The Uncaring Judge
Preaching
Preaching The Parables
Series III, Cycle C
1. Text
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. [2] He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. [3] In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' [4] For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, [5] yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' " [6] And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. [7] And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? [8] I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Jesus tells the parable about our need to pray always and not lose heart.
Second Point Of Action
He describes the two characters, the judge who does not fear God or respect people and the widow who persists in coming to him to request justice against her opponent.
Third Point Of Action
The judge refuses for a while, then, to get rid of her, grants the woman justice.
Fourth Point Of Action
Jesus makes the analogy with our prayer relationship to God as one who grants justice without delay to those who persist with prayer.
Fifth Point Of Action
Jesus wonders, despite this, if the Son of Man will find such faith on earth.
3. Spadework
Chosen (Ones)
Those who are God's chosen, God calls by name: "... [A]nd Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me" (Isaiah 45:4). The task of God's chosen ones is to clothe themselves "with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (Colossians 3:12). God's chosen "shall long enjoy the work of their hands" (Isaiah 65:22). God provides for them: "[F]or I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people" (Isaiah 43:20).
Among the five other references to "chosen ones" are several Psalms. To God's chosen ones, God makes promises: "You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one' ... 'I will establish your descendants forever, / and build your throne for all generations' " (Psalm 89:3-4). Joy and singing are the fruit of the struggle of God's chosen people: "So he brought his people out with joy, / his chosen ones with singing" (Psalm 105:43). See also Psalm 106:5. A whole body of people are God's chosen ones: "O offspring of his servant Israel, children of Jacob, his chosen ones" (1 Chronicles 15:13). See also Psalm 105:6.
The "Servant" passage from Isaiah 42:1 is an invitation to consider how not only Christ but each person is God's chosen and called to open the way for bringing about God's justice, as did the Lukan widow: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations."
Cry To God
A cry is an earnest or urgent request, a plea. It is a prayer. Uttered loudly or called out, a lament is alive with the urgency of the unsummoned wail of one who keens with grief. Singing praise to God is easy and spontaneous. Jesus suggests that God would have the crying of our laments be as natural as our praising. We stall before admitting the necessity of making our complaint before God, ignoring that God already is aware of it. Either we are reluctant, or once we have begun to lament, we pour forth with the incessancy of a widow before an unjust judge. To whom else but our creator can we eventually submit the cry of the heart?
The pattern of the Psalmist, which includes both songs of praise and songs of lament, mirrors the existence of elation and desperation in the flow of human life. See especially Psalm 18:6, 28:2, and 57:2.
We cry out to God because first we trust that God has a design for our lives: "I cry to God Most High, / to God who fulfills his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2). Without initial thought of answer, the Psalmist first hopes that God at least will hear. The Psalmist proceeds: "Hear the voice of my supplication, / as I cry to you for help, / as I lift up my hands / toward your most holy sanctuary" (Psalm 28:2). First, gain the attention of God: "Listen to the sound of my cry, / my King and my God, / for to you I pray" (Psalm 5:2).
When we cry out to God, we want some evidence that God hears. Job says, "I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me" (Job 30:20). The sigh of relief at having been heard is clear in this Psalm: "In my distress I called upon the Lord; / to my God I cried for help. / From his temple he heard my voice, / and my cry to him reached his ears" (Psalm 18:6).
Do you approach God inviting the confidence of being heard? Do you call to God dominated by the fear of retribution for all your past shortcomings? The prophets, Micah and Habakkuk, suggest, "Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly," (Micah 3:4) and "O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?" (Habakkuk 1:2a).
Christ answers uncertainty with the words of the present text: "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" (Luke 18:7-8a).
Justice/Unjust
While "justice" occurs biblically 121 times; "unjust" appears only thirteen times. One might be concerned about the capacity of an unjust judge to dispense justice. However, even the unjust judge in the present parable eventually takes the right action if for the wrong reason of getting rid of the persistent woman. Hebrew Scripture says this about giving an unjust judgment: "You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor" (Leviticus 19:15).
While unjust judges abound, the judgment of God is trustworthy: "A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4). "Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice" (Job 34:12). "The Almighty -- we cannot find him; he is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate" (Job 37:23).
In contrast to the unjust judge, God is a God of justice who acts justly. "[God] loves righteousness and justice; / the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord" (Psalm 33:5). See also Philippians 48.
God's judgments, as well as God's ways, are "just and true." (See Revelation 15:3 and 16:7.) "Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him" (Isaiah 30:18). "[B]ut let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:24).
