Sermon by The Rev Chris Yaw, 10/16/2022, Luke 18:1-8
In this age of ubiquitous digital entertainment (so pervasive is its consumption especially by the young!), thus, how refreshing it was to watch a young girl walk up to her mother in the Michael's craft store the other day and ask,
"Mom, can I get this bracelet making kit?"
"No," said mom, *You have enough of these kinds of kits at home already."
"Ya, but none with all these colors!"
"You have plenty of colors at home..."
"Ya, but..."
And on went the argument, upon which I could no longer so conspicuously eavesdrop as to arouse suspicion. So I pushed my cart in the direction of my shopping.
However, the saga proved ongoing, time and again, when our shopping would bring us in close vicinity - at one point I could hear this young girl on the phone with her dad, "I want to sell my bracelets to my classmates, I can pay you back with the proceeds!"
Then around another aisle I heard her make the plea, "Look Mom, it's even on sale!"
So as I finally moved into the check out lane, and this woman and her daughter were in the next one over, you know I had to sneak a peek at her cart to see, if in fact, the bracelet making kit was there or not!
Much to my delight, there it was! All of this young girl's pleading, all of her nagging, had gotten this her what she wanted.
Keep at it, keep positive.
I have a friend who sells office copiers. And he came across a colleague who was incredibly successful at it, named Larry Tate. Yes, a copier salesman who makes a half million dollars a year.
So one day my friend recorded an interview with Larry Tate, even before podcasts, and he put it on cassette tapes for other sales people to listen to because this guy's system was so amazing.
Larry Tate begins his day at 3:00 in the morning. He has young kids and says it's the only time things are quiet enough for him to organize his day. He has a file on every single business in his territory that would be even remotely interested in buying a copier. Every morning Larry goes through a sizable chunk of that list, updating notes, searching on the computer to make sure phone numbers and contact names are still valid, before he puts them into the order, he will need to call on each one of them later in the day.
By 7:30 he is in the shower, then eating breakfast, so at 8:00 a.m. on the dot he can begin his first phone calls. He has a prescribed, systematic script, that is well memorized, that he uses to quickly qualify everyone he calls. And he will continue with those calls through 4:00, that's when he makes time for his family, has dinner with his wife and kids, and then heads to bed pretty early, after all he's up at 3:00 a.m.
His system is the envy of his coworkers, he's consistently the top salesperson in his company. As we all know, sales people routinely hear "no" 10 times more than they hear yes, but that does not keep Larry Tate down. He counts down the no's, knowing that every 10th time he will get that yes. It was a famous founder of IBM, Thomas Watson, who said, "if you want to double your success rate, double your failure rate."
Keep at it, keep positive.
Next week we will welcome a little more than a dozen new friends we have made here at St David's over the last year, one new member, I had the pleasure of having lunch with recently. She has been a churchgoer for years but found herself looking for a new place to call home. Then she stopped by Saint David's, signed our guest book, after enjoying a Sunday worship experience.
Everyone who signs our guest book gets at least one follow-up note, email, and sometimes a phone call.
Your Church's newcomer committee prays for everyone who signs our book, that they would find the faith family they're looking for, and that God would draw near to them as they search for a church. Very often, we make follow-up calls weeks or months after someone has signed the book, just to check in with people.
So when I had lunch with this new friend, I asked her why she joined. She said that of all the churches she visited, ours was the most persistent and consistent in reaching out to her and welcoming her. While our church sends many more notes and letters then the number of people who join us each year, we continue to reach out and welcome people knowing that we are doing God's work of love and hospitality.
Keep at it, stay positive.
During the Gold Rush days, in a dry, windswept town in California, a young man named Jeremy came to town to strike his fortune. After staking a claim, he decided he needed water, and began digging for a well.
He made it 25 ft down, and paused in discouragement when a passerby said, "Oh you're digging in the wrong spot, you should try this other part of your land, you're bound to hit water quickly there."
Encouraged, Jeremy went over to that spot and began digging, hours later he was about 25 ft deep, still no water. Once again, saddened by his progress, he took a break, when an elderly gentleman, who was walking by, looked at him and said, "I looks like you're trying to dig a well, that's not the right place, you need to go to that part of your property, give that a try, and you'll find water pouring out in torrents."
So Jeremy began digging a third time, again going about 25 ft, and coming up short. He took another break to hang his head in discouragement. That's when another passerby stopped and struck up a conversation. He said that water was plentiful in the area, and it was usually about 75 ft down, meaning that if Jeremy hadn't jumped around and dug three holes that were 25 ft deep, and had stayed at it he would have been drinking water by now.
Keep at it, stay positive.
At this point I think the preacher can begin to ease up on the stories of perseverance and optimism that come to mind as you and I contemplate our parable, which you see depicted on your bulletin covers, it's a woodcut of the persistent widow and the unjust judge.
If it's confusing to you it may be because you tend to do as I do and equate any authority figure we see in parables with God - vineyard owners, farm managers, rich men, and in this case, a judge. But one of the distinctions we note in the writings of St. Luke is that he likes to lift up the lowly and bring down the lofty, which is what we see here when an unjust judge, not to be confused with God, only does his job in order to get rid of a pesky widow...
Keep at it, stay positive.
This is the theme of this parable and this sermon because how many of us need some encouragement today?
Generally, in the lives we've brought into church today - and specifically, in prayer, and, to quote St. Luke, our, "need to pray always."
Not long ago, researchers asked people to name their favorite room in the house.
Not surprisingly, it's the kitchen.
Among men, it's the bedroom.
And for mouthers of young children, it's the bathroom - that one room mom can slip into, lock the door, and have even just a few, short minutes of peace and quiet - no kids, no husband, just a little quiet time to regroup, recharge, and remember priorities and purpose.
It is in these places and moments that we can rediscover ourselves - why we're here and what were supposed to be doing.
What we're talking about here, of course, is prayer, and why Jesus tells us we need to pray.
It's because we need a little quiet time to regroup, recharge, and remember our priorities and purpose.
Prayer is the Christian's fuel.
Talk to God and contemplate the Lord's voice in our lives.
And we all need fuel.
We all look around us for things to keep us going.
And Jesus wants to remind us that the best fuel is prayer, this is what we are to look to to keep us going.
What does that look like in our lives?
Is it a quiet cup of coffee at sunrise?
Is it a few moments to darken the screen of our computers and do a couple of breathing exercises?
Is it yoga, a walk, or a few moments at bedtime to think of four things of which we're grateful?
We all need fuel, we all need things to keep us going, God's answer is prayer.
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Coupled with prayer, is this encouragement Jesus gives us to stay positive, to stay optimistic, to hold on to hope.
Historian and author, Howard Zinn, says this:
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.
If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
To be hopeful is to trust that God has a purpose for the world.
It is to believe that the goodness, the magnificence, the compassion, sacrifice, courage and kindness that we see around us is an expression of that purpose - and when we are hopeful we reflect that belief.
When we are hopeful, we spread that belief.
When we are hopeful, we bring more of God's kingdom into this one.
Friends, in times like this, when the temptations to quit and to harbor discouragement, meet us at every corner, let us heed the message of the master, to keep at it and stay positive.
Where are you being tempted to quit in your life?
How is God inviting you to be persistent?
Where is discouragement meeting you today?
How is God asking us to be hopeful today?
May God's voice become our inner voice all week long, reminding us to keep at it and stay positive.
Amen.