{"id":2354,"date":"2019-10-20T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T15:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=2354"},"modified":"2019-12-03T11:49:39","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T16:49:39","slug":"not-to-lose-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2019\/10\/20\/not-to-lose-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Not to Lose Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 31:27-34<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 18:1-8<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear just the sermon<\/a><\/p>\n

Parable of Persistence<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Hear ye hear:\u00a0 the honorable Unjust Judge is presiding this morning in our homiletical courtroom.\u00a0 Before him, a persistent woman, who employs time and voice. (You have time and you have voice.) Like Christ himself, she implores the implacable world to grant justice. Like Christ himself, she comes on a donkey of tongue and patience. Like Christ himself, she continues to plead, to intercede. Like Christ himself, she importunes the enduring \u2018gone-wrong-ness\u2019 of this world. Like Christ himself she prays without ceasing. Like Christ himself she persists. She is an example to us of how we should use whatever time we have and whatever breath remains–to pray. It is prayer that is the most realistic and wisest repose for we the anxious of this anxious autumn. By prayer we mean formal prayer, yes. But by prayer we mean the persistent daily leaning toward justice, the steady continuous pressure in history from the voice of the voiceless and the time of the time bound.\u00a0 And the daily practice of attention, alertness, being alive, being around. Prayer public, prayer private.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ours is a long wait. And that is just the point: we feel the length of the wait.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notice, waiting with us, this poor widow. She lacks power, authority, status, position, wealth. She has her voice and all the time in the world. Like Jesus Christ, whose faith comes by hearing and hearing by the preaching of the word.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He told them a parable about how they ought to pray always and not to. lose heart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heart and Service<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sometimes prayer is public, even institutional.<\/span><\/p>\n

On this Family and Friends weekend, we can remember the persistent prayerful work of Boston University, across nearly 200 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boston University is an institution with a long history of outreach and engagement, <\/span><\/i>said recently our President Robert A. Brown.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boston University lives in the heart of the city, in the service of the city, <\/span><\/i>said President Lemuel Merlin, 1923.<\/span><\/p>\n

One deeply embedded value and strength of Boston University, today, and found in every school and college is this long (1839) history (Methodism) of outreach (heart) and service (in the world, for the world).<\/span><\/p>\n

The three medical campus schools lead the way with care for the urban poor (MED), with daily recognition that public health means social justice (SPH), and with the most global dental student body of any school or college at every commencement (GSDM).<\/span><\/p>\n

All fourteen schools on the Charles River campus show the shadows and lingering long-term influence of heart and service.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflect on the current emphasis in QUESTROM upon ethical business and business ethics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember the BU educational 25-year commitment to the Chelsea city schools, and the to year work in urban literacy Initiative on Literacy Development, our outreach to Boston Public Schools so strongly enhanced by the Wheelock merger.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejoice at the concept of \u2018citizen artist\u2019, the \u2018social artist\u2019, affirmed at the College of Fine Arts, the best of theater and music and visual art, brought to the street level (along with the Arts Initiative).<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflect on the curricular and co-curricular engagement in the School of Theology, the ongoing voice of \u2018The School of the Prophets\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember the Social Work engagement with neighboring hospitals and schools, in internships and partnerships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejoice at the ongoing vitality within Metropolitan College of a now veteran program in prison education.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflect on the School of Engineering support for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember our School of Hospitality emphasis on servant leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejoice at the communal nature of education in the College of General Studies, modeling dimensions of shared learning and living with great effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflect on the College of Arts and Sciences, and its PARDEE School, committed to world peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember the School of Law and its honored graduates who have defended the legal system of this country, \u2018a country of laws and not of men\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejoice at the varied commitments through The College of Communications to the development of an educated populace, on which the rest of democracy depends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflect on Sargent\u2019s lectureships on physical and occupational therapy, open to the public, and applicable to the work of many other schools and colleges as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

