reflection for 17th October 2010

Year Proper 24 17 October 2010
Jeremiah 31: 27-34 Psalm 119: 97-104 2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5 Luke 18: 1-8

We live in the time of the New Covenant. With this New Covenant comes many privileges and it is therefore described as the Good News, and God promises to be our God and we His people and He forgives our wickedness and remembers our sins no more.

Many years ago now, I gave a session in a workshop on the images of God in both the Old and New Testament. During this session it became clear that people had the idea that the image of God in the Old Testament was one of a God that was harsh and punishing. This was in stark contrast to the image they had of God in the New Testament which was one of unconditional love. As I explained then, God is unchanging and so if God was at any time harsh then he still is, and if God is now unconditionally loving, then way back in the Old Testament times, God was also a God of unconditional love.

The God who unbendingly demands justice is the same God who shows mercy and love.... We need to fully realize this. The demand God has for justice has not been simply overlooked – the demand still exists and no one who sins can be united with God- but the wages for sin have been paid by Jesus.... the mercy of God has provided a way for us.

As I read the Gospel this week I laugh a little at the memory of how I got into trouble for using it at a school. Little did I know how offensive the reading of the persistent widow could be, I was simply following the lectionary readings and using a children’s website as a guide. I had no idea that the persistent widow was showing women in a bad light and neither did I realize that the legal system would be also offended at the reference to the unjust Judge. If you can get past the offense you’ll find that there is an important message which has nothing really to do with nagging women or unjust Judges.

The attitude that I encountered is one that I believe this week’s readings strive to prevent. At the end of the Gospel we find the words, Luke 18:8b “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" We also find the prophecy in the second reading which is St. Paul’s letter 2Timothy 4: “3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

But how has it happened that we find ourselves living in a society where even those professing to be Christians will not accept the words of the Gospel and find them offensive?

Well... of course I do have an opinion on this subject.

In our first reading we find that God is declaring the coming New Covenant. This is an example of how God was always merciful and forgiving. This New Covenant speaks about God forgiving sins and instead of people having to be told by a “third person” to know Him, it claims that under this New Covenant all His people will know Him. We understand that this is talking about the gift of a personal relationship with God. We all can have this. And our helper is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also our teacher.

All this is a two sided coin because on one side we have direct access to God and each of us can know Him personally, but on the other side is the tendency people may have to abuse this privilege by not actively seeking out to know God. There is a freedom in this Covenant, but with this freedom comes the responsibility to be personally active in seeking the truth about God.

Psalm 119 speaks about meditating on God’s law and we learn from this the benefits are that a person who does so will know more than his elders and teachers. It also states very clearly that understanding is gained by obedience to God. This may have been “Old Testament” but I believe that the exhortation to meditate on God’s law holds true for all time.
Psalm 119: “97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”

We do live in the time of “Grace”, but people who have known God have always lived under “Grace”. Grace is God’s undeserved favour and Abraham enjoyed it when he believed God would do what he said. We rest in the knowledge that we have God’s grace, but if we do not stay connected to God in prayer and in communion with the rest of God’s body the Church then we will forget what God says and become those people that Paul talks about in his letter to Timothy, who will turn away from truth and believe in myths.

Jesus told the disciples the parable of the persistent widow so that they would know to always pray and to not give up. We also must not give up. We mustn’t give up on praying even though it seems that our prayers aren’t answered. The parable is not meant to give the message that we will be heard by God by praying lots.... God hears us the first time. He is not like the unjust Judge.... but even an unjust Judge will grant requests and God will do so even more... our prayers ARE answered, but the outcome might not be in the way we wish.

We must not give up meeting together. We are encouraged by the readings that each of us can know God, one as much as the other! As the body of Christ we need each other and truly when you are not an active part of this body it is felt dearly.

Another important aspect that is often overlooked, is the implication of us all knowing the Lord, is that there is no place for spiritual pride. I often hear people talking about spiritual maturity as if there are levels and it always grates, as I don’t think anyone but God can know our true spiritual state – it doesn’t work the same as in our physical world where age might determine maturity. I have been humbled in the past by simple and very true statements that taught me (much like a slap in the face), made by people who were new Christians or those not fitting the normal description of a spiritual “elder”.

Jeremiah 31: 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Once upon a time in the history of mankind, and in our own personal story, we may have been taught to know the Lord – but really we were taught to know ABOUT him.... But his will is for us to personally know him and when we do we must continue to be connected and not give up. Constantly be in communion with Him and constantly give our requests to him because His concern is for us – He is on our side.