Persistent Widows
Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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· 1 viewJesus likens his sheep to persistent widows, with no resources, crying out day and night for justice. And will not our heavenly father, who loves us more than we can fathom, hear those prayers, since he hates injustice even more than we do?
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Prayer
Prayer
You are our steadfast and merciful Father
You make covenants and you keep them, for you cannot lie and you do not change
O Lord, remember your lovingkindness. Hear our prayers. You have said that your house shall be called a house of prayer, and you have said that where two or three are gathered in your name you are in our midst.
Hear our prayers, faithful and loving Father.
We praise you for the rain and the autumn season. We praise you for the color of the leaves and the sunrises and sunsets. We praise you for the beauty that is all around us. You give the birds their portion. You lead the wild horses to pastures. And you gather together your banished ones and welcome them into your congregation.
We pray that your would build up and strengthen your people here today. Increase our faith, preserve us, let us never be confounded. Keep our path steady and our footsteps firm.
May we live as a people of hope, that others might see us and know that we have a faithful God who keeps promises, that others might see that we have a father in heaven and bless your name.
So fill us with your spirit. Shine the light of your word upon our hearts and cleanse us from hidden sin
Forgive us, father. Wash us clean by the blood of the lamb. In your mercy and in your justice, remove our sins from us.
We remember that you hear prayer. You have given us our daily bread, as you have promised. You have not forsaken us, as you have promised. You have healed our diseases, as you have promised.
And Lord God, remember mercy. We pray that you would comfort the lonely, strengthen the weak, establish the fearful and downhearted, and bring the wandering back home.
Forgive and restore those who are straying. Deliver us from the cunning of the evil one.
We pray for patience for those who struggle with ongoing pain.
As your word is preached this morning, we pray that you would give boldness and faithfulness to your ministers and that you would tear down false shepherds and those who hate your word. We pray that you would guard your sheep and not let them become prey to the wolves who prey upon them.
And that your word would comfort, reprove, encourage, strengthen your people today. Apply it to the heart by your holy spirit and breathe upon us.
We pray for our nation and our state. We pray that you would not treat us as we deserve, but treat us according to your kindness. Give wisdom and justice to Governor Newsom and President Biden. Give wisdom to our judges and senators and representatives. Tear down those who seek their own, and who seek to subvert and destroy.
And in our own community, protect the foreigner and the stranger, for our fathers were strangers in the land of Egypt and you care for them. Deliver the oppressed from the oppressor. Free those in bondage to alcohol, pornography, drugs and be merciful to them.
And teach us to be merciful to all we come in contact with during our time on this earth. Teach us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, for our community is full of violence and despair, anger and hopelessness – breathe your holy spirit upon us, and gather your sheep into the fold, wherever they might be. We remember, Lord Jesus, your compassion – for you saw that the sheep had no shepherd. Remember that compassion in our community and gather your sheep together.
We commit our way unto you. Direct our steps. Give us our portion, for you know what is best. And when we are afraid, teach us to trust in you, that we might be faithful servants of our Lord Jesus
And together:
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Scripture
Scripture
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Sermon
Sermon
Chapter 17 ends with Jesus’ instructions on the coming of the kingdom. The Son of Man will return, just as the prophets said of him - in power and clouds of glory, and all eyes shall see him.
The coming will be sudden, unexpected, at any moment, and yet there are indications in scripture that it will be after a long delay.
First - Jesus said - the Son of Man must suffer many things.
And we know that we also, as members of his body, will also suffer with him.
We are glorified with him after we have suffered a while.
And it is exhausting - the relentless lies, the abandonment of friends, the hatred and scorn and ridicule.
In many parts of the world throughout all of church history, the persecutions also include violence, torture, imprisonment and death.
And we all have in us the memory of Eden. We know that we were created for the Garden of God’s delights. We were made for connection with God and with each other, to bond with one another in love and to serve God safely with our gifts.
But that has been broken. We feel the loss keenly, even today.
We long for connection, but we hate and distrust those who are different than we are. So we form tribes, and say to ourselves, “If only we had more power, more influence, more authority...”
If only everyone listened to my tribe, my party, my people - then we can overcome injustice, we can usher in the golden age. We can prosper.
As long as I can remember, every single election year runs on the platform of change.
Elect my guy, and things will change.
But the scripture warns us to flee from the things of the world. It warns us to not put our trust in the promises of the rulers of this age. It warns us not to divide over tribal loyalties, but serve together in the unity of true faith.
