Never Give Up
Genesis 32:22-31, Luke 18:1-8
by The Rev. Sara Fischer
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “Never give up?” A bunch of different images come flooding into my mind. Henry Stamper in Sometimes a Great Notion and his family motto: Never give an inch. ….. Harry Potter in his quest for Horcruxes. Scarlet O’Hara, saying “As God is my witness, I’ll never by hungry again,” Jacob wrestling the angel. The persistent widow talking to the unjust judge. Jesus’ words to his disciples, to pray always and not lose heart.
These stories confront us with some of life’s persistent questions. Does God ever actually answer our prayers? Is anyone listening? Why does it take so long? How come there’s still such suffering in the world? What can we do about it? What kind of faith does Jesus hope to find when he returns to earth? And what kind of God dislocates someone’s hip?
Usually when we read the parable we heard this morning we focus on the judge—is he supposed to be God? (I don’t think so.) Or we focus on the widow: are we supposed to be like that? What Luke says first is most important: Jesus told the disciples a parable about the need to pray always and not to lose heart. This is the teaching, this is more important than the details of the parable. Do not lose heart. Never give up.
The story we hear about Jacob provides an illustration of someone who never gives up. Jacob’s name means “trickster” and his whole life is defined by taking from others what they think rightfully belongs to them. Jacob has spent his life scheming or running. He sends his family and all his possessions ahead of him as he waits for a showdown with his brother with whom he broke long ago. Instead, he has a showdown with a mysterious stranger.
They wrestle until daybreak. The stranger, whom Jacob later identifies as God, will stop at nothing to overcome Jacob, including dislocating his hip. What kind of God does that? The kind of God who uses any means necessary to prevail. The kind of God who, like Jacob, never gives up. The kind of God who likes us when we’re wounded. It makes us vulnerable and it’s sometimes in our vulnerability that we’re best able to align ourselves with God.
I’m not saying God hurts us on purpose. I’m saying that this story of Jacob wrestling with God may also be a story about the need to pray always and not lose heart, and a story about trusting God’s presence even when we’re hurting. Think about your own experience of God; I imagine it sometimes feels like a fight, and sometimes a blessing.
Neither Jacob nor God gives up the fight. I will not let you go, says Jacob, until you bless me. I love that line. When we persist, even when that persistence entails wrestling with God, we experience the power of God working through us. And Jacob gets his blessing and a new name: Israel, one who strives with God. This name change marks him as who he has always been: someone who never gives up. The wrestling there on the banks of the Jabbok River binds him to God and brings him closer to the self God calls him to be.
Jesus ends today’s parable with the somewhat perplexing question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Will Jesus find us praying and not losing heart? Will he find us wrestling and refusing to let go without a blessing? Will we be faithful in a time of injustice? Will we continue to fight, pray and work for justice even in the worst of times? Will we protect and persist, protest and resist governance here on earth that would deprive fellow humans of their rights? We live in a time when it would be easy to lose heart, and to give up. The world feels wounded and vulnerable. At times, I feel wounded and vulnerable. And yet, we are told over and over again: do not give up. Pray. Do not lose heart.
If we believe, as Jesus says, that the kingdom of God is within us and among us, then it is up to us to make sure that people recognize the kingdom in our midst, the kingdom where no one is left behind, where all are welcome and all are fed.
Fighting with God puts us in a vulnerable position, like the widow with the judge, like Jacob. But persistence in the fight is a sign of hope. If we are full of hope, we cannot help but persist. If we are persistent, it is hard not to hope. The persistent determination to keep at it with those we love and those with whom we struggle is a sign of hope. Persistence means sticking with God through thick and thin. Persistence means remembering our baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being every day.
We live in a time when our capacity to keep baptismal promises is constantly under threat. But living in the kind of persistence and hope we see in Jacob and in the widow in today’s parable means keeping these promises.
Last week in Bible study we talked about this gospel and the question of whether Jesus will find faith on earth. The conversation went toward whether one can have faith and be a good Christian without being part of a church. The answer folks came up with was kind of yes, and... or yes, but... Being part of a faith community is easier than going it alone. I always describe church as a support group for discipleship. Our baptismal promises bind us to continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. To me, that sounds like church. It also sounds like how we support one another in the work of being Christian.
Our baptismal promises bind us to seek and serve Christ in all people. If we cannot pray and sing week after week with people who differ from us in this place, how will be go forth from here to seek and serve Christ in all people? Church is a training ground for the persistence and hope that is part of discipleship, a training ground for persisting in our relationships in this place and in the world beyond our doors.
I had an old friend who often used that old line about the distinction between preaching and meddling. Before I start meddling, I’m going to close with a couple of questions for you to think about: What does it mean to you, to pray always and not lose heart? What does it mean to fight for God’s blessing, to let God make us vulnerable, and never give up?
