Persistent Prayer

Preached by Michael Cheuk
October 21, 2007, Twenty-first Sunday in Pentecost
Luke 18:1-8

Here’s a scenario that takes place in my household at least two to three times a week. I’m on the computer checking email, and Wes comes into the study and asks: “Hey Dad, do you want to play catch with the football with me?” I reply: “Give me five minutes, Wes. I need to reply to some emails.” “OK,” says Wes. Thirty seconds later, Wes comes in, “Hey Dad, I’m ready for you to throw the football with me.” I reply: “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there in a minute.” “OK,” says Wes. Thirty seconds later, Wes comes in tossing a football. “Uh, Dad . . . football?” I reply: “I told you, just give me a minute, will ya?” “OK,” says Wes. A minute later, Wes comes in wearing his toy Seattle Seahawks football helmet, “OK, Dad, you’re ready to play football?” I reply: “Good grief, give me a break! Just a couple more minutes!” “OK,” says Wes. A couple of minutes later, Wes comes in, all dressed in his Seattle Seahawks jersey and pants, together with toy shoulder pads and helmet on, and he says, “Come on Dad! I’m READY to play football!” At this point, who could say “No” to the little guy? So we go out and play.

In this morning’s Gospel lesson, Jesus told a peculiar, quirky story to his disciples usually called the Parable of the Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge. And like the parable of the Persistent Son and the Distracted Dad that I just shared, at first glance, Jesus’ parable teaches us the value of being persistent in our intercessory prayers, persistent in our requests to God. And the usual application is that when things are not going well in our lives or in the lives of people we love, we should persist in our prayers and God will hear and answer our prayers.

But as I dug deeper into this passage, I’ve come to the conclusion that this passage is about prayer, but one particular kind of prayer. This passage is about persistent prayer for justice, persistent prayer asking God to right the wrongs that people do against each other. Notice how Jesus sets up his parable with two characters: the first is a judge, who has the power and responsibility to enforce the law and make rulings to uphold justice. But this judge is unjust. He neither feared God nor cared about men. Even today, we know of government officials who are not truly “on the up and up.” The second character is a widow. In biblical times, a woman’s value primarily came through her husband or father. Since a widow had married out of her father’s family, and had a deceased husband, she had no value. She had no rights. She had no power.

This particular widow also had nothing . . . except pesky persistence. Can you just see her? This widow camping out on the steps of the courthouse, waiting for the judge to come up the steps before crying out “Give me justice!” This widow slipping into the judge’s courtroom between cases and crying out, “Give me justice!” This widow leaving messages on the judge’s answering machine and crying out “Give me justice!” This widow showing up in a fancy restaurant where the judge is having lunch, this widow popping out of the bushes as the judge is about tee off at the golf course, this widow hanging around in front of the men’s restroom . . . waiting for the right time to cry out “Give me justice!” It reminds me somewhat of our very own Ruth Patteson confronting the manager of a local grocery store for messing up our chicken order for Amanda’s reception a couple of Sundays ago! I pity that manager after Ruth got a hold of him! And oh, by the way, we got justice!

Now, I’ve got a question for all of us. When was the last time we prayed and acted so persistently for matters of justice? Oh sure, we pray every now and then that God will be with the poor, with the hungry, with the oppressed, with those victims of injustice in our community and in our world. Every Sunday, we pray the Lord’s Prayer and we say: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But do we pray it with the urgency, the sense of desperation, and the pesky persistence of this widow?

I think if we’re honest, we would agree that most of us are not desperate enough to pray “thy kingdom come” and really mean it. Most of us have too much power, too many connections, too much influence. If we need justice, we know enough people in high places who can grant us justice. We’re not at the end of our rope to have to totally depend on God’s Kingdom for fair treatment and to right the wrongs done to us. So I think most of us can’t really relate to the persistent widow. But do you know who can? I imagine the kinds of people who can relate to the persistent widow are those whose lives are being devastated in the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan in which nearly half a million people are dead and more that 2.5 million are displaced from their homes. Or the millions of people dying of hunger, thirst and AIDS in Saharan Africa. Or the two million women and children who are sold as slaves every year. Or closer to home, how about those who didn’t have the same opportunity for education when they were younger, and now they are stuck in a cycle of poverty and dependence? How about people who are so desperate that they are willing to pay a 390 percent annual interest rate in order to get a loan from a payday lender? I can imagine these people praying urgently, desperately and persistently: “Grant me justice! Grant me justice! Thy Kingdom come! Thy Kingdom come!”