We have only one king, one savior, one ruler - the Lord Jesus. He is over every kingdom of this world, he reigns on high, and God is placing all things under his feet.
But things are not there yet. We still live between ages - we live in the between world. Christ has come to gather his people together; but we still live in the cursed world, waiting for his appearing.
And the temptation will always be this - you can overcome injustice and wickedness by taking a little more power.
What we need is:
Better politicians.
Better men
Stronger masculine men to take control
More money
More people
More loyalty....
And then....we can build a tower whose top will reach to heaven… Because if it is built with the tools and bricks and mortar of this world, then it is Babel, not the kingdom of God.
John Piper said that Christianity has a masculine feel.
There are whole coalitions dedicated to more manly, stronger, powerful, men with quivers-full of children taking dominion over all the nations of the earth...
And they assume that this is what Christianity is. To reject it is to reject Christ, they say.
But we cannot rebel against our king, looking for another source of salvation - even when he delays his coming.
Jesus never likens his people to a powerful army building kingdoms. He will not give his kingdom to another, nor does he rule with the weapons of this world.
In our text, the elect are not the rich, the powerful, the elite, the strong, the wise...
The widow
The widow
The elect are a desperate widow, struggling under the weight of injustice and lacking the power to do anything about it.
All she can do is be persistent in prayer.
The judge is unjust. He does not represent God. He is wicked. He doesn’t care about God, about law, about men, about anything.
He is consumed by his own self-interest and cares nothing about justice.
But the widow is very persistent. Every day, day after day after day. People would have mocked her “victim mentality”. Yeah, yeah, everyone is a victim” - says the unjust judge that just wants her to go away.
Until finally the judge says, “holy cow, this woman is exhausting me! I will get her justice just so she’ll shut up.”
God’s love
God’s love
And here is the point - if an unjust judge who doesn’t care about anyone but himself will get justice for the widow just to shut her up - HOW MUCH MORE will God deliver his people?
He loves his people with continuous, eternal, infinite love
He has chosen his people from before the foundation of the world
He sent his son into the world to die for each one of his sheep by name
He does not get weary, he does not faint, he does not slumber or sleep
Since everything about God is the opposite of this judge, what will hinder him from coming in judgment to avenge his people?
The purpose of the parable
The purpose of the parable
The purpose of this parable is that we might learn to pray persistently and not lose heart.
Jesus knows that we tend to lose heart in this world. We wonder - why is there a delay?
Why does it seem that God isn’t hearing me?
The wicked are still oppressing and prospering
The revilers are still reviling. The liars are still lying.
We are still surrounded by threats, uncertainty, worry, fears...
Look at verse 7 - the conclusion
7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
We pray persistently - not because God is impressed and forced to act by our persistence = that is the unjust judge, which God is NOT
No, Rather we pray persistently to remind OURSELVES that the God we worship is not a pagan idol, he is not an unjust judge with better things to do.
He is a God who loves us, who has chosen us, and who is more angry at injustice that we even are.
He will certainly avenge his elect. He will certainly defend them from the world, the flesh and the devil.
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
And we hold on to this by faith - because we don’t see it yet, but we know that God cannot lie, God cannot destroy those for whom Christ died. God cannot turn his back on his own Son, God cannot turn away from injustice, for he is NOT the unjust judge.
So then why the delay?
So then why the delay?
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God’s vengeance is always perfect. It will never contradict his mercy or his love or his wisdom. For God’s holiness, righteousness, mercy, love and justice are not moods of God, or parts of God, but all One in eternal, infinite simplicity.
OUR justice is never, ever like that. We are all sinful, even as believers. Power still corrupts. Lust for revenge still corrupts.
Every time Christians have been successful in gaining unchecked political power, it has always - ALWAYS - ended with burning at the stake, mass hanging, torture chambers, armies.
Oliver Cromwell marches through Ireland getting revenge on the papists and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. The marks are still there.
The inquisition burned and tortured its way through Europe.
The puritans drove dissenters out of their homes through blizzards, exiled and executed those who got in their way, finally ending with the Salem Witch Trials...
So Jesus does not call his people an avenging army.
He calls his people a persistent widow. Lay down your arms. Wait for the appearing of the Son of Man. Have the humility to think soberly. The power to avenge is not given to you.
And on this earth, we still strive for justice - we just don’t confuse it with the kingdom of God.
We aren’t looking to bring about a Christian nation or usher in a golden age - we are the persistent widow, crying out day and night.
