[Propertalk] Gospel sermon bits for October 17 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Now and Then 

My husband Murry and I used to belong to an adult Sunday School class called the "Now and Then" class. I assumed it got its name from the fact that they studied the faith now and the roots of the faith in the biblical story then. It turned out it was more a description of the sporadic attendance of class members! It occurs to me that THEN can refer, not only to a past event, but also to a future one.

So Now and then is a good answer to the question:  When are we to prepare for the kingdom of God?

We are to prepare now for then. How? By praying for justice, pestering for justice, persistently demanding justice from people and institutions with other priorities.

Now, we have the kingdom of God in our midst as God's desire for justice.

Then the Son of Man will stand before us and ask "Where will I find faith on this earth?"

Here would be a good answer.

http://www.patheos.com/community/mainlineportal/2010/10/09/1437/

Alyce M. McKenzie
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...in this parable [is] an injunction not to lose heart, in the light of the eschatological tone of Luke 17:20-37, and also an echo of Sirach 35:[
For he is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. He is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint; Do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against him that causes them to fall? He who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unjust_Judge

Joel B. Green, 1997
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Maybe the good news in this story for the non-outcasts - for the rest of us - is that God is like the widow - unrelenting, persistent, assertive. God hasn't given up on us, even when we have acted as though we "neither feared God nor had respect for people." So maybe there's hope, not only for the widows and orphans and sojourners of this world, but for us. Maybe there is hope that we will tend to the shame we feel and allow it to break through our resistance and press us to open doors to those who knock persistently; maybe there is hope that we will hear their pleas at last and use our voices and our power to help shape relief and reconciliation and fairness in this world. Maybe there is hope for us. I believe there is. More importantly, I believe God believes there is.

http://day1.org/1064-whose_persistence

Robert Dunham, 2007
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There's a famous story about a young boy named Frank who was walking along the bank of the Mississippi River and he noticed in the river another boy about his age wrestling with a homemade raft. He said to him, "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm going to take this raft out to that island in the middle of the river. I dare you to go with me!" Well, Frank couldn't resist the dare so he scrambled down the bank and got on the raft. The two boys headed out to the middle of the river but the current was swift and strong. As they approached the island, the raft broke up and sank and they had to swim to the island. And there they were, abandoned on an island, late in the afternoon. Nobody knew where they were. What would they do? 
Right at that moment, one of those paddle-wheel steamers started coming down the river and Frank ran to the edge of the island and began screaming and waving his hands, "Help! Help!" The other boy said, "Don't waste your breath. They can't hear you and even if they could they wouldn't pay any attention to boys like us." But just at that moment the paddlewheel steamer turned toward the island. The boy said to Frank, "How did you do that?" And Frank said, "Well, there's something you don't know. The captain of that boat is my father!" 

Well, the captain of the universe is our father and how much more will one who has formed us in the womb respond to our every cry. So pray always and don't lose heart. 

[also a story about Mother Theresa and AIDS here]

http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/long_5101.htm

Thomas Long, 2007
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