Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’  “For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”                                                             Luke 18:1-8

This is another of those quirky Jesus stories that often makes us scratch our heads.  We try to figure out who is who in the story.  Is the Judge God?  Is the widow us?  And yet that doesn’t really fit, does it?  The Judge cannot be God since the judge is so unjust.  He only gives in because the widow in her persistence starts to bother him.  But the widow; who is she?

Now we have to do that little “bible trick”.  Whenever a passage begins with “Then” or “Afterwards” or any of those type words, we need to read what happened before.  Jesus was teaching on the Kingdom of God and how it is in our midst. Jesus refers to the flood and the destruction of Sodom as things that happened without a specific calendar date.  So will the coming of the Kingdom – it is here in our midst as well as coming fully one day.

And we are to remain ready for the kingdom – by living as Christ teaches us, with love towards God, our neighbors and ourselves.  We are to persistently be in communication with God through prayer.  Our prayers should be consistent and in accord with Christ.  We cannot just pray once and say “that’s done, its up to God now” rather we are to pray as we breathe.  Constantly.

Is there something going on in your life?  Don’t just take it to God in prayer, but consistently pray, asking God for God’s perspective, wisdom and guidance.  And then listen for God’s answer with faith, for God will answer.  As Jesus said: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”

Peace,

Pastor Bill