D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "Pray and Do Not Lose Heart" (October 16, 1983)

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	(handbell music)	0:03
	(congregation shuffling)	0:10
	(handbell music)	0:59
	(congregation shuffling)	3:55
	(handbell music)	4:45
	(handbell music)	7:41
	(organ music)	10:39
	(congregation singing hymn)	11:01
	(organ music)	13:04
	(congregation singing hymn)	14:57
-	Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you	15:28
	from God our creator and Jesus Christ,	15:31
	our redeemer in the faith.	15:34
	You did not come, O God, to judge us,	15:38
	but to seek what is lost,	15:41
	to set free those who are in imprisoned in guilt and fear,	15:44
	to save us when our own hearts accuse us.	15:49
	Take us, then, as we are with all our sinful past.	15:53
	Let us pray.	15:59
	(congregation shuffling)	16:01
	O God in Christ, unto whom in every age	16:13
	people have confessed and been forgiven,	16:17
	we acknowledge now our need for your pardon and grace.	16:20
	In this dislocated age, we limp not	16:25
	because we wrestle with you,	16:28
	but because we struggle with one another.	16:31
	The world is dark with our angers.	16:34
	Your creation groans its travail from our abuse.	16:37
	The human family is threatened.	16:41
	O Lord, we lament our sin.	16:44
	We admit our need and desire to change.	16:47
	Forgive us, transform us, empower us	16:51
	to persist in the ways of love and discipleship.	16:55
	In the name of the One who is servant of all,	16:59
	Jesus of Nazareth.	17:02
	Amen.	17:04
	The Lord is my light and my salvation.	17:38
	Whom shall I fear?	17:41
	The Lord is the stronghold of my life,	17:43
	of whom shall I be afraid?	17:46
	In the name of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.	17:49
	Let us then give thanks for God is good	17:53
	and God's love is everlasting.	17:57
	Thanks be to God, whose love creates us.	18:00
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy redeems us.	18:04
	Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future.	18:08
	We welcome you to worship here,	18:14
	the 21st Sunday after Pentecost,	18:16
	at Duke University Chapel.	18:19
	It is a beautiful fall morning,	18:21
	and we are glad to celebrate God's gift of creation	18:23
	that surrounds us on such a spectacular day.	18:27
	We are very pleased this morning	18:31
	and have already enjoyed the special music	18:33
	of the bell-ringers of First Baptist Church,	18:37
	Henderson, North Carolina.	18:40
	They have performed in the chapel before.	18:43
	We have appreciated their gifts of music,	18:45
	and we are grateful to them for being with us on this day.	18:48
	The director is Mr. Philip M. Young,	18:53
	and you're invited to come and greet these young people	18:56
	following our service or worship this morning.	18:59
	There will be a communion service here	19:05
	in the Memorial Chapel immediately following worship today.	19:07
	You are invited to come and celebrate	19:11
	in this service of the Eucharist.	19:14
	Our guest preacher today is one of our professors	19:17
	in the Divinty School, the Reverend Dr. D. Moody Smith.	19:21
	He has preached many times from our pulpit.	19:26
	We are very glad to have him back,	19:29
	and honored that he is sharing his time	19:31
	with us this morning.	19:33
	He is currently professor of New Testament Interpretation	19:35
	in the Divinity and Graduate Schools of Duke University.	19:40
	He was educated at Davidson College, Duke Divinity School,	19:44
	and Yale University.	19:49
	Many of you students know, and even I	19:51
	in the time I went to college, knew of Dr. Moody Smith	19:54
	through The Anatomy of the New Testament,	19:58
	a book that has remained a classic as a text used	20:01
	by New Testament classes in many colleges and universities.	20:05
	We are very pleased that Dr. Smith is here	20:10
	as our guest preacher this morning.	20:12
	The sermon title is, "Pray and Not Lose Heart."	20:15
-	Let us pray.	20:30
	O Lord, our God, you have given your Word	20:33
	to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.	20:36
	Grant us grace to receive your truth in faith and love,	20:41
	that by it we may be prepared unto every good word and work,	20:45
	to the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord,	20:49
	Amen.	20:53
	The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis,	20:57
	the 32nd chapter, verses three through eight	21:00
	and 22 through 30.	21:04
	And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau	21:08
	his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,	21:10
	instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau:	21:14
