Scripture/Sermon of the Day. October 16, 2022

Jeremiah 31:31-34

31
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
32
It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
33
“This is the covenant I will make with the people 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 they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘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.”

Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my accuser.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Reflection/Sermon:

I. I’ve been writing Scripture of the Day that includes the lectionary reading and then a reflection on that reading. It was Pete Laffin’s idea during the first days of the pandemic to send the church a small reading of scripture as a way to keep in touch with the spiritual world. I hope you receive these in your emails each day. Reading a passage of scripture is a way to follow Jesus, and little by little, to become more like him. Everything we do, really, is to help us reflect more of the light and love of Jesus Christ through our lives.

II. Yesterday’s reading was that story in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus was on the road as he was leaving Jericho and a crowd walked with him and you can imagine it being loud and people yelling after Jesus because he was a rock-star. People crowding him, asking for his autograph, taking a selfie with him. “Hey Jesus!” they yelled, trying to get him to look their way. And in all this commotion, a blind beggar sat on the side of the road who was not a part of the crowd around Jesus but he heard the people yelling “Jesus!” and he’d heard about Jesus so he yelled too: “Jesus, have mercy on me!”

III. The crowd thought this blind guy was ruining the party atmosphere of Jesus-the-rock-star celebration, so they shouted at him “Shut up! Don’t be such a downer!”

V. Bartimaeus didn’t listen but yelled louder, “Jesus — have mercy on me!” In my writing for yesterday, I asked: “Why didn’t Bartimaeus listen to the people and be quiet?” They said: “Be quiet!” Why wasn’t he considerate of what others wanted? Was he selfish?

VI. You know who Bartimaeus reminds me of? That widow in our reading today who drove the judge crazy. The Judge said, “My God — I’ll give her whatever she wants if she’ll just go home and stop bothering me!”

VII. Jesus said that’s how we have to pray. Keep pounding on God’s door. Don’t stop — like Job! Because, says Jeremiah, God will write the answer to our prayers on our hearts and in our minds. The love and compassion of Christ shining through our lives is God’s answer to our prayers.