Sober thinking
Sober thinking
And practically, it looks like this:
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
We have become so untrusting, so angry, so divisive. Anyone who thinks differently than I do - we can’t just say, “You know, I disagree”
We have to destroy, crush, revile, tear them to shreds as enemies of the faith.
But Paul says this - don’t think so highly of yourselves. You aren’t the Son of Man coming to set everything right. You are just a guy doing the best you can in a cursed world, crying out for justice and love and mercy like the rest of us.
You don’t have the monopoly on all truth. Maybe there are things you don’t know.
Maybe you aren’t the expert on economics, history, viruses, space programs, sustainable energy and healthcare, and maybe it is OK to say,
“You know what? I don’t know that. But I know that someday Jesus will come and set everything right. In the meantime, how can I make your life a little easier?”
“Tell me your perspective. Tell me what you are thinking”
When it comes to the kingdom of God, we are persistent widows, reminding ourselves through continual prayer that we don’t have the answers, we don’t have the power, we don’t have any recourse and nothing that we can do except cry out to God day and night.
But we also have what God has revealed about himself. He IS coming. He WILL set this right. And it will BE perfect when he does, and not one of his sheep will perish.
So then we can breathe again. Be OK with not knowing everything. Maybe even turn off YouTube and your favorite news channel and learn something from someone you have never talked to before.
Paul is saying what my favorite TV detective says, “Oh, get over yourself.”
Don’t think lower of yourself than God does. You are his loved child, under God’s care and protection and the apple of his eye.
But don’t think higher than you ought to think. What you aren’t is the judge of heaven and earth, the arbiter of all that is right and proper, and the expert on every subject.
When it comes right down to it, there is far, far more that you don’t know than that which you do know.
A judge that enters his courtroom already thinking he knows everything about the case and doesn’t need to listen to any other perspective is not a just judge. He is a tyrant.
So it is in all of life. We don’t know everything. We know a very, very little about very, very little.
But if we walk humbly with God, crying out to him day and night, waiting for him - because “vengeance is mine, I will repay” - then we will find a place to use what we DO know, in humility, kindness and love.
We will know that all of those who are in Christ have gifts and abilities and have been given them by God himself, and they will be different than yours.
Use your gifts.
Use your gifts.
Don’t silence and condemn another’s gifts.
Because you aren’t ushering in the kingdom of God. You aren’t the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of glory.
Throughout the rest of this chapter, God’s people are compared to widows, tax collectors, little children, and those without any social group, back-up plan or standing in the community. In other words, the out-group, those without strength, those who are not of this world. We are going to look at that.
It is what it means to think soberly. We get so consumed with “Sticking it to the other guy”; we get so consumed with tearing down the other, and blindly following our own people that we forget what we are REALLY called to do.
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
We love to exalt our own strength. We love to think of ourselves and people like us as the wise ones, the good ones, the strong ones...
But when we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. Our life is hidden in him and our only strength is what he gives us by his spirit.
The strength to use whatever gifts he gives us to edify and encourage each other, to stand together with the people of God, to refuse backbiting and slander,
To walk humbly with God, for what do we have that we did not receive? When we were without strength, Christ died for us.
That is you and me.
And we are still without any strength of our own. All we have is what is given to us. We want the strength to speed the kingdom along. We want the strength to fix everything, rid the world of evildoers, and usher in the kingdom, to stick it to the bad guys…to be as gods, knowing good and evil.
We don’t have that strength. We never will.
We do have the strength to put on an apron and wash each other’s feet. We do have the strength to walk alongside the hurting.
We have the strength to give a glass of cold water, to visit the sick, to give food to the hungry.
We have the strength to cry out to God day and night and wait for him.
We have that strength if we ask for it, because it is God’s will to give it to us - if we only ask.
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
If judge, being unjust, will give justice just to get the widow to shut up, how much more will the Father avenge his people who call to him day and night. HIS people, whom he loves - the apple of his eye?
And if we believe that, then we can stop with trying to do that which only God can do, and leave it in his hands -
And get about the business we CAN do. Use our gifts to the advantage and welfare of our church, our community, our families - no matter what those gifts are.
When Jesus returns, will he find THAT kind of faith on the earth?
Or will it be the faith in Babylon, in the kingdoms of this world that consume us, the rage and isolation and hatred that seek to destroy us and pull us apart? Will we follow the builders of Babel? Or the faith of Abraham?
This is what Jesus is saying.
The adornment of a meek and quiet spirit is of great value to God, and that only comes by faith.
Will he find that faith in YOU when he returns?