Not only can I not relate to the widow, but when I am confronted by the injustices of this world, I have two reactions. First, I am overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, and I lose heart. I do exactly what Jesus warns me NOT to do. I throw my hands up, and say, “I give up! What can one person do about these enormous problems?” Jesus told this parable precisely to teach his disciples to pray and not give up. We are told to be like the persistent widow-to pray and to do everything in our power to fight for justice for ourselves and others. The second reaction I have when confronted by the injustices of this world is this: I tune out. I change the channel if I see it on TV. I skip the article in Newsweek. I wish the preacher wouldn’t preach about it. I wish people wouldn’t bring it up, because I’m sick and tired of being reminded of it. Just let me do my thing. I’ve got enough problems as it is without worrying about all those “justice” issues. And when I do that, I become like the unjust judge. I’m not an actual judge, but I do have the power, connections and resources, however small, to make a difference on behalf of those needing justice. Like the unjust judge, I don’t want to be bothered, and persistent appeals for justice are a nuisance to me. But while the unjust judge in this parable finally wears down and gives in, I confess that often, I’m able to harden my heart, and totally disregard the appeals and cries.

Losing heart and hardening heart-they are two sides of one coin called “a lack of faith.” When we lose heart and give up, we show that we don’t trust God enough to usher in his Kingdom. When we harden our hearts, we show that we don’t trust God enough to use us to usher in his Kingdom. In fact, when we ignore the cries of justice, we show that we actually resist the coming of God’s kingdom. Instead, we show that we’re more concerned with our own little kingdoms. In both cases, we show that we don’t really mean it when we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Before Jesus gave this parable, the Pharisees asked him when the kingdom of God would come (see Luke 17:20). Then Jesus spends fifteen verses telling his disciples the lack of faith that the Son of Man will find on earth when God’s kingdom fully comes. Then he tells this parable about this persistent widow and unjust judge, and at the end, Jesus asks: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Today, this is the question for us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. When the Son of Man comes, will he find his people persistently praying in words and showing in their actions that they trust that God’s Kingdom is coming? As Jesus said in Matthew 25, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, to judge the earth, those who will enter God’s Kingdom will be those found faithful in caring for Jesus when he comes to us hungry, thirsty, a stranger, needing clothes, sick and in prison. For Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

People of God, we are reminded this morning that all of us are called to make our lives a persistent prayer for the coming justice of God’s kingdom. You may feel like the widow this morning, with not much to offer. Don’t lose heart. May God help you to be persistent and bold in your appeal for justice on behalf of the poor and powerless. In the Oct. 4 issue of The Religious Herald, our state Baptist paper, there was an article about the payday lenders and the exorbitant interests they charge that trap people in poverty, takes advantage of their misfortunes and contributes to their hopelessness.[1] The article appealed to Virginia Baptists to be the “persistent widows” by contacting our legislators to voice our support for legislation that would cap the annual percentage rates on payday and car title loans, and asking those running for election in November to state clearly their position on payday lending. If we all write a letter or make a phone call, we can do our part to make a difference.

On the other hand, you may feel like the judge bombarded with appeals for help and requests for justice. Don’t harden your heart. May God help you to be persistent and merciful in identifying with the poor and powerless among us. I find that when I finally get around to helping someone out, in the end, it usually does not cost me that much. Our Alma Hunt Offering for state missions needs about $900 to make our goal. If every person here contributed $10, we will make our goal. Now, is that so much?

Finally, as we ordain and install a new slate of deacons this morning, I must remind you that these deacons are not set aside to pray and do the work of faith for us. Yes, they are to pray persistently in word and in deed, but even more importantly, they are to help us, to encourage and lead us to pray persistently in word and in deed. And when we persistently and urgently pray the prayer that the Son of God gave us, there is no doubt that our heavenly Father will quickly come to answer that prayer. Amen.

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[1] http://www.religiousherald.org/1643.article.

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