	Thus says your servant Jacob, 'I have sojourned	21:20
	with Laban and stayed until now.	21:23
	And I have oxen, asses, flocks,	21:26
	menservants, and maidservants.	21:30
	And I have sent to tell my lord,	21:32
	in order that I may find favor in your sight.'"	21:34
	And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying,	21:40
	"We came to your brother Esau,	21:43
	and he is coming to meet you, and 400 men with him."	21:44
	Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.	21:49
	And he divided the people that were with him,	21:53
	and the flocks with herds and camels, into two companies,	21:55
	thinking, "If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it,	21:59
	then the company which is left will escape."	22:04
	The same night he arose and took his two wives,	22:09
	his two maids, and his 11 children,	22:12
	and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.	22:15
	He took them and sent them across the stream,	22:18
	and likewise everything that he had.	22:20
	And Jacob was left alone.	22:23
	And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.	22:26
	When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob,	22:31
	he touched the hollow of his thigh, and Jacob's thigh	22:34
	was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.	22:38
	Then the man said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking."	22:41
	But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."	22:47
	And he said to him, "What is your name?"	22:52
	And Jacob said, "Jacob."	22:56
	Then the man said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob,	23:00
	but Israel, for you have striven with God	23:03
	and with men, and have prevailed."	23:06
	Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name."	23:09
	But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?"	23:15
	And there he blessed him.	23:18
	So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,	23:20
	saying, "For I have seen God face to face,	23:24
	and yet my life has is preserved."	23:28
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	23:32
	The Epistle lesson is from the second book of Timothy,	23:38
	chapter three, verse 14 through chapter four, verse five.	23:42
	But as for you, continue in what you have learned	23:51
	and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it	23:54
	and how from childhood you have been acquainted	23:58
	with the sacred writings, which are able to instruct you	24:01
	for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.	24:04
	All Scripture is inspired by God	24:08
	and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,	24:10
	and for training in righteousness,	24:15
	that the man of God may be complete,	24:17
	equipped for every good work.	24:20
	I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,	24:24
	who is to judge the living and the dead,	24:28
	and by his appearing and his kingdom:	24:30
	preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season;	24:33
	convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing	24:38
	in patience and in teaching.	24:43
	For the time is coming when people	24:46
	will not endure sound teaching,	24:47
	but having itching ears they will accumulate	24:50
	for themselves teachers to suit their own likings,	24:52
	and will turn away from listening	24:55
	to the truth and will wander into myths.	24:57
	As for you, always be steady, endure suffering,	25:01
	do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.	25:06
	Here ends the reading from the Epistle lesson.	25:12
	("Psalm XIX" by Benedetto Marcello)	26:08
-	Will the congregation please stand	29:11
	for the reading of the Gospel.	29:13
	(congregation shuffling)	29:14
	The Gospel lesson and the text for this morning's sermon	29:21
	is taken from Luke, Chapter 18, verses one through eight.	29:24
	And he told them a parable to the effect	29:31
	that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.	29:34
	He said, "In a certain city there was a judge	29:38
	who neither feared God nor regarded man.	29:41
	And there was a widow in that city	29:44
	who kept coming to him and saying,	29:46
	'Vindicate me against my adversary.'	29:48
	For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself,	29:52
	'Though I neither fear God nor regard man,	29:57
	yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her,	30:01
	or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'"	30:05
	And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.	30:10
	And will not God vindicate his elect,	30:14
	who cry to him day and night?	30:17
	Will he delay long over them?	30:19
	I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily.	30:22
	Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,	30:26
	will he find faith on earth?"	30:29
	Here ends the reading from the Gospel lesson.	30:34
	Amen.	30:37
	(organ music)	30:39
	(congregation singing hymn)	30:45
-	Let us pray.	31:44
	May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts	31:48
	be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord,	31:52
	our strength and our redeemer.	31:55
	Amen.	31:59
	And he told them a parable to the effect	32:06
	that they ought always to pray	32:09
	and not lose heart.	32:12
	I just do not want to be told to pray and not lose heart.	32:16
	This advice sounds to me futile, naive,	32:23
	I may well need to pray because I am losing heart,	32:29
	but who can give me such advice?	32:33
	If you can keep your head when all others about you	32:36
	are losing theirs, to paraphrase Kipling,	32:40
	you don't understand the seriousness of the situation.	32:44
	And people who give such advice seem not to understand	32:48
	the seriousness of the situation.	32:52
	Life, in all its extremities from which we try desperately	32:54
	to hide ourselves, is serious.	32:57
	So serious, we must either laugh or cry.	33:01
	I just don't need to be told to pray	33:06
	and not to lose heart.	33:10
	That seems like simple-minded,	33:12
	if pious and well-meaning advice.	33:14
	If I've had a run of bad luck, if college or graduate school	33:18
	is not turning out the way I thought it would,	33:22
	if my career aspirations are thwarted,	33:25
	if once-loved ones are alienated,	33:28
	if I'm facing illness or some other personal crisis,	33:31
	I really don't need some pious person to tell me	33:36
	to pray and not lose heart.	33:39
	That's easy and even trivial advice	33:42
	coming from someone who has no reason to lose heart,	33:45
	and they're often the people	33:49
	who give you that kind of advice.	33:50
	Now you may have noticed, as the Gospel lesson was read,	33:54
	that it is actually not Jesus who says this.	33:58
	Luke, or in any event, the narrator writes,	34:03
	"And he told them a parable to the effect	34:07
	that they ought always to pray and not lose heart."	34:10
	Sometimes, Luke makes Jesus out to be a pretty pious man.	34:16
	In fact, Luke is the only Gospel writer who reports	34:22
	the dying Jesus as saying, "Father, forgive them,	34:25
	they know not what they do,"	34:29
	and that's almost too much even for Jesus.	34:30
	And here, Luke seems to interpret what Jesus meant,	34:35
	and it comes out sounding a little like a pious platitude.	34:39
	"Pray and do not lose heart."	34:44
	One could respond, "If only I could pray,	34:49
	I would not lose heart," or "If I were not losing heart,	34:54
	I would not need to pray."	34:59
	In any event, don't advise me to pray and not to lose heart.	35:01
	Yet, does Luke in fact misrepresent Jesus?	35:08
	At one level, the bearing of this parable	35:12
	does seem to be that his hearers or his disciples	35:14
	should persist in prayer and not lose heart.	35:18
	Now as we know, Jesus often teaches in parables.	35:25
	A parable is, of course, a story that makes a point,	35:29
	usually just one point.	35:32
	Jesus' parables are about everyday events and people.	35:34
	They are not explicitly religious in content	35:39
	or theological in language,	35:42
	and the individual characters in the parable	35:45
	do not represent principles or other people or figures.	35:47
	For example, the unjust judge is not God,	35:51
	it is said he has no fear of God and no respect of man,	35:55
	in other words, he's a reprobate.	35:58
	His behavior is not motivated as God's behavior is.	36:01
	The woman is not said to be virtuous.	36:06
	She is not necessarily even exemplary,	36:08
	and yet there is a sense in which the hearers	36:11
	are encouraged to emulate this woman.	36:15
	They should remain constant in prayer.	36:18
	And yet, at the end of the parable,	36:23
	Jesus says that God's elect	36:24
	do cry out to Him day and night,	36:26
	presumably they don't need to be told to pray.	36:30
	Probably, they are people under duress,	36:34
	perhaps under persecution, and under these circumstances	36:36
	prayer, even lamentation comes naturally.	36:40
	And the emphasis or point now lies elsewhere,	36:44
	and it is simply this, as Jesus says:	36:48
	If even an unjust judge will vindicate	36:51
	or obtain justice for a widow,	36:55
	not because of her virtue but because of her persistence,	36:57
	how much more will God obtain justice for his chosen people	37:02
	who pray to him constantly?	37:06
	He will do it without delay,	37:09
	so there's a happy ending to the parable,	37:12
