WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 21st 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“A Lesson in Prayer”
Luke 18:1-8
Today’s scripture, the parable of the widow and the unjust ruler, is pretty unique as far as parables go. At the very beginning of the parable, Jesus makes it abundantly clear what the disciples are supposed to hear in the parable. The point of the parable is rather simple: “pray always and do not lose heart.” That’s it. So, for the next 15 to 20 minutes I am just going to repeat that over and over again… just kidding… sort of.
I was sitting in meeting with a group of clergy when the time came to hand out jobs. The person coordinating the meeting went down the task list and asked for volunteers. The response was tepid. People refusing to look up and acting as if they did not hear until the request came for a rather big job. As soon as the request was made one person spoke up and said: “I will pray over that.” The coordinator looked stunned and said: “Prayers are great but we need someone who will actually get some work done.” After a moment of tense silence the volunteer explained that for him to pray over something meant that he would get the work done. It was an encounter which shows how prayer can be seen as not only of secondary importance to real life stuff but even at odds with it. Looking at our passage as a guide to prayer can seem rather strange and even leave us with some nagging questions.
While it can appear on the surface that this story is about a widow who has no where to turn she is not really the central figure– at least from the perspective of action and speech. In fact, the widow does one thing. She just keeps repeating this phrase: “Grant me justice against my opponent.” Instead, the person who takes up most of the space in the passage is the judge, which tells us that we ought to pay close attention to this figure. So who is this unnamed judge?
Jesus tells the story with an easily identifiable villain. The judge does not fear God and doe not respect people. He is the sort of person who is a target for attacks by the right because is a “godless judge, as well as by the left because he ignores the poor. In other words, he is a judge without friends. When the judge is identified as not fearing God, it is a clear reference to Old Testament wisdom which says that: the beginning of all wisdom is the fear of God. In fact, those who do not ‘fear God’ are considered fools who are unable to understand the law or the ways of justice and righteousness. So, we have the character of the judge who does not care about being faithful to the ways of God but is the person who has the power to provide for the poor widow.
At this point, it is important to know that the mere existence of the widow is meant as an indictment of the established order. We know this because if people know the ways of the law, they know that widows and orphans are supposed to be cared for by society. So, it follows that a society which does not provide justly for its widows and orphans is not a faith based society, at least the faith taught in the bible. But Jesus does not simply make an indictment against unjust societies; he provides encouragement to those who are being treated unjustly.
The encounter between the judge and the widow is a testimony to the powerful tools available even to the perceived powerless. This widow is without her husband or another man to fend for her in this patriarchal society. It is clear this she is just in her cause. But justice is available to those without money in different ways than those with means. This widow is alone in the world. She does not have money or a friend who plays golf with the judge, or other access to the perks of the powerful. By most accounts she is powerless. However, Jesus shows that no one is without power. This widow, by her repetition and persistence, wears the man down.
At this point, we should be careful with this story. The justice that came rolling down in only a few verses took a great deal of time. To get the attention of people in positions of power it takes money or for the rest of us, it takes patient and persistent action. That is actually what is happening in this passage. When the judge finally grants the request, he has been dealing with her nagging for some time. His concern is not only making her go away but keeping his reputation intact. The term, she will wear me out really is better translated will damage his standing. The widow has made it so that everywhere he goes she is there saying: “Grant me justice.” Her persistent action, her only recourse left, was the tool which gave her justice.
One of the nagging issues raised in the passage is: what does this say about God? It could be taken to mean that God is an arbitrary figure that will listen only if we are pestering. However, this passage is not primarily about God. Instead, this passage is about being faithful in the midst of real life. After all, real life is full of injustice. In real life, the powerful take advantage of the poor, support injustice, and even create policy which harms widows and orphans so to remain faithful we had better be persistent in prayer or we will loose faith
The point or focus is about our actions. To remain faithful we need to remain grounded in our faith in the midst of bad news times. The discipline of prayer keeps us focused on the ongoing struggles against the powers and principalities of this world. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray: “Your kingdom come!” When we pray those words it is an indictment of the kingdoms, nations, and countries of this world. In reality, it is a subversive practice. Prayer is not a mere formality it is the foundational discipline which keeps us grounded in the life of faith. In her work; The Spiritual Life, Evelyn Underhill points out this reality:
Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of one whole. If our practical life is centered on our own interests, cluttered up by possessions, distracted by ambitions, passions, wants and worries, beset by a sense of our own rights and importance, or anxieties for our own future, or longings for our own success, we need not expect that our spiritual life will be a contrast to all this. The soul’s house is not built on such a convenient plan: there are few soundproof partitions in it.
I am amazed at the number of times I get caught up in the day to day details of life and forget this simple truth. There are projects to finish, calls to be made, and details to attend to. Add to this the reality of the world all around us and it can grind us down if we are not connected to the source of our lives. So as we prepare as we seek to live faithfully in the midst of all the cares and concerns let us remember to pray over all the work we do so that we will find encouragement and not loose heart along the way. Amen? Amen.
