Sermons for the Month
Dogged Determination
DATE: October 17th, 2004
SERVICE: 20th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Luke 18:1-8 and 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN Dogged determination is what is called for if Jesus is to find faith on earth when he returns. In about 60 AD when the Gospel of Luke was recorded the early Christians were experiencing persecution. Where is Jesus, they wondered, he said he was coming back soon. It was becoming increasingly difficult for them to maintain their faith.
Dogged determination is what is called for if Jesus is to find faith on earth when he returns. When Paul's letter to Timothy was written in about 66 AD the author is in prison. His martyrdom is near and he is worried about the young Christian churches that he has established.
He reminds the followers of Jesus of his priorities - sound doctrine, steadfast faith, confident endurance and enduring love. Do not be led astray, he says. God's word, which I taught, is enough - it will make you complete, equipped to do good work. It's urgent that you be persistent in sharing it. They need encouragement because it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to maintain their faith.
Dogged determination is what is called for if Jesus is to find faith on earth when he returns. In 2004 AD Jesus still is coming. Our world is marked by diversity of cultures, of life-styles and of religions which challenges Christians as they share the love of Jesus Christ. Since 2001 we are more aware of terrorism, of issues of war and peace and of economic tightening of resources. We are so tired of hearing about these issues as we move toward electing a president on November 2 that we forget their impact on us spiritually. For us too, like those who went before us, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain our faith.
Yet, on this day, Zoe is baptized and we proclaim she is a loved and forgiven child of God whose faith we are responsible for nurturing. And, on this day we act on the promises made when the members of Clara's Club were baptized by putting the Holy Scripture into their hands and committing ourselves to encourage their growth in faith. These are signs of dogged determination by parents and by this congregation in the face of multiple challenges in our world to maintain and proclaim our faith.
Dogged determination - it's a funny sounding phrase which implies stubborn persistence. You know where it comes from, don't you? Just think about any dog you've known who has had a taste of roast beef and now sees a juicy platter of meat sitting on the table. Martin Luther, the 16th century reformer who founded our denomination, once wrote about seeing his dog at the dinner table, waiting expectantly for some morsel from his master.
That dog would sit at attention, every fiber of his body focused on that roast beef, longing for a treat. You can imagine it, can't you? Well, Luther wrote, "Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat." That is with dogged determination.
I personally think there is such a thing as "catted" determination too, since my pet will do whatever she deems necessary if it's after 7 a.m. and she has not been fed. She'll has many tricks to get me out of bed to serve her breakfast, including knocking to phone off the hook so that it beeps. Let me tell you, such persistence gets results!
That's what is needed if Jesus is to find faith on earth when he returns, and that's what today's readings from 2 Timothy and Luke teach. We must be persistent in living out our faith, in studying scripture, in proclaiming the message of salvation and in prayer. It's a matter of infusing ourselves with the word and will of God.
Think of it in this way, the more persistent we are about hearing God's word - the more we study it, reflect on it and share it with others - the more it embeds itself in our minds. Then, we better understand who God is and how God is at work in the world. And, the more persistently we pray, the more our relationship with our Creator and Redeemer is strengthened and the more we sense the Holy Spirit's empowering presence within us. When you combine those three things - grasping who God is and how God works in the world and being in relationship with the Divine - something significant begins to happen. Our will begins to line up with God's will, and we are better able to see the ways God hears us and helps us. Now, that's something that is worth being persistent about.
I say that because we have the tendency to create God in our own image. The book of Genesis says that we are created in God's image, but somehow we turn that around so that God becomes who we want God to be. It's an age-old problem that seems to become especially apparent during an election season when people come dangerously close to saying, "God is on my side." So, the need to persistently study scripture - and to reflect on it and share it with others - is very real. We must come to understand what it means to be on God's side, which is an entirely different thing from having God on our side.
And, we must be persistent in prayer to counter the belief that our God is a blank check God who grants us whatever we want. Instead, we must come to understand that God's way of responding takes into consideration a broader perspective than we can possibly grasp.
As I mentioned earlier, such persistence results in our will being more and more lined up with God's will, which can only be good. It puts us in the right frame of mind and enables us to see God's hand in our lives.
Perhaps an example would help when I was a teenager I struggled with the reality that just because we pray does not mean that our prayer are answered. This challenged me because I wasn't praying flippant prayer, but instead I was presenting very real concerns to God - that our loved ones be kept safe or healthy or that they change their ways. Yet, these things did not happen. Was this because my faith was lacking, I wondered?
By the grace of God, and because of some significant people in my life, I did not give up in the midst of the struggle. I continued to study scripture and to talk with fellow Christians and to pray I eventually came to understand the limitations of an imperfect world where our bodies fail and people can make choices. I also came to understand that the power and presence of God is constantly strengthening and guiding us in the midst of the imperfection. God does hear us and help us.
My persistence in study and prayer paid off; but what if I had stopped seeking God at age 15? It's quite possible that my faith would be stuck there and I'd be disgruntled that my Santa Claus God had not given me everything on my list. I would be someone in need of a place like this where I could ask tough questions and be encouraged in my search for God.
You see, I had to get the words of scripture and the concepts of prayer into my head, and then with persistence they moved to my heart where I came to a deeper level of faith. But that took dogged determination. As Brennan Manning so aptly pointed out, "The longest, most dangerous journey of them all is from the head to the heart," and I believe that to be true.
So, my fellow travelers, I encourage you take that journey from the head to the heart. Be persistent in study of scripture and in prayer. Get God's word and will into your head and then persistently move them to your heart. Then, your will and God's will will be more and more in line with one another. Take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you to learn and to grow in faith.
If it helps you to think of Martin Luther's dog, then get that image in your mind. Imagine the quivering pooch intent on a plate of roast beef and say to yourself, "That's what I want to be like when it comes to being faithful, to pursuing the things of God." Then, when Jesus comes, he not only will find faith, but he'll find deep, abiding faith on earth. But, for that to happen one important characteristic is required - dogged determination. AMEN