+ 19th Sunday after Pentecost - October 20th, 2019 +
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
Series C: Genesis 32:22-30; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And Jesus told the disciples a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Not lose heart. Seems easier said than does these days, doesn’t it. We look around at the world we live in and witness the unthinkable number of children murdered by abortion, the constant change of human sexuality and marriage…and we lose heart in our culture and humanity.
We see the Christian Church on earth plagued with errors, deception, and apathy…and we lose heart.
And if all that wasn’t enough, friends and loved ones die, disease ravages our bodies and minds. Our own sinful flesh and the devil look for every chink in our armor, waiting to launch fiery arrows of doubt and despair our way. And we lose heart in ourselves – in our standing before God.
If this parable teaches us to be persistent in prayer, it reveals our utter failure. For the only thing I’ve really been persistent at is being a sinner.
Yes, it’s easy to be discouraged and lose heart in this life. And that’s why Jesus tells us this parable. To not lose heart. It’s a parable about prayer and God’s promises. Jesus points to the persistence of the widow as the way we pray to him. Not because by doing so we earn his favor or appease him. But because he is even more persistent in divine mercy to you.
This parable – like every parable - is about Jesus. Jesus gives us this parable so that we may not lose heart, that we might rejoice in his gracious persistence to love and forgive us.
Admittedly it’s a bit of an odd parable at first reading. In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. This judge neither feared God – meaning, he wasn’t a believer in Yahweh; he was a gentile. And apparently he didn’t care too much for his fellow gentiles either.
In a great stroke of story-telling genius, Jesus uses the example of this bad judge to illustrate the goodness of God. Jesus uses the unjust judge to reveal the great mystery of God’s justice in Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus uses this parable of the unrighteous judge to teach us about his great righteousness in his death and resurrection for you.
There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
Now we might think the widow an odd choice for a main character. Compared to the judge, the widow had little power or prestige in ancient Israel. She was vulnerable, helpless, the kind of person many had written off.
But she was persistent. Over and over she kept coming to this judge, who had no regard for her or for justice. She persisted because he was the only way that she could be vindicated over her adversary. Even when the judge kept postponing her case, she just kept coming to court.
She wrestles with this judge like Jacob wrestled with God in Genesis 32. She won’t take no for an answer. Martin Luther once said that when we suffer, we take God’s promises and rub them in his ears like this widow.
But as persistent as this widow is, or Jacob was, Jesus is more persistent. It’s good to be persistent in prayer. Just know that prayer a fruit of faith, not the foundation of your faith. Faith rests in Jesus, not the frequency or failure of prayer. Jesus died and rose so that all your prayers might be heard, that we might call upon our Heavenly Father as dear children call upon their own father, in boldness and confidence.
So, how did this unjust judge respond to the widow’s persistence? For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”
The Greek in this last part is far more exciting. I will give her justice – or vindicate her - so that she will not keep coming until the end and give me a black eye.
This is why he’s called the unjust judge. When he finally decides to take this widow’s case, he doesn’t do it because it’s right, or just, or dutiful. No. He’s tired of hearing the widow’s case. And he’s worried she might haul off and give him a black eye.
Again, Jesus uses the example of this bad judge to illustrate the goodness of God. God is in no way a corrupt or crooked judge. He is righteous and holy and infinitely wise. And yet, if the unjust judge, who only worries about himself, and couldn’t care less about the widow, finally gives her justice - how much more, then, will God who is just and righteous forgive our sins and justify the ungodly? If the unjust judge vindicates the widow, how much more then will Jesus who judges in righteousness vindicate us by his dying and rising? He will. He does. Speedily. For you.
“Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.
Jesus is unlike any other judge. He is gacious and slow to anger; abounding in steadfast love for you. He is not bothered by our persistence but welcomes it. He is not worn down by our prayers and petitions, but promises to hear them. It’s why we pray, Thy will be done, knowing that in Jesus, we have a righteous judge.
For if God did not spare his own Son how will he not also with Him graciously give us all things?!
As Jesus told this parable he was headed to Jerusalem to die for you. To pray for you on the cross. To vindicate you in his death and resurrection. To rise from the dead for you. To ascend for you and plead and pray for you before the Father, persistently. You have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. Case closed. The verdict is in. You’re not guilty. You’re forgiven. Free.
In his righteousness, Jesus brings us swift rescue. The forgiven verdict of absolution. The righteous robes given you in Holy Baptism. His forgiving, healing, justifying body and blood given and shed for you.
Yes, it is good to be persistent in prayer. But do not lose heart. For Jesus is all the more persistent in declaring you righteous and showing you mercy.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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