Luke 17: 5-10                                                                                                               Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

Hab. 1: 1-4, 2: 1-4                                                                                                                             October 5, 2025

“...but the righteous live by their faith.”

Prayer: Thank you, O God, for listening to our hearts and our concerns. As we wait for your response, may we listen. Amen.

It’s not often we hear a word of the Lord from Habakkuk! There’s so much of the Bible we haven’t heard. Charles Swindol once took a poll when he asked the question what is referred to by the word ‘Habakkuk?’ The answers people gave were comical. Some thought it was a word spelled backwards.  That would be Kuk-ka-bah. Is that a weird pronunciation of cuckoo bird? I don’t know. Some thought it was a Jewish holiday. Sounds Yiddish. Others said it was a village in Viet Nam. Some people thought it was a new game. Wanna play some Habakkuk? Last, some people thought it was a lower back problem (Preventing Pearl Harbor | Homiletics Online, retrieved October 3, 2025). Oh, my aching Habakkuk!

Of course, Habakkuk was none of those things. He was a prophet living in turbulent 600s BCE when (south) Babylon was violently destroying Judah and later (north) Israel. He was very concerned about moral and spiritual decline (people losing sight of God and God’s word) as he watched another nation preparing to come and destroy their temples and synagogues. And take over their land. And harm his people.

And I feel like history is repeating itself. Because moral and spiritual decline are everywhere as Israel and the Palestinians are at war. There is violence and destruction every day. A two-state solution might be the only sound approach but is resisted by Israel and Netanyahu and by the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel wants all the land, and Hamas wants the total destruction of Israel. All the Jews gone.

 And some of us, like Habakkuk have complained to God. Are you listening, God? We cry to you because there is so much violence, so much hatred, so much division, throughout the world, and in our country. And you seem not to listen. You seem not to care. There’s so much tribalism, blind passion for party allegiance, and the ‘might makes right mentality.’ And you do nothing.

And as a result, some of us do not believe that you will ever act. That you are a human creation, non-existent except as a figment of our imagination, quite limited in your ability to respond to our needs.

 Whew! That’s quite a complaint, isn’t it? But I gotta hand it to Habakkuk. Because at least he comes to God with his complaint. He has at least a mustard seed size faith to believe that God will hear his complaint in spite of the obvious ways it feels like God is uninvolved. The obvious ways the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer.

 And that’s a key thing, I think. Have faith and live faithfully even though it feels like there’s so much that can push us the other way.  The disciples said to Jesus, “Increase our faith.” But Jesus says that an inkling of faith is all you need to rise up and face the present moment with all its challenges.

Because having faith is what we’re supposed to have, says Jesus. It’s what God’s people have. Faith. Living faithfully is what God’s people are supposed to be doing. There’s nothing over-the-top special about it. It’s supposed to be what we’re about. So, we’re not entitled to anything special because we have faith. 

But we are to use faith every day, especially when it’s tough going. When it feels like God isn’t there. Or listening.  We are to come to God when our hearts break as shootings occur again, sometimes close to home, like in York this past week.  Or when the government shuts down and people are forced out of their jobs or are working for the government without paychecks. We can come unto God when hate speech appears as normal and violence is considered as OK collateral damage.

 We can come unto God with the things that hurt us. When comments are made that penetrate our defenses and wound us. When we hear messages that our opinions are too right, or too left, or our faith practices are too inclusive or too exclusive, or too tight, too loose. Too this. Too that. When we’re told we don’t measure up, we don’t fit in the ‘normal’ or that we’re not part of the ‘true’ religion.

 I think living with faith means coming unto God with everything and then listen actively to discern what God might speak to your inner spirit. When some of come and ask about what to do, lay it out before God-wait-its [waiting at the watch post]

For Habakkuk, God said basically “I see what is coming. It’s a vision of goodness. Wait for it.” It’s a vision where those who desire to live in good and right relationships with others and with our earth, those who have spiritual and religious, moral and ethical centers—these will live, with and by faith.

Then isn’t it up to us to be about God’s vision? Aren’t we supposed to have those centers in our lives and faith and engage in good efforts for others and for the world? (I think we are to trust God to work with us to build a better future.) To be a part of anything that promotes the greater good. For all.

 I read about a company called Glass Half Full. CEO Franziska Trautmann started the company in New Orleans when she and her boyfriend finished a bottle of wine, but New Orleans doesn’t recycle. So, they raised funds to purchase a machine that turns bottles into sand and set it up at a fraternity house. Ms. Trautmann soon won a grant to figure out how to use the sand to help with Louisiana’s costal erosion, making biodegradable sandbags and planting native grasses to build back the marshes (“Back to Sand,” The Christian Century, October 2025, pg. 10).

 Living faithfully, I think also means we begin to see the vision of a just world for all. A world where there is peace and win/win situations. For all.

 The Philadelphia Phillies played what was called a “Rust Game’ last Wednesday night. This was a win-win. Because their first NLDS game was last night, (more rust to scuff off) the Phillies played an intra-squad game to “keep the rust off” before playing again. That’s a win. The game was affordable—$10 per person—so families who usually can’t afford going to a game could do so. Another win. And all proceeds, over $31,000 went to Phillies charities. A big win. It was Win/win. For all.

I invite us to live faithfully by spreading this vision in whatever way we can. I think on this World Communion Sunday, God might be urging us to speak messages of peace and respect. This means refusing to demonize people, even though they may demonize us. It means looking for win-win solutions to problems, instead of win-lose solutions. It means approaching people with a generosity of spirit, instead of with suspicion and distrust. It means making compromises for the good of the whole.

It means living faithfully by seeing people from all over the world in a relationship with the creative God of the universe, instead of thinking that God is only in relationship with people of your same belief structures.

After all, doesn’t living faithfully mean that we trust God to be involved in every aspect of life?

And God is present. Listening. Caring. Acting. Always. Amen.

Call to Commune

World Communion Sunday offers us a distinctive opportunity to experience Holy Communion in the context of the global community of faith. The first Sunday of October is when Christians in every culture break bread and pour the cup to remember and affirm Christ as the Head of the Church. We recognize that we are part of the whole body of believers. Whether shared in a grand cathedral, a mud hut, outside on a hilltop, sanctuary, meetinghouse or a storefront, Christians celebrate the communion liturgy in as many ways as there are congregations. World Communion Sunday can be both a profound worship experience and a time for learning more about our wider community of faith.