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Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Fr. J. D. Ousley
17 October 2004“Spiritual Drive-Through”
In the Name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
In the rural Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts where my wife and I spend our summer vacations, traffic jams are rare. They're so rare, in fact, that a recurring traffic problem last summer attracted the attention of reporters from the local newspaper.
It seems that a Dunkin Donuts restaurant had an extremely popular drive-through window. The window was so popular that every morning, the lines of cars extended out into the highway and blocked other drivers trying to get to work. So, the police began giving tickets to clear the road; and the doughnut lovers weren't pleased!
As it happens, much of the congestion could have been avoided if some Dunkin Donuts customers had simply chosen to park their cars in the parking lot and walk into the store. The jam was caused by too many impatient drivers lining up at the drive-through window.
Impatience is also an issue in the curious Bible lessons we heard today. Jacob encounters an angel and he wants the angel's blessing. Jacob won't take no for an answer. Only after a night of wrestling with the angel — which causes permanent damage to Jacob's hip — only then does the angel grant the divine blessing.
The Gospel text is also about impatience: and here, too, impatience is rewarded. Jesus tells a parable about a widow who is involved in a court case. Like court cases today, the case goes on and on. Only when the widow pesters the corrupt judge until he can't stand the nagging any more does he finally make the proper decision.
As the modern consumer looks for donuts, so both Jacob and the widow seek rewards. They want these rewards and they want them immediately!
You might think the way to deal with our impatience is to avoid it: to be calm and accepting instead. And some Bible texts do advise that we "wait on the Lord" until God responds to our needs.
But these particular lessons don't recommend a passive approach. Instead, they imply that we should go after what we want.
Wrestle with the angel! Keep pestering the judge! Don't stop asking God for what you need until your request is granted!
Here, the required virtue isn't patience. What's needed is persistence.
As it happened, Jacob's encounter with the angel became a pivotal event in the life of his nation. Jacob refused to take no for an answer. Because he continued to seek the divine blessing, he changed the course of Hebrew history.
Throughout the night, Jacob wrestled. Only at dawn did his tenacity pay off.
The parable Jesus tells also recommends persistence. Jesus teaches that in order to get what you want, you should "pray always and not lose heart."
Granted, Jesus may be exaggerating to make a point. We don't have to pray every single minute of every day. Even contemplative nuns and monks whose job is to pray — even they work and eat and sleep and do other things.
Nevertheless, many modern Christians rightly feel they pray too little. People with busy schedules might let a day or more go by without any prayer at all.
So we have to persist in looking for time to pray. We can't complain that God isn't answering our prayers if we spend less time in prayer than watching television!
Yet the lessons suggest that, in prayer, quality counts as much as quantity. And one quality that prayer demands involves not only God but also ourselves.
Sometimes we don't get into the spiritual fast lane because we have caused the congestion — we've blocked ourselves. We've erected so many barriers to getting through to God that we can't make contact.
For example, maybe your prayers haven't been answered because you haven't opened any space in your life for God to work. You've put off facing bad habits. You've made excuses: you don't have enough time; other activities come first.
Once again, the problem is one of persistence. And if you haven't made an effort to open yourself to spiritual change, you can hardly blame God for your problems.
So you might be seeking guidance for the course of your life. You might wonder what career path you should take; you might be unsure about some of your relationships.
Yet while you know you need direction, you don't take the time to be still, and listen for the guidance God is already offering you.
Notice, too, that in such cases where we lack spiritual persistence, our human problem isn't "distance from God." Of course it is possible to feel distant from God even when we know intellectually that God is everywhere.
But that's not the issue here. The real problem in perseverance is rather our unwillingness to go the distance. Our problem isn't that God demands too much of us — but that we don't put into our religion the time and the study and the hard thinking that's required.
Again, we can't blame God. God isn't ignoring us. Rather, we're not making the effort to deal with the parts of ourselves that keep us from contacting the Spirit. We're looking instead for spiritual short-cuts — quick drive-throughs to religious refreshment.
And so we come to one final insight from the stories of Jacob's ladder and the unjust judge: there are no spiritual shortcuts. We need to wrestle with angels — and the unjust. We need to pray without ceasing, we need to storm the gates of Heaven!
Yet notice that this hard truth also brings a certain consolation. We shouldn't be discouraged when we have trouble saying our prayers or finding answers.
Rather, we should be consoled by the fact that that's how faith is. God isn't really "distant." God is there, waiting for us. Even in the confusions of life. Even when every road ahead of us seems blocked.
God is there, waiting for us. Waiting for us to seek him and to offer all our longings and all our cares to the Throne of Grace.
And now unto that same God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be ascribed as is most justly due all might, majesty, power, dominion and praise, now and forever, Amen.