebody who rightly quits early.” Amy-Jill Levine doesn’t find the widow persuasive, and argues that the widow threatens the judge into taking action, adding to the circle of injustice and disrespect in the story. Could we love the widow if she gave up?
A Starbucks employee named Carrie recently landed in the news for praying with a customer in the drive-thru line. A delighted customer posted the news, noting that Carrie prayed with the customer because the customer “needed it.” Is this a laudable and generous gift for someone having a bad day? An intrusion into someone’s life? An aggravation for everyone else in line? Is Carrie praying with other customers, and taking a courageous stance against the time demands of Starbucks? Or is she over-stepping her role? Like the widow and the judge, we can see this exercise of faith from several angles.
Jesus rarely makes things simple, and this parable has layers and layers of things to dislike, plus some to admire. We have to be careful to place our approval in the right place, and to ponder where God is asking us to persist, and where God invites us to let go. As the parable asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
SECOND THOUGHTSPromises of Protection
by Chris Keating
Psalm 121
Growing up in the smog-filled basins around 1970s Los Angeles, you knew that the mountains were never far away even if you could not see them. We held to the idea that an expeditious driver could theoretically cruise the foothills in the morning and still make it to the beach for lunch.
But it was the mountains that I looked for every day on the way to school. On clear mornings, the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains popped out like scenery on a Hollywood backlot. Looking at them seemed to echo verse one of Psalm 121 in the King James’ Version. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
For a 9th grader headed into an algebra test, those words offered a puzzling promise. It was a longshot to believe the Lord would come barreling down the hills to fend off my mathematical adversaries, but a boy could hope. The fullness of God’s promises began to make more sense to me as I learned that the first verse was a question, and not a statement.
It’s a question we continue to ask. Ukrainians, subjected to a barrage of missile attacks this weekend, might look to the hills, and wonder where they will find the courage to endure the atrocities they are experiencing. Residents of west-central Oregon might look to the hills that have been blazing since August and wonder from where their help will come. It is the question asked by a malnourished woman who ran from her kidnapper’s house last week in the hills of western Missouri. Held against her will for “a significant period of time,” she told police she believed there were other victims as well.
The comforting words of Psalm 121 speak to us because we know what it means to feel our feet slip out from under us. The psalm’s reference to hills remains ambiguous, though the realities of the pains the sojourner has felt are clear. What’s less clear is whether the hills are Mount Zion, the habitation of the Most High, or some other range. Perhaps, as Eugene H. Peterson noted in his classic book, A Long Obedience In the Same Direction, the author imagined the hills were practitioners of idol worship that plied their craft and offered sacrifices.
Wherever their location, the reference to hills and mountains provides the psalm’s overall motif of a prayer of pilgrimage. These Psalms of Ascent offer more than mere travel hints or tourist tips, however. Each of the fifteen psalms (120-134) offer a bare-knuckle awareness of the harder realities of life.
That Psalm 121 remains a favorite of many suggests that its lasting value may come from the hope it offers to those who feel they have trudged up and down the hills of razor-sharp realities. It provides comfort to those living in the valley of international conflict as well as to those fighting cancer. It lifts up the downcast eyes of those suffering from depression and anxiety, even as it steadies the feet of those battling injustice. It is a song of hope for every generation who find themselves travelling what James Weldon Johnson so eloquently called “the long stony road watered by the tears of enslaved ancestors.”
Like Psalm 121, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn that honors pathways of pain marched by pilgrims longing for freedom and the hope only God can provide. Both the psalm and the hymn remind us of the strength of those who have endured the pain of uncertain journeys.
In a more light-hearted vein, consider how the psalm functions a bit like those well-rehearsed safety instructions offered by flight attendants prior to a plane’s departure. “Ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention to the safety features on the card in the seat pocket ahead of you. In the event of an emergency, the Lord will not let your foot be moved. Follow the exit signs and know that the Lord is your keeper.” Humor aside, the difference is that instead of snoring through these instructions, the Israelite pilgrims paid rapt attention. Their worship of God was seeded in the interplay of danger and daily life.
