Keep The Faith, Pray Always Without Ceasing

Sermon 101622 Since the early days of God’s call on Abraham, it seems that God’s relationship with the nation of Israel was up and down, and the time of the prophet Jeremiah was no different. Israel had not learned its lesson because, time after time their hearts veered off the course, and they fell into complacency and forgot God’s ways and did things their own way. No worries, they were punished for it, so were the following generations as well. They faced hardships, some of which, are almost similar to ours. They might not have experienced the devastation of the atomic bomb, but they also knew terrible effects of war and living in exile. They also knew worse pandemics than we have known: a much higher rate of deaths. Just like us, they faced broken relationships, they had pride, greed and conflicts just like we do. No wonder God is seen comforting the next generations: He promised them that they will no longer be liable for the sins of their parents: “This time you will be liable for your own sins.” The Good News is, that God was looking forward to be in a deep bond; covenantal faith relationship with them. The hope was that by faith, they would all come to know the Lord from deep down their hearts: You see, God had promised to walk with them closely and to forgive them. Now fast forward to Jesus’ time. How surprising for us to learn the same comforting words from Jesus telling his disciples to keep the faith and to pray always without ceasing, and later on telling them that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Keep the faith and pray always without ceasing. So, we as the new Israelites by faith, we are to be careful in our walk because, unfortunately, this temptation to veer off the course reaches all generations including ours. That’s why today, we are reminded that we are in a covenantal faith relationship with God through faith in Jesus, who because of his death on the cross and his resurrection, we became His forever through our baptism. That’s serious! The truth is, there are lots of things we face in life that try hard to derail us from the course. It may be our fears; our hurts, our guilt, our disappointments, a bitter experience, you name it. For sure, if we have faith, then without fail, our faith will be tested! Keep the faith and pray always without ceasing. Paul also writes the same comforting words to Timothy, a new generation of believers, saying: “Continue in what you have learned and believed, commit to it seriously…” In order words, protect yourselves from everything trying to kick you out of the road. Now we understand why Jesus is giving this parable of a widow and a corrupt judge. Those obstacles that are vying to kick you out are not few and they don’t go on vacation. Jesus wants us, his disciples (the new generation) to be persistent in making our prayer requests known to God. Pray without ceasing! Jesus words sounds like this: If a corrupt judge is able to provide justice to a widow because she has been bugging him to death, what do you think, your Father in heaven who is good will do? God will grant your request! Our faith is likely to falter and wan because of injustice and the obstacles. Persist in your faith and prayer! Know that we don’t wear God out by our persistence, rather we wear out the judge within ourselves, perhaps we wear out our own impatience within us! You see, sometimes, God’s answer is no. We have to acknowledge that! Sometimes God’s answer is not yet. If we love instant gratification like instant coffee; instant food/ my children love those packets of instant oatmeal with different flavors! It doesn’t mean we can expect instant answer from God! Not a realistic expectation, though it may rarely happen! We are to surrender everything to God, even our control. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. Know deep down in your heart that God cares. Don’t box God within your timeframe! Talk to God, write down what we are hoping for if you need to! Pray and don’t lose heart! Stay the course despite the Obstacles and challenges. Focus on God, the source of all good things. Keep the faith, and pray always without ceasing! Amen.