Pray and Do Not Lose Heart

PRAY AND DO NOT LOSE HEART
LUKE 18:1-8

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

In the name of Jesus:

Desperate people will do desperate things. What we have in our Gospel lesson for today is a desperate woman taking matters into her own hands.
Jesus is here telling a parable. He uses common everyday occurrences that everyone would know about. Jesus begins the story by telling us that the judge who was to hear cases before him was a scoundrel. The populace did not elect judges in Israel, as they are in our country today. Rather, judges were appointed. Moses had instructed the people in Deuteronomy that when judges were appointed, they were to be the most upright of people. Moses says in Deuteronomy chapters 1 and 16: “Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's.” And “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” (Deut 1 and 16)
There was also a woman in the town who was a widow. In some way she had been wronged and needed to go before the judge to have a hearing for the case. Widows at the time of Jesus were in desperate straits; they had no economic means and had no power. She was literally at her wits end, not knowing who to turn to or where to turn, such was her desperation.
The judge SHOULD have been just. He SHOULD have shown impartiality. But he could not and would not. Why? Because as Jesus says: “he neither feared God nor respected man.” He did not care what God had to say about the matter, He could care less about God and even lesser about this poor woman. She had been wronged, she had a case, but the judge could have cared less about her plight, and so would no give her the time of day.
So what does this woman doing? Desperate as she was, she figured that she had nothing to lose to keep asking, so she became a pest. A thorn in the judge’s side, this woman repeatedly beat down the door of the judge, so much so that this judge, who still did not care what God or other’s thought, realized that the only way that he could get peace, the only way he could get her off his back, would be to give her a hearing. And so Jesus says: “For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’
This woman was desperate and so she beat down the door of the unjust judge so that she would get justice. Are you so desperate? Why is your prayer life so shallow, almost non-existent? Is it because that you feel you do not need God or His justice? Is it because you are so comfortable in your life that you feel that you don’t need God’s blessing? Is it because you don’t want to bother God or perhaps you feel that you are becoming a pest? Is it you feel that God tires of hearing your requests, so that you quit asking? Or is it because you have become so comfortable in this life, so immune to your needs that you have lost sight of whom you actually are and what you actually need?
God is not an unjust judge. He is the just judge, the ONLY Just Judge. He is holy, perfect, and all of His judgments are right and fair. God always looks out for His people; He always acts for His people. In love He created humanity. Unlike the unjust judge, who cares not for justice or man, God does care that justice is served. It is God who says that vengeance is mine, says the Lord. And it is God who loves His people. He loves sinners, so much so in that while we were yet sinners, Christ came down from heaven to live and die and rise again. God punishes sin, He pours out His justice on evil on His Son Jesus, who knew no sin so that He would become sin for us. Christ became sin for you!
Why? Because of God’s love, but also because we are sinners. Think of it, there is nothing in us that would move God to love us. Paul says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead as in having no life, no spark, nothing before God. We don’t want God’s justice, for to have God’s justice would mean that God should punish us. No, rather that justice, we want, we need, and we desire God’s mercy. His underserved love. We need God to pity us. And He has in Jesus.
Martin Luther said it a day or so before his death: We are beggars, this is true. We ARE BEGGARS. This is true and it is the point of the parable for today. Jesus calls us to pray like the widow, to beat down the doors of heaven for we have, not an unjust judge, but a merciful God who looks kindly at us and hears our prayer for Christ Jesus’ sake. The persistent widow was desperate, so much so that she would do anything for a hearing before the judge. Oh that we were so desperate and persistent in our prayers like this widow!
The Bible says that for the joy that was set before Him, Christ came down from heaven to endure the shame and punishment of the cross. God spared not His only Son but delivered Him up for all. And in love God tenderly invites you to bring your requests, your petitions, your intercessions, your prayers of need and prayers of praise before God, for He hears you for Christ’s sake. And He not only hears, but He will also act.
This fact Jesus reminds us as Jesus says:” And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.” God has acted for His people by sending His only Son. And Christ will come again, to judge the living and the dead. But when He returns, will people believe? Will they still have faith, or will they lose heart? God’s children WILL have faith, they WILL believe, they will pray and not lose heart, their hearts will not grow faint, because they know whose they are! Belonging to Christ, forgiven by His shed blood, they will ask their Lord, their Master for help in time of need. And He will, for God is our ever-present Help in times of trouble. So pray and not grow weary. For your Lord loves you and will keep you. Cast your cares upon the Lord, He cares for you, pray and do not lose heart, for He will answer and act, for the good of His people, in accordance with His will.
Amen