To these vital forms of \u2018outreach and engagement\u2019 in schools and colleges, add the Howard Thurman Center, the ROTC program, the Hubert Humphrey Scholars program, the Community Service Center, the Office of Religious Life, the Elie Wiesel Center, the Sustainability Center,\u00a0 The BU Initiative on Cities, and others, all of which to some measure reach out beyond the University to serve and help the larger community, across the region and around the globe. Boston University exemplifies a culture of \u2018outreach and engagement\u2019, working in the world for the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Public prayer. As in the life of Elijah Cummings, now of blessed memory, a life reminding us that Elijah is coming, and a voice teaching us that \u2018diversity is our promise, not our problem\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your alma mater, at her best, institutionalizes prayerful persistence.<\/span><\/p>\n

He told them a parable about how they ought always to pray and not lose heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes prayer is public.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy Your Wife<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And sometimes prayer is private.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, that is, prayer is personal, meant to wake us up to what lasts, matters, counts and is real.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking personally, one summer holiday joy comes from sitting alone, anonymous, a regular citizen of the planet, enjoying a pub lunch.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Bermuda, one favorite such hide out, for the hours Jan is shopping in Hamilton, is \u2018The Hog Penny\u2019.\u00a0 Its name fits British Bermuda, as does its dark wood interior\u2019; as does its English, English not haute cuisine, meals, shepherds\u2019 pie and chips; as does its broadcast of cricket on the \u2018tellie\u2019; and does its public house, pub mood.\u00a0 Since our honeymoon we have gone to Hamilton, Bermuda, she to shop, and I to blend into the British Bermuda woodwork, and be alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

She and I no longer need to identify our individual itineraries.\u00a0 Marriage works sometimes that way. She knows where to find me, as she did, mid-shopping expedition, this August.\u00a0 A surprise hug from behind came as no surprise to me; a big kiss or three, some reports from the field of shopping battle, happy and tearful memories of the same place, the same dark wood interior, every five years or so to August, 2019.\u00a0 Downing a glass of ice water, she is off again on the hunt, leaving me to read. Other years the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or both, in print, but now, sadly no longer available, in print, on the Island. A hug, a kiss, a reminder to show up on time for the ferry back to the hotel, and we are separate, again.\u00a0 As one day, a long stretch of decades ago, before marriage. As one day, again, someday, when we cross the river.<\/span><\/p>\n

I notice one other customer, alone at the dark farther end of the Hog Penny oak bar.\u00a0 Six empty chairs separate us. He slowly rises, and begins slowly to approach. One chair at a time he slides his full glass gently, carefully, toward me, then rounds the chair at hand, and then pushes his glass another chair length, and again the glass, round the chair, catch your breath, start again.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is wearing a yellow golf shirt, tan pants, loafers, eyeglasses without frames, and is, say, 15 years my senior, my father\u2019s age when he died, balding, thin, and short.\u00a0 I have learned over the years to watch for clues, signs that such an one, approaching, in such a setting, may want to sell me insurance (it happens), or invite me to church come Sunday (also), or need a loan (at least once).\u00a0 I enjoy meeting new people, but this is vacation, a few precious summer hours in the beauty of Bermuda. So, I am leery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here he comes, slide the glass, round the chair, slide the glass, round the chair, take a breath.\u00a0 No signs of trouble do I see. But still I am on the alert. A temporary lay person is a full-time pastor who has seen this movie before.<\/span><\/p>\n

He leaves one empty chair between us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Where are you from?\u2019, he asks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Boston\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018How did you get here?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018We flew direct from Logan\u2019. \u00a0 A little silence, of which there will be more than a little more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018How about you\u2019, I volley back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018By boat, from New York City\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Do you live there?\u2019, I venture, trusting the moment a little more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Nearby.\u00a0 Long Island.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, I know Long Island\u2019, I rejoin.\u00a0 \u2018I will be there near Bayshore, Point O Woods its called,\u00a0 later in August.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there is a long pause, as there were many in the conversation.\u00a0 He seems not to know how, exactly, to proceed. At these pauses, I jump in to prompt a couple of time, but then leave him to his silence.\u00a0 I notice he is making steady progress through his drink, which gladdens me to see, somehow, and it clearly does him, too. Silence. He is from a generation, one might say, in which is expected, a common courtesy, to offer a bit of conversation, gentle, genial conversation, to a stranger who is alone.\u00a0 Of course, as with so much else of human being and meaning, the smart phone and internet have eclipsed this human practice. Or killed it off, outright.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The silence is sounding more fully resonant now.<\/span><\/p>\n

