Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 19, 2025

[sermon begins after the Bible reading–two other Bible readings are at the end of the sermon]

Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³ In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my accuser.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? ⁸ I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

[sermon begins]

I’ve learned a thing or two from doing CrossFit for 14 years.

• Showing up for class is THE hardest part.
• Modifying workouts to my fitness level is the way to make gains.
• Incremental gains take patience and persistence.
• Community and fitness are built on consistency not speed.

Consistent presence and incremental gains add up over time until suddenly you’re lifting heavier or squatting deeper or stretching further. Oh, how many of us wish that gains could happen more quickly.

Quickly. It’s how the widow in our Bible story would likely have preferred her justice. She kept showing up to demand that the judge grant her justice against her opponent. Jesus’ parable says that she kept it up until the unjust judge gave her justice. Her presence bothered the judge until he gave in.

“Jesus told them this parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart (v1).” That’s what verse 1 says – to pray always and not to lose heart. Not losing heart jumps out of the text this week. The widow’s example of showing up many times is an example of how not to lose heart. Hope is a long game and showing up is the main thing.

First century listeners would have heard the word “widow” and understood that Jesus meant a vulnerable person with no way to support herself.[1] More than that, they would have heard about the widow and connected her with Jewish scripture about protecting the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the resident alien – all people of community concern and of God’s concern.[2] Given her social status, it’s remarkable that the widow had her own voice and used it with the unjust judge. She doesn’t have to convince him with a logical argument. She doesn’t have to convince him at all. She simply has to show up and demand justice.

The widow’s repeated presence in front of the unjust judge is an embarrassing indictment of his unwillingness to help her. He isn’t worried about giving her justice. He’s worried that she’s going to make him look bad. In the end, though, she gets the justice she’s looking for no matter the motivation of the unjust judge.

In the face of an unjust judge, or people like him, it’s easy to lose heart and give up when a situation doesn’t change or changes for the worse. It’s also easy to become the very thing we’re working against. Reverend Dr. King, in his sermon called Transformed Nonconformists, cautions against passive patience which is an excuse to do nothing but he also cautions against hardened and self-righteous rigidity that is simply annoying and easy for other people to tune out.[3] Rather, he calls for restraint “from speaking irresponsible words which estrange without reconciling and from making hasty judgments which are blind to the necessity of social process.”[4] The transformed nonconformist knows that justice “will not come overnight,” yet “works as though it is an imminent possibility.”[5] In these terms and in the story of the parable, not losing heart involves taking action when justice seems as though it will never happen knowing that it could come quickly at any time through perseverance and presence.

The parable is an example of what Reverend King is encouraging his listeners to do. Praying, showing up, and not losing heart are key to hope. Jesus closes the parable with the encouragement that if even the unjust judge can finally bestow justice, how much more will justice be given by a just and merciful God. Jesus also wonders if faith will be found on earth when he comes again. This question about finding faith on the earth makes me wonder if that somehow ties back to the introduction to the parable about praying always and not losing heart.

Is faith, in this reading, about not losing heart, about perseverance, and about staying connected to the one who is faithful? Faith is often understood as confessing Jesus as Lord. Here, Jesus seems to connect faith with not losing heart, with prayer, with perseverance, and with justice for the most vulnerable.

For some, Jesus’ connecting faith to other people beyond our own self is where the wrestling with God begins. Like Jacob in the first reading from Genesis, our encounters with God in scripture can throw us off balance, making us wonder if faith is worth the trouble it seems to regularly draw us into. If Jesus’ constant demand of giving justice to the vulnerable can feel overwhelming in the face of such need, imagine what being in that kind of desperate need feels like. No wonder the Timothy reading exhorts us to keep at it – “to be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable (4:2).” And warns us against “itching ears” who find teachers to suit our “own desires” rather than continuing to draw us in the direction of vulnerable neighbors.

Perhaps exercising faith practices brings us full circle and helps us hold fast when the pressure builds. Practicing faith in our worship, in our connections with God and each other, in our prayers, in not losing heart as God’s faithful people, in persevering, and in justice for the most vulnerable may be just the conditioning we need when those faith practices seem so small in the face of injustice that we wonder what we’re accomplishing. That’s why it takes all of us, called by Jesus who’s as persistent as the widow, figuring it out together as we keep the faith, trusting in God’s grace through our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Our Augustana congregation has named our latest stewardship appeal and response to God’s grace and Jesus’ call, Sowing Hope 2026, as we ask for the faith to embody hope for each other and our communities with a spirit of generosity and giving financially towards our three ministry initiatives. The first initiative is to Continue and Sustain Ministry Excellence. The heart of this initiative is rooted in the principle of economic justice in staff compensation, viewing fair wages and benefits not simply as a social goal, but as a spiritual practice for our congregation. Ensuring that all aspects of our ministry are adequately resourced allows us to continue serving our community with persistence, compassion, integrity, and excellence.

The second ministry initiative is Pastor Involvement and Support for Confirmands and their families. During this critical stage of spiritual and emotional development, middle schoolers face a complex and often overwhelming world. The Confirmation process offers a vital opportunity to nurture their faith, build resilience, and help them explore what it means to live with hope.

And finally, the third ministry initiative invites the entire congregation and our immediate neighbors to a joyful celebration marking the completion of the Augustana Homes. This neighborhood-wide event, co-hosted by our neighbors and us is a recognition of the shared effort, vision, and community spirit that made these affordable homes possible. It is a chance for everyone to connect, build relationships, and celebrate the good that neighbors can do when we work together for good. Rooted in our values of hospitality and inclusion, this gathering reflects the kind of neighborhood we strive to be; one where everyone belongs, participates, and is celebrated for their part in creating community.

In a moment we’ll sing a hymn together. While we sing, you’re invited to bring forward your Statement of Intent cards, placing them in a basket with other cards to symbolize the impact of combining our gifts.

As church, we try to heed God’s call and hope we’re following God over and above our own fears. The world is rapidly changing, and the worldwide church is changing right along with it. No one knows what the outcome of any of those changes will be. As the Augustana congregation, we are leaning into the incremental gains of a growing church. And, as church, we’re called by the gospel to sow hope in a weary world as we’ve been gifted by the Holy Spirit to do so. By that same Spirit, we’re reassured of God’s love and grace as our efforts and our offerings unite for God’s purposes. Amen and thanks be to God.

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[1] Brittany E. Wilson, Assistant Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School, Durham, N.C.  Commentary on Luke 18:1-8 for WorkingPreacher.org. workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4201

[2] Ibid.

[3] Martin Luther King, Jr.  “Transformed Nonconformist” in Strength to Love: A book of sermons. (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 16.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

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Genesis 32:22-31 The same night [Jacob] got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴ Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
^4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: ² proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. ⁵ As for you, be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.