19th Sunday after Pentecost – October 16, 2022

Luke 18:1-8

 

 

The widow…in our story…realizes that she cannot resolve her situation on her own.

  • She has nowhere to turn but to the judge.
  • To him she pours out her heart and pleads her case.

 

In the parable…the judge has the authority to act…to effect change.

  • But he is self-centered and lacks compassion.
  • And so…the point of the parable is that Jesus compares the worst in people to the best in God.
  • Fortunately for us…God is a righteous…compassionate Judge… willing to “step in” and help us.

Courtrooms in the Middle East were not in buildings but in the city gate.

  • And the judge…not the law…set the agenda.
  • Only those who were approved and accepted could have their cases tried.
  • This usually meant paying off the judge to get a case heard.

 

The widow had several obstacles:

  • She was a woman…with little standing before the law.
  • And she had no husband or male relative to stand with her in court.
  • And because she was poor…
  • She could not pay a bribe.

 

Jesus tells this story to contrast our status before God.

  • The widow was poor…we are spiritually rich.
  • The widow had limited access…we have an open door any time.
  • The widow had to beg…plead…or offer a bribe…we have free access.
  • The widow was a stranger…we are members of God’s family.
  • God is attentive…never bothered or annoyed by our prayers.
  • He is our Advocate.

 

Why do we need to pray over-and-over for the same thing?

  • God only needs to hear our prayer once…does He not?
  • Yet prayer changes us…it causes us to keep on…keeping on.
  • To consistently submit our needs in faith.
  • Even after long periods of waiting.
  • Even when God appears silent.

 

We don’t like being put on hold.

  • Patience in prayer does not come easy.
  • I will be the first to admit there are things I am tired of praying for.
  • Yet I am compelled to continue.
  • Not knowing the outcome.
  • God is telling me…don’t give up.

 

The unjust judge grants the widow’s request in order to get rid of her.

  • But God does not want our relationship with Him to end.
  • Unlike the judge in the parable…
  • God does not get worn out by our asking.

 

The point of the parable is not:

  • “If you pray hard enough… I’ll grant your request.”
  • The point is:
  • Just “keep on praying” … not knowing what will happen.
  • Keep in mind that God alone knows the best possible outcome.
  • His answers are wiser than our prayers.

 

Jesus touches on an important Old Testament theme here:

  • That of waiting patiently for God to vindicate the suffering of His people.
  • Justice will come.
  • Maybe not according to our timetable.
  • But according to God’s perfectly timed…providential plan.
  • In the meantime…we pray.
  • Not my will but Thine be done.

A friend of mine…a journalist for a religious magazine…assigned to Jerusalem…was living in an apartment overlooking the West Wall…or Wailing Wall.

  • Every day she saw the same Jewish man praying.
  • One day she went down and introduced herself to the man.
  • She asked him how long he had been coming to the wall.
  • He told her that he had been praying there every day for 35 years.
  • The reporter asked him how it felt to pray for such a long time.
  • The man answered:
  • “Like I’m talking to a wall.”
  • If we are honest…we will admit that sometimes prayer seems like we’re talking to a wall.
  • Yet the parable encourages us to not give up.

 

An Israeli internet company offers this:

  • Simply email your prayers to them and they will stuff them in the crevices of the Wailing Wall.
  • It’s like sending an email to God!
  • During a recent visit…the Pope prayed at the wall and placed a written prayer in a crevice.
  • I prayed at the wall during my visit to Israel and stuck my own prayer into the wall (illustrate this).

 

In Isaiah God says:

  • “Before you call…I will answer…while you are still speaking…I will hear” (65:24).

 

Someone said to me:

  • “I prayed and God didn’t answer.”
  • I replied:
  • “Yes…He did…He said NO.”

 

Sometimes God’s answer is “no.”

  • If God gave us the reason for saying no…
  • There is no assurance we would be able to understand it.
  • God’s ways are above our ways.
  • And His thoughts are infinitely more complicated.

 

For God to explain His purpose might be like someone attempting to explain chemistry to a 4-year-old.

  • Sometimes God’s “no” seems unjust.
  • At times like these…we have to trust that his “no” comes from a compassionate understanding of what is best.

 

In the meantime…St. Paul said:

  • “For now…we see only a reflection…as in a mirror…but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part…then I will know fully…even as I have been fully known. And now faith…hope and love remain…these three and the greatest of these is love.

 

Why pray?

  • For God prays for us even when we do not know how to pray (Romans 8:26).
  • Prayer is a humbling act.
  • It says that we don’t have all the answers.
  • That we need outside help.
  • This is difficult for me to admit.
  • Like when I am lost and refuse to ask for directions.
  • Pride…self-reliance keeps a lot of people from praying.
  • Prayer is an act of submission to God’s will.
  • Not an attempt to force His hand.

 

St. Augustine said:

“He who sings once prays twice.”

So…we will sing.