Sermon for Pentecost 17: "How Long?"

 + 17^th Sunday after Pentecost – October 5^th, 2025 +

Series C: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:1-10

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?

The prophet Habakkuk begins his book with a prayer that echoes throughout the Scriptures. 

 

It’s not hard to imagine Adam and Eve praying this prayer, wondering when that promised Seed and Son would be born. How long, O Lord?

 

I’m sure sometime during those 40 days and 40 nights of torrential rains and divine deluge Noah prayed something like this. How long, O Lord?

 

In his seemingly endless suffering, Job prayed, “How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?”

 

In anguish and surrounded by enemies, David prayed, How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?     How long will you hide your face from me?

 

In the midst of Israel love affair with false idols, surrounded by the faithless, Jeremiah lamented, How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? How long?

 

God’s prophet Habakkuk, faced with the injustice and unrighteousness and wickedness of Judah also carried the tune of this ancient lament before the ears of God. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?

Habakkuk wrote these words long ago in the 7^th century B.C. as Judah as threatened by Babylon without and injustice and evil within. But honestly, he could just as easily have written them today in the 21^st century. The wicked seem to prosper. God’s people suffer. Justice is perverted, if there’s any justice at all. The violence and malice of this fallen world seem to win the day along with every headline. Sin and evil and hate seem to be running amuck, like a free-range child let loose on a playground without no supervision in sight. Iniquity appears to go unchecked, unpunished, unhinged. 

 

And so we pray the prayer that Habakkuk, and so many have prayed before.

 

How long, O Lord?

 

It’s a short prayer. But I imagine for most of us, it’s a familiar prayer. How long, O Lord?

When exhausting days turn into sleepless nights. When your calendar is full of more doctors’ appointments than adventures. When you find yourself waiting for a voicemail from the doctor about a diagnosis, or lab work, or what kind of treatment is next. When the only time you see family and friends is at an ever growing list of funerals. You find yourself praying this prayer.

 

How long, O Lord?

Some think it’s impolite or impious to pray this way. They’re wrong. It’s not. This prayer is a cry for help. For rescue. For God’s righteousness. For things to be made right. For brokeneness to be healed. For wickedness to be thwarted. For grace and mercy to win the day.

 

Some think it’s a lack of faith that gives rise to prayers like this. It’s not. This is a prayer of faith cried out to the only one who can actually in his time and by his grace answer that prayer. 

 

So whenever you find yourself praying this prayer, know that you’re in good company. Habakkuk, David, Jeremiah. Prophets. Patriarchs. Even Jesus himself prays something similar in Gethsemane: Father if it be your will, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.

 

Also know this…when this is the only prayer your weak voice can utter. When it’s prayed in anger or pain. Despair or fear. Whether you’re sobbing or all out of tears. Bring this prayer before God. In fact, he invites it. Why else would he put it in Scripture for us, other than to give voice to our prayers and cries of lament.

 

When you have a complaint, and we all have them at some point, who better to bring that complaint to than God. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, even when all of our words and life are nothing but grumbling and complaining. Complain to God. He can handle it. His grace is sufficient for you, especially when you are weak and it seems as if all is lost. 

 

Whether it’s this wicked world you lament, or your own sin and folly, or the hurt and pain caused by others. Join Habakkuk in praying, How long, O Lord?

 

After all, these words do not fall on deaf ears, but on the ears of him who promises to hear. Remember. And answer. 

 

Habakkuk’s book begins with a complaint to God. But ends with comforted by God. 

 

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

 

Habakkuk rejoiced, even in his suffering, in the one who came to suffer with us. For us. 

 

Jesus’ “How long?” of Thursday night and Good Friday was answered quickly. 3 days. That’s how long. Cross. Suffering. Death. Burial. Tomb. But then…resurrection. Joy. Life. Light.

 

We’re not always told how long we’ll pray our “How long?” prayers before they’re answered. But, you can rest assured – with Habakkuk and all who have prayed this prayer before – that God will answer. And when he does answer, it’s always the same answer. Jesus. 

 

So lay your complaints at the foot of his cross. Cry out your laments; he is full of steadfast love. And know that whenever you pray, “How long, O Lord?”, he will answer. My grace is sufficient for you.

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.