	and an answer to the prayers of the righteous.	37:15
	And yet at the end there comes a disquieting question:	37:20
	When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?	37:24
	Is it Jesus' question?	37:31
	Well, maybe so; Jesus speaks of himself	37:32
	in the third person as the Son of Man.	37:34
	But it may be Luke's question,	37:38
	or some unknown Christian's question.	37:40
	Actually, the original text doesn't	37:44
	use quotation marks at all, so we can't know.	37:46
	What we are finding, really, is several meanings	37:51
	or several levels of meaning in this parable	37:54
	and in the subsequent sayings.	37:58
	If you just take the parable, the little narrative alone,	38:01
	it does seem to teach persistence in prayer,	38:05
	as Luke said to begin with.	38:08
	But if you see the parable in light	38:10
	of Jesus' incomparable comparison	38:12
	of the unjust judge to God Himself,	38:15
	then the point seems to be God's unparalleled goodness	38:19
	and justice in answering prayer.	38:22
	And finally, there's that troubling question	38:26
	of whether the Son of Man, who is Jesus,	38:30
	will return to find faith on earth.	38:33
	For Luke at least,	38:38
	this is a genuine question.	38:40
	The late Maclaine Gillmore, an older colleague	38:44
	and a dear friend of mine, wrote in his commentary	38:47
	on Luke that this parable offers an interesting study	38:50
	in the development of the Gospel tradition,	38:54
	and he may well be right.	38:56
	The several levels of meaning that we've discerned	38:59
	may mark developing interpretations.	39:01
	But what we have to do this morning	39:06
	is to ask ourselves whether it all makes sense together.	39:08
	It does, in the Gospel.	39:14
	The vindication of the elect and the coming	39:18
	of the Son of Man are ways of speaking	39:20
	of God's judgment, God's rule.	39:22
	And just prior to the parable that was read this morning,	39:25
	the Pharisees have asked Jesus when the Kingdom	39:29
	or rule of God is coming.	39:32
	And in reply, Jesus speaks	39:35
	in terms we would call apocalyptic.	39:37
	He talks about cataclysmic events.	39:40
	And then the Parable of the Unjust Judge,	39:43
	our parable follows. `	39:46
	And presumably it's the people who wait	39:48
	upon God's rule who call upon Him day and night,	39:50
	and God will not disappoint them.	39:53
	He will vindicate them, He will bring justice, and quickly.	39:55
	The question is whether those who beseech Him	40:01
	and wait upon Him will endure.	40:03
	When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?	40:07
	The question is left open.	40:12
	Apocalyptic warnings,	40:16
	simple maxims,	40:19
	a parable, a searching question.	40:22
	Taken together they make a certain profound sense.	40:26
	Prayer, God's righteousness, and not losing heart,	40:31
	what Tillich called The Courage to Be,	40:35
	are different facets of a common reality.	40:38
	They are bound together.	40:42
	To pray and not to lose heart is to express faith	40:45
	in the righteousness of God.	40:49
	That faith is not just a doctrine,	40:51
	not even a frame of mind, it's an expectation,	40:53
	a hope, a prayer, because it leans into the future,	40:57
	looks to the future, it risks disappointment.	41:00
	But the parable offers the assurance	41:03
	that God heeds persistent prayer.	41:05
	The Word of Jesus assures the hearer	41:09
	that God hears cries for justice	41:11
	and will soon vindicate His elect.	41:13
	But how long must one wait for that?	41:17
	That question is not answered.	41:21
	Instead, another question is posed.	41:23
	When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?	41:28
	To pray is a very human undertaking.	41:39
	Christians didn't invent it and have no monopoly on it.	41:42
	Some of us may actually do it more than we admit.	41:47
	To pray means not to lose heart.	41:52
	As long as you pray, you have not lost heart.	41:56
	If you lose heart, I suppose you not only cease to pray,	42:00
	but you stop looking for the righteousness of God.	42:03
	Now, I think we can put all of this in terms	42:06
	that are not specifically religious.	42:08
	I don't think we can say all	42:11
	that Christians mean to say by prayer	42:12
	and God's justice by doing so,	42:15
	but it's worth thinking about in these terms.	42:17
	So let's for a moment...	42:20
	The attitude of prayer translates into expectation and hope.	42:22
	A sense of transcendent meaning and purpose,	42:27
	which is open to me, which I can share.	42:30
	It's the sense of being accompanied, of being justified,	42:34
	in having any hope and expectation at all.	42:37
	A sense of being justified in believing	42:40
	that we can discern and do what is right.	42:43
