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The unjust judge and the persistent widow
Persistence in prayer.
Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8
1 Then Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.
2 He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.
3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent."
4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming."’
6 And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?
8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ (NRSV)
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A perplexing story
Many of Jesus’ parables are a bit perplexing. This one about the unjust judge and the widow is one of them, if only because it seems to use a thoroughly unpleasant character – the judge – to represent God.
If a judge was supposed to do anything in the time of Jesus it would have been to make sure the poor, the oppressed, the helpless and the down-trodden at least got their rights – which were few enough – or got justice. Widows had few rights, and, unless their families were generous, were poor. They often depended on people like the judge to get them what little they were entitled to.
But, it seems, corrupt judges who perverted the law were not uncommon. This story would have rung true for the people who heard Jesus. Many judges were not interested unless those who came to them could offer a fee or, more likely, a bribe – and widows were not in a position to do that, even if they had wanted to.
But what the widow in the story lacked in terms of money or influence she made up for in persistence. Eventually she wore the judge down. He gave in and did what she wanted – if only to get her away from hammering day after day on his front door.
And, implies Jesus, we have to be like that with God.
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What is Jesus really saying?
To say we have to be like that with God is not the same as saying that God is like the judge. I don’t think we are likely to come away with the idea that God really can’t be bothered with us unless we make so much of a fuss he gets fed up. The emphasis is rather that, if an unjust judge will eventually dispense justice, how much more will God do so – and speedily. "Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?" asks Jesus (Luke 18:7). The question is rhetorical – of course he won’t delay. As Jesus goes on to say, "He will quickly grant justice to them." (Luke 18:8)
So, is the message Jesus is putting across just to keep on asking, and God will eventually get up of his backside and help you – and probably a bit quicker than the average unjust judge? Perhaps there is a bit more to it than that.
For a start, it’s worth noticing that, in the previous chapter, Jesus had just been talking about the coming of the kingdom of God – the end time. The Pharisees had asked him about it and Jesus had been warning the disciples that it was still a bit of a way off – there was much still to happen.
But it was going to be the time when, they would expect, righteousness would be rewarded, justice would be done and persecution would end – and Jesus had encouraged them to pray for that time to come, if only in the words 'Your kingdom come' in the Lord’s Prayer. And what Jesus is trying to get them to do – among other things, perhaps – is to keep on praying for the coming of the kingdom – even though it may not appear to be any nearer for a long time.
That’s how it is with many of the things we pray for. The answers don’t come immediately. God and prayer are not like a slot machine – pop in a prayer and out comes an answer straight away. It’s not that God likes to keep us waiting – there are practical and real reasons why things don’t happen just like that. It’s not just the coming of the kingdom – if we pray for justice in the world, an end to poverty, a solution to issues like climate change or an end to war and oppression we know very well that it’s going to take more than a single prayer and more than a few minutes of effort to achieve – even with God’s effort.
But Jesus’ message to us is – don’t give up. Keep on praying. Keep on asking. Persevere.
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Keep on praying. But why?
OK. But why? Yes, we know it’s going to take some time for these things to happen. But why do we have to keep on asking? Surely, however long it’s going to take, God only needs to be asked once? Does he forget, and have to be reminded? Surely not!
Perhaps it’s worth recalling something Jesus taught at another time. St Matthew tells us that, when teaching about prayer, Jesus said, 'Your Father knows what you need before you ask him!' (Matthew 6:8) On the strength of that, God doesn’t need to be asked at all, let alone be constantly reminded!
We make a big mistake if we think that prayer is just a way of telling God what we want or need – and that he needs to be told so that he can give it to us.
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What prayer really is
Prayer is actually something much more important than that. Prayer is quite literally the very lifeblood of your and my Christian lives.
What is the Christian life? It’s not just a matter of coming to church regularly and being a decent person. The Christian life is a relationship – a relationship, a friendship, with God. And a relationship only exists if there is interaction or communication of some sort between the parties.
You wouldn’t have much of a relationship with someone if you never met them or spoke to them or had anything to do with them. You’ve got to have some sort of interaction, or meeting, or communication. Of course a good relationship can survive a long period of separation – but only because of the interaction, the communication, that has gone before and the anticipation, or at least the hope or desire, that it will be resumed some time in the future.