Psalm 121 looks toward the mountains in times that are lean with guarantees. Those who sang the psalm were fully aware of the grave dangers they faced. Their exhausted, aching feet had walked over the stony roads populated by bandits, thieves, imposters, and rogues.
Anyone who has ever spent time in the hills of Appalachia knows the strength hidden beneath its crags and cliffs. The mountains of Appalachia give birth to a gritty strength heard in the songs of that region, including the music of the legendary Loretta Lynn who died last week at age 90. The hardscrabble songs of the coal miner’s daughter, not to mention her somewhat iconoclastic conservative political views, formed the core of Lynn’s outlook in life.
Admittedly, Lynn’s life was as complicated as it was celebrated. But it reflected her mountain heritage, as well as the experience of many poor Appalachian families. Arising from childhood poverty, Lynn married early in life and endured an abusive marriage. The consistent through-line for Lynn was faith, embodied in a posting she made to Instagram a couple of days before her death. The post quotes John 3:21, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
She looked up to the mountains, secure in her hope.
I travelled back to California recently to assist a sibling who is in the throes of dementia. As the plane landed, I looked around at the mountains that had framed my younger life. Their majestic peaks offered reminders of comfort mixed with equal parts pain and crisis. Unmovable, they nonetheless move me emotionally. Unchanging, they change by reminding me of my need for God. Looking up to the mountains, I recalled a promise of God who journeys with us. I was secure in hope, even if my foot would stumble.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Tom Willadsen:2 Timothy 3:16
The Hermeuntical Circle
Certain Christians love to invoke 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” to validate the authority of scripture.
“Of course you should believe the Bible, the Bible says so!” they argue.
Well, not so fast. Using a text to prove its validity or authenticity or accuracy is what is called the Hermeneutical Circle. It’s similar to asking someone on the witness stand, “Are you telling the truth?” They are certain to say they are, but their saying it does not make it so.
People are free to believe anything they want, but they should understand that they choose to interpret texts a specific way, and others consider the same text and draw different conclusions.
* * *
2 Timothy 3:16
A Challenge
When people bring this verse to my attention I like to challenge them to draw a lesson from Leviticus 11:5: “And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.” English Standard Version
Have you reproved anyone with that verse lately?
If you doubt how cute rock badgers are, see here...
* * *
Luke 18:1-8
A little context, please
Today’s gospel lesson is part of a larger section and you’re wise to go back to 17:20 to put it into context. It is unfortunate that these verses are omitted from the lectionary. Who doesn’t want to preach, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather...”?
* * *
Psalm 121
A psalm of ascents
Psalms of ascent were sung as pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem. Jesus was on such a pilgrimage when he was separated from his parents in Luke 2. There is a good chance that the hills referred to in the psalm are not the hills surrounding Jerusalem, but rather hills that the pilgrims saw on their multiday journey to Jerusalem. Sentries may have been stationed on the hills so the pilgrims could be kept safe from bandits who knew when the roads would be filled with travelers.
* * *
Psalm 121
A contrasting ending
Psalm 121 was recited by pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem, so its conclusion is a little surprising:
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
This final verse recalls one’s leaving and returning to one’s home every day. Pious Jews have mezuzahs on their door frames. The mezuzahs hold some passages from the Torah. Jews pass them as they leave their homes to enter the wider world and when they return home.
The conclusion of the psalm takes the reader from the journey to the holiest of sites to the most pedestrian journey one takes. And God Almighty protects us on both kinds of journeys.
Here are some images of a mezuzah. It’s about three inches long.
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Jeremiah 31:27-34
Jeremiah uses a metaphor of eating sour grapes to show how, when God establishes the new covenant, children will no longer have to pay for the sins of their parents or grandparents. Everyone will be responsible for their own actions.
* * *
Big Spill Or Small (Responsibility)
The story is told of a small hospital where a patient accidentally spilled a small cup of water on the floor. Afraid that he would slip and fall if he stepped in the spill, he asked a nurse’s aid to mop it up.
In that small hospital, there was a policy that small spills would be cleaned up by NA’s but large spills would be mopped up by the housekeeping staff. The NA in this case decided that the spill was big enough to qualify for housekeeping’s ministrations.
