The Truth Is … …

Readings:
Habakkuk 1:1-4;2:1-4
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10

“If you had the faith of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

And so the saying in the parable goes, but Pastor Johnson reflected this week that often it is not just a matter of faith alone. We lack patience more than faith sometimes.

We pray and hope ‘things will change’ and … nothing changes. The text from Habakkuk speaks to our frustration:

“ … justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous - … judgment comes forth perverted.”

Habakkuk is the patron saint of the frustrated. It’s just too easy to give up. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus is surrounded by ‘whining disciples’. Even Timothy fears he is not made for preaching and Paul must reassure him. When Timothy feels he does not have the right words, Paul urges him to

Go Anyway!

Paul reminds Timothy, “You have the truth. Tell it – and everything else will take care of itself.” Too often we seek a life of comfort and prosperity. It’s what we’re taught in this world from an early age is our due … or at least our goal. But the Gospel today is not about prosperity, but about suffering. We are asked to understand that we suffer for Jesus.

Because the pint is:

THIS is NOT our best life. Our best life is yet to come.

We should all realize that our personal suffering is not pointless. There is not only suffering, but also hope. When nothing’s going right, you don’t have only that – you also have Jesus.

EVEN Jesus, in Gethsemane, prays to have the cup spared him, prays to not be asked to endure the most gruesome death, abandonment and betrayal. And he lives the message for today:

“What jam are you in that God is not in with you?”

Here’s a little secret. We ALL suffer … loud and quiet suffering.

The widower struggles to make it through the interminably lonely day without their soul mate of decades who is suddenly no longer by their side. Let them know God walks with them.

That teenager struggles to make the team, and be accepted by their peers. Tell them they fit in … where it matters.

Tell the hospice patient the truth – that in the last steps of their journey, God is there.

Say it with conviction! People will come back again and again, if you say it with conviction … conviction of the heart.

In a song called Conviction of the Heart, Kenny Loggins sings:

You've heard it hundreds of times
You say your aware, believe, and you care, but...
Do you care enough To talk with Conviction of the Heart?

There's a whole other life waiting to be lived when...
One day we're brave enough
To talk with Conviction of the Heart.

Where is your conviction of the heart?

We are Jesus to one another and we all have the truth … that it’s not about prosperity or avoiding suffering, but the truth that God NEVER leaves us to travel alone. Let’s spread that truth with conviction of the heart.