How Long, O Lord?
A sermon on the book of Habakkuk
How long is God going to put up with this crap?
Maybe you’ve screamed it into a steering wheel, asked it through clenched teeth when you watched the news, or it was the question you asked in numbness after reading the news. How long until God says, “Enough! Enough of the violence, the greed, selfishness, cruelty, broken systems, self-dealing leaders, and all the division and hatred?”
Whether it’s about the state of the world or our personal lives, we ask the same questions the prophet Habakkuk asked 700 years before Jesus. Some folks don’t know what to do with this prophet with a funny name. They were taught to be polite and polished with God. But he is raw, direct. He vents his frustration. There are tons of examples of this expression of lament in the Bible. God doesn’t strike any of them down for it.
It’s okay to bring your raw, honest self to God. God would rather have what is authentic than what you think God would find pretty or priestly. It’s how we grow.
All along the watchtower.
Habakkuk climbed a watchtower to wait for as long as it took to get an answer. We don’t know how long he waited, but eventually, God answered. Maybe the key is to be intentional about entering into silence, into listening as passionately as you question. That’s why it’s good for you to be here today—to be intentional about listening to what God would put on your heart.
Essentially, God told Habakkuk, “Chillax, dude! I’ve got this. Write my promise in big letters so that even people running by can see the message.” That’s how God invented the billboard.
Here’s the billboard’s message:
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faithfulness.
In other words, God is saying, I’m on it. Live by faith until the plan unfolds.
The plan is to be revealed.
Habakkuk wonders, “Great! What’s the plan?”
Well, the plan is that God is going to let the Babylonian empire conquer Jerusalem and drive out the corrupt ruling class.
Habakkuk is like, “NO! That’s a terrible plan. They are worse than the guys we have now!”
God says, “I won’t let an evil regime get away with it forever. I’ll demolish the Babylonian and any corrupt regime that serves itself and harms people.”
There will be a great reversal. The arrogant, the insensitive to the plight of their brothers and sisters, those who rig and benefit from an unjust system will fall. Those who are faithful to God’s ways of fairness, compassion, and kindness will rise.
Trusting the future by looking to past victories.
Habakkuk mulls this over. God is asking me to trust and keep doing the right thing, even though I don’t see things changing for the better. They’re getting worse. How can I believe with my heart when my eyes show me something else? Sound familiar?
He’s a prophet—his job is to look to the future. But he cannot have a proper perspective as a prophet unless he remembers the past. He suddenly remembers all the times God intervened, acting decisively against powerful foes like old Pharaoh and so many others. He remembered the victories God gave despite overwhelming opposition. Remembering bolsters his confidence and renews his faith.
Admittedly, he expects that God will raise up armies to overthrow corrupt administrations violently. Later, Jesus would correct that by insisting on nonviolence. Change comes through loving-kindness, compassion, truthfulness, and people who will be courageous enough to stand up and say, “Enough!”
I’m reminded of the guy who prayed to God and asked, “God, I see all the problems of the world, why don’t you do something about them?”
God replied, “I did do something. I sent you and others of good faith to make a positive difference. What are you doing, expecting magic, or doing the day-to-day effort to do the good you can where you are? Do you think God just makes the evil that humans perpetrate vanish? The changes needed are in the human heart. Otherwise, new bad guys just replace the old bad guys.
I believe that’s the way it works. When we care enough to pray, we care enough to do our part, and when we do, it creates an opening for God’s purposes to be set free.
Watchtower protest
You never know how God is working behind the scenes in ways that are not readily apparent. The billboard promises that God is always at work making things better, looking for human partners.
Like Habakkuk, when we look to the past times that God has intervened and made a difference in our lives, we can look forward with hope even though things may look rough right now. He says it poetically and beautifully in the concluding verses of the book:
Though the fig tree does not blossom
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and makes me tread upon the heights.
The Golden Gate net.
Habakkuk’s hope reminds me of when they built the Golden Gate Bridge. Like building the Hoover Dam, it was dangerous. They estimated that 35 workers would fall to their deaths during construction. Despite the board’s reluctance, the chief engineer persuaded them to spend an enormous sum to install a broad safety net.
Nineteen men fell and were saved by that net, and they formed a club that met regularly for decades after the bridge was completed. They called themselves the Halfway to Hell Club.
One of the workers saved a piece of the net and carried it around with him for the rest of his life. He said, “It saved me once, and that’s enough.” A reminder.
God is on it. Are you?
You will find a piece of twine in your bulletin. We hope that you will look back on your life and associate it with the times God has been there for you so that you can trust that God will be there to catch you again, no matter how bleak it may look at any moment. So that you can renew your faith like the prophet and praise even when you don’t see the fruit.
Hold onto that piece of twine as a reminder—you’ve been caught before. And do something. Pray, sure. But then partner with what you’re praying for. Volunteer at the shelter. Show up at the city council meeting. Have the difficult conversation. Write the check. Make the call. Be the answer to someone else’s desperate question.
How long, O Lord? God’s already on it. The real question is: are you? Because I believe—like Habakkuk discovered from his watchtower—that God is always looking for human partners to cut loose heaven’s purposes right here, right now. Even when the fig tree doesn’t blossom. Even when things look rough. Especially then. Take risks to build a better world. Chillax. You’ve got a broad safety net.