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Be Persistent

Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.

Misty Copeland was born in September 1982 right here in the Kansas City area. As a young African American girl, her parents moved to California where they struggled to make ends meet. There was a time that Misty, her parents and four siblings all lived in a small motel room because they had no home. At the age of 13 she received an opportunity to take ballet lessons and she fell in live with ballet. For those of you who are involved in dance, you know that by the age of 13 most girls have been studying ballet for years. But Misty, loved ballet, and she began to dream about becoming a professional ballerina. So she applied to a dance academy and as you just heard, she was rejected.

The rejection letter read, “Dear Candidate: Thank you for your application to our ballet academy. Unfortunately, you have not been accepted. You lack the right feet, Achilles tendons, turnout, torso length and bust. You have the wrong body for ballet and at 13, you are too old to be considered.” Four years later at the age of 17, Misty moved to New York and began dancing with the American Ballet Company and today, Misty Copeland, is a principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre and performs in New York City, in the Metropolitan Opera House. At the time she was hired by the ballet company, she was the only African American woman in the ballet company.

The odds were against her from the beginning. She was too old. She didn’t have the typical ballerina body and there were no African American women in professional ballet. She didn’t fit the acceptable norm for a ballerina, but her persistence paid off.

Persistence is also key in the parable of the widow and the unjust judge that we read this morning. The judge in our story had no respect for people and wasn’t known to be fair. But, there was a widow who came to him persistently, asking for justice against her opponent, and, finally, the judge grants it just so she would stop bothering him.

Now, as awesome as this story is, to simply reduce this story, or Copeland’s story for that matter, to a message that says, “if you don’t give up, anything is possible” would be inadequate, at best. Yes, the widow was persistent; yes, Copeland was persistent and wouldn’t take no for an answer, but in all of that persistence, I would argue that the critic al point here is that God was present and God, too, was persistent. God is always persistent when it comes to justice. In their persistence, God is always the one who will “grant justice to his chosen ones who cried out to him.” Now in our story today, Jesus points out that the real persistence he is challenging us to partake in is prayer. Now, I know persistent prayer isn’t easy. I mean, how many times have we prayed and have it feel like there is silence on the other end? Too often, we throw in the towel after not receiving an answer. But Jesus challenges us today to not throw in the towel. The widow was persistent and didn’t give up. She kept going to the judge, hoping against all odds, persistent, determined and relentless about receiving the justice due her, just as Copeland did.

But, there is another key element here, that cannot be overlooked and that is the cry for justice in our prayers. In the ancient world widows were incredibly vulnerable, regularly listed with orphans and aliens as those persons deserving special protection. The fact that this particular widow had to seek the assistance of a judge with out the assistance of any family highlights her extreme vulnerability. Although she had no one to speak for her, her pleas for justice brought pressure on the judge to take action.

So, why did note that the judge admits that he neither fears God nor respects people. When he finally relents, in his own words he said I will do this “because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming” (18:5). The translation is really watered down compared to its literal meaning. A more literal translation of the judge's grievance her would be that he grants her justice because her complaints are “giving me a black eye."

What Jesus is telling us here is that this unjust judge finally relents not because he wants to see justice “served,” but to avoid further public embarrassment. This judge relented, not because he changed his mind, or because he wanted justice for the widow, no, he did this to simply to shut up this dangerous widow. The widow’s obnoxious, even intolerable behavior resulted in justice.

Today, Jesus is challenging all of us to never stop speaking out against the injustices in this world. Today, Jesus is challenging us to speak our for those who are suffering, and facing injustices because of their economic status, their skin color, their sexual orientation, their legal status, their faith traditions and so much more. When we pray, when we speak out, we are challenged to be persistent in identifying injustices even to the point of shaming those who support and uphold these injustices and we are called to be persistent to affect change; change that will lead to a more just world.

Yes, our persistence is to persistently call upon a persistent God who has never stopped loving us; who has never stopped seeking us, even when we cease to seek her. In our persistent prayers we are challenged to recognize God inviting us into his work for justice in the world. Today my prayer is that the Holy Spirit might continue to stir up in us a desire to live out our prayers and God’s will. When we pray for peace, may the Holy Spirit, stir up in us the desire to change our ways to actually work for peace. When we pray for healing, may the Holy Spirit stir in us the desire to be a healing presence in this world. When we pray for leaders that will serve us with justice, may the Holy Spirit stir in us the desire to vote for people not based on a party affiliation, but on their desire to bring about real justice in this world. And, when we pray for this community, may the Holy Spirit strengthen us to make this a place where all are welcome.

You know, it’s not just in the big things that we are called to be persistent in, but as we have noted in the theme of our Stewardship campaign, small things make a big difference, right here, as well. Take a look at what I mean…

From Jim Roy, being persistent enough to bring a new idea to life, to Pedar Thomas having the courage to be persistent enough to be willing to start in a new faith community here at Salem, to Terri Fevold being persistent enough to bring her passion for being fully welcoming into this community, to Joe Cory, who now experiences a youth ministry that is persistent in meeting the needs of our youth, persistence is an act of faith. Brothers and sisters, “Now is the Time” to be persistent in our prayers and in our actions. Now is the time to use our gifts and our blessings to bring about justice in a broken world. Now is the time to pray, Lord have mercy, Lord, make us your hands and feet. Amen

Tags: Sermons