	It brings with it the power to live and to not lose heart.	42:47
	It looks forward to the realization of justice,	42:53
	what the New Testament calls God's Rule, His Reign.	42:57
	Jesus, when He taught His disciples to pray,	43:03
	had them pray for the realization	43:06
	of God's justice, God's rule.	43:08
	Thy Kingdom come.	43:13
	Jesus is portrayed in all the Gospels,	43:17
	and especially in Luke, as a man of prayer.	43:20
	It's easy to sentimentalize this fact or to ignore it,	43:24
	and I expect different Christian attitudes	43:27
	tend to go in one direction or the other,	43:30
	but the fact is undeniable: Jesus is a person of prayer.	43:32
	Now there's a curious thing about Jesus praying.	43:37
	Although He teaches His disciples to pray for God's rule,	43:41
	He also encourages them to bring their deepest desires	43:44
	to God and to persist in such prayer.	43:48
	We liberal, middle-class, modern Christians	43:53
	are a little uneasy about this.	43:56
	I guess we're afraid we'll ask God to do something	44:00
	He can't do, and we don't want to embarrass God.	44:03
	But this openness in prayer is exactly	44:07
	what Jesus Himself practiced.	44:09
	When faced with the prospect of imminent death,	44:11
	He prayed God to let Him escape it.	44:14
	And on the cross, He cried out,	44:17
	"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"	44:18
	The first line of Psalm 22.	44:22
	The impertinent widow of our parable	44:25
	is a model of prayer, according to Jesus.	44:28
	The fact that she is oppressed and seeks justice	44:32
	against her adversary is germane to the parable,	44:36
	and the fact that she persists out of need	44:39
	and even desperation is obvious and important, too.	44:42
	Her prayer is the persistent expression	44:46
	of her deepest need.	44:48
	And that is what true prayer must be.	44:50
	Now, this concept of prayer is easily trivialized.	44:54
	I can think of examples, you can, too.	44:59
	Turn on your television on Sunday morning	45:02
	or lots of other times.	45:05
	A young woman in an evening dress is posed	45:08
	on the bow of a sailboat in San Francisco Bay	45:11
	on a sunny afternoon with an orchestra playing	45:15
	in the background, and she is singing	45:18
	Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.	45:22
	Then there was, is the testimony, which I heard,	45:27
	that when the hairspray ran out,	45:31
	not the wine mind you, but the hairspray,	45:32
	this was told by a woman, but I suppose	45:36
	it could as well have been told by a man,	45:38
	when it ran out, a neighbor appeared at the door	45:41
	with a new can of hairspray.	45:44
	An answer to prayer.	45:48
	Ask, and it shall be given you, said Jesus.	45:51
	Now I think that Scripture does not mean	45:57
	something silly is a sound, hermeneutical principal.	45:59
	But if the prayer for hairspray represents	46:03
	your deepest awareness of need,	46:06
	maybe that's the only genuine prayer you can offer	46:08
	and we shouldn't blame you unless you testify about it	46:11
	on television before an audience of thousands of people,	46:14
	and maybe make a good bit of money out of it to boot.	46:18
	Now what's missing from such concepts of prayer,	46:22
	aside from any common sense, is any perception	46:25
	of the real issues of life.	46:28
	Those who cry out day and night	46:31
	are deprived of more than hairspray.	46:34
	Genuine prayer arises only out of genuine need.	46:37
	Genuine prayer is a cry for vindication.	46:43
	It expresses the heart's desire for rectitude,	46:47
	for right, for wholeness, for peace.	46:51
	A year ago last spring,	46:55
	I was in Cuernavaca in Mexico,	46:58
	with a seminar of divinity students and faculty.	47:02
	Cuernavaca is a beautiful town,	47:07
	it's Cortes' original capital,	47:09
	I suppose it's about the size of Durham.	47:11
	Rich people go there, and we saw there	47:15
	the homes of internationally known, rich,	47:17
	and very successful people from all over the world.	47:20
	We also saw a place called La Estacion, The Station Yard,	47:24
	and we visited people there who had been squatters	47:31
	living there by the railroad tracks for years,	47:35
	some of them all their lives.	47:38
	Their homes were literally constructed	47:41
	out of junk and rubbish, things that other people	47:43
	had thrown away.	47:46
	Now La Estacion had recently gone from one outdoor faucet	47:48
	to four for its several hundred people,	47:52
	so there had been improvement in public utilities.	47:54
	But the sewage was still disposed of or allowed	47:59
	to come to rest in the fetid, stinking creek	48:03
	that ran through the settlement.	48:06

