Sometimes, life feels like a tug-of-war between what we hope for and what is. Between wanting peace and being pulled back into struggle. In those moments, I’m reminded that wrestling — whether with God, with others, or within ourselves — isn’t a sign of failure. It’s often the very place where grace shows up. This sermon reflects on how persistence and perseverance keep us connected, grounded, and becoming who God calls us to be.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Being away the past two Sundays has been kind of hard — even though both weeks were for wonderful occasions.
Two weeks ago, I was in Minneapolis for the installation of our new presiding bishop, Yehiel Curry. Last week, I had the honor of officiating a wedding in Lynchburg, Virginia, for a young woman I’ve known since she was a little girl.
Both of these moments marked significant changes — not just for those directly involved, but for their families, friends, and communities. And neither moment just happened. They came out of a series of decisions rooted in listening to God, knowing themselves, and taking a bold step.
Well… maybe it starts with one step. But isn’t it that first step that leads to many more — to a path filled with choices, turns, and courage?
These experiences have flavored how I hear our scriptures today — texts that speak of wrestling, persistence, and perseverance.
Wrestling and the Call to Persevere
Bishop Curry is a Black man in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — the ELCA — which, as you may know, is considered the whitest Christian denomination in the United States.
That means Bishop Curry has had to wrestle. He’s had to persist. He’s had to persevere.
The young couple who just got married — they’ll have to wrestle too. With differences, with growth, with what it means to love someone over time. They’ll have to persist and persevere.
And what about us?
What about you and me?
Where have you had to wrestle, persist, and persevere?
The Unnamed Woman and the Unjust Judge
In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, we meet an unnamed woman who has been unjustly accused. She demands justice from a judge who, Scripture says, had no regard for God and no respect for people.
This unjust judge tries to go about his business, but the woman won’t let up. She keeps showing up. She wrestles. She insists that justice be done.
Eventually, the one standing in the way gives in and grants her request — not because he had a change of heart, but because she refused to give up.
Do We See God as the “Unjust Judge”?
I wonder if, sometimes, we see God in that same role — as the one standing in the way.
Why would God allow suffering?
If God is good and loving and powerful, why would God allow war, or death, or pain?
I’ve prayed and prayed — why isn’t God healing her? Why isn’t God healing me?
The message I hear in this text is simple, but not easy: keep at it.
Be persistent.
Persevere.
Because just like Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis, or this unnamed woman wrestling for justice — it’s impossible to wrestle and not be connected to the one you’re wrestling with.
The Blessing in the Struggle
That’s something I tell couples when I officiate weddings. I actually pray that they keep wrestling — with life, with faith, with one another.
Because when you’re wrestling, you’re still connected. You’re still in relationship. And that connection — even when it’s hard — helps you persevere.
There’s a story about someone watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. The butterfly seemed stuck, struggling to free itself. The person wanted to help, to ease the struggle. But if they had intervened, the butterfly would never have survived — because it’s the struggle itself that strengthens the wings for flight.
It’s like that for us, too.
It’s in the wrestling, in the struggle, that we encounter the grace of God.
It’s in those very places of tension that we discover what we believe, what we value, and what our next step might be.
We will encounter other people – and sometimes even our own thoughts – that paint God as being like the “Unjust Judge.” We can challenge this image with that of God of love who seeks after us to have a relationship with us, but also God who is interested in our becoming.
So, we can “proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable” (2 Timothy 4:2).
God bless you in your own wrestling — and in your becoming.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Epicurious Lutheran 
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