now talking to god is laurel begging hardy for the gun

i got a girl in the war

The Holy Gospel according toSt. Luke the 18th Chapter!

It's interesting, I was thinking of using the song Hal played today (We Shall Overcome) as a kind of meditation, but eventually I decided to use this great poem by Langston Hughes; Lorraine Hansberry used it as inspiration for her brilliant play, "Raisin in the Sun."

The poem goes like this:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore / and then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat,

Or crust and sugar over / like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags / Like a heavy load.

Or does it explode...

This poem, and its final wondering in the dark, have served many as they sought to navigate their way through pain, through trials.

And truthfully this poem can still be of service,

and can serve as a kind of meditation upon today's gospel.

Because truthfully, Jesus just has this way of breaking our hearts,

of saying something that we all so obviously need to hear,

of speaking right to our heart's greatest fears;

and sometimes in those moments the language of poem is the only suitable language...

Today's parable is one of those moments where Jesus' words hit close to the heart...

After the parable, any preacher worth their salt is at least tempted to simply say 'go in peace and serve The Lord,'

or maybe admit we have nothing to add,

or perhaps simply walk away from the pulpit, weeping.

 

You know, the truth is I have no idea why Jesus would say this,

and the more you research this parable, that more you get the feeling no one knows exactly why Jesus said this.

This parable is so full of obvious problems that they barely need to be said.

In fact, when I read this parable I thought, 'how can I preach on this here?

See, the truth is, you all, you all know a thing or two about this parable,

the truth is you've been living this parable for some time...

 

...Recently, when I was doing some searching for council;

I always complain about the second Tuesday of the month because after all those meetings there's always stuff rustled up that I need to go around chasing before we meet next time,

Anyway I found myself in the office, sitting on the floor with annual reports spread out before me trying to find some detail or another; and suddenly amid that monotonous task I was stopped cold.

I read something addressing what I'd already had heard in so many comments.

It was a report from the council president,

and the report was so full of pathos I could barely keep from tearing up right there in the office.

The report was during a particular moment in your story here, a vulnerable moment, probably a moment with some fear and trembling:

•  You all had, gone from having a pastor suddenly die;

•  to being faithful enough to call your first woman pastor, and be the first Lutheran church in town to do so,

•  and for doing that you suffered, as they left simply because you were being faithful;

•  then, after that first pastor didn't work out the best, bless your hearts, you called another woman pastor;

•  (When I found that out, I just couldn't believe how faithful the story of Trinity was, how blessed I was to get to be a part of your story)

•  and then, sadly, that pastor, too, had to leave after a short time...

 

And that President's Report captured all that so well;

and the report was so candid about the pain y'all had been through it was obvious that the sorrow, the pain, was no secret to any of you...

What happens to a dream deferred, Hughes wondered...

You see, what that report drove home to me is that you all know a thing or two about how that widow must have felt as she went to the judge day after day asking for justice, and only getting ignored for the trouble.

 

You all have tried to be faithful, to steward Trinity's historic mission, to be a witness;

and for all that you've been ignored, left, spoken ill of.

There have been plenty of times in our story as Trinity Evangelical where we've found ourselves in the position of the widow;

suffering what feels like punishment for things that were entirely out of our control,

or even worse, being punished for being faithful;

and as we suffer,

as the attendance drops and the budget gets tighter;

it feels our cries are ignored,

that the judge has seemingly had no interest in granting judgement.

What happens to a dream deferred, Hughes wondered

And so, given that truth about you all,

as I studied the scripture for this moment, for the sermon,

I thought, 'what can I say to these faithful folks who have been living this parable for so long.'

And the truth is, I can't say much,

I'm sorry but I have no moralisms to offer,

no exhortations to get out there and be disciples,

no advice to be the best you, you can be;

all I have to offer is a promise,

and it isn't even mine to give,

I give it on behalf of another...

 

Sisters and brothers, Jesus told this parable for a reason,

it was a parable, it wasn't a news report,

it was a parable, it was intended to create faith.

See, the truth is,

we're not the only people who can relate to this parable.

Langston Hughes obviously could,

as we can infer from his devastatingly honest poem;

"What happens to a dream deferred"

 

The folks who wrote that defiant, that faithful hymn, "We Shall Overcome," could;

Luke could, obviously

as he is the only evangelist that deemed this heartbreakingly honest parable of Jesus' worthy of writing down to remind the faithful of every time;

and the disciples could too,

that is why Jesus uttered these words in the first place...

So, for what it’s worth, you're not alone,

you're not the only followers of Jesus to look around and wonder,

what will happen to this dream deferred;

you're not the only followers of Jesus to look around and wonder,

how long, O lord; how long...

You're not alone,

and, in fact, to your very real question,

Jesus himself has some words,

Jesus tells us that we should pray always, that we should not lose heart.

See, here's the thing about Jesus' parable,

for Jesus there was no question that God would grant vindication to those whom God chooses,

there was no question about that;

in fact, there was no question about it even in a world where judges do ignore the cry of the dispossessed.

 

•  After all, isn't it interesting the kind of widow Jesus lifts up in the parable about the need to pray always, to never lose heart?

For those of us who've known the pain of the ignored widow,

we might expect Jesus to say,

now the widow was nice and polite, although the judge wasn't fair she waited; in fact unfortunately justice was denied her, her whole life;

but once she died, well once she died things were a bit better.

That isn't what Jesus, says though, is it?

No Jesus lifts up this widow who can't stand the injustice of things,

this widow who, frankly, isn't that polite,

so she rails against the judge,

in fact, the Greek says, she gives the judge a black-eye.

What happens to a dream deferred,

does it dry up like a raisin in the sun;

or does it explode, Hughes wondered

This widow, well she, she explodes;

she explodes.

She explodes because while the judge may ignore her,

she knows God won't.

She knows that she will overcome, because God is on her side.

"Will God delay long in granting God's chosen one's justice," Jesus said...

So in a kind of sentiment I've heard spoken here,

the widow figures, "I haven't anything else to lose.'

She figures if God is with her, who can be against her,

armed with that promise she explodes.

She explodes.

And finally, finally justice is granted her,

not because the judged changed,

but because the widow armed with a promise dared to explode,

because she would not lose heart...

See the widow knew that although the judge may try to ignore her, God wouldn't; God wouldn't.

And so against the odds, armed with nothing other than a promise that widow cried out.

...You know, I know you all have enacted this parable many times,

recently, though, I think we've acted it out particularly powerful at least a few times:

On a beautiful September we set up a bounce-house in our lawn, took out an ad in the Hawk Eye inviting anyone to join us, and we celebrated Rally Sunday.

Crying out to anyone who would listen.

Then, on Homecoming, we dawned a tent, armed with nothing more than cookies and hot chocolate, and shared with any and all.

Crying out to anyone who would listen.

Now the temptation may be to think,

'jeez, well haven't we done enough, why haven't things paid off,'

but that is to forget the witness of the widow,

it is to forget Jesus' parable,

and worst of all, it is to replace God's promise with some kind of work.

Here's the promise that I mentioned earlier:

God won't ignore you,

God can't, sisters and brothers,

God is too committed to us, too in love with us.

 

So while we may be tempted to turn ministry into something we do,

let's take a page from the widow's book instead;

God won't forgotten us,

God has already given us what we need,

so we don't have anything to lose.

 

It's that promise that can finally turn us into faithful folks like today's widow,

people who are confident that we will overcome,

people who steward,

people who trust that where we may be tempted to worry there isn't enough, God will provide,

finally, people who don't lost heart, because God has ours;

and God will never lose our hearts.

Amen.