Ancient Encouragement for Unsettling Modern Times

 Ancient Encouragement for Unsettling Modern Times 

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:2-4; Luke 13:20-21 GNT 

A meditation delivered electronically by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, Oct. 11, 2020

    What could an ancient, obscure, 7^th-century B.C.E. prophet named Habakkuk possibly have to say to us today? Such is the question you may be asking.  And a “minor prophet,” one of the so-called twelve minor prophets, at that?  Let me tell you something: there was nothing minor about most of those twelve Hebrew prophets that are unfamiliar to most people.  They are not called “minor” because their messages are unimportant; rather, because their books are very short and they do not get the exposure of some of the “major prophets” like Isaiah and Jeremiah, whose books are quite long. 

But allow me to introduce you to the prophet Habakkuk and why his message is relevant yet today, some 2,600-plus years later.  Habakkuk lived and spoke at a time of great unrest in the world.  Babylon was the super-power that was a constant, looming, aggressive threat to the Jews and other peoples of that part of the world as well.  Habakkuk delivered his messages as he stood on the threshold of an impending seismic change for the Jewish people.  The Babylonians soon would invade Judah and Jerusalem, the Jewish Temple would be destroyed, many of the people would be carried off to Babylonian Exile, there would be devastation and starvation, and more.  A terrible time for the Jewish people was just around the corner of history as Habakkuk spoke.

When the Babylonian Exile would finally end some 70 years later, things would never again be the same.  Jewish religion, their worship practices, their focus, and their identity as a people were all forever altered.

As Habakkuk looked around during those unsettling times, here is what he saw: violence and destruction; quarreling and fighting everywhere; evil prevailed and justice was perverted; fear and terror gripped their hearts; power had become the god of the oppressors; greed led to crime and murder.  Any of this sound familiar?

But here is the message Habakkuk proclaimed and the timeless point he made: the time will come when evil shall be overthrown.  The wrong shall fail, and the right will eventually prevail.  Count on it!  And if the time of what’s right tarries and seems to be long delayed, wait for it.  The time of restitution will come.  Wait. 

But in the meantime, the just shall live by faith.  Those who long, pray, and hope for the day when things will be right must continue to do justly and stay true to their faith; or as more contemporary versions better phrase it, “the just shall live by their faithfulness;” by continuing to be faithful and true to what we know deep in our hearts is right. 

Jesus compared the faithfulness of God’s people to leaven, or yeast, that a baker would blend in flour.  Compared to a big lump of dough, a smidgen of yeast or leaven is very small. But over time, the yeast works through the entire lump of dough to cause it to grow and rise and transform itself into something wonderful.  What is better than a fresh-baked loaf of bread right out of the oven?  It is the leaven or yeast that has worked throughout to make it so.

So it is with the faithfulness of those who are committed to the Kingdom of God as Jesus proclaimed it.  Our faithfulness, though small as we may think it to be, like yeast, can work through a world filled with violence, evil, injustice, and greed to bring needed transformation. 

Through our faithfulness, we work through the world to stand up for the issues of justice.

Through our faithfulness, we work through the world to guard the dignity of all people, regardless of race, country of origin, or sexual orientation.

Through our faithfulness, we work through the world to reconcile and bring people together, rather than denigrating people and making distinctions and driving people apart.

Through our faithfulness, we work through the world by voting for what we know deep in our hearts is right and that will help bring about a more humane, just, compassionate, inclusive, environmentally-responsible world.

Yes, we are the leaven or yeast that Jesus made reference to, charged with facing the injustices, violence, destruction, and inequities of the present time by continuing to be faithful as we wait for a better day.

Preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, in commenting on this parable, said, “Such is our faith about Christ’s ideas, and their relevance to our world’s problems.  They are only leaven now, most of the meal untouched by their fermentation, but they are at work.”¹ 

As we are daily perplexed by the problems and madness of our nation and world, we must not give up faith that goodness is at work in spite of all the wrong we see around us.  And we must continue to be faithful as we work and wait for the day envisioned by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus when compassion, justice and peace will reign.  May it be so.  Amen.

¹Harry Emerson Fosdick, A Faith for Tough Times.  P. 69