On Wednesday this past week, the world rejoiced as the 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped in a collapsed gold and copper mine were rescued after more than two months being trapped 2,300 feet underground. In case you missed this amazing story, back on August 5th this mine in northern Chile collapsed. For 17 days no one knew whether the miners inside were alive or dead, until finally, a borehole reached them and they sent up a note that they were, amazingly, all alive. Since that day, the world has waited and watched as the rescue efforts unfolded, as liquids, food, medical supplies and a video camera were ferried down from the surface, and the miners ferried up notes of encouragement to their families. On Wednesday, in a rescue operation that lasted 22 hours, all 33 miners were saved. They were raised up in a specially made human capsule in a narrow shaft a half mile deep. The world has been inspired by their story of strength and amazing persistence.
Persistence is the overwhelming theme in our readings for today. We hear in our Gospel lesson that in a certain city there was an unjust judge, who had no respect for God or his fellow citizens. In the same city there was a widow that wanted justice. She came to the judge over and over again saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” Day after day, week after week. After a while the judge gives in, not because he had a change of heart, but simply because she has become so annoying. As he says, she was “bothering him” and “wearing him out.”
In our second reading Paul urges Timothy to persist in his ministry despite setbacks. He encourages Timothy to “proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, encourage.” “As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.”
There is Jacob on the shores of the Jabbok River, wrestling with God until daybreak, demanding a blessing and getting it before he lets go.
Persistence is a huge theme in the Bible. When we think of the Bible we often think of transcendent mountaintop experiences, and there are those. But there are far more stories about grinding it out, about trying and failing and trying again, about plugging away through the unknown, through hard times. Noah building his Ark, Abraham waiting for a son, Moses leading the Israelites 40 years in the desert, the prophets calling for justice though no one listens, Paul being imprisoned, the disciples continually missing the point but still trying. The Bible is filled with these profiles in persistence. When something shows up in the Bible that much, you know there’s something to it, something universal, something very human, and something holy.
Persistence is not only a virtue. Persistence is a holy thing. It is sacred. Getting up and going to work in the morning. Holy. Plugging away at your job. Holy. Looking for a job. Holy. Parenting. Holy. Doing homework. Holy. Aging. Medical treatments. Holy. Persistence is part of our vocation – our life’s work in the world. And it is holy.
As Christians, this is one of the most powerful ways we point to the “life that really is life” – by being able to name our lived experience as sacred. Our joys, our sorrows, and even our grinding it out take on new, deeper, richer meaning. God is present in it.
But “the life that really is life” takes us further, calling us to be people that help make the world a better place. To be persistent in things… Continue reading
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This week I came across one of the better blog posts I’ve read in a while. It was written by a church communications guy named Tim Schraeder and it was called “No One Cares About Your Church,” in which he critiques flashy church marketing, which we often associate with evangelical mega churches, but is practiced by smaller mainline churches too.