The woman from housekeeping arrived and declared that the spill was much too small for her to be bothered with and it was the NA’s responsibility. The NA said it was too big for her. A loud argument ensued about the size of the spill and who was responsible for cleaning it up.
Finally, exasperated, the patient picked up his water pitcher and upended it onto the floor. “Is that big enough for you two to come to some agreement?”
* * *
Your Own Mask, First (Responsibility)
I can practically recite the flight attendant’s instructions by heart, so many times have I heard it. Keep seatbelts on when in flight. All flights are non-smoking. How to use the life vest “in the unlikely event of a water landing.” But there’s always one instruction that gives me pause.
That instruction comes at the end of the bit about the oxygen mask that will fall from the ceiling should the cabin lose its air pressure. We are instructed to grab the mask, snap the cord, and then put the mask on our own face, and the attendant demonstrates how to put it on.
Then they say something that always strikes me as brilliantly important because it is so counter intuitive: If you are traveling with a child or a person with disabilities, “put your own mask on first,” then help them. In other words, even though our instinct as a parent may be to protect our child first, we can’t protect them if we’re flopping around trying to breathe. So put your own mask on, first.
Only when we have sufficiently taken responsibility for ourselves, are we able to take responsibility for others.
* * *
Who Decides When to Evacuate? (Responsibility)
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the media are reporting on efforts by residents to bring lawsuits against various government entities for not sufficiently warning them about the storm.
Chief among the complaints is that the order to evacuate the area did not come early enough. Kevin Anderson, Mayor of Fort Myers disagrees:
"Warnings for hurricane season start in June. And so, there's a degree of personal responsibility here," he said in an interview with "Face the Nation." "I think the county acted appropriately. The thing is that a certain percentage of people will not heed the warnings regardless."
In other words —
You live in a hurricane prone area. You know that it’s hurricane season. You have been told that a hurricane is headed your way and your home lies within the “cone of uncertainty” showing the area the storm may affect.
You’re an adult. Do you really need to be told that the safest bet is to evacuate the area?
* * *
8 Traits of Personal Responsibility (Responsibility)
According to the website developgoodhabits.com these are the eight most important traits of personal responsibility.
1. Strong Communication Skills – Ask what is expected of you. Ask your boss, your spouse, your kids, your friends. You can’t be responsible for things you didn’t know you were expected to know and do.
2. Ability to Create Boundaries – If you take on too much, you’ll eventually drop the ball on something and let someone down.
3. Humility – You will achieve more success in life when you’re fully honest with yourself and other people, which may require stepping away from your pride to admit when you’ve made a mistake.
4. Ability to Control Impulses – Avoid situations where you have to make split decisions. When you do have to make them, take a minute, breathe, and think before you commit.
5. Courage — Don’t be afraid to make a decision but be prepared to accept responsibility if it turns out you were wrong. Everyone is wrong at one time or another.
6. Persistence – Learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward.
7. Be Your Authentic Self – Act, don’t react. Act out of your own values and sense of self, not out of your emotional response to the stimuli that are coming at you from other sources.
8. Be Organized – Keep track of the things you are responsible for and attend to them in an appropriate order.
* * *
Psalm 119:97-104
No doubt, some people thought that God’s law was a burden, something that had to be carefully observed and obeyed under fear of eternal damnation. The psalmist, however, sees it as a gift that, if observed and followed, leads to faithful and authentic living.
* * *
Why Law Is Important (Law)
According to the web site, theimportantsite.com, there are ten reasons why it’s important for a society to have a system of laws.
"Law” is a system of rules created and enforced by governmental institutions and designed to regulate behavior in both public and private society. Here are ten reasons law is important.