He perks up.\u00a0 \u2018That was your wife?\u2019, he asks. \u2018I mean\u2019, he corrects himself, \u2018She is your wife?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Yes\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018She is so pretty, so happy\u2019, he says smiling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Yes\u2019, I say.\u00a0 \u2018Well\u2019, I add, \u2018especially on vacation, and especially out shopping\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

He ponders this a bit, then asks, \u2018Have you been here before?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Yes\u2019, I say, \u2018about a half-dozen times.\u00a0 It is one of the world\u2019s most beautiful place, in nature and in culture.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Yes\u2019 he says, drawing a deep breath leading to another long pause.<\/span><\/p>\n

His eyes dim, then brighten, then dim, like the sun ducking in out behind a cloud bank.\u00a0 Silence. More uncomfortable with the silence than he is, I interject again: \u2018Did you sail to Bermuda with friends or with family?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No\u2019, he says.\u00a0 \u2018I am here on my own\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, somehow, I have the sense to the let the silence be long, be quiet.\u00a0 Lonely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then he looks up and addresses me: \u2018My wife and I have come here over the years.\u00a0 She would shop and I would come here and have lunch, or not.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

She <\/span>would<\/span><\/i> shop.\u00a0 I hear it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I clumsily and with a sense of foreboding repeat, \u2018She would shop?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Yes\u2019, he adds.\u00a0 \u2018She and I planned this trip a few months ago.\u00a0 She was really looking forward to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, I\u2026\u2019 then I stop mid-sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018She died in April\u2019.\u00a0 Silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I am so very sorry for your loss\u2019, is what I come up with to say.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you.\u00a0 I was going to cancel, but decided to come alone, to come by myself, alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I am so truly sorry for your loss\u2019, I clumsily repeat.\u00a0 I am having a hard time seeing him, for some reason\u2014maybe the humidity has clouded my eyes.\u00a0 I wipe my eyes a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you. \u00a0 I appreciate that.\u00a0 She loved this place.\u00a0 Bermuda and its beauty she so loved.\u00a0 We both did. Together.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I am glad you came.\u00a0 I am glad for your memories.\u00a0 I know how meaningful it must be for you to be here.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you\u2019, he responds.\u00a0 \u2018I guess I am glad. The memories are good.\u00a0 But painful too.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Here more pause.\u00a0 A light silence. A good silence wherein what is said and what is heard can sink down in and settle in.\u00a0 Be heard. Like a sermon, a conversation is not about getting something said, but it is about getting something heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

He made strong headway with his drink, and I look at my watch to see that the spousal warning to get to the ferry on time was a typically wise one.\u00a0 I have an assignment to be in line for a seat on the ferry looming.<\/span><\/p>\n

I paid the bill.\u00a0 I checked to make sure I had my glasses, my wallet, my book, and, yes, my phone.\u00a0 I stood next to him. His eyes were lighter and just a little moister.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I am sorry for your loss\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

I turn to go, and he catches my arm for a moment.\u00a0 What he says next he does not say pendanticly, or religiously, or emotionally, or emphatically.\u00a0 He just says it. In a quiet voice. In a good voice. In a kind voice. And he said it twice, in a prayerful tone:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Enjoy your wife.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Enjoy your wife\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, prayer is personal, meant to wake us up to what lasts, matters, counts and is real.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Prayer public, prayer private.<\/span><\/p>\n

And he told them a parable about how they ought always to pray and not lose heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

–The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service Jeremiah 31:27-34 Luke 18:1-8 Click here to hear just the sermon Parable of Persistence Hear ye hear:\u00a0 the honorable Unjust Judge is presiding this morning in our homiletical courtroom.\u00a0 Before him, a persistent woman, who employs time and voice. (You have time and you have voice.) Like Christ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2354"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2525,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354\/revisions\/2525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}