October 21st 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“A Lesson in Prayer”
Luke 18:1-8
Today’s scripture, the parable of the widow and the unjust ruler, is pretty unique as far as parables go. At the very beginning of the parable, Jesus makes it abundantly clear what the disciples are supposed to hear in the parable. The point of the parable is rather simple: “pray always and do not lose heart.” That’s it. So, for the next 15 to 20 minutes I am just going to repeat that over and over again… just kidding… sort of.
I was sitting in meeting with a group of clergy when the time came to hand out jobs. The person coordinating the meeting went down the task list and asked for volunteers. The response was tepid. People refusing to look up and acting as if they did not hear until the request came for a rather big job. As soon as the request was made one person spoke up and said: “I will pray over that.” The coordinator looked stunned and said: “Prayers are great but we need someone who will actually get some work done.” After a moment of tense silence the volunteer explained that for him to pray over something meant that he would get the work done. It was an encounter which shows how prayer can be seen as not only of secondary importance to real life stuff but even at odds with it. Looking at our passage as a guide to prayer can seem rather strange and even leave us with some nagging questions.
While it can appear on the surface that this story is about a widow who has no where to turn she is not really the central figure– at least from the perspective of action and speech. In fact, the widow does one thing. She just keeps repeating this phrase: “Grant me justice against my opponent.” Instead, the person who takes up most of the space in the passage is the judge, which tells us that we ought to pay close attention to this figure. So who is this unnamed judge?
Jesus tells the story with an easily identifiable villain. The judge does not fear God and doe not respect people. He is the sort of person who is a target for attacks by the right because is a “godless judge, as well as by the left because he ignores the poor. In other words, he is a judge without friends. When the judge is identified as not fearing God, it is a clear reference to Old Testament wisdom which says that: the beginning of all wisdom is the fear of God. In fact, those who do not ‘fear God’ are considered fools who are unable to understand the law or the ways of justice and righteousness. So, we have the character of the judge who does not care about being faithful to the ways of God but is the person who has the power to provide for the poor widow.
At this point, it is important to know that the mere existence of the widow is meant as an indictment of the established order. We know this because if people know the ways of the law, they know that widows and orphans are supposed to be cared for by society. So, it follows that a society which does not provide justly for its widows and orphans is not a faith based society, at least the faith taught in the bible. But Jesus does not simply make an indictment against unjust societies; he provides encouragement to those who are being treated unjustly.
The encounter between the judge and the widow is a testimony to the powerful tools available even to the perceived powerless. This widow is without her husband or another man to fend for her in this patriarchal society. It is clear this she is just in her cause. But justice is available to those without money in different ways than those with means. This widow is alone in the world. She does not have money or a friend who plays golf with the judge, or other access to the perks of the powerful. By most accounts she is powerless. However, Jesus shows that no one is without power. This widow, by her repetition and persistence, wears the man down.
At this point, we should be careful with this story. The justice that came rolling down in only a few verses took a great deal of time. To get the attention of people in positions of power it takes money or for the rest of us, it takes patient and persistent action. That is actually what is happening in this passage. When the judge finally grants the request, he has been dealing with her nagging for some time. His concern is not only making her go away but keeping his reputation intact. The term, she will wear me out really is better translated will damage his standing. The widow has made it so that everywhere he goes she is there saying: “Grant me justice.” Her persistent action, her only recourse left, was the tool which gave her justice.
One of the nagging issues raised in the passage is: what does this say about God? It could be taken to mean that God is an arbitrary figure that will listen only if we are pestering. However, this passage is not primarily about God. Instead, this passage is about being faithful in the midst of real life. After all, real life is full of injustice. In real life, the powerful take advantage of the poor, support injustice, and even create policy which harms widows and orphans so to remain faithful we had better be persistent in prayer or we will loose faith
The point or focus is about our actions. To remain faithful we need to remain grounded in our faith in the midst of bad news times. The discipline of prayer keeps us focused on the ongoing struggles against the powers and principalities of this world. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray: “Your kingdom come!” When we pray those words it is an indictment of the kingdoms, nations, and countries of this world. In reality, it is a subversive practice. Prayer is not a mere formality it is the foundational discipline which keeps us grounded in the life of faith. In her work; The Spiritual Life, Evelyn Underhill points out this reality:
Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of one whole. If our practical life is centered on our own interests, cluttered up by possessions, distracted by ambitions, passions, wants and worries, beset by a sense of our own rights and importance, or anxieties for our own future, or longings for our own success, we need not expect that our spiritual life will be a contrast to all this. The soul’s house is not built on such a convenient plan: there are few soundproof partitions in it.
I am amazed at the number of times I get caught up in the day to day details of life and forget this simple truth. There are projects to finish, calls to be made, and details to attend to. Add to this the reality of the world all around us and it can grind us down if we are not connected to the source of our lives. So as we prepare as we seek to live faithfully in the midst of all the cares and concerns let us remember to pray over all the work we do so that we will find encouragement and not loose heart along the way. Amen? Amen.
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