1. Laws set the standard for acceptable (and unacceptable) behaviors
2. Laws provide access to justice
3. Laws keep everyone safe
4. Laws protect the most vulnerable in society
5. The process of creating laws encourages civil and political engagement
6. Laws offers people a variety of career options
7. Laws are important to maintain peace
8. Laws are important for social progress
9. Laws make human rights a reality
10. Arbitrary laws are not always good for society
* * *
2 Timothy 3:14--4:5
Paul warns Timothy that, in time, people always tend to grow tired of and drift away from the moral instruction they have received from God and God’s messengers. They will, eventually, go looking for someone who will tell them what they want to hear. Paul then tells his young protégé how to steel himself for such an eventuality.
* * *
Micah And Ahab (Bad Advice)
In 1 Kings we are told the story of the prophet, Micaiah and Ahab, the king.
Everything was going pretty well in Judah. Ahab, the king, had built an ivory palace for himself and created a national defense system like no one had seen since King David. He had funded the start of many towns to settle the countryside and there had been three years of peace between Judah and their sworn enemy, Aram.
One day, however, it occurred to King Ahab of Judah that Aram was still occupying some Judean land that they had seized in the last conflict. He talked to Jehoshaphat, king of Israel and they agreed that it was time to take their armies to Aram and get that land back. Jehoshaphat, however, would join his army to that of Ahab, only if the word of the LORD came down that it was the correct thing to do.
So, Ahab called together 400 of his top advisors, some of whom referred to themselves as prophets, and asked them if he and Jehoshaphat should join their armies together and attack Aram. The prophets consulted with each other and agreed that it was always dangerous to disagree with the king or tell him something he didn’t want to hear. So, they told him, “Yeah, great, good idea. Attack Aram. It’s a sure thing.”
Ahab noticed, however that one prophet, Micaiah, was missing and he sent a messenger to bring him. The messenger found Micaiah and told him, “All 400 of the king’s prophets agree that it’s a good idea to attack Aram and get our land back. Why not make it 401. Whata'ya say?”
Micaiah said that he would prophesy only what the LORD told him to prophesy, nothing more, nothing less. And, when he got before the king, that’s what he did. “This is not a good idea,” he told the king. “You’ll die along with most of your soldiers if you do this. Oh, and your death will not be a dignified thing; the dogs will lick your blood from the streets.”
Ahab flew into a rage and had Micaiah arrested and put in jail until he returned from battle. He and Jehoshaphat agreed that 400 to 1 was good enough so they joined forces and went into battle against Aram.
During the battle a random arrow struck Ahab through a chink in his armor and killed him. They took his body back to Jerusalem and washed the blood from his chariot and, as prophesied by Micaiah, the feral dogs in the streets licked it up.
* * *
Luke 18:1-8
The parable of the corrupt judge and the persistent widow is not meant to compare God to a corrupt, curmudgeonly judge. Rather, it is told to show the importance of persistence and to show how, if a corrupt judge can be convinced to grant justice by a persistent widow, how much more will God, who is not corrupt, grand justice to the chosen people who cry day and night for justice?
* * *
King’s Advice (Persistence)
If we identify a successful writer by the volume of published works they have produced then, surely, Stephen King, with 64 novels, 19 screenplays, 11 collections, and 5 non-fiction books, is at the top of America’s most successful contemporary writers.
But it wasn’t always that way. King started out as an English teacher, writing stories by night and on weekends and collecting rejection slips from publishers and he often reminds young writers of his humble beginnings.
Once at a writer’s conference I attended, a young, aspiring writer asked the master how many rejections slips a person should collect before they give up on trying to be a published writer.
King gave this advice: Drive a 16-penny nail into the wall next to your writing desk. When you get a rejection slip, push it onto the nail. When you have collected so many rejection slips that the nail gets so heavy that it falls out of the wall…
Drive another nail and keep going.
* * *
Scars as Trophies (Persistence)
In 1948, four months after the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country, the right-wing National Party was elected in South Africa. Paton, together with Margaret Ballinger, Edgar Brookes, and Leo Marquard, formed the Liberal Association in early-1953.
On May 9, 1953, it became the Liberal Party of South Africa, with Paton as a founding co-president that fought against the apartheid laws introduced by the National Party government. In his autobiography, Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful, Paton tells a story of the early days when the party was first being formed.