God also expects the human family to act in a right way. "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" (Proverbs 21:3). Among the other biblical charges to all regarding justice, including the unjust judge, are the following passages: "The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice" (Psalm 37:30). A just person is one of integrity. (See Job 31:6.) "May [your king] judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice" (Psalm 72:2).
"Give justice to the weak and the orphan; / maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute" (Psalm 82:3). "[L]earn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:17). "Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place" (Jeremiah 22:3). See also the justice standards of Micah 6:8 and Amos 5:15 and 5:24.
Who appears chosen as God's servant is at times a surprise. In this parable, the widow is servant: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations" (Isaiah 42:1).
Consider the perseverence of the praying widow also from the perspective of these passages: "[A] bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching" (Isaiah 42:3-4).
The widow's insistence reflects an innate understanding of the God of these passages: "The evil do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely" (Proverbs 28:5). "But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God" (Hosea 12:6).
Lose (Lost) Heart
This phrase occurs a dozen times in the Bible. Warriors in the stories of Hebrew Scripture know about losing heart during strife. (See Genesis 42:28, 2 Samuel 22:46, and Psalm 18:45.) Those who "lose heart" may be afraid, panic, or dread. They may withdraw. (See Deuteronomy 20:3 and Daniel 11:30.)
In addition to the present text, which is the only instance in the Gospels, six other usages of "lose heart" occur in the New Testament. Two references, reflecting an understanding of the tender-heartedness of children, speak to the child-parent relationships. (See Colossians 3:21 and Hebrews 12:5.) When the struggles of early Christianity threatened to dishearten the churches of Paul's day, the writers of the letters spoke about losing heart. (See 2 Corinthians 4:1, Ephesians 3:13, and Hebrews 12:3.)
Among the most memorable of the exhortations not to "lose heart" is that from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: "So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal."
Prayer
Of the three parables about prayer in this cycle, "The Midnight Friend" (Cycle C, Parable 7) speaks to the God and pray-er relationship as one of faithfulness and persistence. The present parable focuses on persistence and the encouragement of praying, whereas The Two Men At Prayer (Cycle C, Parable 18) emphasizes attitude when praying.
As a sign of unceasing persistence, the "day and night" phrase appears on 27 occasions from Genesis 8:22 to Revelation 20:10. The prophet Nehemiah spoke of persistent prayer, "... I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you ..." (Nehemiah 1:6).
Others also speak of meditating "day and night" (Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2), pleading before God day and night (1 Kings 8:59), keeping one's eyes open toward the house of God day and night (2 Chronicles 6:20), weeping day and night (Psalm 42:3, Lamentations 2:18, and Jeremiah 9:1), worshiping day and night (Acts 26:7 and Revelation 7:15), singing day and night (Revelation 6:8), and tormented day and night (Revelation 20:10). In thirteen other instances of persistence, the praying, working, howling, and crying went on "night and day."
Job asks everyone's questions. What good is prayer, anyway? One moment Job asks, "What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?" (Job 21:15). Next he asserts, "You will pray to him, and he will hear you" (Job 22:27). The subsequent question is implicit in Jeremiah's response to the commanders of the forces who asked that he pray for them, that is: Are you ready to hear the answer? Jeremiah told to all, "Very well: I am going to pray to the Lord your God as you request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you" (Jeremiah 42:4).
Jesus prayed. He trusted prayer. He recommended prayer, at a serious time, albeit with a pinch of sarcasm, to the disciples who had fallen asleep while Jesus prayed at Gethsemane: "[A]nd he said to them, 'Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial' " (Luke 22:46).
4. Parallel Scripture
The parable, The Uncaring Judge, is special to Luke. However, the following passages are worth noting:
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18);
"You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, 'How have we wearied him?' By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.' Or by asking, 'Where is the God of justice?' " (Malachi 2:17);
"The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective" (James 5:16b);
"You must not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's" (Deuteronomy 1:17a);
"For the Lord loves justice; / he will not forsake his faithful ones" (Psalm 37:28); and
For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. -- Hebrews 6:10-12
5. Chat Room
Adam: Most of the justice that happens around here is the result of stubborn persistence. The desire for change may be the goal of many people, but only a few have the tenacity to pursue that change lifelong, if necessary. Judges, by definition, are supposed to be just. Justice is supposed to happen. "Supposed to" has its gaps.
