Text: Luke 18:1-8 (RSV)
The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge
18 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3 and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen
You know what they say: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” That certainly seems to be the case here.
But, of course, there’s more to the tale than just that.
First, the judge. William Barclay tells us that this could not have been a Jewish judge. When people like the widow had an ordinary grievance needing arbitration, it was always brought before a panel of three judges – one appointed by the plaintiff, another appointed by the defendant, and another who was selected independently. After hearing the arguments and weighing the evidence, the three judges would deliberate and issue a ruling.
The judge described in today’s lesson was an entirely different judge. This judge was a paid magistrate appointed either by Herod or the Romans. Barclay writes, “Such judges were notorious. Unless plaintiffs had influence and money to bribe their way to a verdict they had no hope of ever getting a case settled. These judges were said to pervert justice for a dish of meat. People even punned on their title. Officially they were called Dayyaneh Gezeroth, which means judges of prohibitions or punishments. Popularly they were called Dayyaneh Gezeloth (a difference of one letter), which means robber judges.”[1] That poor widow had neither influence nor money. All she had was her voice, the rightness of her cause, and above all her persistence. So, to quote another proverb, “persistence pays off.” That widow symbolizes anyone who has ever felt defenseless, anyone who has ever been wronged and finds that getting justice is not as easy as they would expect it to be.
But the context of this parable is that Jesus tells his followers “that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Today’s lesson is found only in the Gospel of Luke. If we assume that Luke’s narrative is in chronological order, then Jesus told this parable while he was on his way to Jerusalem. Now, we can’t say for sure that this is actually the case; but let’s assume for a moment that it is. And, again, we need to bear in mind that this is his final journey – Jerusalem is the end of the road for his earthly ministry and for his earthly life.
His disciples are – understandably – getting a little jumpy. Maybe they can see Jerusalem over there in the distance, and they suspect that the next days and weeks are going to be horrible. There’s no telling what will happen; there’s no guarantee that they’ll even live through it themselves. So they are scared to death! This is why they ask Jesus to increase their faith and to teach them to pray. They’re going to need all the prayer and faith they can get when push comes to shove.
Jesus’ parable, then, takes on a note of reassurance to the disciples – “never lose heart,” he tells them, “no matter what happens.”
I think the connection between encouraging the disciples to pray and never lose heart and the widow is that the widow didn’t quit, even though her demands for justice went unanswered for a very long time. She kept at it, even though there was no sign at all that she would ever get what she wanted from that judge. In the same way, the disciples are encouraged to keep praying and to not lose heart, even when it appears that their prayers have come to nothing.
Fr. Mark Link, S.J., tells the following true story:
“In 1952 Mother Teresa saw an abandoned woman in the street, literally being eaten by ants and rodents. She carried the woman to a hospital, but it wouldn’t accept her. Next, Mother Teresa carried the woman to city officials, demanding action. A discussion ensued. Then, Mother Teresa demanded a shelter where she could care for the woman and other victims like her. Glad to be rid of the problem, they led Mother Teresa to an abandoned shelter, once used by Hindu pilgrims. Thus began Mother Teresa’s first home for the destitute and the dying.” (Mark Link, S.J., Jesus: A Contemporary Walk with Jesus, Resources for Christian Living, Allen, Texas, 1997)
Just like the widow in today’s Gospel lesson, Mother Teresa got pushy; she got in the faces of the authorities; she did not take “no” for an answer. She exemplified the saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Jesus tells us, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you.” What he doesn’t say is that we should ask only once. No, sometimes we need to persevere and ask, and ask, and ask – we need to ask so many times that we get sick of it.
One acronym I came across recently tells us to “push.” “P.U.S.H.” – “Pray Until Something Happens.” When something is weighing on our hearts, just one prayer may do the trick; but, more often that not, one prayer just doesn’t seem to cut it. Remember here that God hears all of our prayers, including those we pray just once – but one of the main attributes of prayer is not that it sends an alert to God about what’s going on with you, but what it does for you and to you. Prayer is not only good for the soul, but it’s good for the heart, it’s good for your blood pressure, it’s good for your psychological well-being. It’s just plain good for you.
As Pastor David Dykes tells us: “[Jesus’] disciples watched Him, and they said, ‘Lord, teach us how to pray.’ They never said, ‘Teach us how to do miracles, or to teach, or to love people.’ The one thing about His life that was so fascinating that they wanted to imitate Him was His prayer life.”
The underlying point here is perseverence. Luke obviously felt that the point of this parable was, not just to pray, but to pray unceasingly, and not to lose heart.
“Never give up.” “Never lose heart.”
It may be that the disciples, despite their commitment to following Jesus, did sometimes lose heart. It may even be that they also at times gave up – or were tempted to give up – on prayer.
