A member of our community recently told me a bit about her spiritual journey. She first prayed intensely when she was about 9 years old. Her mother was very ill. As a little girl, our friend prayed intently for her mother’s life. This prayer must have put all heaven on alert, mustn’t it? We are feeling for that little girl right now, without even knowing her name, so we would expect an outpouring of love from Heaven. Her mother died. So, she decided there wasn’t any point to prayer, and God isn’t good for much of anything.
We have no business opening our doors unless we have something to say to this little girl. So let’s see if today’s Gospel can help us decide what to say. It’s got a good beginning. Jesus says he’s going to tell us a story so we won’t lose heart. We need that kind of story. But applying the story to our little girl isn’t easy. The Gospel promises that God will quickly grant justice. It doesn’t feel just to us when a 9-year old girl looses her mother.
The Greek word translated as “justice” here carries with it the sense of “vindication,” the sense of being defended, affirmed. When we picture being vindicated, we picture authority standing with us and taking our side; we aren’t left singing, “We shall overcome;” Vindication is the moment of overcoming in the here and now.
Could this be what Jesus is promising? What might that look like? Today at the 9:00 and 11:15 services, we will be welcoming new members. I hope you marked this day on your calendar as an extra Christmas, because these new members bring spiritual gifts that will enrich our whole community. Our Newcomer Groups include an evening when we get together to talk about prayer, and on the most recent prayer gathering, one of those present told this story: She was a teenager. Without encouragement from anyone, she was drawn to visit some churches and check out that experience. When the event I am about to describe happened, she had been visiting the Quakers, and trying to get the hang of their silent prayer practices. She was also drawn to endless fighting with her mother. One day, they had a very heated exchange. Her sister, the peacemaker, urged her to apologize. That made her even more mad. But something very unexpected happened. That evening, alone in her room, a force she could not deny spoke to her very soul, saying, “Tell your mother you’re sorry.” It wasn’t like her sister’s voice. She couldn’t argue. The next day, she apologized to her mother. Later that very same day, her mother collapsed. She went into a coma from which she never recovered.
Her entire life would be different if that force for good we call God had not claimed a voice in her soul. She would be living with inescapable guilt instead of celebrating a miracle, celebrating the nearness of Heaven. Heaven stood with her. Heaven defended her against her adversary, her own anger. With heaven on her side, she overcame it. This is a picture of God’s swift justice.
People have different reactions to a story like this. For some, it may prompt you to remember a time when Heaven drew near for you. For others of us, doubt, and maybe even jealousy wells up, because nothing like this has ever happened to us. We wonder why? Is it because we haven’t prayed right? Does God play favorites? Here’s another possibility: Maybe some of us have had these experiences and some of us haven’t as a reminder that we are not designed to grow in holiness all by ourselves. We are designed to make up the body of Christ together. We need each other to find our way. God uses us to defend and affirm one another. God uses us to deliver heavenly justice to others.
This can only fully happen if we come together in small groups to prayerfully share troubles and insights. Lots of that happens around here in Thursday Night classes and Education for Ministry and Stephen Ministry and the Thursday Lunch Bunch and writing groups. But we could use more small groups, and Corrine Reimer is eager to work on forming them. Her e-mail is in the current issue of the Cross, and I urge you to get in touch if you would like to help.
In a small group on Friday morning, one member shared about a friend who is terminally ill with cancer and struggling to live alone even though she is increasingly frail and forgetful. We read today’s Gospel and asked her where she found justice in her friend’s life. Her answer was simple. She said, “When I see her, I put my arms around her and tell her how much I love her.” God uses her to bring the justice of love to her friend. There is no greater vindication.
Maybe this tells us what we can say to that 9-year old girl. We can say, “I love you.” It’s the right thing to say to her when she’s 9, and when she’s 39 and when she’s 90. We have very good cause to open our doors, that we might be the voice of God’s love to all who cry out in want, that we might be God’s swift justice with these simple words, “I love you.”