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The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost October 21, 2007 "Never Give Up!" Luke 18:1-8 Preached at By Pastor Dennis R. King The Grace and Mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen. Once there was an elderly man who grieved and grieved the loss of his wife. His pastor would visit him and find all the shades were down and the man was depressed. It went on and on. One day the pastor walked into that darkness and without a word he went from window to window pulling up all the blinds. The man was not happy with the pastor. He was an authoritarian kind of guy and gruff. However, the pastor told him it was nice to see that he could respond to something. The pastor then questioned the elderly man saying, "Have you chosen to give up? Is that what you want to do, just give up? The man started to cry. The pastor told him he could cry, but today he was going to have to cry with the shades up. So the pastor stayed with him for a time, and reminded him that his wife would not be honored by his turning into a mole living in darkness. The shades stayed up and he started that long journey from grief to recovery. It can be tempting to give up. It can be tempting to give up especially in light of the events that happened on Sept. 11, 2001 and continue to happen around us. In the light of those events one might be tempted to give up on all of life. Other events have caused some to give up on their children. Some folks have debt and they feel like giving up. Some have depression and they see little point in going on. Some are disadvantaged because of age, or sex, or race, or religion and they feel like giving up. Sometimes children get picked on and they get so tired of it that they feel like giving up. But when we give up, we are giving in. In today's Gospel lesson Jesus tells a parable about a judge who treated a lady unfairly. We don't know the issues. All we know is that the lady bugged the judge. She was a gutsy lady. She kept knocking on his door, asking him to change his ruling. She bugged him so much that he finally relented, not because he had a change of heart and became honest, but because he grew tired of being bothered. Jesus said that she did not give up. How much more, he said, we should take our concerns to God without letting up. God will hear us quickly, for God is just. It is a rather startling promise. One wonders if this message has been neglected. All of us can think of things we have asked and asked of God and nothing happened at least from our perspective. It seems to us that certain requests go unanswered. Does persistence in prayer really work? Or is Jesus' concept of what to ask for far different than ours? Is His concept so different that we cannot even comprehend it? What we know for sure from this text is that we should not give up. We have a limited view of how God thinks and what God wants, but for sure this message is about never giving up, Some of you are marvelous examples of hanging in there no matter what, not only hanging in there, but moving forward in God's will and way. Let me share with you this morning that there are four keys to "Never Giving Up." The first key is to acknowledge the persistent spirit within. We all have that spirit. It is God's gift to us. It is a part of the package of our creation. We have all been around a newborn baby and her parents. When I have, it has given me a renewed sense of the persistence with which we are born. That little one has a persistent spirit. Indeed, a baby could not survive without that spirit. When she is hungry she cries. She persists until that hunger is satisfied. It is that persistent spirit within us that keeps us going when nothing else does. Every day that we persist is a victory. Every day that we make it through we are winners. We do not give ourselves enough credit for that persistent spirit within that keeps us going. The second key to never giving up is to feed the persistent spirit within. People who stop feeding that spirit end up in trouble of one kind of another. That spirit is crucial to fulfilled life or as Jesus said it, "abundant life." Jesus was persistent. Think of how truly persistent He was. He just never gave up. Family tried to alter His course, so did the disciples, so did the authorities. Virtually everyone tried to put a stop to His intent to be the sacrifice for all sin. He persisted. Jesus fed His persistent spirit by prayer. That might sound pious, but for Jesus the only one who encouraged Him was His Heavenly Father. We feed our persistent spirit by being with those who encourage us in noble goals and lofty pursuits. We need people who will give us a "pep talk." We need to have our persistent spirit fed. We need spiritual cheerleaders. How many of you have seen that poster of a child in the forefront with one shoe on and one shoe off standing on a road that leads off into the far distance. At the bottom of the poster are the words, "When the going gets tough the tough get going." Positive reminders and thoughts feed the persistent spirit within. When our basement flooded several years ago for a second time and I was overwhelmed by which direction to turn. Andrew found this poem laying on top of a box that was wet. Don't Quit When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but just don't quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about, When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up though the pace seems slow, You may succeed with another blow. Success is failure turned inside out. The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit, It's when things seem worse, That you must not quit
Positive reminders and thoughts feed the persistent spirit within. The woman in today's Gospel lesson fed her persistent spirit. We do not know how, but she did not get that spirit by accident. It had been fed and nourished. You feed that spirit by being here today. You feed that spirit by staying positive. Mrs. Lisa Beemer showed us an example of that positive spirit by getting on an airplane and flying the same route her husband was taking on September 11, 2001. Her purpose was to encourage all of us to not allow terrorists to frighten us into giving up. You feed that persistent spirit by staying positive. You feed that spirit by avoiding negative thoughts. You feed that spirit by trusting Jesus when he says that all things are possible for those who have faith. The Third
key to avoid giving up is to always have a goal or goals that you want to
achieve. For the woman in the Gospel lesson her goal was to overcome the
injustice that had been done. She persisted. Jesus had the goal of the cross
and redemption and resurrection. He persisted in that goal. What is your
goal? It could be to overcome an emotion that is harmful. Road rage is a
common emotion in today's world that is harmful to the one who has it as well
as to others on the road. Other harmful emotions include verbal abuse of
spouse or children. To control these emotions and turn them into positive is
a worthy goal. Persistence will lead to victory. The woman in the Gospel
persisted until she wore the unjust judge into the ground. We can do the same
with emotions that are harmful to others. We can do the same with negativity.
We can wear it down and be the victor. There are other worthy goals. One of
my personal goals as your pastor is to help our church grow in ministering in
truly helpful ways to the people who need the Gospel in their daily life.
Being committed to that goal feeds my life. What feeds yours? Gary Player,
professional golfer was being interviewed after his first round in his 47th
consecutive British Open. He said he has a goal of being the first
professional to win tournaments on the The fourth key to never giving up is to dare to believe that God hears our prayers. This is the clear and resounding message of this parable. Jesus said that the unjust judge heard the relentless pleading of the woman and gave in because he tired of being bothered. Jesus said God will hear our pleading. God will be there for us, not because God wearies of our prayers, but because God loves us. Wow! The hero of this parable is not the unjust judge for relenting and righting a wrong. The hero is a God who cares about us. The hero is a God who is ready to give us the strength needed to endure any pain or any challenge. The key to never giving up is to dare to believe that God is stronger than any enemy. In dark moments have you been sustained by saying the words of the Twenty-third Psalm even if you only remember some of the words, like . . .. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.... even though I walk through the valley of the shadow...I fear no evil." Or saying the Lord's Prayer...Or repeating the creed, "I believe..." If we have given up, when we feel like giving up, or when we are weary, remember this fourth key and dare to believe that God is with you and us. May these keys sustain us and keep us from giving up...May God bless you in the hearing of this word. Amen. |
