How do you respond to that? Some folk are quick with an equally sharpened reply. I'm not like that. We have to listen to the other person and to understand and respect what they are saying - perhaps even turn it into a positive opportunity rather than an adversarial debate.
The other day, someone said to me, "All wars are caused by religion." Instead of being horrified and jumping to the defence of religion, I agreed with him - with a proviso that we define "religion" broadly enough to include all belief- and value-systems. In this broad sense, Nazism, Communism, atheism, materialism… are all religions. Someone has said that humankind is "incurably religious". Even in an age of unbelief, people still end up believing in something. They have convictions and passions for which they live and for which they may even be willing to risk death. In some so-called "religious wars" such as in Northern Ireland, the convictions and passions being expressed in violence don't come essentially from (in this example) Catholic or Protestant "faith" in the true sense. In fact, they don't arise from faith at all, but from religious prejudice.
Then someone else said to me, "I believe in God, but I don't believe in the middle-man." That was given as the reason for not going to church. I agreed that I don't believe in a middle-man either. As a minister, I am not a middle-man, neither is the church. All of us come to God directly through Jesus Christ - this person wasn't rejecting Jesus Christ as mediator. The church exists so that we can encourage one another in understanding and living out our faith, and so that together we can spread the good news in our community and beyond. And - however the sugar industry should be organised - the farmer doesn't set up his own milling and processing plant in his back shed! There are very good reasons why we read in Hebrews 10.25, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
These two one-liners raised for me the issue of faith and peace.
Back of our minds we favour the Christmas ideal of "peace on earth," but at the end of today's reading we hear Jesus saying, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Lk. 18.8b).
That question makes us sit up with a jolt. It is quite unexpected and seems unrelated to the parable Jesus has just told. Some writers assume that it must have been misplaced and really belongs in a different setting. But, whenever we do that with the Scriptures, we miss out on something important the Lord wants to teach us.
Reflect for a moment on the parable of the persistent widow. Jesus told his disciples this parable "to show them that they should always pray and not give up" (v. 1).
The story is about a persistent widow who keeps on badgering an unjust judge until she finally gets justice. The judge is described as one who "neither feared God nor cared about men" (v. 2). In spite of his bad character and reputation, he gave in to her just demands "so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!" (v. 5).
Jesus is insisting that God is vastly different from that unjust judge. If an unjust judge can eventually be persuaded to administer true justice, how much more God who is just and loving and true!
When our prayers aren't answered right away, it isn't that God hasn't heard, or that we have to wear him down! Last week we noted that "Sometimes in our praying, we receive simply for the asking. On other occasions, however, we may have to 'seek' or 'knock'. In this tenacity we learn patient trust in God. Our desires are purified and directed to receive God's best… Sometimes, as we persist in prayer, there is a significant shift in what are asking for and in how we ask. We are prepared for receiving God's best."
It seems that our biggest problem is the passion for "getting," rather than our relationship and constant trust in God. And that's why there is that comment at the end of the parable, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (v. 8b).
We regard God as our big "need-meeter," rather than our heavenly Father who wants us to know him and to live in his love and by his grace.
Today I am calling you to share a covenant of prayer [PDF 107kB] together. Please refer to the leaflet you received as you came into church today. There are five elements listed under "My Personal Covenant":
This is a personal document. I suggest you keep it with your Bible. Remember that we are to "always pray and not give up."
Please refer to the prayer at the left of the page. Except for the last petition, it is written in the first-person singular and I invite you now to join with me as we pray it together:
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