Sermon for 10/17 - Hunger

Sermon for 10/17/10, Hunger Month

Text: Luke 18:1-8

From my study windows I can see mainly two things, one the road construction, which is mercifully for the most part done. The other thing is the field where our sweet-corn had been planted. This means that everyday I look out and pray for annoyance to go away and pray for those who are hungry in this world.

I’m thinking that the prayer for the hungry works a little better. But, in our Gospel for today annoyance and prayer go together.

There are a couple of Simpsons’ episodes that carry similar scenes. Bart and Lisa, the two older kids, want something, and Homer, their Dad, does not want to get it for them. One particular episode they want a pool. They had been swimming in the city pool, but want one of their own. Lisa states about her and Bart

Dad, as you know, we've been swimming, and we've developed a taste for it. We both agree that getting our own pool is the only way to go. Now before you respond, you must understand that your refusal would result in months and months of...

Bart+Lisa start speaking together: Can we have a pool Dad?

Can we have a pool Dad?

Can we have a pool Dad?

Can we have a pool Dad?

Can we have a pool Dad?

Bart: Can we -- [Lisa motions them to stop]

Homer: I understand. Let us celebrate our new arrangement with the adding of chocolate to milk.

The widow in our text does that same. Widows of that time had virtually no power. There were rules to care for them, grain left over on the ground of the fields was theirs to pick, and they kept their shelter. But they had no real voice in the community. And therefore judges or other rulers could overlook them. But here a widow is crying for justice. We don’t know for what, or even if she is correct. But she hounds this judge until he gives her justice, not because he agrees with her, but because has grown tired of her annoyance.

Jesus then, in a rare moment, gives us an interpretation of a proverb. He tells us to be like the widow and cry to God like she has cried to the unjust judge, letting God know of our problems and our concerns. This is very good, it fits with the verse that begins our text, “Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” We should always pray, asking God for grace and mercy, telling God of our concerns and fears, knowing that they are heard.

We are to cry out for justice and deliverance, seeking them for ourselves and all others.

But, there is something to consider about this. Many times we get it into our head that anything we ask for, God will give us. I remember praying for many toys as a kid. Man, I wanted a Nintendo. Never got one. My friends did, but I didn’t. Does that mean that God didn’t hear my prayer? Or that God loves me less? No of course, not, but is me getting a nintendo truly a concern in my life? Is that something to ask God for? You can, it does not cause the rest of your prayers to be unheard.

There is the story of the Boy who cries Wolf. A young Shepherd is in the field watching his sheep, if he sees a Wolf he is supposed to call out for the townsfolk to come and help him. He fake this a couple of times, crying WOLF, WOLF! When there is no wolf. And eventually the townsfolk stop listening, and when a wolf actually comes no one helps him and his flock is eaten.

But God is not like that, God hears all of our prayers, and God answers them all, but just not in the way we may like or in the way we may hear.

This leads us to a second way to understand this proverb of Jesus. So far we have put ourselves as the Widow and God as the Judge. But, what if we reverse our roles? What if we are the Judge? We almost seem to fit this role better than God. Is God really unjust, God is God and so of course the idea of God fearing or not fearing God is confusing. And God most certainly has respect for people, God came to us and became human. But we, we certainly fit that judge role. We very much don’t fear God. Fearing God is a sermon all unto itself, but the idea of fearing is not being scared, but the idea of being in awe of God. We often don’t have respect for what God has done in our lives. I read a comment from a story about the recent rescuing of the miners in Chile. Many of the miners had been thanking God for their rescue, and someone commented. “I would like to see a thank you to all the engineers and workers who drilled through all that rock to get to them.” I wanted to respond, where do you think they got the strength and knowledge to know how to dig down there in the first place?

So, we don’t respect God, even if not to the extent of that commenter. And we also certainly do not always respect other people, we may not do it intentionally, but we constantly sin against God and others.

We certainly fit the idea of the judge, and God certainly fits the idea of the widow constantly badgering us.

