STANDING AT THE WATCHTOWER

Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock

[Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke17:5-10]

This past Tuesday, there was a gentle knock on my office door.  To my surprise, it was Becky Taylor, our Senior Warden.  She was on her way home, having just finished participating in the Tuesday “Brown Bag Lunch” group, which meets weekly in the parish hall to offer the Noonday prayers, to eat lunch together, and to offer the chance for good, connecting conversation.  Seeing that I was in my office, she wanted to say “hello”, which quickly led us both to sit down for an impromptu chat.  The main thing I remember about what we said was our mutual confession about how exhausted we both are over the state of the world and specifically what is happening in our nation.

Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for our conversation to light upon a pastoral and spiritual question.  We wondered out loud that as a faith community -- as a church, as members of the Body of Christ, what can St. Philip’s do to support our members in these times of confusion and chaos?  In what ways can all of us be strengthened in our faith so that we can continue to follow Jesus through the darkness without falling prey to the prevailing distortions and fears?

I had previously scheduled appointment that was to take place in a few minutes.  So, we broke off our conversation, but not before reminding each other how very important it is for the two of us -- parish leaders -- to keep connecting, and talking, and praying – and, yes, waiting for an adequate answer to our nagging questions of how this place might serve to strengthen faith.

As I began to refocus myself for the next conversation, the opening line from today’s gospel came to mind: “Increase our faith!”  That is the plaintive cry we hear today from the Twelve to Jesus.  You see, in the verses just previous to today’s reading (our lectionary selection does not include them today) – in the verses that immediately precede our gospel lesson, Jesus warns the Twelve, “…[h]ard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! … [so] be alert.  If you see your friend going wrong, correct him.  If he responds, forgive him.  Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he (or she) says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive [that person].”[1]  At this hugely challenging point, the Twelve understandably cry out for help: “Give us more faith!”[2]

Under the pressing circumstances of our own times, it wasn’t hard at all for me to hear my own voice in the Disciples’ protest. 

We do live in days and times of struggle and confusion, and in the stressed and strained realities of uncertainty and doubt, we would do almost anything to have an increased faith, a stronger faith.  “Increase our faith”.  “Make us stronger.”  “Grant us the courage and integrity to go where we are afraid to go.”  Indeed, “Increase our faith!”

But how?  How can our faith be increased?  What needs to be done?  What can be done?  Moreover, if our faith were increased, what would we do with it?  Would we be tempted to use this enlarged faith to provide us with a sense of certitude that would relieve our anxiety and make our lives “all better” – like some form of inoculation?  Or would we use it as a way to deepen of our appreciation of the relationship God gives to us and trust in God’s faithfulness towards us?

The next morning, I received a short email from Becky that contained a brief prayer she wanted to share with me.  It came from the Bishop of Missouri who composed it and posted it online.  Reminding me of the chat Becky and I had, its words resonated deep within me.

Dear God, I am so tired

Tired of the trampling of truth for threat.

Tired of the fracturing of faith for fear.

Tired of the battering of blessing for brutality.

Tired of the of the mocking of mercy for malice.

Tired of the wounding of wonder for wrath.

Yet, you, O Holy One, are the Well of wholeness, the Fountain of freedom, the Harbor of healing and hope.

Renew my resolve, restore my rest, and rekindle in me the radiant reassurance that love will last, Light will lift, and life will lead us home.  Amen.

In Becky’s thoughtful and caring gesture, I received an answer – an answer to how our faith is increased and our lives strengthened.  With an unscheduled tapping on a door, some honest conversation, and a demonstration that we are not alone and on our own in this harrowing time, my faith was increased; or more accurately put, my faith was recalled from its temptation to retreat and lay low.

You and I have been at this point before, and the point is simple and direct: If we want to grow as God’s people, if we desire to develop our faith to be able to follow and imitate Christ, then the first step most often lies in the simple Showing Up!  Show up.  “Be there, Aloha.”  Let someone know you are with them in the struggle and are committed to live through the confusion because we know that there is Light in this darkness.  We know that we belong to God – no matter what.

In this past week’s NOW, I have already hinted about this “showing up” by virtue of what I see in the prophet Habakkuk and how his faith was strengthened.  I wrote to you that of all the Hebrew prophets, Habakkuk is unique in that, unlike his other truth-saying colleagues who tell the people what God is saying, Habakkuk talks to God as one of the Holy One’s own; and like eavesdroppers, we hear what the prophet believes he needs to say to the Maker of heaven and earth.  And what the prophet says to God comes in the form of a complaint that in essence says: “You, God, are not doing your job!  All hell is breaking loose among your covenanted people, and what are you doing about it?”

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?  Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?  Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? [3]

Pretty strong words to be sure: Words we might not dare personally to utter but sentiments, nonetheless, we harbor in our hearts.  More to the point, as followers of Jesus, how many of us expect our faith to exempt us from the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”[4], including the cruel treatment from the travelers we meet who are walking the other way?  This is to say that it is an unnerving shock that God’s followers don’t get preferential treatment in life.  (As one wag has said, “If this is how you treat your friends, God, no wonder you have so many enemies!”)  But contrary to all the marketing that comes across the religious threshold, the truth is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a guide to “success”.  Or as Donald Trump, Jr. proclaimed in 2021 speech, “Turning the other check will get you nowhere.”[5]

Surprisingly, perhaps shockingly, the biblical prophet Habakkuk is among these complainants.

Many might expect a thunderbolt to crash down upon the speaker of such pretense, but be assured that God’s love and faithfulness can take a punch because the Holy One’s faithfulness is unbounded and will be revealed in ways we do not understand or expect or at times even want.  And this is precisely the “turning point” at which the Prophet Habakkuk demonstrates how we are to “increase our faith”.  It is by exercising the faith we do have in God – seed-size though it may be.  One might even conclude: “Use it or lose it!”

After Habakkuk’s bold indictment of God, what he does next is precisely what it takes to “increase our faith”: namely, he goes to work as God’s faithful (that is, “trusting”) partner.  With hardly a moment between complaint and faithful action, Habakkuk pivots to his position of faith and action, saying: What’s God going to say to my questions?  I’m braced for the worst.  [But] I will climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon.  I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer my complaint.

And God does answer: Write this.  Write what you see.  Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.  This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming.  It aches for the coming – it can hardly wait!  And it doesn’t lie.  If it seems slow in coming, wait.  It’s on its way.  It will come right on time.[6]

What’s the “vision”, you ask?  For those with eyes to see, the vision is made clear on the cross of Christ.  On the cross God eternally demonstrates two essential truths.  One is that seeing life on God’s terms, we realize that nothing gets away, not even death.  And this connects us to the second demonstration from the cross: namely, that God spares no cost to love us and to give us lasting life, which we need and cannot provide for ourselves.

So, the continuous question is this: How do you and I give witness to the Vision and, thereby, “increase our faith”?  To what extent can St. Philip’s – does St. Philip’s promote our witness – a witness to God’s mercy, redemption, and life-giving mission for all people, in all cases, and in all situations?

That’s the word from the “watch tower” from one sentry.  Amen.

---

[1] Luke 17:1-4.  The Message.

[2] Luke 17:5.

[3] Habakkuk 1:2-3.

[4] Hamlet. Act III; scene 1.

[5] Donald Trump, Jr. speech at the Turning Point USA Conservative Conference, December 19, 2021.

[6] Habakkuk 2:2-3. The Message.