One day, a little, old African man in a big hat walked into the office and offered to volunteer in whatever way might be helpful. The staff was reluctant to let him help. This could be dangerous, they said. They had already been threatened and very real harm could come to anyone who participated in resisting the National Party.
Why, they asked, would a man of such advanced years want to put himself into such a dangerous situation?
He responded: “One day, soon, I will stand before my maker and God will ask to see my scars. If I say to him, I have no scars, he will ask me, ‘Why? Was there nothing worth fighting for?’”
* * *
Writers Whose Persistence Paid Off (Persistence)
• William Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times before becoming published.
• James Joyce's Ulysses was judged obscene and rejected by multiple publishers.
• Several of Asimov's stories were rejected, never sold, and eventually lost.
• John le Carre's first novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, was rejected because le Carre "hasn't got any future."
• William Saroyan who received a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award for his writing, also received an astonishing 7,000 rejection slips before selling his first short story.
• Kenneth Grahame’s, The Wind in the Willows was rejected in America before appearing in England.
• James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room was called "hopelessly bad."
• Pearl Buck's first novel, West Wind received rejections from all but one publisher in New York.
• Louisa May Alcott was told by a publisher to stick to teaching.
• Agatha Christie had to wait four years for her first book to be published.
• Tony Hillerman, whose native American mystery novels were all best sellers, was told to "get rid of the Indian stuff."
• Wild West author, Zane Grey, self-published his first book after dozens of rejections.
• Marcel Proust was rejected so much he decided to pay for publication himself.
• Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen’s Chicken Soup for the Soul received 134 rejections.
• William Faulkner's book, Sanctuary, was called unpublishable.
* * *
Grandma Keeps Trying (Persistence)
Cha Sa-soon lived alone in the tiny mountain village of Sinchon in South Korea. She always wanted to learn to drive, but didn't begin the process of trying to get a license until she was in her 60s. Needless to say it was — literally — a difficult road.
Grandma Sa-soon failed the written portion, consisting of 40 multiple choice questions 949 times; the concept of many of the questions were confusing to her, being an elderly woman living in a remote village. Finally, on the 950th attempt she got a passing grade of 60 and moved on to the actual driver's test, which she only failed 4 times before getting passing marks.
By this time all of South Korea knew of her persistence and she became a national hero. She was even given a Kia Soul and appeared in their commercial.
* * * * * *
From team member Quantisha Mason-Doll:Jeremiah 31:27-34
There is not fault
In an increasingly polarized world, those facing tragedy are quick to point the finger and place the blame somewhere else. There are, at times, deep-seated fears surrounding the claiming of failure. We see places that have been devastated by natural disasters. It is somehow everyone else’s fault when billionaires, who built their homes on stilts on a foundation of sand, have their property swept away by the tehomic waters. When tragedy strikes, we, as in the collective, look to who we can blame for inaction. What the weeping prophet Jeremiah addresses is the core of the phrase — we are facing tragedy. Jeremiah calls the collective to acknowledge that it's us, God's people, that sway the hand of God, not tragedy. No one single person is at fault yet what the prophet teaches us is that we shall be judged collectively as an embodiment of God's divine will, made manifest for this world.
* * *
Psalm 119:97-104
How do you love the Law
There are many ways to love the law. There is also more than one way that laws can be unjust. We must ask ourselves what we mean when we invoke the words of the psalmist when we proclaim our love for the law. Are we proclaiming the law of our Lord that commands us to seek justice, do kindness, and to walk humbly; or are we proclaiming the law of the land, which rebukes dignity and humanity. How do we live into the psalmist call to hate every wrong path and to obey God's word in a modern world?
* * *
Genesis 32:22-31
Your name is but a gift that can be returned
For all intents and purposes, life from the moment we were born until the moment that we die, is a fight for survival. For all that it's worth — we are gifted many things by our progenitors — one of which being our names. It can set the foundation of our identity.
Our birth names are not something that we necessarily asked for. If God has taught me anything it is that our identity is more than just our names. Our identity is formed through hard fought battles. It is through trial, tribulation, and wrestling with our lives that we truly find ourselves. Take a lesson from Israel, the person who was once known by the name of Jacob, that after a tough fight you were more than welcome to demand blessing, and if that means returning the name your parents gave you, then so be it. Your name is but a gift. God knows the strength it takes to be your true self.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Let us lift up our eyes to the hills— from where will our help come?
