Serenity Prayer in Action
(Luke 18:1-8)

The widow in today's reading from Luke reminds me of my high school Algebra teacher. She really believed that I could learn Algebra. I didn't. She bugged me to come in early and stay late and she worked and struggled with me. Because of her dedication I passed Algebra, to my and my families amazement. She was persistent and wouldn't take no for an answer. Just like the widow in Luke was persistent. She wouldn't take no for an answer. She kept demanding justice. A widow was a symbol of true powerlessness because without a husband she had no rights in a patriarchal society. Yet this woman doesn't give up and still accomplishes her goals. If a powerless widow is able to accomplish so much with a dishonest judge, how much more will the prayers of Christian disciples accomplish? God is clear in calling us to tasks to bring about God's justice and vindication. It is like the Serenity Prayer. We must pray for the courage to change the things we can --as the widow did and we pray for the serenity to accept what we can not change and the wisdom to know the difference.

Let's talk about the courage to change the things we can. This is a tough one. It's hard to believe that we can make a difference. There is so much pain and hurt in the world. We couldn't possibly change all that!! But the parable of the widow doesn't ask us to or tell us to. She changes only one injustice that this judge has done. She doesn't change the way he is, she doesn't change the system that allows that injustice. Alone she could not do all that. She can't change the whole world but she can stand up for what she believes is right and take an injustice and correct it. And as the American Indians say," A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step." A correction of injustice is a correction of injustice no matter what the size of the injustice. But how do we find the courage to change the things that we can? And how do we know which issues to try to change? We pray. We listen to our hearts and we listen to the children. A 10-year-old girl from a remote part of the country told a Harvard professor, "When you're put here, it is for a reason. The Lord wants you to do something. If you don't know what, then you've got to try hard to find out what. It may take time. You may make mistakes. But if you pray. He'll lead you to your direction. He won't hand you a piece of paper with a map on it, no sir. He'll whisper something, and at first you may not even hear, but if you have trust and you keep turning to him it will be all right." It's powerful simple truths like what this young girl says that shows us why Jesus loved the little children so much. And we must also remember that we are all God's children. And put simply, as God's children it is our responsibility to take an active part to bring about justice.

Because as St. Teresa of Avila said, "Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which is to look our Christ's compassion to the world; yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; yours are the hands with which he is to bless now." We all have talents given to us by God and it's our responsibility use those God-given abilities for God's purposes. Your talent may be working with numbers, with sending comforting notes, with welcoming strangers, with loving on kids, with loving on adults, with teaching, with cooking, with construction or with diplomacy. All of these talents are needed in the church and many others. And we must pray and work hard to discover our talents and then push ourselves to find ways to offer them to each other and the world that the church serves. So we must find the courage to fight for what we believe in and we must also find the courage to work for what we believe in.

But what about the battles we can't win? That's when we must find the serenity to accept what we can not change. I have a very personal example. For several years Kevin and I have been struggling to conceive. We haven't been able to and I have had to accept the fact that I am infertile. The medical textbooks define primary infertility as the inability to conceive after one year of regular intercourse without contraception. I passed that years ago. I have been to doctors, specialists, had all kind of tests and special procedures. I fought the good fight, but to no avail. There was a time when I felt like Rachel in Genesis when she cried, "Give me children or I shall die." But I didn't. I didn't have children and I didn't die. I had the courage to fight and work for what I wanted. But there comes a time to rest. A time to accept that the amount of work, effort, pain, and money that it would take to accomplish the goal would destroy the purpose of the goal. There came a point when I had to stop, and count my blessings and give thanks to God for them. I have a wonderful loving husband, a supportive and praising family, I have friends who care for me and need me. I have other ways of creating and giving love. I can nurture through my other relationships and my ministry. And above all in the future when I'm ready, when I have made my peace with all those old dreams I can still be a mother. Just because I can not give birth to a biological child does not mean I can't have a baby. And when the time is right I will begin to work for that goal.

The peace that God offers is so deep and so powerful that it can overcome any difficulty, even if the problem doesn't change or go away, because that peace is tied into unconditional love. There is surety about God's love for all His children that helps us find the lessons of life and let go of our desires for things that we can not have. Dreams for things that are impossible hurt us and make us miserable. God's love and Grace make it possible for us to let go of those hurtful goals. God's love and Grace fills us with serenity so we can accept the things we can not change. It fills us so that we can let go of the anger, resentment, or bitterness, and find more positive, empowering, and uplifting goals.

So we're supposed to change the world and find a way to make our peace with life. How do we deal with this paradox? Through wisdom. We get wisdom through prayer, meditation, reading the Bible, sharing our thoughts and feelings with others, giving of ourselves and through the community of our families and the church family discerning God's will. With wisdom we learn to know the difference between when courage is needed or serenity required. It is so difficult to know God's will sometimes. We become so invested in our own will that we can't see past it or open ourselves to what God is trying to tell us. We must find the wisdom to know when to fight and struggle and when to "Let go and Let God."

Me, of all people, being asked to preach on the National Observance of Children's Sabbath day was ironic and difficult at first. Finally I turned it over to God. Then I found this beautiful poem by Pamela O'Brien. I changed it a little because she wrote it about her own children, but it is written for all us. I believe is about how God our loving parent about us, the children of God. And it is also about what I believe all of you dream for your own children. All of you parents know how God feels when God wants these things for us because you want them for your children. And those of us without children remind you that God wants these things for you, too.

POEM
by Pamela O'Brien(edited by Lee Self)
I want our children to be
strong and brave,
to do what they believe to be right
even when it costs them a lot.
I want our children to love,
to love a lot, life and other people,
especially those who
aren't very lovable;
to love buttercups
and red maple leaves
and gentle snows
and shells that cover ocean beaches
after a storm;
to love hot cider and clean floors
and great books and classical music.
I want our children to despise,
to despise a lot, pretense and lies
and killing, cruel words,
violent acts and mean tempers,
diseases that ravage the body
and the mind.)
I don't want them to despise pain
and death and endings,
things that in their essence
are a part of living.
I want our children to love God
and no matter what,
no matter how dark it gets at night,
no matter what awful something
the light of day exposes,
I want them to never ever
let go of God.
I want our children
to go to bed each night,
to rise up each morning, hoping,
beyond that trusting,
beyond that believing
that God love them,
that God will never let them go.

May God help you find courage, serenity, and wisdom to deal with your children. I know and believe that you will find these because God has already given us the greatest gift --love. God gives this gift to all his children no matter what age they are and it fills us with such joy that we can't help but pass it on. Believe in that with me and act upon your belief and all things are possible! Stand up, join hands, and raise your hands above your heads. Now look at your hands. These hands make the family of God, these hands care for others, these hands right wrongs, and these hands praise God. God, take these hands of your children and help us to do your will with them. Amen.

© 1998 Rev. Elizabeth Lee Self

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