-	Children, dogs, and chickens	0:03
	ran and played together.	0:07
	Incidentally, we were guided through	0:10
	this settlement by an American Catholic	0:12
	lay missionary who was known	0:14
	and trusted by these people.	0:16
	Otherwise, they might not have been too happy	0:18
	to greet a group of American tourists	0:21
	who were exploring and deploring their property.	0:24
	We visited the house of Angela,	0:30
	one of the final homes in La Estacion.	0:33
	It had a mud floor and was built	0:38
	of scraps of wood and tin	0:40
	leaning up against a central beam,	0:44
	which had been a telephone pole.	0:47
	Angela had a half dozen children, at least,	0:50
	all of whom were either in school or had jobs.	0:53
	Now some of us can attest that that in itself	0:57
	is quite an accomplishment for anybody.	1:00
	She had supported her children by	1:04
	selling simple lunches to construction workers.	1:07
	She would get up before dawn,	1:09
	cook the lunches, carry them out herself	1:12
	maybe miles on foot.	1:14
	But it had been a successful business.	1:17
	And with the profits, she had bought a refrigerator,	1:19
	which was a kind of reinvestment in the business,	1:22
	and a television set.	1:25
	Somebody thought to ask under his breath	1:28
	to his neighbor, "Where's her husband?"	1:32
	Don't ask.	1:36
	Unlike the Samaritan woman, who had five husbands,	1:38
	she had, at best, only part interest in one husband.	1:41
	He had other families and presumably	1:46
	took responsibility for none of them.	1:49
	An immoral woman by some standards.	1:54
	But paradoxically, or maybe not paradoxically,	1:59
	a woman of prayer and of hope.	2:02
	The single room of her home was decorated	2:05
	with the brightly colored trophies	2:08
	of her Catholic faith.	2:10
	Angela was faithfully Catholic,	2:14
	not only faithfully but intensely so,	2:16
	in contrast to some of her neighbors.	2:19
	Well one could draw several and, I suppose,	2:22
	contradictory implications or conclusions	2:27
	from this scene.	2:31
	A Marxist might find confirmation that	2:34
	religion is indeed the opiate of the people.	2:36
	Some of our prominent political leaders	2:42
	might see here the spiritual triumph	2:44
	of the free enterprise system.	2:46
	But she remains a remarkable personification	2:53
	of what it means to pray and not lose heart.	2:56
	More depressing living the conditions	3:00
	would be hard for me to imagine.	3:02
	Here was this poor, small woman	3:05
	with no visible grounds for hope	3:09
	and no hope for extricating herself	3:12
	from these surroundings.	3:14
	And yet strangely she was full of hope;	3:18
	and within the limits of her modest expectations,	3:20
	her hope had found fulfillment.	3:23
	A life of prayer and not losing heart	3:27
	had been vindicated.	3:30
	Now, I don't hold her up as an example to be emulated,	3:32
	I wouldn't want to be in her place,	3:36
	and I wouldn't want you to be there.	3:37
	And I don't think this is the time or the place	3:39
	to deplore the deplorable conditions	3:42
	under which she has lived	3:45
	and which she has transcended.	3:47
	Certainly we should not acquiesce	3:51
	in the existence of such conditions,	3:54
	of such squalor and say, you know,	3:56
	"It's God's will," or,	3:58
	"See what beautiful flowers grow out of such refuge."	4:01
	No.	4:04
	Too many Christians have acquiesced	4:06
	in such things for too long.	4:08
	Yet there she was,	4:12
	a child of prayer and hope.	4:14
	Believing that God would vindicate her,	4:18
	had vindicated her.	4:20
	The unfortunate grass widow.	4:22
	Pray and do not lose heart.	4:27
	"Blessed are those who hunger," as Luke says.	4:31
	Or "Blessed are those who hunger	4:34
	"and thirst after righteousness," as Matthew adds,	4:36
	"for they shall be filled."	4:39
	Do you believe any of that stuff?	4:41
	I'm always being amazed	4:47
	to find that there are people who really do.	4:51
	And to realize that in some mysterious but real sense,	4:56
	their prayer issues in hope and their hope in prayer.	5:01
	When the Son of Man comes,	5:08
	will he find faith on Earth?	5:11
	Yes. In Cuernavaca.	5:13
	Where else?	5:17
	Luke leaves this question open.	5:20
	For it is a question	5:24
	addressed to us.	5:27
	Amen.	5:34
	(worship organ music)	5:41
	(choir singing)	6:02
-	As the people of God, let us affirm what we believe.	7:59
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating;	8:03
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	8:08
	to reconcile and make knew;	8:11
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	8:14
	We trust God who calls us to be the church;	8:18
	to celebrate life and its fullness;	8:22
	to love and serve others;	8:25
	to seek justice and resist evil;	8:28
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.	8:31
	Our judge and our hope,	8:35
	in life, in death,	8:37
	in life beyond death, God is with us;	8:39
	we are not alone.	8:43
	Thanks be to God.	8:45
	The Lord be with you.	8:47
-	And also with you.	8:49
-	Let us pray.	8:51
	O spirit of God, You are the bond	9:05
	of everlasting love,	9:09
	our very longing for love, for friendship,	9:11
	for relationships that last.	9:15
	For this little while, this day,	9:18
	empower us now with the impact of Your presence,	9:21
	for we hunger for You, o gift-giving spirit	9:25
	of love and of life.	9:29
	O gracious God, teach us to trust what we do not understand.	9:33
	So much senseless suffering,	9:39
	so much spoiled potential.	9:42
	Such a lack of meaning seems to meet us at every turn.	9:45
	Faith means still believing in the midst of our unbelief.	9:50
	That in You, there is understanding,	9:56
	and You alone are the truth for which we hunger.	9:59
	Forgive us, our Lord, for all the times	10:04
	our very hearts have gone to war,	10:07
	for hatreds we nurture, wounds inflicted,	10:11
	damages already done.	10:15
	Help us rather to make peace in fulfillment	10:18
	of the promises You gave us	10:21
	with family, friends, neighbor,	10:24
	nation, and right around the globe.	10:27
	O God of peace, be with us all who hunger	10:31
	for peace this day.	10:35
	Remember us, our God,	10:38
	for we are that new creation You once	10:40
	called forth from clay.	10:44
	We are reborn, redeemed, revisited;	10:47
	reflecting the very image of Your saving word and deed.	10:51
	We hunger now to know You well,	10:56
	to experience Your nearness in these	11:00
	intensely troubled times.	11:02
	And may all Your children be one.	11:06
	Your will be done throughout the Earth,	11:09
	for it is in the name of Jesus Christ we pray	11:13
	who taught us to pray saying,	11:17
	"Our Father, who art in heaven,	11:20
	"hallowed be thy Name,	11:23
	"thy kingdom come,	11:25
	"thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	11:27
	"Give us this day our daily bread.	11:30
	"And forgive us our trespasses,	11:33
	"as we forgive those who trespass against us.	11:35
	"And lead us not into temptation,	11:39
	"but deliver us from evil.	11:41
	"For thine is the kingdom,	11:43
	"and the power, and the glory, forever.	11:45
	"Amen."	11:49
	(gentle twinkling bells music)	12:09
	(gentle twinkling bells music)	17:09
	(powerful organ music)	21:02
	(choir singing)	21:20
	Open wide Your hands, O God,	22:20
	to receive these gifts of our live and service.	22:23
	In Your name we pray. Amen.	22:26
	(worship organ music)	22:35
	(choir singing)	23:16
	Unto God's gracious mercy and protection	24:47
	we commit you, and the blessing of God Almighty,	24:50
	Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer;	24:55
	be among you and remain with you always.	24:58
	(worship organ music)	25:10
	(congregation chattering)	28:14