Brenda: The widow of Jesus' day had no clout. She was already in the cellar of society. However, this woman's position does not deter her. Lady, you must be some woman to persevere before the judge.
Deborah: And I supposed that I had no clout as a widow. If a filibuster of prayer -- and that is what keeps me coming again and again and again -- if a filibuster of prayer will wear down that crooked judge, then I have time.
Brenda: What keeps you from losing heart, Deborah, persisting day and night like that?
Deborah: Being on the side of what is right gives me energy. My God is some God. That is what being fed up with injustice finally does. You take on the corporation even if it costs your job. You refuse to move to the back of the bus. You just one day do what you need to do, almost without a plan, even though your skin is all that holds together the jelly of your viscera. You boycott your own church because your neighbor cannot get her wheelchair through the door. You cannot wait longer for someone else to make the changes. You become a Rosa Parks, and that is that.
Brenda: Is that what it takes to untie the political knots and unite the human family? Harangue "the judges" into right action with a quiet voice or with a noisy sound until they realize you will not go away. Your argument is sound, and they know, that you know, that they know it.
Adam: Our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters have owned that persistence. Was it a loss of heart that stopped their talking and started the pouring of concrete? I wonder if justice will ever happen. Why does the ancient prayer not work?
Deborah: We cannot give up. Our struggle is centuries old. We must not give in to terror now. God is on the side of justice.
Brenda: Your brokenheartedness has turned your prayer into the building of the wall. Adam, to what ancient prayer were you referring?
Adam: The Psalm Jewish folk have been praying for generations of mothers and fathers and children: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: / 'May they prosper who love you. / Peace be within your walls, / and security within your towers.' / For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, 'Peace be within you' " (Psalm 122:7-8). Where is this "shalom" that these two peoples share with two different pronunciations? Will this prayer ever find an answer?
Deborah: Is it through incessant prayer that our physical barrier, this 215-mile wall, is being constructed lest no one will be left to argue? Sometimes justice takes unexpected forms. It is through the hope that faithfulness to prayer brings, however, that this time-out-for-survival-wall eventually will come down.
Can we possibly empower the knocked down wall between the former East Berlin and West Berlin to buoy our hope also? We are people. We are trying to cook the evening meal. We are trying to raise families. Our children are hoping to complete school.
Adam: When I think my capacity to make a positive difference in the world's areas of chaos and uncertainty is negligible, then I am looking at too large a perspective. I need to reduce the scale. I need to zoom in until my focus can perceive where I can make a constructive impact. Sometimes that focus is one on one. Sometimes it is an entire community.
Brenda: Person to person is the beginning point of injustice. It is also the beginning point of justice.
Deborah: For me, God is the beginning point of hope. Yet, hope needs a human vehicle.
Adam: Justice only happens with the right actions of chosen members of the human family. Okay, I must ask: Who is chosen, and who is not? Dare we include ourselves among God's chosen to receive God's justice? Dare we recognize that we might have been chosen to ascertain that God's justice happens within the realm of God?
Deborah: I can speak only for myself. I would never have volunteered to stand up to the judge. From deep within my soul, I had to do it. That is how God let me know that I am God's chosen one for this particular task. It was a dawning as powerful as my earlier realization that I am a chosen recipient of God's love and justice. That is the birth of faith.
Brenda: I've been thinking about that wall that cuts off your land from friendship. A wall of words may as well be a two-story high concrete wall when the heart is incapable of listening. Does prayer actually help to bring down walls, or is prayer wishful thinking? Where does prayer come in here? What does prayer do to the prayer? How does it connect with the one for whom the prayer is offered?
Deborah: Prayer is that sorting out of our thoughts that keeps us focused and strengthens our hearts. Prayer cleans out the debilitating debris of dismay that builds up through daily conflict. Our crying out day and night is not always with words. It is our openness to God's presence. Prayer helps me to avoid being overcome by impossibility.
Brenda: God's response is immediate. The world's justice requires human time.
Adam: This chat room exchange takes me back to Jesus' "And yet."
Brenda: Christ's "And yet?"
Adam: Yes. At the conclusion of the parable of The Unjust Judge, after Jesus assures us that God does not take forever to bring justice, Jesus says, "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Deborah: That statement of frustration with the human condition reveals to me the depth of Jesus' compassion. While offering you assurance, he knows firsthand how difficult it is to maintain hope.
Brenda: Christ appreciates the effort required to keep faith in possibility. He knows about reducing the gap between the reality of the human condition and God's hope for us.
