Widow and Judge 2

PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER

(Luke 18.1-8)

The Parable of the Widow and the Judge

'And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night' Luke 18.7

Nag. Nag. Nag. Nag. Nag. Nag. Nag.

She, who must be obeyed, had decided she wants new white wooden doors throughout the house.

And so, when I try and change the subject by putting on the telly, an excited voice says, 'There" pointing to the screen, "That's the sort of door I am talking about’.

I pick up Alastair Campbell's Diaries with a view to getting lost in a book. A gentle voice says, 'Do you think we should go for four or six panels in the doors?"

The Hereford Journal arrives. I flick through the pages and a voice over my shoulder says, 'There. Six new doors are only £295 - special offer’.

Eventually I try to earn some brownie points by making coffee. A ponderous voice behind me says, 'Shall we do the upstairs first and then the downstairs, or shall we do the downstairs first and then the upstairs?'

And so it goes on. In fact, it has gone on for about four or five weeks now!

Like the judge, in Luke 18.1-8, I too know that there will be no lasting peace until I agree to the new white wooden doors. But then, what next?

oo OOOoo

However, the woman in Luke 18 did not want white wooden doors. She just wanted justice.

We do not know precisely the nature of the matter for which she sought justice. It was probably a money matter since only one judge was involved, and not three, as was usually the case. Perhaps it concerned a deed, or a pledge, or a proportion of an inheritance.

For the purpose of the story, as told by Jesus, it did not really matter. What mattered was the persistence of this woman, which eventually wore the judge down.

We are told that she was a widow. Now that does not necessarily mean that she was old. Young girls often married at the ages of 13 or 14 years – and husbands often got killed in conflict.

The widow is essentially a symbol of helplessness against those in power and authority.

She could not persuade the judge by appealing to his religious instincts because he was a man without faith.

She could not persuade the judge by mobilising public opinion because public opinion turned a blind eye to her.

She could not persuade the judge by offering him a bribe because she was without money.

And she could not persuade the judge by appealing to her influential friends to put in a word for her, because she was without friends.

She was just a poor helpless widow.

Her only weapon of defence was her persistence. She could nag him until he gave in. Hence he says, 'l must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worrying me to death’.

ooOOOoo

What then is the relevance of this story which Luke has chosen to include in his Gospel?

He says that, 'Jesus told his disciples [this] parable about their need to pray always and not lose heart’.

Now, at a first glance, Jesus would appear to be suggesting that if we nag God enough in our prayers he will answer us out of fear of being worried to death.

But, my friends, to believe in such a God would be to make God the subject of our control. We would be making God into a puppet on a string and he would therefore cease to be all powerful.

No. This cannot be the answer to our question.

Much rather, I would suggest, Jesus is seeking to draw a contrast between the reluctant judge, on the one hand, and a generous God, on the other hand.

Jesus is saying that, if such a reluctant judge can eventually be persuaded to act through a person's sheer persistence, how much more readily will God, our heavenly Father, respond to the voice of his children when they cry to Him in their hour of need.

ooOOOoo

Now I realise that such an explanation raises questions such as, why does God often appear to delay in answering our prayers, and why must so many people suffer as a consequence of such a delay?

To be quite honest, I do not know the answer to such questions because I do not understand the mind of God. I can, however, give some pointers as to why he sometimes appears to delay in answering our prayers.

For instance, in our ignorance, and from our limited perspective, we may pray for things which, if granted, would not be for our lasting good.

Likewise, to give us what we want may deprive someone else of what is essential for their well-being.

We also need to bear in mind that God respects our freedom, and therefore we must also respect His freedom and allow Him to act as he chooses.

But above all, we must be mindful that the answer to our prayers of asking will seldom be through a blinding flash, whereby God crashes in upon the life of this world. Much rather, the answer to our prayers will inevitably be through him or her who has prayed. Intercession is essentially about opening ourselves up, whereby we can be used as channels of his love in the world of today. In short, no sooner have we prayed upon our knees, than we must be prepared to stand up, roll up our sleeves and enable that prayer to be answered through ourselves.

These are just some of the reasons why God may appear to delay in answering our prayers of asking.

ooOOOoo

Whatever the reasons for God in delaying, we must never lose heart. Like the widow, in Luke 18, we must persist, and eventually, in God's good time, our prayers will be answered.

And so the wall came down between East and West Berlin, the policy of apartheid crumbled in South Africa and peace was restored in Northern lreland.

After all, we are not praying to a reluctant judge but to a generous God who loves us, and invites us to turn to him in prayer.