Unfortunately, they are not alone.
A lot of people have given up on prayer. They think it’s a waste of time. Maybe that’s because they’ve prayed for a loved one’s miraculous healing, but death came anyway. Maybe they’ve given up because they prayed for an end to their trials, whatever they might be, but the trials just kept on coming. Maybe they’ve given up because they prayed for an end to the great emptiness and sadness inside them, but they remain feeling just as empty and just as sad as before. Maybe they’ve given up because they’ve prayed for a sense of understanding of a tremendous loss – loss of physical abilities, perhaps, or loss of a relationship that once held so much promise, and are just as much in the dark as when they began. Maybe they’ve given up because they prayed for their children, and yet they’re forced to stand helplessly by as sons and daughters go “off the rails,” and make one bad choice after another.
They give up on prayer, they give up on God, because it looks like God has given up on them. They echo the last words of Jesus on the Cross, when he quotes the first verse of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?”
Too often to these people, prayer feels like talking to a wall. God seems to be distant, a universe away from their pain. They feel like God is just like that judge – not particularly receptive to the needs or the rights of others, not very caring, not at all loving, cosmically indifferent. So they quit praying. Unlike the widow, they walk away. They give in to despair, to cynicism, to worry. We see these people everywhere; we can recognize them in their faces, which seem never to have cracked a smile; we recognize them in their attitudes of sarcasm. They are the ones who like to lecture us on “reality,” which, judging from their descriptions of it, is a dull, insecure, fearful, joyless, unhappy existence. “Pray?” they say, “Why? What’s the use?”
But Barclay tells us this: “If, in the end, an unjust and rapacious judge can be wearied into giving a widow justice, how much more will God, who is a loving father, give his children what they need?”[2] But this doesn’t mean that we’re going to get whatever we pray for, and certainly not instantly, like dropping a coin into a vending machine gets us a pack of gum: “Often a father has to refuse the request of a child, because he knows that what the child asks would hurt rather than help. God is like that. We do not know what is to happen in the next hour, let alone the next week, or month, or year. Only God see the whole, and, therefore, only God knows what is good for us in the long run. That is why Jesus said we are never to be discouraged in prayer…We will never grow weary in prayer and our faith will never falter if, after we have offered to God our prayers and requests, we add the perfect prayer. Your will be done.”[3] So, don’t give up, but sticking to it! The times when it seems as though our prayers are not being answered are exactly the times when we should “double-down” on our praying. When we’re dealing with God, remember this: Things are never what they seem. “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” as they say.
I wonder sometimes why people almost consider worrying a badge of honor. They tell us all the time about how worried they are, and we’re supposed to nod and agree that whatever they’re worrying about is worth the effort.
William Ward wrote this about worry: “Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster, and belief in defeat…Worry is a magnet that attracts negative circumstances…Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.” Worry is like rocking in a rocking chair–it gives you something to do, but you never go anywhere with it. (quoted in the sermon “P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens,” by Pastor David Dykes)
Back to Psalm 22. In Jesus’ day, people would quote the first line of a Psalm as a shorthand way of quoting the whole psalm, much in the same was that we today might quote the first line of a favorite poem. So, when Jesus quotes that depressing first verse, he’s actually sounding a note of hope – listen to verses 3 through 5:
3“Yet thou art holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In thee our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 To thee they cried, and were saved;
in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.”
“In thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.”
In other words: Stick to it. Never give up. Don’t stop praying.
People tend to think of prayer as a passive exercise. Today’s lesson shows us that that attitude is far from the truth. Prayer is an intensely active exercise. It’s been written that Martin Luther used to pray with such energy and intensity that he would break out in a sweat; after a typical prayer session, his clothes would be wringing wet.
That’s the kind of prayer Jesus is talking about. No, we’re not supposed to measure the validity of our prayer by how sweaty we get; but neither are we to consider prayer just the mouthing of a few pious words.
If air is the breath of life for the lungs, then prayer is the breath of life for the soul. Without either of these, we cannot live.
Prayer is a conversation with God. It is a conversation that only seems one-sided. God is always listening.
The Apostle Paul was once stuck in a dank, dark dungeon. He was in immanent danger of losing his head. But, instead of worrying, he prayed. More than that, he wrote letters to Christians all over his world, among them the letter to the Philippians. Here’s a quote from that letter:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
Be bold. Present your requests to God. Because God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So, today, sisters and brothers, like the widow, like Mother Teresa, let’s also push – “pray until something happens.” It might not be the answer we’re looking for, but it will be the right answer.
Never give up! Pray without ceasing!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
[1] Barclay, William, The Gospel of Luke, The New Daily Study Bible, Louisville, Kentucky, Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, 2001, p. 263
[2] Barclay, p. 264
[3] Ibid.