Wrestling with God

22 October 2019 –– Proper 24 Lectionary 29

Luke 18:1-8

More than any other Gospel, Luke places special emphasis on the role of prayer, mentioning it eighteen times to Matthew’s thirteen and Mark’s ten. To be sure, Jesus himself is frequently presented as praying in Luke’s gospel (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28; 9:29; 11:1; 22:41; 22:44). Like Jesus, his disciples, too, are to pray ‘‘always’’ and ‘‘not grow weary’’ or ‘‘neglectful’’ (18:1: egkakein) of prayer. But will God even respond to the disciples’ prayer? Of course! Using a rather comic example of two caricaturized characters familiar to a Greco-Roman audience, Jesus explains that if an unjust judge will finally yield to the insistent, unflinching demand of a determined widow out of fear that she will give him a “black eye” (18:5, the literal meaning of hypopiaze), how much more will a provident God respond to the persistent prayer of the chosen ones?

. . . Prayer is necessary for relationship with God, essential to deepening one’s own personal encounter with the God. . . Prayer is necessary for faith. Without prayer, faith simply dries up. –– Lisa Marie Belz

Genesis 32:22-31

The night before he is to meet his estranged twin, Jacob finds himself wrestling with an unknown visitor until dawn. Who is this strange wrestler? Jacob’s conscience? His alter-ego? Or an angel from God? While conscience and alter ego are terms from a later time this story is rich in symbolism. . . When the man is unsuccessful at pinning Jacob down, he . . . leaves his mark on Jacob by dislocating Jacob’s hip, yet even at this Jacob proves himself the stronger and refuses to let go until the man gives a blessing. The man gives Jacob a new name, “Israel, one who contends with God”—Jacob, as it has turned out, has contended with God and won! . . .

Whereas previously he stole blessing from his brother, now knowing himself to be blessed by God, he can restore the stolen blessing and make peace with his aggrieved twin. . . .

Jacob is ancestor to all those who find themselves contending with God. . . . On a symbolic level, this story is about how God can be discovered in all the struggles of human existence. Every family has them. This story also tells us that it is okay to fight with God. What is more, like Israel, if we fight with God, God just might let us win! Indeed, all who dare to wrestle with such a God will find themselves, like Jacob=Israel, perhaps a little dislocated but ultimately changed, capable of receiving blessing and, just as importantly, passing it on. –– Lisa Marie Belz

2 Timothy 3:14–4:5

In response to so much pseudo-mysticism (what 4:4 calls “myths”), genuine pastoral leadership, as reflected in the advice given here to Timothy, is to be knowledgeable about the word and steadfast in its commitment to it (3:14–16); competent, with adequate preparation for “every good work” (3:17); focused on the reign of Christ. . .; proclaiming the word in a convincing way, whether convenient or inconvenient, warning when appropriate, while encouraging with all patience (4:2); ready for hardship and opposition, and willing to spend oneself in loving service (4:5). –– Lisa Marie Belz

Lisa Marie Belz, an Ursuline Sister, is assistant professor of Biblical Studies at Saint Mary Seminary & Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe, Ohio.

Homily Service 40, no. 11 (2007): 33-42