Proper 24 :: Genesis 32: 22–31; Psalm 121; II
Timothy 3: 14 – 4: 5; Luke 18: 1–8
This is a homily
by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John’s Church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday,
October 16, 2016.
“BLESSINGS
THROUGH STRUGGLE”
(Homily texts: Genesis 32: 22–31 & Luke 18: 1-8)
Let’s
begin this morning by asking ourselves some questions:
- Is it alright to struggle with God?
- Is it alright to pester God?
- If it is alright to do these things, then what benefit(s) will be ours as a result?
- Will our struggles with God bring us and God closer together?
Both
our Old Testament reading which is appointed for this morning, and our Gospel
text containing Jesus’ Parable of the Dishonest Judge pose the question of
struggle with God
Let’s
look at each text separately in order to gain some background.
The
Genesis account contains three names that are important for us to gain a fuller
understanding of the importance of this text. Each comes to us from the Hebrew:
Peniel: Means the “face of God”.
Penuel: Is a variant of Peniel. (Remember that in Hebrew, the consonants often stay the
same, the vowels come and go.)
Israel: Means “He struggles with God”. It can also
mean “God rules”.
The
strange encounter that Jacob has during the night figures prominently in the
life trajectory of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac and the
third of the three Patriarchs of God’s people. Jacob is portrayed in Genesis in
complete candor, complete with a full explanation of Jacob’s character flaws
and misdeeds.
In
this encounter, at first Jacob thinks he is wrestling with a mere human being.
As the fight continues, however, he comes to the realization that he has been
wrestling with God, come in human form. As a result, he says that he “has seen
God face-to-face.”
Now,
let’s consider the Lord’s parable.
As
in the Genesis account, there is a struggle involved. This time, the struggle
is between a widow and a judge who is crooked. The widow continues to come to
the judge, seeking justice for her petition.[1]
The Lord depicts a struggle that goes on and on, back and forth, as the widow
petitions the judge again and again, and the judge refuses to address her
concerns. Finally, the judge relents on the basis that the widow has been so
persistent.
It’s
worth noting that Jesus specifically gives us the meaning and the purpose of
His teaching. Luke tells us that this parable was given so that God’s people
would continue to pray without ceasing and that they would not lose heart.
The
Lord’s parable has the classic literary structure of a “lesser-to-greater”
comparison. Applying this storytelling technique to the parable, it has the
effect of saying (in so many words) “If the unjust judge will grant the widow’s
petition because she was so persistent, how much more will God grant the
petitions of His people.” Notice the phrase “how much more” in my explanation…..this
phrase - using these words - sometimes appears in the Lord’s teachings. Here,
its meaning is implied.
Let’s
return to the questions with which we began.
Is
it alright to wrestle with God? Judging from the two readings that are before
us this morning, I think the answer is a definitive “yes”. Wrestling with God
does not imply disrespect for God, for we must always respect God’s divinity
and God’s power.
Yet,
as we go back and forth with God (just as the widow does with the unjust
judge), something in us might change:
- We might reflect on what we are petitioning God for, and whether or not our askings are in accordance with the divine will.
- We might be changed as a result of our continued prayers, just as Jacob was forever changed as a result of his struggle (he got a new name, but continued to be known by his first name and his new name).
- We can come to the realization that God will meet us on our level. That is an important aspect of the Jacob account…God limited His power, coming to meet Jacob on Jacob’s level, struggling with Jacob so that both God and Jacob are affected by the back-and-forth of the struggle. God is affected by our struggles and by our continued prayers, for God is not removed and impassive in the face of the things we are liable to face in our earthly journey. This same truth is a part of the Lord’s parable, for the unjust judge changes his response to the widow, based on her continued insistence.
- If God is not impassive, then we cannot be impassive, either. We may be tempted to use the approach that we heard from Naaman in last week’s Old Testament reading from Second Kings. Remember that Naaman wondered why the prophet Elisha didn’t come out from his house, stand and call upon the name of God, and wave his hand over Naaman’s diseased skin. We might be tempted to take the same approach, expecting that God will simply do something wonderful and instantaneous to address/fix our situation.
Oftentimes, as
both our Old Testament reading and our Gospel text affirm, the blessings we
seek and the answers we petition God for are to be received as the result of
repeated and continued struggle and prayer. In the process, we will encounter
God in the midst of our situation, not above it. In the process, we will be
changed as the result of the hard work of prayer and continued faith we are
called to offer up. The resolutions that God will offer to us will be ours with
a deepened appreciation of the hard work that has wrapped us up in struggle
with God.
AMEN.
[1] The Lord’s parable is told from the Greek
(or Gentile) point-of-view, in that the widow seems to present her petition
directly to the judge. In Jewish culture, a woman could not petition a judge or
a court in a legal matter…such a petition would have to be made by a male
relative of the woman.
