Sermon - 19th Sunday after Pentecost - Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1-8

“Always Pray and Do Not Lose Heart”

Today Luke tells us a parable from Jesus and begins with the desired effect:  that we should always pray and not lose heart.  It’s easy to lose heart in this sin-filled, broken-down, world of sorrows.  Many Christians are tempted to abandon the faith when the going gets tough, or at least to shirk our prayers when it seems like they are falling on divinely deaf ears.

Jesus’ words today, and the parable of the Persistent Widow show us something different.  We should not lose heart.  And Luke says this not as a “shame-on-you-if-you-lose-heart”.  But rather, a powerful word of encouragement.  A reminder of the true nature of the God to whom we pray, and a promise regarding the effectiveness of our prayers.  Faith doesn’t see as the eyeball sees.  Faith sees what is unseen.  Faith hearkens to the words of Christ, even when everything appears otherwise.

So what’s going on in this parable? 

We are told about the judge that he “neither feared God nor respected man”.  So he was kind of a creep.  Some even name this parable, the Parable of the Unrighteous Judge.  It makes it all the worse that he’s in a position of public trust – he has no particular moral compass – either with respect to God or man.  And so he is untrustworthy and unreliable.  And yet he seems the only option this poor widow has.

This widow has some kind of issue – we don’t know what it is, exactly, but it doesn’t matter.  She wants a ruling from this judge, against her adversary.  She wants justice.

Justice! I think we can relate to that yearning, for we too live in a world of injustice.  Most of us are probably not involved in a formal court case, looking for civil or criminal justice.  That’s not what this is really about.  That’s the earthly story, not the heavenly meaning here.

And we don’t mean “social justice” either, the kind of politically correct posturing and victimhood claims that some contend for in certain quarters of our world.

Rather, we mean the kind of injustice the Psalmist often cried out in response to.  Why do the wicked prosper, and the righteous perish?  Why does there seem to be so much WRONG in this world?  Why do the good people, the righteous see evil, and the unrighteous never seem to pay for their evil deeds? 

For example: Why does the person who’s never smoked a day in their lives get terminal lung cancer, and the life-long smoker lives into their 90s?  Why does the person who faithfully arrives on time every day, does their job, never complains, and goes above and beyond – why does that one get passed over for the promotion and the slacker who just happens to be the bosses’ favorite gets the job? 

Why does the law of the land seem to favor the lazy, the cowardly, the ungodly, the rich and powerful over against the poor, the godly, the hard workers, and especially the most vulnerable?

And to make matters worse, not only does injustice seem to so often prevail, but the prayers of the faithful seem, to outward appearances, to have little effect.  How many prayers have gone unanswered, at least from the perspective of the pray-er?  How often have our cries and pleas gotten us nowhere, or at least so it has seemed?  How long, O Lord?  Don’t you hear me?  Aren’t you listening?

Take heart, Christian.  All is not as it seems.  We have a judge to hear our case, who is far better than the unrighteous scoundrel of the parable.  And he encourages us to be faithful, to be persistent, to veritably pester him with our prayers.  And he promises to hear and answer.

So often Jesus’ teaching flies in the face of our worldly experience, and goes even contrary to what we would expect.  The first shall be last and the last shall be first.  Whoever is least in the kingdom is the greatest.  And so on.

But here the argument is what we might call, “From the lesser to the Greater”.  That is, if something is true in an earthly sense, with a worldly example, here is a case where it is even more so with the heavenly reality.

We think of Jesus’ comparison of an earthly father, who though wicked, knows how to give good gifts to his children – and won’t give a scorpion when asked for an egg, or a serpent instead of a fish.  Jesus then concludes, “how much more will your Heavenly Father give us good things?”

If persistence pays off in earthly matters, with the things below, how much more will the prayers of the faithful avail answer from the giver of all good things?  If bothering an earthly judge who cares nothing for what is right, and cares not a whit for you – can possibly get you an answer – then how much more your faithful appeals to the loving and kind, merciful and mighty one?  Answer – so much more!

But it also works from the greater-to-the-lesser. Consider the words of Paul in Romans 8, in which he asks a rhetorical question, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  In other words, if God went to all the trouble of sending his own beloved Son to die for us, how will he not do everything else good for us?  Since he has given us his most dear, most precious, one-and-only, how can he refuse that which is a far lesser request?

But still, we don’t see it.  And so he encourages us to be persistent, and not lose heart.  God answers prayers in his time, and in his way.  He answers them with our best interests in mind.  He answers according to his own counsel, and not our own limited definition of what is best.

And if the unjust judge will give relief just to get the pesky widow out of his hair – how much more will the just and merciful judge of all, our good and gracious Father – how much more will he answer us, and give us good things, and the justice we so desire.

In one sense he already has.  For he has sent us his Son, Jesus Christ.  And Jesus suffers the ultimate injustice, the innocent of innocents – betrayed into the hands of sinful man.  Jesus the blameless victim takes all blame, pays the ultimate price, and so satisfies God’s wrath and justice in himself.  Jesus, by his cross, so that God may be just and the one who justifies.

In the cross, Jesus answers all wrongs, and makes all things right and good and new.  Any sorrow or trouble or injustice we face is now only temporary.  The ultimate victory is ours.  Even death is destroyed by Christ’s death.  And so all of our prayers are answered in Jesus.

But there is still a payoff yet to come.  Here we wait, in the time between.  Here in these last days, Christ reigns and rules all things from his throne at God’s right hand – and yet he hasn’t returned just yet to be the final judge of all.  Then, on that day, we will see every scale evened, every claim settled, accounts reconciled, and the final reward will be ours.  Then and there, the one true Righteous Judge will make all things new and right once again.  There and then all prayers are answered and finally fulfilled. 

Jesus has this in mind with his final comment, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”  A probing question which challenges us to remain faithful to the end – so that we can answer, “yes!”  You will find faith – for we trust in you, and we will, to the very end. 

And so, we take heart.  And so, we persist in our faith, and in faith’s voice of prayer.  We dare even to pester God with our petitions and requests.  We pray for all good things, just as he has taught us, and place our trust in God to grant us all good things through Jesus Christ.  We don’t give up when the prayers seem futile.  Rather, we press on, enduring to the end.  For we know the One to whom we pray, and he is faithful, and he will do it.  We know him through his Son our Savior, and he will not let us down.  Take heart, Christian.  Persist in your prayer!