A Matter of the Heart

A Matter of the Heart.  Persistence, Prayer, Action, Repeat!

I marvel at the widows of the world, the women like that woman in Luke 18, who refuse to give up on justice, no matter how often, or how violently, or how utterly injustice they are treated.  Their persistence staggers me!  Their tenacity humbles people like me who’ve given up when faced with fewer and lesser odds.

Jill Duffield tells this story of a women she once worked with.  Her name was Ms. Peg.  And she drove an ancient powder-blue station wagon that was forever breaking down.  Frequently, I would come in to the office and she would tell me that her car was in the shop again.  She would walk to work or have gotten a ride, and if this frustrated her, she never said so.

She believed in that crazy beat up blue station wagon because she was on a mission from God.  She transported the neighborhood children in that car to the Boys and Girls Club and then home; to afterschool activities and back; to doctor’s appointments, cultural events and anywhere else that eased the burden of their parents or enriched their lives.

That light-blue car provided so much more than transportation because those kids in her car were loved and advised, taught and encouraged every inch of the journey.  That’s why Ms. Peg would lament when the car broke down, even as she stated with unquestionable confidence that soon it would be back on the road.

Her persistence humbled me, but her hope, her faith, they inspired me.  She would not be thwarted from her mission, no matter the odds she faced, no matter the odds faced by the children she loved and transported.  Persistence cannot be uncoupled from a sense of purpose and a hope that others may see as irrational.  Ms. Peg kept that car on the road and those kids in her sphere, year after year, because she believed in them, their worth and potential, and because she put her hope in the God who called her to care for and about them.

Our morning’s scripture lessons paint a picture of God’s ability and willingness to give us what we need, to teach us what is divinely ordained, to equip us to live in ways that participate in God’s kingdom building project here on earth.  God will write God’s law on our hearts, Jeremiah declares.  Another way of speaking to our conscience.  God has provided us with all of the instructions we need to be faithful to his purposes, which always include healing and justice for the least and the lost.  And in this case justice for a widow!

What makes this such a great story is the widow’s persistence, her belief in justice even from an unjust judge. And believing like this, believing that God demands justice for the people who are poor, disenfranchised, and foreign, motivates people like Ms. Peg and others to do extraordinary things in the face of insurmountable odds.

But that begs the question.  How do we as Christ followers, who have been told to bear one another’s crosses, by bearing up the least and the lost deal with corrupt government officials and judges who seem to refuse to hear the cries of widows, immigrants, and people of color?

What keeps people from losing heart when they are ignored and blamed for everything that is wrong with our society day in and day out.  How do people not lose heart?

And one of the answers is prayer as part of a formula for persistence.  Hearing and studying the scriptures can give us a sense of purpose in terms of whom we should support and whom we should not.  But training for righteousness cannot be neglected.  Doing the right thing, regardless of the outcome.  Knowing that the struggle is not in vain, for God is still writing his will upon the hearts of our fellow human beings.  People are seeing what is going on in this country, but most importantly God does not forget our struggles for justice and righteousness and sometimes it is sheer persistence on our part that changes the mind of an unjust judge.

When I think of persistence in the face of injustice I think of Rosa Parks, who simply refused one day to give her seat to a white person because she was exhausted and tired.  She could have given in to the racism of her day but instead she simply sat down and refused to get up.  Sometimes when the odds seem long that is when we need to be the most persistent.  I think also of the those who stood up against Apartheid in South Africa.  Or those who stand up against placing migrant children in cages in our own country or who want to throw them out of the country even if they need life-saving medical care.

These people inspire me.  They offer me hope just as our children in this church offer me hope every time I see them.  Hopelessness and apathy enable injustice to occur and to continue.  But then there are these moments of joy in the long struggles for freedom and the fight for equality in our country and around the world.

But there is also heaviness; because until we really deal with the legacy of slavery and racism in this country we will be at war within ourselves and with each other.  There is so much work yet to be done to have a society that truly reflects its founding principles that we are all created equal with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And yet in the face of this history of oppression there are signs of movement and hope as we strive to make our nation a more perfect union.  How do people like Rosa Parks, or Greta Thunberg, the young girl who sailed across the Atlantic by herself to address the United Nations on climate change find justice?

How do they keep at it, despite the odds, despite the setbacks, disappointments and losses, and the vicious attacks that come their way?  And the answer is simple.  They refuse to lose heart.  They remain hopeful because hopelessness is the enemy of justice.

They are patient, persistent, humble, and keep on practicing what they know by heart, confident that one day even the most corrupt, unjust judge or politicians will relent to the unwavering call by our Lord for justice born out of love.

A couple of questions to leave you with this week:

Who are the unjust judges and politicians we need to be relentlessly asking to do the right thing?  Who are the widows, orphans, and aliens in our communities who are being denied justice?  And what would justice look like for them?  Amen

Check Out Anthony Cinelli and Lidya Diaz solo – A Prayer