There are two sides to prayer, and we forget that. We think, lets ask God for stuff and then we sit back and go well come on God get to work. God is calling to us all the time. However, God is calling to us reminding us of little things, telling us that we are loved, reminding us to love those around us. Last week, we heard of the connection between Love and Faith. We see God’s love given to us in Jesus, and we respond through faith, we respond through working to spread the knowledge that God’s love is found in everyone and everything. This week we hear God calling to us, showing us the little things in the world that should remind us of that call.

We need to see the little things. I would like to point one out. Hunger. I gave out a pamphlet last week talking of the ELCA World Hunger program, you received a special offering envelope this week and will again next week. I ask you to give to help end World Hunger, and I ask you to pray.

During the course of preparing this sermon I have been reminded of many little things that I see everyday, but overlook. I already stated one, simply looking out my window at a harvested field, driving through the county and seeing fields everywhere in the midst of harvest. This evening is United Parish’s Fall Mission dinner, in three weeks we have our own Turkey Dinner, and then at the end of November Thanksgiving itself. This reminds us of two things. God calling to us and reminding us of the grace given to us in being able to be in a part of the world that is able to provide and purchase ample food for ourselves. But we are also reminded that even in our midst there may be families who are going hungry, there are people all over our nation who hunger, and people all over the world that suffer. These people should be constantly on our minds, in our hearts, and in our prayers.

I want to tell you the story of one such person who has been helped through ELCA world hunger. Meet Nubia, Nubia owns a herd of 60 dairy cows on her ranch on the outskirts of Chinandega, Nicaragua. There she employs nine people, and her cows produce 1,000 liters of milk per day. Each morning, a long line of neighbors forms to buy fresh cheese and dairy products.

But three years ago, when her husband died, Nubia didn’t think she could keep her land, much less run a successful dairy. She had just a few cows. They grazed on nothing but dry underbrush, and they were producing less and less milk every day. Worried about the future, Nubia’s children left the country to find jobs in the United States and Spain. Nubia’s future seemed bleak.

Good agricultural techniques changed everything for Nubia. Now enjoying a nutritious diet and grazing in fields of tall alfalfa, her cows are healthier and producing more milk than ever.

Nubia learned to grow alfalfa for her cows from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a new U.S. development assistance program. Bread for the World helped establish this program through the 2003 Offering of Letters and financial support from ELCA World Hunger.

Nubia is proud of her work. Because of her success, she is no longer worried about her future. She only hopes that her children can return. She says, “I named (the farm) Deysi, which is also my daughter’s name. Maybe it’s meant to be hers.”

What can we do about hunger? We work towards ending hunger, but maybe as important as giving money if not more so is prayer. In prayer we listen to God, in prayer we hear God gentle nudging, calling us to go help those in need, to help heal the hurt, comfort the grieving, and feed the hungry. But, even more so we hear that God is not pushing us to, but God is calling us to. That is important. God is not seeking to push us to go help the hungry, but God is calling us to go help the hungry.

To call to means that God must already be there. People ask where is God in the midst of tragedy, God is right there, in the midst of it, calling to us to come and help, giving us the strength to do so. God is here, but God is also most certainly there.

There is a third point that can be found in this parable. Prayer and faith. We are told to pray always, to be like the widow calling to God with our concerns and fears, and we are also the judge hearing God call to us with God’s concerns. And we have faith, we have the faith to know that we are loved, and we are supported in our love for others. We are fed in this world, and in the Lord’s supper, we are fed beyond imagine, but we still come, again and again, for though we eat, it is the food given to us in Christ that we truly need, should seek everyday, for ourselves and others.

Let us pray,

God of feeding and strength,

We ask you to be with all those who hunger in this world, we ask you to be with all those who work to end hunger in this world. We give you thanks for the gift of your Son, that through him we may be truly fed. And we thank you for all leaders in this world who go through hard decisions. We especially ask you to be with Bishop Mark Hansen and all staff at the Churchwide offices in Chicago as they work through change in organization and the loss of jobs. We ask you to help continue to work your good through them, helping them to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and spread your word throughout this world, even in the midst of uncertainty due to decreases in financial support.

AMEN