Jesu Juva
St. Luke 18:1-8
October 16, 2022
Proper 24C
Dear saints of our Savior~
Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. When you’re losing heart—when discouragements are mounting—when the events of your life seem to be moving consistently in the wrong direction—prayer can become a struggle. Now, many of you, no doubt, are doing great. You had a fantastic week! You are brimming with positivity and optimism. You are praying like a saint. But some are losing heart.
Just who is losing heart, you ask? Well, some of you must deal every day with a chronic disease, an incurable disability. Perhaps someone you love is being devoured by addiction. And so you pray. You turn to Jesus, the Great Physician. But when healing doesn’t come—or when conditions worsen—it’s easy to lose heart.
Who else is losing heart, you ask? Well, nearly all of us have loved ones who have left the faith—people for whom you care deeply who have turned away from Jesus and His Word and His gifts. And so, you pray. But when there’s no change—or when they tell you in no uncertain terms to keep your faith to yourself—it’s easy to lose heart—to give up, cut your losses, and just quit—quit praying about the matter.
The sad truth is that we’re all quitters when it comes to prayer. We are so easily discouraged. When the going gets tough, we check out. When God doesn’t deliver on our terms, we hang up and stop talking. We all suffer from spiritual ADD. Our attention wanders. Our focus falters. Our prayers simply stop. There probably isn’t a single person here today who hasn’t thought at one low point, “What’s the point of prayer? If God does what He wants anyway—if He never seems to answer my prayers—then why even bother?
To save us from that kind of despair—to keep us from losing heart—Jesus tells a parable. In a certain city there was a corrupt judge—a rogue judge who cared nothing about justice or the law or right or wrong. His rulings were simply for sale to the highest bidder. And a judge like that is especially bad news for a poor and penniless old widow. She had no standing, no influence, no status, no power. She was completely ignorable from the judge’s perspective. And that’s exactly what he did. He ignored her.
But this poor, old widow, she just kept coming before the corrupt judge, seeking justice against her adversary. He tried to swat her away like a fly, but she just kept coming back because that judge was the only way things could be set right. She would not take no for an answer. She grinds away at him with her persistent petitions. And what happens? The corrupt judge finally rules in her favor and grants her justice—simply to get her off his back. And that widow, my friends, gives us a picture of faith—faith expressing itself in persistent, patient prayer.
Jesus tells us to “hear” what the unrighteous judge says. Pay attention. This is an example from lesser to greater. Our prayers are addressed to Jesus; and Jesus is no corrupt and crooked judge. Jesus is righteous and holy and infinitely wise and just. So, if a poor old widow can eventually get a rogue judge to rule in her favor, how much better will it be for us—for Jesus to hear our prayers and rule in our best interests? Jesus delights in forgiving sin. Jesus loves to answer prayer. Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.
Our gracious God did not send His Son to hang dead on a cross to save you . . . just so that He could ignore you and your requests. Our gracious God doesn’t invite you to pray with persistence . . . just so that He can turn a deaf ear to your prayers. You are His child—His chosen—His elect. You are baptized—joined to Jesus in death and life. You have the privilege of calling upon God as our “Father.”
Jesus said that God will answer our prayers “speedily.” How fast is “speedily?” This is another reason why we so often lose heart and quit praying—because our Old Adam is inherently impatient. It’s now or never. A slowdown in traffic—a slow WiFi connection—a long line in the Culver’s drive-thru. It doesn’t take much to try our patience. The Old Adam demands instant gratification. But prayer prompted by faith is always an exercise in patience. We need much more of that fruit of the Spirit called patience.
We also need to stop looking at prayer in terms of favors asked for and favors granted. We subconsciously like to keep score on these things—to see what our percentage is. It’s kind of like a batting average. If God gives you what you ask for, it’s like a hit. What’s your praying percentage this month? Are you praying over .300? Or are you slumping somewhere around .220? But God never promises to give us exactly what we ask for. But He does promise that your prayers will be answered by His giving you the Holy Spirit and peace—peace that passes understanding—and that in the end, He will do justice for you by forgiving you all of your sins. “Call upon me in the day of trouble,” God says, “and I will deliver you.” That doesn’t mean that He will bail you out of every trouble in just the way that you dictate. But it does mean that God will always hear—God will always act—on your behalf.
Jacob wrestling with God in today’s OT reading is a great illustration of persistent prayer. As Jacob camped alone in the wilderness he was mugged by a
Please notice that Jacob didn’t come away unscathed. With a touch, God threw Jacob’s hip out of joint to remind Jacob of who he was wrestling with. The One Jacob pinned down was considerably stronger. The One we wrestle with and pin down in prayer is considerably stronger and wiser than we are. When I was a very little boy, I used to wrestle with my dad. We would “rough house” right in the middle of the living room. And he would let me win. In prayer, the Lord lets us wrestle with Him a bit, lets us pin Him down—so that we learn, prayer-by-prayer, to trust Him with everything.
But if I simply tell you to pray persistently like the widow—or to wrestle with God like Jacob—I haven’t yet given you what you need so that you don’t lose heart. I need to direct you to the Judge. Not the corrupt judge in the parable, but to the One who will come again to judge the living and the dead. Jesus is the judge in whose name all our prayers are prayed. Jesus is the judge who will always rule in your favor. Jesus is the judge who bears such love and concern for you that He stands in your stead and takes your guilt and punishment upon Himself. Your sin—your impatience—your angry demands—your failure to pray, praise and give thanks—those sins can no longer condemn you. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The One who was crucified for you—who shed His blood for you in love—He alone will be your judge. He is the Son of Man and, when He returns, He will find faith in you—faith that He has given, faith that He has nourished, sustained and strengthened through decades of prayers and years of tears.
This parable ends on a strange note. Jesus fast forwards to the Last Day when He comes again: When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth? What does the Last Day have to do with our prayers on this day? Well, on the Last Day it will all become clear. On the Last Day it will become clear just how tenderly—how generously—Jesus has carried us along through all those dark times when we were losing heart—when everything went wrong, and when our prayers went unanswered, and when our lives seemed so widowed and worthless. Then (on the Last Day) it will be clear how God’s delaying—how His slowness—is really part of His wanting our good, preparing us for larger gifts, building your faith not on short term satisfaction and on quick, easy solutions—but teaching you to rely completely on His grace, His mercy, His love.
And knowing that, we will not lose heart. We will not give up. We will not quit. We will pray persistently to the one and only Judge who loves us and gave Himself for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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