2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8
A woman with little power comes
before a powerful judge, the only person who has authority to help her. She is in desperate need. She doesn’t use formal niceties in addressing
him, she simply states, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” Perhaps she already knew about the judge’s
injustice, it obviously wasn’t a secret that the judge didn’t care for God or
people. He states his opinions on that
matter boldly. But since he, being a
judge, had been charged to protect the orphan, stranger, and widow, she refuses
to give up until he grants her protection. She is relentless in pursuing it.
She comes day in and day out, and she is always bold in her statements. She will stand for nothing less than justice,
and finally the judge gives it to her, not because he cares for her, but
because he is afraid she won’t stop harassing him if he doesn’t give her
justice.
What does this story have to do with
prayer or God? First of all, Jesus very clearly states that God is not like
this judge. While this judge doesn’t
care for people, God has great concern for the oppressed, who cry to God day
and night. And while the judge has to be pressured to fulfill his duties in
protecting the downtrodden, God will not delay long in helping them. God seeks to always grant justice to
them. So why is justice not always
granted? Why is it that people have to fight for justice if God is willing to
grant it?
The unjust judge becomes a caricature
of why justice is hard to receive. In
big bold strokes, Jesus paints the portrait of why suffering can often go
unjustified. It is not because God
doesn’t want justice, it is because people can often ignore God or not care for
other people. In this caricature, the
complexities of power dynamics are simplified in those two statements about the
judge. He neither feared God nor had
respect for people. Those in power are
often less caring of those who have little, ignoring God’s care for the
oppressed.
That means that in order to gain
justice, people need to be persistent.
They need to come before those in power and demand that they give
justice. It’s an uphill struggle, but
just as the widow came before the judge daily, those working for justice have
to continue to put pressure on those in power.
But what does this have to do with
prayer? The parable is prefaced by the words, “Jesus told his disciples a
parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” Do we need to persist in telling God our
needs to encourage God to hurry up and grant justice? Many have heard that
message within this parable, and they argue that while God is obviously not an
unjust judge, you need to be persistent in prayer if you are to truly gain
God’s justice in your life. God is
similar to the unjust judge because God’s justice can often come delayed, but
it is not because God doesn’t care, but because God sometimes delays justice
for God’s own reasons.
I don’t buy that. Jesus does tell this parable to encourage his
followers to be in persistent prayer, but God is not to be equated in any sense
with the judge. We are to be in
persistent in prayer not because God can sometimes delay justice, but because
we have to have strength to remain persistent against the injustices of the
world. Christ has one body within the
world, and we are it. We are called to
align ourselves with the widows, the oppressed, and those in need, continually
coming before the oppressors. God has
called us to help bring justice to the world.
God has called us to help bring justice for them.
How are we to stand by them and not
grow weary and tired? How are we to not
lose heart? We have to stay in prayer.
How are we to understand our call? We
have to keep communicating with God.
Otherwise, we will turn away before justice is granted.
This all sounds very weighty, and in
many ways it is, but it is not impossible. For God has not called each
individual to tackle all the oppressions of the world. We each have our own special call. There are calls that seem quite large, like
the call of Martin Luther King Junior to help lead a movement for racial
equality, and there are calls that seem quite small, like the call of a person
to drop clothes and food in wire baskets at the back of the church. But both of these calls are calls to march
with the widow, they both knock on the doors of those in power and demand that
the oppressed be given attention. And when God calls, God doesn’t consider one
call to be large and another small, because all calls help bring God’s justice
into the world.
Dear siblings in Christ, I encourage
you to proclaim the message, be persistent whether the time is favorable or
unfavorable. Convince, rebuke, and
encourage with the utmost patience in teaching.
Carry out your ministry fully.
For God is calling us to stand by the widows who come up against unjust
judges, and we can prevail with ardent prayer.
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