Item Info

Title:

D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "Pray and Do Not Lose Heart" (October 16, 1983)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 31:44. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 5:40.
How can a person going through a crisis receive the message in Scripture to "pray and not lose heart"? One can easily be offended if a pious person comes to you during a time of crisis to tell you to pray and not lose heart. The preacher convets that the parable doesn't just teach persistence in prayer but it rather points to God's unparalleled goodness and justice in answering prayer. When Jesus speaks of this widow who does not cease to pray, he speaks of a marginalized person who has experienced injustice first hand and is crying out loud for vindication. The parable answers by saying, God will not disappoint her and those who thirst for justice. He will vindicate them, He will bring justice, and quickly. But how long must one wait for this? That is a question Luke leaves unanswered, an open question left there for all of us. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "To pray and not to lose heart is to express faith in the righteousness of God. That faith is not just a doctrine, not even a frame of mind, it's an expectation, a hope, a prayer, because it leans into the future, looks to the future, it risks disappointment. But the parable offers the assurance that God heeds persistent prayer. The Word of Jesus assures the hearer that God hears cries for justice and will soon vindicate His elect.”

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4wh2dw34

Date:

October 16, 1983

Speaker:

Smith, D. Moody, Jr.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

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Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0174
ref7869_248
uachapelsermaud
duke:320728
dcrau001165
ark:/87924/r4wh2dw34
1ab0341b-7fa5-4f6f-a081-e4168257eb87

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United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "Pray and Do Not Lose Heart" (October 16, 1983)

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