Pentecost XIX – 19 October 2025 – Sermon by Br Daniel

Scripture Readings

Among the things that I’m currently reading is the latest novel by my favourite conspiracy theorist. The main focus seems to be on noetic science, and the ways in which it can be used and abused by those in power.

I confess I do not know much about this science, and there is so much information available online that it is quite bewildering. However, I was able to find a concise definition of noetic science: ‘Noetic (from the Greek word meaning “mental”) science is a branch of metaphysical philosophy concerned with the study of mind as well as intellect. Noetic science investigates the role of consciousness in shaping personal experiences and perceptions of reality.’

So, I understand that it is a deeper investigation of how our thoughts shape our world. As Christians, it would thus guide me as to how our faith would inform our thoughts and our understanding of God and thus our experiences of God in this world and in our lives.

And it just so happens that, in all of todays’ readings, we have very clear indications of God’s faithfulness, and guidelines as to how to increase our faith to have the best possible experience and understanding of God.

So, let us reflect on a timeless truth: God’s love is not a fleeting whisper but a steadfast anchor, especially when everything going on in the world seems too overwhelming. However, imagine a weary traveller lost in a dense forest at night; yet, from a distant hill, a lamp’s glow shines through the dark, showing the way home.

This is the essence of our Scriptures today: it takes us on a journey through Jeremiah’s promise of a new covenant, the Psalmist’s delight in God’s word, Paul’s charge to Timothy amid trials, and Jesus’ parable of persistent prayer. Through these readings, we see God’s faithful love shining brightest in our darkest hours.

Let us begin our journey with the prophet Jeremiah, speaking to a people shattered by exile and despair. In Jeremiah, God declares, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord.”

Picture the Israelites: their temple in ruins, their land ravaged, their hopes dashed like a glass on a kitchen floor. They had wandered far from God’s ways, reaping the bitter harvest of their choices. But God, in his boundless mercy, does not abandon them. Instead, he promises a new covenant, not etched on stone tablets that can be broken, but written on the very hearts of his people. “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Knowledge of God will no longer be abstract and distant; it will be intimate, personal, and transformative. And here’s the heart of his faithful love: “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” In times of difficulty, when our own failures or the world’s cruelties and inconsistencies want to derail us, God doesn’t merely patch us up; he renews us from within. Like a gardener tending a garden devastated by a storm, he plants seeds of hope, ensuring growth even from desolation.

We then continue with the Psalmist’s song in Psalm 119. It is an ode to the joy of God’s instructions in the middle of life’s trials. “Oh, how I love your law! All the day long it is in my mind.” The Psalmist isn’t speaking from the proverbial mountaintop of peace and transcendence, but from the trenches of adversity, where enemies lurk and understanding falters. Yet, God’s word becomes his guideline: “Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, and it is always with me.”

Imagine our lives in the midst of utter chaos and uncertainty; yet, in our quiet moments, we turn to the words of Scripture, finding “they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.” This isn’t escapism; it’s empowerment. The Psalmist declares, “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way.”

In difficulties, when false paths like despair, bitterness, and self-reliance tempt us, God’s word illuminates the true way, revealing his love as a guiding light. It’s not about rigid rules, but a relationship that sustains. This Psalm reminds us that God’s faithful love equips us with wisdom that outshines the world’s fleeting solutions.

As we press on, Paul’s words to Timothy echo like a mentor’s urgent plea in a turbulent sea. Timothy, a young leader in a church besieged by false teachings and persecutions, is exhorted: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Paul paints a vivid picture of Scripture’s purpose: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Another wonderful purpose of Scripture is highlighted by our Order’s Founder in his Rule, and I’m paraphrasing: “We do not study Scripture to be more knowledgeable, but to know God better.”

In times of difficulty, when “people will not put up with sound doctrine” and chase myths instead, God’s word stands as an unshakeable foundation. Paul charges Timothy: “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable.” God’s faithful love, revealed in Scripture, doesn’t promise ease but equips us for endurance. It corrects our course when we veer off, trains us in righteousness amid moral unclarity. For us today, this passage assures us that God’s love empowers us to persist and turns trials into testimonies.

Finally, in today’s reading from Luke, Jesus emphasizes our need to pray always and not to lose heart, by drawing us into a courtroom drama that mirrors our own pleas in hardship. “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’”

The widow, vulnerable and persistent, is everyone around us who struggles with whatever adversity this world can and does throw at them. The unjust judge, worn down by her relentlessness, finally relents. Jesus asks, “Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?”

This isn’t about a reluctant God, but provides a contrast: If even an unjust judge yields to persistence, how much more will our loving Father respond? “Nevertheless,” Jesus warns, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” In our storms of life – illness, loss, injustice, and so on – persistent prayer isn’t a formula for instant relief, but a declaration of trust in God’s faithful love. Like the widow, we don’t knock because God is deaf, but because he invites us into deeper relationship. This parable urges us to not lose heart: God’s justice and love do prevail.

So, completing this journey through today’s readings, we see a narrative of redemption: From Jeremiah’s new heart in exile’s pain, to the Psalmist’s deep wisdom in opposition, Paul’s scriptural anchor in storms about church doctrine (sounds familiar?), and Jesus’ call to persistent faith in injustice. God’s faithful love isn’t absent in difficulty; it is amplified.

So, in our forest of trials, let us look for the lantern on the hill and may God’s faithful love keep us all and turn every difficulty into grace and let us grow in faith as we continue on our journey through Scripture and life towards God, making sure that we show others the Way.