All: Our help comes from God, who made heaven and earth.
One: Our God is our keeper; the shade at our right hand.
All: The sun shall not strike us by day, nor the moon by night.
One: God will keep us from all evil; he will keep our life.
All: God will keep our going out and our coming in forevermore.
OR
One: Our God comes and invites us to share our lives.
All: We offer to our loving God the stories of our lives.
One: God knows our needs but in love desires us to share them.
All: We offer to our loving parent the struggles we face.
One: God hears us and invites us to imitate divine love.
All: In gratitude we will lovingly listen to others.
Hymns and Songs
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Renew: 47
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELW: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELW: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
For the Healing of the Nations
UMH: 428
NCH: 576
CH: 668
W&P: 621
More Love to Thee, O Christ
UMH: 453
PH: 359
AAHH: 575
NNBH: 214
NCH: 456
CH: 527
AMEC: 460
Sweet Hour of Prayer
UMH: 496
AAHH: 442
NNBH: 332
NCH: 505
CH: 570
W&P: 478
AMEC: 307
Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
UMH: 500
PH: 326
AAHH: 312
NCH: 290
CH: 265
LBW: 486
ELW: 800
W&P: 132
AMEC: 189
Let It Breathe on Me
UMH: 503
AAHH: 316
NNBH: 128
NCH: 288
CH: 260
AMEC: 295
Cares Chorus
CCB: 53
As We Gather
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is our help in all times and all places:
Grant us the faith to trust that you wish us well
and desire for justice to reign through all creation;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are our constant help. At all times and in all places you come to bring redemption. Open our hearts and strengthen our faith that we may welcome you as you come in justice for all. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to look to God for help in times of trouble.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We profess our faith in you, God, but we are more likely to place our trust in money, military might, and political influence. We are quick to think of you as the unjust judge that we must pester constantly with our prayers rather than trusting that you hear us even before we pray. Strengthen our faith that we may truly trust you and find you an ever present help in times of trouble. Amen.
One: God is ever listening even when we don’t know what to say. Receive God’s grace and grant justice as freely as God does.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God, as you seek justice and mercy to rain down upon all your creation. You are the generous and just judge.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We profess our faith in you, God, but we are more likely to place our trust in money, military might, and political influence. We are quick to think of you as the unjust judge that we must pester constantly with our prayers rather than trusting that you hear us even before we pray. Strengthen our faith that we may truly trust you and find you an ever present help in times of trouble.
We give you thanks for your constant presence with us and for your love that surrounds all you have created. We thank you for those who have come to know you and work for justice in your name. We thank you for our abundance home, this earth, that supplies abundantly that all may receive its bounty.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for those who have been denied justice and mercy. We pray for those who have been imprisoned unfairly and for those who suffer under unjust regimes. We pray for those who face illness and death.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMONWho is the Widow?
by Katy Stenta
Luke 18:1-8
I’m going to tell you a story that Jesus tells.
There was a city where there was a judge who was corrupt. There was a widow wanted justice. The judge thought he was too busy to listen to her, but the widow was persistent. She kept knocking on the door, knocking and knocking and knocking, until finally, the judge thought to himself, “This widow will not give up, and though I am well off and do not need to fear this woman, or even women, I am going to grant her justice so that she will leave me alone. She is wearing me out with her knocking.”
Jesus then says that we do not need to be like the widow because God promises to grant us justice. God is nothing like the judge. God is fair and just. We do not need to be like the widow knocking on the door for justice.
Now, I want us all to imagine that we are tired, and not able to continually pray and ask for justice. Who do you think is knocking on the door and asking for justice on our behalf.
Who do you think the widow character in the story might be?
(Help the children get to God if they do not get there on their own.)
Let us pray:
God,
Thank you for being just
and working
for it
even when
we are too tired to.
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 16 issue.
Copyright 2022 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