Prayer is that interaction, that communication, between you and God and between me and God. It may be spoken words, as we use in our services, or it may be silent – words or thoughts that are just within our hearts and minds. It may be a cry of joy or tears of grief; it may be something that happens as we read or meditate. It may be about things we are concerned with – or it may be ideas and thoughts that God has put into our hearts and minds because they are his concerns.
Prayer isn’t just about asking God for things, but very often it is – simply because when we need things, or we see a need that other people have, or we see a need for the world or the community at large – that is what particularly concerns us at the time. What we share with God is what most concerns us – just as, often, what we share with our nearest and dearest friends is what concerns us.
When we do share these things with our nearest and dearest it isn’t necessarily because we think they can solve the problem just like that. It may be just because we need to talk about it. It may be because we can then work together or think together about it. But perhaps the most important reason is because we know they care – about us and about the things we care about, and want to share the burden, if not the answer. We talk to our friends because they care about us, not because they can solve our problems – even if, sometimes, they can.
And we bring these things to God for just the same reasons. God cares about what really concerns you and me, because he cares about you and me. The solution to the problem may be a long way off, but God wants to hear from us, and to keep on hearing from us. Not because that will necessarily speed up the answer, although I’m sure the very fact that we have prayed often help towards solving the problem. No – it’s because he cares –a nd, of course, the more we do it the more our relationship with him and his with us is built up.
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So, what is prayer for you?
In his comment on the parable after he has told it, Jesus speaks of God’s 'chosen ones who cry to him day and night'. These are not people who expect a quick solution every time; these are people who know God loves them and cares about them.
God cares about you and me. And he wants to hear from you and me – and, not just on Sundays. Maybe crying to him day and night is a bit of an exaggeration, but I think we can get the message. What it doesn’t mean is spending hours every day on our knees or in whatever posture we prefer for formal prayer. While I would always recommend setting aside some time regularly just for prayer, most of our praying will come in the midst of life, because it arises from life.
So, what about you – how big a part does prayer play in your life? Should it play a bigger one? Do you need to persevere with it more – as our reading says, to pray always and not loose heart? Those are questions for you to think about and. to help you think about this I’ve given you the words of two hymns about prayer below, 'Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire' and 'Lord, teach us how to pray aright'. Although I didn’t realise it until I looked them up, I found they were written by the same person, James Montgomery, probably in the same year, 1818.
They pick up some of the ideas mentioned above. 'Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire' – prayer isn’t a few standard phrases trotted out automatically; it’s what really concerns us and lies on our hearts. 'Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear' – prayer isn’t always words – and it arises in the midst of life, in times of sorrow, frustration, relief, or whatever. And in the second hymn, 'Patience to watch, and wait, and weep, Though mercy long delay' – perseverance with prayer, when any answer seems long coming. 'We perish if we cease from prayer' – not in the sense that we would immediately die physically, but because our relationship with God would die.
Read them through and see what they have to say to you.
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Two hymns about prayer
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters Heaven with prayer.
Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”
The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.
No prayer is made by man alone
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus, on the eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.
O Thou by Whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.
James Montgomery 1771-1854
(No 567 in Mission Praise)
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Lord, teach us how to pray aright,
With reverence and with fear;
Though dust and ashes in Thy sight,
We may, we must draw near.
We perish if we cease from prayer;
O grant us power to pray;
And when to meet Thee we prepare,
Lord, meet us by the way.
God of all grace, we come to Thee
With broken, contrite hearts;
Give what Thine eye delights to see,
Truth in the inward parts.
Faith in the only sacrifice
That can for sin atone;
To cast our hopes, to fix our eyes,
On Christ, on Christ alone.
Patience to watch, and wait, and weep,
Though mercy long delay;
Courage our fainting souls to keep,
And trust Thee though Thou slay.
Give these, and then Thy will be done,
Thus, strengthened with all might,
We, through Thy Spirit and Thy Son,
Shall pray, and pray aright.
James Montgomery 1771-1854
This sermon was given at Holy Communion on 21st October 2007 - the 20th Sunday after Trinity. © Copyright David Gray 2007.
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