Sermon Tone Analysis

WHAT PRAYER TELLS US ABOUT LOVE

Given in Vancouver on Oct 16

By Craig Minke

Our sermon text today is Luke 18:1-8, where Jesus shares the parable of the Unjust Judge (also called the parable of the Persistent Widow) to help us understand more about the purpose of prayer.

You might remember hearing some years ago about the humanitarian Mother Teresa.

* She was a nun who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her efforts in founding the Missionaries of Charity, which managed and supported homes for people dying of leprosy, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis.

* She lived in India for most of her life, and worked to organize soup kitchens, schools, and orphanages.

* There's a story told about Mother Teresa.

In her efforts to raise money, Mother Teresa was meeting in New York City with the president and vice-president of a large company.

They had already agreed ahead of time that they were not going to donate to her organizations, but they said they would meet with her.

Mother Theresa sat across from them and shared about her work and the need of the people she served.

After she finished, the executives told her, "We appreciate what you're doing, but we can't donate at this time."

Mother Teresa responded to them by saying, "Let us pray," and then proceeded to beseech God to soften their hard hearts toward the poor and the sick.

After she said, "Amen," she asked again for their support, and they again refused to help.

"Let us pray," Mother Teresa said, and at this, the president relented and wrote a check.

We might laugh at Mother Teresa's version of persistent prayer, but we find a similar example in the Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8.

Let's take a look.

LK 18:1-8 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.

3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my accuser.'

4 For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,

5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' "

6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.

7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?

Will he delay long in helping them?

8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.

And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (NRSV)

What can we notice about this passage?

* Depending on the translation you choose, the parable in Luke 18 could be titled

o "The Parable of the Persistent Widow" or

o "The Parable of the Unjust Judge."

* This difference in perspective highlights the many layers of the parable that offer insight into social justice issues, God's loving character, and our faithful prayer.

* Let's consider a few things:

o Widows are symbols of vulnerability in both Testaments.

o With no means of support, they were dependent their grown children-or on charity

o Because of their vulnerability, the scriptures demand protection for widows:

o God has a special affection for widows, orphans and aliens (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).

o Just as God provided relief for the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity, God requires Israel to provide relief for other vulnerable people in society as defined in DEUT 24:17-21

DEUT 24:14,17-18

14 "You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brethren or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns;

17 You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow's garment in pledge.

o Notice what God also says in

EXOD 22:21-24 21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

22 You shall not abuse any widow or orphan.

23 If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry;

24 my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.

o Jesus in the NT condemns those "who devour widow's houses" (20:47).

o The early church provides food for widows (Acts 6:1-6).

o Widows are honored, because of their dependence on God (1 Timothy 5:3-5).

This widow, like the man who demanded bread from his neighbor in the middle of the night (11:5-8), persists in asking.

o Her feisty character is unusual for a woman in that patriarchal society, but she has the weight of scripture and justice on her side.

o She dwells on high moral ground, and everyone knows it.

o This judge would not tolerate this nagging behavior by a man, but even a judge who knows no shame must exercise forbearance in the presence of a woman who enjoys the protection of scripture and the sympathy of the community.

1.

The Need for Justice:

* Jesus begins the parable by describing the character of a judge

LK 18:2 2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.

* In this story a widow in need of justice kept coming to see him, yet he refused to help her.

* In the cultural context, Jesus' Jewish listeners would understand that this judge was ungodly because of how he lived and the decisions he made

* As we read scripture does specify protections for widows, along with others who are considered among the most vulnerable.

This judge "neither feared God nor respected man (better: human beings)."

* So if the great commandments are to love God above all else and to love neighbor as self ... the judge does neither.

* And apparently he doesn't care-his attitude is of cynical disregard-he doesn't "fear" God or "respect" neighbor.

LK 18:5 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' "

However, this widow's actions showed her determination not to submit to exploitation, or to not allow herself to be used or abused by the system.

* In v. 5, the original Greek can be translated like this: "because this widow causes trouble for me, I will give her justice so that she may not give me a black eye by her coming Greek word used is (hypōpiazō).

* Paul uses the same word in

I COR 9:26-27 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating (hypōpiazō) the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

* Notice the word is used in the context of boxing where something was taking a beating.

* There was an intensity in the widow's refusal to accept injustice despite her situation.

* She knew she deserved justice, and she refused to take less.

(OR NO FOR AN ANSWER)

We can consider our response to social justice issues, where human beings are oppressed and marginalized by human institutions.

* What if we are struggling from injustice?

* God is big enough to give us peace - even in the midst of struggling?

* He doesn't need our help to fix things, but we can we seek to join in what he is doing?

Do we intentionally seek God for wisdom, insight, and intervention?

* This parable highlights our need to pray and not lose heart.

* When we see others struggling because of injustice, will we seek God's direction?

* Sometimes we fall on the side of being overly critical for someone's desire for justice.

* Can we hurt when others hurt?

* Can we go to God on their behalf?

* The parable suggests that praying for justice on behalf of vulnerable people is part of our responsibility as God's children.

2. God's Goodness and Love

A second point to consider from this parable is that of "God's Goodness and Love"

* Jesus contrasts God's loving character with the unjust judge in vv.

16-18a:

LK 18:6-8a 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.

7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?

Will he delay long in helping them?

8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them..." (NRSV)

Here we see the Contrast of God's care with that of the uncaring, unjust judge and it helps us to remember to whom we are praying.

* We are not approaching the throne of an abusive father, one who would delight in our demise, but instead, we are running into the arms of our Creator, the one who made us and delights in us.

* Notice the words of Zephaniah about the God we worship:

ZEPH 3:17 17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (NRSV)

We are loved by a God who renews us and who sings over us.

* If an unjust judge finally gave a persistent widow the justice she deserved, how much more likely it is that God will intervene on our behalf.

* We now come to a third takeaway what we can learn from this parable.

3. Persistence in Faith and Prayer

Jesus ends the passage with an important question:

LK 18:8b 8...