Sermon preached at The Church of the Holy Trinity,

Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia,

Sunday July 20 2014 The Re!erend "lan #eale $ %&rustration'
How has your work been? Well, actually thats just a means to tell you
about mine. IT has had more than its fair share (I think) frustrations,
etty and minor in the scheme of thin!s but at the time (and e"en a
little in remembrance) more than# well, frustratin!.
I shared a few of these frustrations with a friend yesterday, $nishin!
my catalo!ue of casual catastrohes I said that Id robably reach
about frustrations today% his immediate resonse was &I think youre
ready for it'. (re you?
It seems to be art of our common humanity, our constant e)erience
that we relentlessly encounter frustrations or is it really one bi!
*+,-T+(TI./ (but lets lea"e that for a moment).
&0y recie for dealin! with an!er and frustration1 set the kitchen timer
for twenty minutes, cry, rant, and ra"e, and at the sound of the bell,
simmer down and !o about business as usual.' 2hyllis 3iller
&4au!hter and tears are both resonses to frustration and e)haustion. I
myself refer to lau!h, since there is less cleanin! do to do afterward.'
5urt 6onne!ut
(nd from +owan (tkinsons 7lackadder T6 -eries &I am frustrated
because# the ath of my life is strewn with cow ats from the de"il8s
own satanic herd9'
The sla"es of the householder in todays :osel assa!e (0atthew
;<1=>?<@) come to the householder and in the lan!ua!e of frustration
moan and wail A their lan under threat, their control at risk. Here are
t(o symptoms of frustration1
;. Imatience A &I want what I want when I want it' and
=. Bollateral 3ama!e A &This has to be done now whate"er the
dama!e' so who cares whether wheat dies alon! with weeds A the
weeds ha"e to !o.
Bollateral dama!e A reCect9
The :osel continues (0atthew ;<1<D?><) and Eesus e)lains the
arable to ha"e a cosmic, e)ansi"e scoe. &The $eld is the world#
the har"est the end of the a!e'.
This cosmic, !rand?scale e)erience of frustration is taken u in
+omans F (;=?=G). 4isten &Thats why I dont think theres any
comarison between the resent hard times and the comin! !ood
times. The created world itself can hardly wait for whats comin! ne)t.
H"erythin! in creation is bein! more or less held back. :od reins it in'.
Bosmic, sychic, ersonal in a thorou!h !oin! way ) this is the scope
of frustration
/ow a di!ression# for a moment. Bonsider#are we threatened,
subjected, dama!ed by etty, transient, mundane frustrations or, more
likely, ushed oI?balance by the rimal sense that all of life (maybe
e"en :od) seems set a!ainst us and determined to frustrate us.
Juotation from &2eace 4ike a +i"er'. Without the latter (*rustration),
the former (*rustrations) loses its ower. 3o you understand A consider
artners who Kuarrel often but lo"e deely, consider church members
!i"in! wei!ht to etty frustrations of ersonalities because their own
li"es are beset with the e)erience (nay, e"en the e)ectation) of
frustration at e"ery turn.
+eCect9
This is e)ressed in sociolo!ical terms by the &frustration?a!!ression?
dislacement' theory A a theory e)ressed formally in ;L<L and
e)anded in the ne)t M@NF@ years. *or e)amle, if a man is frustrated,
disresected and humiliated at his work, but cannot resond to this for
fear of losin! his job, he may !o home and take his an!er and
frustration out on his family.
2erhas some of us become so accustomed to li"in! with frustration
that we almost assume, erhas readily, that :od must mirror us for
we are made in His ima!e9 (s it was once said, &:od made man in His
own ima!e, and man !enerously returned the comliment9'.
(nd yet, this is resoundin!ly not so9 The :ood /ews of Eesus Bhrist is
that thou!h the di"ine lan for our li"es is often thwarted yet a new
lan, a new ath, a new urose is created. (nd thou!h :od yearns
that we would surrender to Him, yet He erse"eres in workin! with and
in us desite our rebellion# as much as we allow.
I belie"e that with me, with you, with us :od is not frustrated but often
!rie"es.
I know, this side of death, I will often be beset with frustrations A I ray,
lease 4ord, that in these e)eriences I will be !i"en !race to be kind
and coura!e to hoe and trust in Oou. These are solutions to
frustration
(s we read today in the Wisdom of -olomon1 &teach your eole to be
kind# your children to hoe and trust'. "*+#