Luke 18:1-8
How many of you have
seen the show “Big Bang Theory?” Or perhaps watched the movie Finding Nemo?
This particular passage reminds me of Sheldon Cooper and Dory. Sheldon is the
beyond socially challenged nerd, and dory is the lovable forgetful fish. This
passage of Scripture I think could easily be their favorite, if Sheldon believed
in God, which is a whole different discussion.
I can see Sheldon, when
he finally decides to pray going: knock knock knock, God. Knock knock knock,
God. Knock knock knock, God. Or hear Dory singing out the refrain, “Just keep
praying, just keep praying, just keep praying.” Too often this is all we glean
from this passage of scripture. Keep asking for something and eventually you
will get it, even if for no other reason that God will get tired of you.
But my friends, that
simplistic view of this passage is completely messed up. That view equates God
with the judge in this parable, and as the Judge neither feared God, nor
respected people, I don’t think God would take too kindly to such a comparison.
So, where does that
leave us? Let’s look again at this passage a bit more closely.
Jesus has been teaching
about the kingdom of God in these passages. He has answered questions about
faith and is giving his followers glimpses of the present, not yet kingdom of
God all around them.
He tells this story
about a widow. Our ears should perk up a bit at this point. There are certain
things that we should know about widows in biblical times. They were without
the protection of a husband, so they would rely on the next closest male
relative to help them. This could be a son, a brother, or a brother in law. Far
too often however, the closest male relative did not want to take care of a
widow. There are many stories in the old testament that tell us about widows
and their brother-in-law’s, take Tamar for instance, in which the
brother-in-law is of no help whatsoever.
This attitude was so prevalent
that early on thin the history of the chosen people they are admonished to care
for widows and orphans, these marginalized people who were the most susceptible
to abuse or neglect because they had no one to stand up for them, legally or
otherwise.
We hear of this widow
and all of the historical cultural background should come to our minds. She is
begging for justice. Chances are she is not able to do this in an actual court,
as she has no actual legal rights. More than likely she is following the judge
out and about to the market place, to the town center, even to his home. She is
crying out day in and day out for justice, possibly justice against those who
were to be her protectors.
This is also the book
of Luke, and widows in Luke take on an additional role. Early on in Luke we
have the widow Anna. You remember her, the woman who sat day in and day out in
the temple for 80 years waiting to see the Messiah. She rejoiced to see Jesus
as a baby brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph. Luke calls her a
prophetess. Luke also mentioned the widow of zaraphath, the one who helped
Elijah during the famine. The one whose son was brought back from the dead. And
speaking of that, there is the widow of Nain, to whom Jesus returns her only
son after her has died.
In Luke widows bear not
only the image of poverty and need, but also the prophetic voice that reminds
others of their calling to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
It is not a stretch to
see her calling out for justice, not only for herself, but for others who
likewise need justice. She cries out to
the judge who refuses to listen.
This judge is not like
God at all my friends. I honestly think he’s much more like most of us. He has
a job to do and it is important. This widow woman is just getting in the way.
She won’t leave him alone. She shows up protesting at his office. She post’s
memes about him on Facebook. She even blows up his twitter feed with demands to
be seen and heard. He’s ignored her for years, but she refuses to go away.
Eventually he is
battered and bruised enough to give in, if for no other reason than he is tired
of her. He gives her the justice she has been begging for all of this time.
Too often we think of
justice as revenge. That is not the case. Justice according to the words and
actions of Christ is very different.
Justice is following
the greatest commandments, Loving God and loving neighbor. One way we show our
love of God is by respecting and loving others. We do this by recognizing the
child of God within all of humanity. God asks, and expects us to do this very
thing. By treating people with respect, with human dignity we are also reminded
that we have a responsibility to ask others to do the same. This isn’t being
overly sensitive or “politically correct” it is really living out the greatest
two commandments, it is living out justice for our neighbor.
The judge in this story
not only has no respect for neighbor, he’s not a respecter of persons or of
God. This person could not be farther from the character of God. Yet even he
eventually manages to do what is right and offer justice.
When we recognize the
humanity of others we can really begin to offer justice, not revenge, not reparations,
but justice, the viewing of others as children of God. But how do we do that in
a world that seems so vastly separated? How do we do that when vilifying one
another is business as usual? Perhaps we take a small que from the people of
the middle ages.
About this time of
year, well actually on All Hallows eve, people would go souling. We do a much
more self-serving version of this in our own country called trick-or-treating.
Souling was not about begging strangers for candy. It wasn’t even really about
poor people hassling the rich for food. The poor of a town would go from door to door
and offer to pray for the souls of departed family members and in exchange they
were given food to eat. It had to do with over turning the social order that persistently
kept people hungry/powerless and others well-fed/powerful- even if that over
turning lasted only one evening.
It reminded both rich
and poor of their relatedness to one another and of the fact that everyone had
the potential to be a conduit of God’s grace- whether the gift of grace came in
the form of food or in the form of prayers. In a very real sense, the annual
practice reminded everyone of their call and ability to be conduits and
stewards of God’s gifts of life.[i]
Friends, each of us has
the opportunity to be the judge, to hear the complaints of the other and
respond with justice, if for no other reason than we want them to be quiet. But
we also have the opportunity to go with the widow to seek justice from others.
I wonder how long it would have taken if she had not have been by herself? What
happens when others rally around and speak out against injustice? What happens
when we together tell the world that all of God’s children matter? Might we
find the good things God offers; the kingdom, justice and love, even faster?
An African American
preacher once summed this passage up in one sentence “Unless you have knocked
at a locked door until your knuckles bled you don’t know what prayer is.”
Friends, are we seeking
justice with that intensity? Are we seeking God’s intervention in this world so
passionately, with such intensity that our knuckles bleed? Are we standing with our brothers and sisters,
fellow children of God and demanding they be seen; that they be heard, that they
be loved?
This passage as Luke
says is about persistent prayer. And Jesus asks “When the Son of Man comes will
he find faith on this earth?”
As long as there are
those crying out for justice alongside those saying “How long O Lord”, as long
as we are willing to add our voices to help those without voices, as long as we
are willing to love those we are called to love there is hope. There is hope
that faith, even the faith of a mustard seed will be found. There is hope that
one day those words we pray “Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come, on earth as it
is in heaven” will come true.
