This is a tougher parable than many. We have some, like the parable of the Lost Coin in Luke 15:8-10, that are pretty straight forward. We know the beautiful lesson Jesus is teaching with the words of this parable. “… suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” I hear this parable and get a warm feeling, knowing that God searches for me with the same tenacity that the woman in this parable shows. It is easy, and heartwarming to read this one.
The parable of the Persistent Widow, our text for today, is another story! We have this woman, a widow, who we know from texts all over the Bible is considered as the lowest rung on the social ladder. Widows have little, or no rights, and the fact that so many women married young means there was no shortage of widows in Jesus’ days. Jesus preaches taking care of the widows, largely because there isn’t any one else to, it is a society and law that makes no allowances for a woman who has lost her husband. And the second character in the parable is an unjust judge.
In my mind this judge is sitting on the big porch of his giant house, trying to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather, not concerning himself with anything or anyone, not even God. Maybe he’s got his feet up as he reclines in his deck chair, being fed grapes, enjoying the wealth and power he has acquired. And all of a sudden, he hears this annoying little “clank, clank, clank” on the gates of his estate. It starts so softly the judge barely hears it, he has to sit up and turn his head, and cup around his ears to see if he actually heard something. And it gets a little louder “clank, clank, clank”. It starts to get annoying enough that he sends a servant down to check on it. The servant comes back and reports that it’s a lowly widow, babbling about being wronged, asking for help, and “justice”. The judge perhaps just yawns and lays back down on his deck chair, figuring the woman will disappear soon enough. But after a while the clanking is still there, and this little widow has begun shouting! She’s yelling at the top her lungs, “Hey, Judge, I know you can help me, please grant me justice!”. Not unlike the cries from the back seat of a car “are we there yet? Are we there yet?”, the clanking and yelling are getting old real quick! The judge tries everything, pillows over the ears, humming, surrounding himself with great musicians, but nothing worked! This widow was persistent! Eventually he realized the only way to get rid of her was to grant her the justice she was begging for, and so he did. I kind of imagine the widow shrugging her shoulders, and saying something like, “I thought you might see it that way.” But, he didn’t do it for her at all, but for himself, so he could go on living his life without regard for people or God.
This parable is difficult because it feels a whole lot like Jesus is saying, if you’re persistent enough in prayer, God will give you what you want. There’s a part of me that wishes this were true, the part of me that wants a new car, an iPad, an opportunity to travel all around the world (first class!). There’s a little bit of all of us, I imagine that at times prays to God as though God were our personal genie.
You may have seen commercials for, or even watched the episode of Glee a couple weeks ago that made reference to a “grilled Cheezus”. It was a grilled cheese sandwich that had a burn mark that looked like Jesus. The character that made the sandwich, and discovered this sacred burn mark saved that half of the sandwich and would take it out and pray to it. Now this character prayed for things that were completely selfish, taking over the starting quarterback position and more. When he finally prayed for something that didn’t happen, or that he didn’t get, he gave up, he recognized that this grilled cheezus had no real power, but was just a way to direct his dreams. How often do we pray to our own grilled cheezus? I know I pray, at times, for things that are purely selfish, that may or may not have any real value in advancing the kingdom of God, may not have any value in praising our Lord, may have nothing to do with justice whatsoever. Am I disappointed when I don’t get those things?… sure; but I have found that even when I don’t get what I want, God is still present with me (and ultimately, isn’t that a much more comforting fact than getting something I want?).
Now, I think it might be easy to say, God doesn’t want to hear these prayers, God only deals with BIG things. I know I’ve found myself holding back in prayer when I think something is too small to bring to God. I find myself thanking God for little things sometimes, but not often asking for, or bringing things I deem small to God. I don’t want to waste God’s time! After all, it’s God, doesn’t God have more important things to worry about than that test I have coming up, that car payment that will begin soon, that little pain in my foot that makes it annoying to run? Nope! We are God’s children! Parents, I know its hard when you ask your children how their day was, and all you get in response is “fine”. It isn’t the answer your looking for because you really want to know what happened during the day, what was good, what was difficult, and how you can help. The conversation means you care. And it is that conversation that God wants with His children as well.
This parable is one about persistent prayer. The widow in the parable is praying for justice, but the point is not the justice, the point is the persistence, the acknowledgement of the power of the judge in her case, and the power of God in ours. Jesus tells us that to really worship God, we have to be willing to persistently, almost annoyingly bring things before God. It is in that action of prayer, of conversation with our Lord, our heavenly Father that we enter into a real relationship with Him.
I say this all knowing full well that it isn’t easy. I certainly struggle with bringing everything to God, the good and the bad, the exciting possibilities, and the mundane realities of everyday. At times I even have a hard time praying for myself, I pray for those around me, family, friends, campers, staff, etc. But I have a hard time bringing myself fully before God. I find comfort in the word of Jesus in the second half of verse 8, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Maybe it seems strange that I find comfort in that sentence, but what I see it as, is Jesus’ acknowledgement that giving everything to God in prayer, being the persistent prayers Jesus asks us to be isn’t easy. I think it means that we certainly aren’t going to get all the answers we want to the prayers we lift up to God. I think it means there will be times that are frustrating, times that we may not feel at all like God is listening. But, in the verses before, Jesus makes it clear that that isn’t the case, that God does hear our prayers, that God does want to hear from us, about everything, all the time. It is a great example of faith, to continue to offer prayers to God in those times when we feel as though we aren’t being heard. Recently I heard faith described as not a belief in God, but the giving up of control to God. That, for me, is what persistent prayer is all about, giving over control to God. We are able to be persistent because we know and interact with God, because we have relationship with God, and because we are able to trust in God because of the sacrifice He has given for us in Jesus Christ.
We must allow ourselves to trust in God because we are God’s children. Just as our parents don’t always give us everything we want but provide us with everything we need: our Heavenly Father does what is good for us. The movie Bruce Almighty touches on this idea well. Jim Carey’s character takes over the “role of God” for a period of time, and is overwhelmed by e-mailed prayer requests. In an effort to sort it all out, and get a bunch of them off his plate, he simply replies “yes” to every request, and chaos ensues. It’s a silly movie with a good illustration that we often don’t know what’s best for us, or at times, even what we need, but we must trust that God does. And it is in that trust that we give ourselves, our everything over to God, bringing our prayers, no matter how large or small, how exciting or mundane, how rough or polished, how deep or shallow.
It reminds me of the Max Lucado story I used yesterday morning as our devotional thought. Four of the children were trying so hard to bring something beautiful, something pleasing, something profound, something thoughtful to the king. There was the one child who thought she had nothing do bring, was trying to tag along with her brothers and sisters. But it turned out that she was the only one who had time for, and welcomed the king, who made a space for a relationship with the king. All the king was looking for was interaction with his people, he just wanted to know what was going on, how people were doing.
God is the same way, God wants us to check in with Him. God wants us to be present with Him. God wants us to share every part of us with Him. Sure God knows us all, to the hairs on our head, but that doesn’t constitute a relationship. We have to be an active part of our relationship with God, and in that relationship we grow with him, we are molded and shaped as only a master potter can. It’s a wonderful thing to know that the God of the heavens wants to have a relationship with you and with me. As we close in prayer together, I’d invite us to reflect on the words of the Lord’s prayer. There are big things and little things in there, huge spiritual concepts, and the reality of a daily meal. Jesus prayed to his Father about everything, and that’s what he invites us to do with these words as well. We are God’s children, and he loves us, and wants to hear from us!
I’d like to invite us to end in prayer together, with the words Jesus taught us…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
