Sermon: “Praying – Without Losing Heart” As with other parable, we often give a name and a reference to a parable based on one of the main characters in it – like the parable of the Prodigal son or the parable of the Good Samaritan. And the name implies something of the meaning of the parable. So we could call todays lesson “the parable of the unjust judge” or “the parable of the persistent widow.” But both of those titles seem to fit, but neither title implies anything of the meaning or teaching in the parable. This is not a parable about judges, even bad ones. It is not about the proper care for widows and the poor - or even is it about how to get a complainer to shut up and go away - (though that one might be come in handy from time to time). No, of all things, this parable with an unjust judge and a complaining widow is a parable about prayer – about your praying and my praying. In this parable and only a very few others, we are told right up front what the parable is all about. Luke tells us, right from the start: “Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) Apparently the disciples were having some trouble saying their prayers. Prayer for them was problematic. Maybe it was hard at times for them to pray – maybe they didn’t think they had the right words for their prayers – they didn’t know what to say. After all they hadn’t yet gone to seminary. Maybe they had prayed for something to happen, and when what they prayed for didn’t happen they got discouraged. Maybe they wondered if God really did hear their prayers, or if this prayer thing was just some meaningless religious exercise – that it really didn’t do them or anybody else much good. Like those disciples, you and I as disciples of Jesus today, we have similar struggles with prayer. How many have told me over the years, “I have trouble finding the right words to say – I didn’t go to seminary, like you did.” I want to tell these folks that there is no seminary course titled Prayer 101. Still, there are times when we struggle to find the words to pray; our prayers feel awkward. Like the disciples we wonder if God really hears our prayers. Sometimes it seems our prayers go unanswered. We pray for good health, and something shows up on the CAT scan that shouldn’t be there. We pray for healing, and sometimes healing comes to our love ones, but not always. We pray for peace – we pray for war to stop, but the war rages on. The one we are in now has gone on longer that World War 2. And we can become weary in praying over and over again for the same thing. We pray for safety for our young people, but sometimes they still get into accidents and get hurt, and sometimes they die way too young. And then sometimes, we can lose heart. We just lose heart. Even though the organ in our chest keeps pumping blood – sometimes we lose heart. I suspect we all know what that means, and how that feels. When we lose heart we become discouraged, and we despair – we feel bewildered and weary. We lose confidence in ourselves, in others around us, even in God. We lose trust and hope that our prayers are being heart by God. And we feel all alone. There is a measure of good news for us even right here – Jesus knew and Jesus knows all about this. He knows what it is to become weary in our prayers, and to lose heart. And so he tells us this parable, and he offers so many other teachings on prayers, to encourage us to pray, regularly and persistently, and through it all to not lose heart. This parable, as absurd as it is, is one that clearly sticks in your memory – and it a parable that would likely be retold – and maybe that’s why Jesus told it. When we become weary in our prayers, and lose heart, maybe the absurdity of this parable will come to mind – and will encourage us to pray, and to not lose heart. Twice we are told in the parable that the judge is a rogue – uncaring, unfeeling - he didn’t care about God, nor did he care what anybody else thought of him. Not the kind of person you or I would want in the courtroom hearing our case. And the widow – who in that time and place had little to no rights – she was likely very poor and alone. She had no clout in the community. She didn’t know the mayor or the councilperson – someone who could pull some strings and get her case on the court docket. All she could do was pester the unscrupulous judge. She probably waited for him near the city gate, where the judge would hold court: “Grant me justice.” She followed him in the streets, and the shops, all the way to his house: “Give me relief from my enemy.” She even left messages on his answering machine: “Didn’t you get my last message? I need justice!” Finally the judge – who really didn’t care for this woman – who was becoming so weary of her constant nagging – exasperated by her continual pestering – finally he decides to grant her request, just to get rid of her. “Not that I really care about God or this old woman,” the judge says, “but this woman is driving me crazy. So I’m going to grant her motion just to get her off my back.” And then Jesus, after this very odd story, speaks to us in the present tense. In literary terms, he speaks to us, using this story, from the opposite of extremes, or from the lesser, to the greater: “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. You see the God whom we know in Jesus Christ is the very opposite of this unjust judge. Unlike this judge, God has a high regard, and a deep love for all His children – for you and for me - even and especially toward those who cry to him in their prayers day and night. This God, unlike this judge, will not delay in granting justice – but instead will grant justice quickly. We do not have to pester God, like this widow in the story. What we need to do, as Jesus tells us right from the start, is the pray – often and regularly – and the not lose heart. We already know that this is not always easy to do – to pray, to not lose heart, especially when our prayers seem to go unanswered, or when they are not answered as we would like. Certainly Jesus was aware of this, even after he finished the parable and his teaching on God’s love God’s response to our prayers. Because he then concludes his teaching with an open question: And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” When the Son of Man come – when Jesus comes – when Jesus comes to us here and now in the words of the Bible, in the sermon, in the sacraments of Baptism and The Lord’s Supper – and when Jesus comes again “to judge the quick and the dead,” will he find faith on earth? To pray, and to not lose heart, is ultimately a question of faith – of our basic and fundamental trust in God. Is God to be trusted, or not? Do we have, as John Calvin defined faith, do we have a “sure and certainly knowledge of God’s benevolence towards us – of God’s love toward us,” or not? If you do, then great. If you struggle with that sometimes – then remember this parable. Remember what Calvin said about the chief exercise of faith – and I’ve preached this at least 10 times of over the years. The best exercise to gain faith and keep faith strong - it comes right from this parable – the best exercise of faith is to pray – to pray and to not lose heart. It surely does not take a seminary degree to pray. The best way to learn to pray, is, to just start praying. And if the words are hard to fine, then I’d suggest starting with the prayer that Jesus taught us – the prayer most of us already know. And how do we know it? By heart. May you and I always know our great need to pray – and to not lose heart – but know by heart that we are the beloved children of God – and know by heart that when we cry to God, God will not delay. May that be so, for you and for me. And all God’s people said. Amen. |