Is Anyone There?
Psalm 121; Luke 18:1-8[1]
There is a question that has haunted the human family since
the beginning. If you look at the religious beliefs and practices through the
ages, and if you “read between the lines,” I think you’ll find that question.
From ancient times we have wondered whether there is a God, and whether that
God cares about us at all. I think this question was even at the heart of the
earliest religions, when people worshipped many “gods.” The stories they told
themselves about their “gods” betray a fundamental anxiety about our place in
the world. The “gods” of ancient mythologies aren’t even good people, let alone
“gods”! And underneath it all lies the question whether whatever “higher power”
there may “out there” be is able to help us at all, and whether that power
cares enough about us to do so.
When science and the church taught that the earth was at
the very center of the universe, I think it may have been easier to believe in
a God who cares for us. Our relative importance in the whole scheme of things
was huge, and we felt more confident about our faith in God. But even in those
times, there were catastrophes and tragedies that made people ask that question
whether God can really do anything to help us, and whether God cares enough to
do so. In more recent days, with our scientific perspective on how small the
earth is compared to the rest of universe, I think that question has become even
more pressing. At least for some people. Given the incomprehensible vastness of
the universe, we can easily question whether there is a God, and whether any
God there might be could or would pay much attention to us.
Even in a Christian context, this anxiety has been
expressed through a centuries-old question: If God is both loving and
all-powerful, how can there be evil in the world? The presence of tragedy in
our lives suggests that God loves us but he’s not powerful enough to stop these
things from happening. Or it suggests that God is powerful enough to stop them,
but since he doesn’t he must not be loving. Although many have tried to address
this question, I don’t think any of the “answers” really help. Most of them
offer some sort of rational explanation. But that doesn’t really do much for
the feeling of anxiety that the traumas and tragedies that life can bring. The
only answer to the heartbreaks of life is to find a way to trust that God does
indeed have the power to help us and does indeed care enough about us to do so.
Our Psalm for today addresses this question. The
Psalmsinger looks to the mountains to try to figure out whether there is anyone
there to help. The reason for looking to the mountains is because in ancient
times people believed that the “gods” lived in the high places of the world. So
when the Psalmsinger looks to the mountains and asks himself where he can find
help, he’s looking for God. In this case, looking to the mountains reminds the
Psalmsinger that “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!” (Ps
121:2, NLT). I think at least a part of the meaning here is that God is
bigger than any mountain, because God created all the heavens and the earth. The
Psalmsinger’s hopes aren’t confined to a so-called a “deity” that lives on a
particular mountain. His hope and his help come from the God who made all the
heavens and the earth, the whole cosmos and everything in it!
I think there are a couple of linked ideas here that can
help us. As powerful as a mountain can appear, God’s power is far greater. I
think many of us experience mountains as a display not only of grandeur but
also of power. But God’s power is far greater, because God is the creator of
all the heavens and the earth. That’s one of the most basic ideas of the Bible.
It’s where Genesis begins: God created all the heavens and the earth. And that
means whatever you can find in creation or in the whole cosmos that impresses
you with its beauty, its grandeur, or its display of power, God’s power is
greater. The Psalmsinger reminds himself and us that our faith that the God who
created all the heavens and the earth is the God who is our help and our hope
means that he most certainly does have the power to help us!
But the other part of the question concerns whether God
cares enough to use that power to help us. That’s at least part of the lesson
from our Gospel reading for today. In it, Jesus tells a parable about a woman
who was a widow, very likely in danger of losing her home because she was at
the mercy of a corrupt judge, who had no interest in protecting her. Jesus’s
parable tells us that this man doesn’t care about God, and he doesn’t care
about people. It seems clear that the only reason he held his position was to
enrich himself. But this is no ordinary widow. She persisted relentlessly in
demanding that this judge grant her what was rightfully hers, and she kept
doing so until she annoyed him! That’s why the traditional title for this
passage is “The parable of the importunate widow.” That’s what “importunate”
means: demanding what’s rightfully yours and doing until you annoy somebody.
That’s what she did. And this corrupt judge confessed, “Though I have no fear
of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I
will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming”
(Lk. 18:4-5)!
One point of this parable is the contrast between the
unjust judge and the God whom Jesus demonstrates as gracious, loving, and
caring. If a godless, inhumane judge will finally give in to a powerless
widow’s unceasing requests for justice, how much more will our
merciful and loving God “grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day
and night” (Lk 18:7). And I think the answer is that he will most certainly do
so! The promise of God’s justice throughout the Bible is that God will make
things right, ultimately if not immediately. But perhaps that’s precisely where
the problem lies. We have lots of affirmations in the Bible that God cares
about us and will take care of us. We have promises that God will set things
right. But life doesn’t always confirm those promises. Sometimes, bad things
happen to good people. Sometimes bad people do bad things to good people. And
when that happens and we cry out to God for help, there are times when when all
we can hear is silence. And that experience can leave us wondering whether
there’s anyone there. That’s when we come back to the age-old question whether
there is a God, and whether that God cares at all about us.
Unfortunately, I’m afraid that at times like those, our
perspective can get quite narrow. All we can see is the hardship or tragedy or
the loss we’re dealing with. And all we can ask is, “Why?” or “How long?”, stuck
in our pain and our fears. But in this parable, I think Jesus wants to help us
focus our attention elsewhere. He wants to remind us that we believe in a God
who is a loving Father who knows what we need, who wants what is best for us,
and who is working constantly for our good. And he does all of this despite our
inability to understand how our lives are unfolding. There are simply some
questions we may never be able to answer. That’s one of the lessons faith
teaches us. It’s okay to ask those questions. We just have understand we may
never get an answer.
Sometimes people asked Jesus those kinds of questions. In
response, Jesus pointed them to the God whose care we can trust in all the
circumstances of our lives. Regardless of what we may have to go through here
and now, the promise remains: God has all the power he needs to help us, and
because he cares for us he will most definitely do so, if not immediately, then
ultimately. We see that promise confirmed most clearly in Jesus. Through his
life and his example, through his death and resurrection, we learn that God’s
love is stronger than anything. The mountains do indeed remind us that God has
the power to help us, but the cross and resurrection show us that he cares
enough to use that power to help us. When we wonder whether there’s anyone
there, we can remember God’s love never gives up, and never will until God
accomplishes all the good he has planned for us all, for the whole human
family, and for all creation.
[1] ©
2025 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 10/19/2025 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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