Sunday, October 21, 2007
By pastor John Jorgenson
Text: Luke 18:1-8
“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while the judge refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’
“And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to God’s own elect who are crying out day and night? Will God delay long in helping them? I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son-of-Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’”
The Gospel of The Lord. Praise Be To God.
“So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus raises an interesting question in today’s lesson. If an unjust judge will act because of a poor widow’s insistent pleading for help, how much more realistic is it to expect God, who loves the poor widow, to act on her behalf in due time on God’s terms because of her constant praying? What about our prayer life; is it a daily activity and is it focused on helping us to know what God intends for us moment by moment as we enjoy our God given life? If Jesus were to return right now and sit down with us after worship to have coffee, would he find an expression of active faith and prayer in the list of our life moments? What would we say to Jesus were He to walk in and sit down in our midst?
Well, that is kind of the conversation we are having on Thursdays as we explore why it is that Mary Magdalene got such a bad rap from the leaders of the church starting some 300 years after she served Jesus as a devoted helper who gave of her time and of her resources because she so appreciated that Jesus cured her of her demonic problems that caused her to be called Mad Mary.
One thing I have learned from this study is the practical suggestions biblical materials have for understanding not only the relationship we have with God but also the relationship we have with one another. When this biblical basis is ignored, people are given a bad reputation and we all are harmed by the result.
My understanding of Mary Magdalene, who she was and what she did, certainly changed when I read what the author, Liz Higgs, wrote not only about Mary Magdalene, but also the biblical material she cited. The Da Vinci code simply continues a tradition that was started some 550 years after Jesus lived here on earth when Gregory the Great combined the accounts of three women into one to make a point in his sermon about the destructiveness of not living as God intended. He combined the sinful woman of Luke 7, Mary of Bethany in John 11-12, and Mary Magdalene that Mark states was delivered from seven demons, into one sinful woman. This understanding of Mary Magdalene continued until 1969 when Mary Magdalene was described as Saint Mary Magdalene by the Second Vatican Council, the one to whom Jesus appeared after the resurrection.
The real Mary Magdalene, as we now have learned, was a lady of around 50 years who had been cured of her mental illness by Jesus, and who along with several other women provided what the disciples needed so they could start the ministry Jesus was advocating. This suggests to me how we can fall victim to prejudice toward others.
This damages friendships and we may not see the truth in the lives of those around us. This is especially problematical when it interferes with our faith development and growth. Anyway I learned that Mary Magdalene was an articulate, generous, woman of ability, she had courage and expressed her faith. She was not the fallen woman who loved too much. Mary Magdalene was a leader who managed her resources to accomplish what she believed to be ultimate truth for our world. She was committed to what Jesus taught about God and the relationship God intends for all of us. Mary was not the bad girl she is made out to be in our misguided thinking, in certain forms of art work, statues and paintings, in best selling novels and in several major movies. Instead, Mary is a dedicated follower of Jesus, from whom we can learn a great deal about commitment.
I suggest this is what is included in our Gospel lesson for this morning. Luke writes, “Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not lose heart.” He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while the judge refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to God’s own elect who are crying out day and night? Will God delay long in helping them? I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son-of-Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Good question. If Jesus were to walk in would he find faith here?
How about at the Plymouth Meeting Mall? What constitutes the expression of faith? Do we have to go door to door? Do we stand on street corners? Do we hide from the rest of the world to assure and maintain our purity?
Or do we work to feed the hungry, help the prisoner make a new life, care for the sick, visit the widow and work with the elders? Seems to me this is what Jesus intended and what Mary Magdalene did.
We are in the midst of making changes at Prince of Peace. These are important changes and I suspect there are other changes that need doing also. That is why I sent out the letter asking for your ideas and opinions. I learned a long time ago that it is very important to encourage everyone to make suggestions and to get involved in making changes that are important. If the only changes are the ones I suggest, they won’t last and they don’t make much difference. When we work together and make a good thing better, then we have a good time and other people come and join the fun. If that is ok with you I prefer working that way.
So finally, what do you see in our community that we can support and what do you see that we can help with? Last Thursday morning we talked about addressing the needs of older persons in the community, building on what is going on across the street. We talked about helping and supporting families with children. Seems to me the commitment is here, we simply need some ideas and suggestions as to what will work. So from your point of view, what are we doing well, and what can we make better?
“And will not God grant justice to God’s own elect who are crying out day and night? Will God delay long in helping them? I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son-of-Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Good point.
Amen.