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. [2] He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. [3] In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' [4] For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, [5] yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' " [6] And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. [7] And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? [8] I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Jesus tells the parable about our need to pray always and not lose heart.
Second Point Of Action
He describes the two characters, the judge who does not fear God or respect people and the widow who persists in coming to him to request justice against her opponent.
Third Point Of Action
The judge refuses for a while, then, to get rid of her, grants the woman justice.
Fourth Point Of Action
Jesus makes the analogy with our prayer relationship to God as one who grants justice without delay to those who persist with prayer.
Fifth Point Of Action
Jesus wonders, despite this, if the Son of Man will find such faith on earth.
3. Spadework
Chosen (Ones)
Those who are God's chosen, God calls by name: "... [A]nd Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me" (Isaiah 45:4). The task of God's chosen ones is to clothe themselves "with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (Colossians 3:12). God's chosen "shall long enjoy the work of their hands" (Isaiah 65:22). God provides for them: "[F]or I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people" (Isaiah 43:20).
Among the five other references to "chosen ones" are several Psalms. To God's chosen ones, God makes promises: "You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one' ... 'I will establish your descendants forever, / and build your throne for all generations' " (Psalm 89:3-4). Joy and singing are the fruit of the struggle of God's chosen people: "So he brought his people out with joy, / his chosen ones with singing" (Psalm 105:43). See also Psalm 106:5. A whole body of people are God's chosen ones: "O offspring of his servant Israel, children of Jacob, his chosen ones" (1 Chronicles 15:13). See also Psalm 105:6.
The "Servant" passage from Isaiah 42:1 is an invitation to consider how not only Christ but each person is God's chosen and called to open the way for bringing about God's justice, as did the Lukan widow: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations."
Cry To God
A cry is an earnest or urgent request, a plea. It is a prayer. Uttered loudly or called out, a lament is alive with the urgency of the unsummoned wail of one who keens with grief. Singing praise to God is easy and spontaneous. Jesus suggests that God would have the crying of our laments be as natural as our praising. We stall before admitting the necessity of making our complaint before God, ignoring that God already is aware of it. Either we are reluctant, or once we have begun to lament, we pour forth with the incessancy of a widow before an unjust judge. To whom else but our creator can we eventually submit the cry of the heart?
The pattern of the Psalmist, which includes both songs of praise and songs of lament, mirrors the existence of elation and desperation in the flow of human life. See especially Psalm 18:6, 28:2, and 57:2.
We cry out to God because first we trust that God has a design for our lives: "I cry to God Most High, / to God who fulfills his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2). Without initial thought of answer, the Psalmist first hopes that God at least will hear. The Psalmist proceeds: "Hear the voice of my supplication, / as I cry to you for help, / as I lift up my hands / toward your most holy sanctuary" (Psalm 28:2). First, gain the attention of God: "Listen to the sound of my cry, / my King and my God, / for to you I pray" (Psalm 5:2).
When we cry out to God, we want some evidence that God hears. Job says, "I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me" (Job 30:20). The sigh of relief at having been heard is clear in this Psalm: "In my distress I called upon the Lord; / to my God I cried for help. / From his temple he heard my voice, / and my cry to him reached his ears" (Psalm 18:6).
Do you approach God inviting the confidence of being heard? Do you call to God dominated by the fear of retribution for all your past shortcomings? The prophets, Micah and Habakkuk, suggest, "Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly," (Micah 3:4) and "O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?" (Habakkuk 1:2a).
Christ answers uncertainty with the words of the present text: "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" (Luke 18:7-8a).
Justice/Unjust
While "justice" occurs biblically 121 times; "unjust" appears only thirteen times. One might be concerned about the capacity of an unjust judge to dispense justice. However, even the unjust judge in the present parable eventually takes the right action if for the wrong reason of getting rid of the persistent woman. Hebrew Scripture says this about giving an unjust judgment: "You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor" (Leviticus 19:15).
While unjust judges abound, the judgment of God is trustworthy: "A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4). "Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice" (Job 34:12). "The Almighty -- we cannot find him; he is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate" (Job 37:23).
In contrast to the unjust judge, God is a God of justice who acts justly. "[God] loves righteousness and justice; / the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord" (Psalm 33:5). See also Philippians 48.
God's judgments, as well as God's ways, are "just and true." (See Revelation 15:3 and 16:7.) "Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him" (Isaiah 30:18). "[B]ut let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:24).
God also expects the human family to act in a right way. "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" (Proverbs 21:3). Among the other biblical charges to all regarding justice, including the unjust judge, are the following passages: "The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice" (Psalm 37:30). A just person is one of integrity. (See Job 31:6.) "May [your king] judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice" (Psalm 72:2).
"Give justice to the weak and the orphan; / maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute" (Psalm 82:3). "[L]earn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:17). "Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place" (Jeremiah 22:3). See also the justice standards of Micah 6:8 and Amos 5:15 and 5:24.
Who appears chosen as God's servant is at times a surprise. In this parable, the widow is servant: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations" (Isaiah 42:1).
Consider the perseverence of the praying widow also from the perspective of these passages: "[A] bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching" (Isaiah 42:3-4).
The widow's insistence reflects an innate understanding of the God of these passages: "The evil do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely" (Proverbs 28:5). "But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God" (Hosea 12:6).
Lose (Lost) Heart
This phrase occurs a dozen times in the Bible. Warriors in the stories of Hebrew Scripture know about losing heart during strife. (See Genesis 42:28, 2 Samuel 22:46, and Psalm 18:45.) Those who "lose heart" may be afraid, panic, or dread. They may withdraw. (See Deuteronomy 20:3 and Daniel 11:30.)
In addition to the present text, which is the only instance in the Gospels, six other usages of "lose heart" occur in the New Testament. Two references, reflecting an understanding of the tender-heartedness of children, speak to the child-parent relationships. (See Colossians 3:21 and Hebrews 12:5.) When the struggles of early Christianity threatened to dishearten the churches of Paul's day, the writers of the letters spoke about losing heart. (See 2 Corinthians 4:1, Ephesians 3:13, and Hebrews 12:3.)
Among the most memorable of the exhortations not to "lose heart" is that from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: "So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal."
Prayer
Of the three parables about prayer in this cycle, "The Midnight Friend" (Cycle C, Parable 7) speaks to the God and pray-er relationship as one of faithfulness and persistence. The present parable focuses on persistence and the encouragement of praying, whereas The Two Men At Prayer (Cycle C, Parable 18) emphasizes attitude when praying.
As a sign of unceasing persistence, the "day and night" phrase appears on 27 occasions from Genesis 8:22 to Revelation 20:10. The prophet Nehemiah spoke of persistent prayer, "... I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you ..." (Nehemiah 1:6).
Others also speak of meditating "day and night" (Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2), pleading before God day and night (1 Kings 8:59), keeping one's eyes open toward the house of God day and night (2 Chronicles 6:20), weeping day and night (Psalm 42:3, Lamentations 2:18, and Jeremiah 9:1), worshiping day and night (Acts 26:7 and Revelation 7:15), singing day and night (Revelation 6:8), and tormented day and night (Revelation 20:10). In thirteen other instances of persistence, the praying, working, howling, and crying went on "night and day."
Job asks everyone's questions. What good is prayer, anyway? One moment Job asks, "What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?" (Job 21:15). Next he asserts, "You will pray to him, and he will hear you" (Job 22:27). The subsequent question is implicit in Jeremiah's response to the commanders of the forces who asked that he pray for them, that is: Are you ready to hear the answer? Jeremiah told to all, "Very well: I am going to pray to the Lord your God as you request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you" (Jeremiah 42:4).
Jesus prayed. He trusted prayer. He recommended prayer, at a serious time, albeit with a pinch of sarcasm, to the disciples who had fallen asleep while Jesus prayed at Gethsemane: "[A]nd he said to them, 'Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial' " (Luke 22:46).
4. Parallel Scripture
The parable, The Uncaring Judge, is special to Luke. However, the following passages are worth noting:
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18);
"You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, 'How have we wearied him?' By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.' Or by asking, 'Where is the God of justice?' " (Malachi 2:17);
"The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective" (James 5:16b);
"You must not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's" (Deuteronomy 1:17a);
"For the Lord loves justice; / he will not forsake his faithful ones" (Psalm 37:28); and
For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. -- Hebrews 6:10-12
5. Chat Room
Adam: Most of the justice that happens around here is the result of stubborn persistence. The desire for change may be the goal of many people, but only a few have the tenacity to pursue that change lifelong, if necessary. Judges, by definition, are supposed to be just. Justice is supposed to happen. "Supposed to" has its gaps.
Brenda: The widow of Jesus' day had no clout. She was already in the cellar of society. However, this woman's position does not deter her. Lady, you must be some woman to persevere before the judge.
Deborah: And I supposed that I had no clout as a widow. If a filibuster of prayer -- and that is what keeps me coming again and again and again -- if a filibuster of prayer will wear down that crooked judge, then I have time.
Brenda: What keeps you from losing heart, Deborah, persisting day and night like that?
Deborah: Being on the side of what is right gives me energy. My God is some God. That is what being fed up with injustice finally does. You take on the corporation even if it costs your job. You refuse to move to the back of the bus. You just one day do what you need to do, almost without a plan, even though your skin is all that holds together the jelly of your viscera. You boycott your own church because your neighbor cannot get her wheelchair through the door. You cannot wait longer for someone else to make the changes. You become a Rosa Parks, and that is that.
Brenda: Is that what it takes to untie the political knots and unite the human family? Harangue "the judges" into right action with a quiet voice or with a noisy sound until they realize you will not go away. Your argument is sound, and they know, that you know, that they know it.
Adam: Our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters have owned that persistence. Was it a loss of heart that stopped their talking and started the pouring of concrete? I wonder if justice will ever happen. Why does the ancient prayer not work?
Deborah: We cannot give up. Our struggle is centuries old. We must not give in to terror now. God is on the side of justice.
Brenda: Your brokenheartedness has turned your prayer into the building of the wall. Adam, to what ancient prayer were you referring?
Adam: The Psalm Jewish folk have been praying for generations of mothers and fathers and children: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: / 'May they prosper who love you. / Peace be within your walls, / and security within your towers.' / For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, 'Peace be within you' " (Psalm 122:7-8). Where is this "shalom" that these two peoples share with two different pronunciations? Will this prayer ever find an answer?
Deborah: Is it through incessant prayer that our physical barrier, this 215-mile wall, is being constructed lest no one will be left to argue? Sometimes justice takes unexpected forms. It is through the hope that faithfulness to prayer brings, however, that this time-out-for-survival-wall eventually will come down.
Can we possibly empower the knocked down wall between the former East Berlin and West Berlin to buoy our hope also? We are people. We are trying to cook the evening meal. We are trying to raise families. Our children are hoping to complete school.
Adam: When I think my capacity to make a positive difference in the world's areas of chaos and uncertainty is negligible, then I am looking at too large a perspective. I need to reduce the scale. I need to zoom in until my focus can perceive where I can make a constructive impact. Sometimes that focus is one on one. Sometimes it is an entire community.
Brenda: Person to person is the beginning point of injustice. It is also the beginning point of justice.
Deborah: For me, God is the beginning point of hope. Yet, hope needs a human vehicle.
Adam: Justice only happens with the right actions of chosen members of the human family. Okay, I must ask: Who is chosen, and who is not? Dare we include ourselves among God's chosen to receive God's justice? Dare we recognize that we might have been chosen to ascertain that God's justice happens within the realm of God?
Deborah: I can speak only for myself. I would never have volunteered to stand up to the judge. From deep within my soul, I had to do it. That is how God let me know that I am God's chosen one for this particular task. It was a dawning as powerful as my earlier realization that I am a chosen recipient of God's love and justice. That is the birth of faith.
Brenda: I've been thinking about that wall that cuts off your land from friendship. A wall of words may as well be a two-story high concrete wall when the heart is incapable of listening. Does prayer actually help to bring down walls, or is prayer wishful thinking? Where does prayer come in here? What does prayer do to the prayer? How does it connect with the one for whom the prayer is offered?
Deborah: Prayer is that sorting out of our thoughts that keeps us focused and strengthens our hearts. Prayer cleans out the debilitating debris of dismay that builds up through daily conflict. Our crying out day and night is not always with words. It is our openness to God's presence. Prayer helps me to avoid being overcome by impossibility.
Brenda: God's response is immediate. The world's justice requires human time.
Adam: This chat room exchange takes me back to Jesus' "And yet."
Brenda: Christ's "And yet?"
Adam: Yes. At the conclusion of the parable of The Unjust Judge, after Jesus assures us that God does not take forever to bring justice, Jesus says, "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Deborah: That statement of frustration with the human condition reveals to me the depth of Jesus' compassion. While offering you assurance, he knows firsthand how difficult it is to maintain hope.
Brenda: Christ appreciates the effort required to keep faith in possibility. He knows about reducing the gap between the reality of the human condition and God's hope for us.
