1. Please pray
with me. May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and
our Redeemer. Amen. The
message from God’s Word is taken from Luke 18:1-8. In this section of Scripture we
learn a parable from Jesus in which he teaches us a lesson concerning prayer.
An unjust judge grants the request of a widow simply because she “keeps bothering” him. Much more
readily will God grant justice to us as Christians who cry out to him day and
night. Notice in this parable how,
a) the widow’s action demonstrates persistence (vv. 1–5), and b) then how the
Lord’s promise encourages persistence (vv. 6–8). The message is entitled, “God’s People Pray Persistently.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. There was a
Church that had Sunday evening vespers, a worship service for the young only. Adults above college age were invited to come and
be silent. 5 year old Ronnie attended often. Then one Sunday Ronnie was
absent. The company that employed many of the workers in the town had used its
plane to rush Ronnie to the big city hospital. The doctors didn’t know what was
wrong with Ronnie. They just knew he was seriously ill. Nothing seemed to help.
Doctors had no more prescriptions for Ronnie.
That Sunday vespers took on a new meaning for the children and young
people. They prayed eagerly for the big smile to return to Ronnie’s face and
for their friend to return to vespers with them. Shortly after the vespers
service, the call came. Ronnie’s mother joyously shared the news: “Late this afternoon Ronnie sat up and said
he was hungry.” Doctors examined all his vital signs. They were stunned.
All was normal. Maybe one of their strong antibiotics had worked, although
they’d given up on them. Ronnie’s mother had a better answer: “Doctor, this afternoon all his friends and
the children and young people of the church were praying together for Ronnie.” The doctor thought a moment and said, “Guess the prayers got through, too, didn’t
they?” “Would you tell the children
thanks for me? What time was all this praying?”
“It was 5:30 this afternoon,”
Ronnie’s mother answered. “My husband and
I were thinking about vespers and everyone praying there, so we began praying
with them, even though we were here in the hospital.” “That’s
when Ronnie got well and sat up, isn’t it?” the doctor said.
3. This story
about Ronnie being healed is just one of many about how God’s people pray
persistently to God our Heavenly Father.
One of the
last warnings Jesus gave His disciples before His death was, "Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape
all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of
Man" (Luke 21:36). In Luke 17, the previous chapter, Jesus spoke
of the need for watchfulness. He will return for judgment in an instant,
and only those who are ready for His second coming will enter with Him into His
kingdom of glory, we confess this in the creed when we say, “From
thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.” The
door will be closed forever to all others. Now Jesus speaks of prayer.
His disciples were shocked by the description of conditions on earth at the
time of His return. In those days of trouble, when Christ's followers "will desire to see one of the days of
the Son of Man, and you will not see it" (Luke 17:22), when people
will again live as they did in the days of Noah and Lot. We learn about the events of Noah and the
Flood and Lot being saved from Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament book of
Genesis. Jesus warns us that in the Last Days the danger of falling away
from the faith is greater than ever. The
disciples then wonder how will people endure to the end and still be saved?
Jesus answers: pray always and do not despair. And to teach us, He
tells the parable of the persistent widow.
4. Luke 18:1–8 says, “1And he told them a parable to
the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2He said, “In a certain
city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3And there was
a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice
against my adversary.’ 4For a while he refused, but afterward he said to
himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5yet because this widow
keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down
by her continual coming.’” 6And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge
says. 7And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and
night? Will he delay long over them? 8I tell you, he will give justice to them
speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
5. Note that Jesus doesn't speak this parable to tell us to pray. All God's children pray.
God expects it of us, and so prayer might be called a Christian duty. But
it’s much more than that; you might as well call breathing a duty. But,
do we pray always without despair? Do we persevere in prayer? In this
parable we learn that a Christian prays persistently without giving up. We
as Christians pray “with all boldness and
confidence as dear children ask their dear father” as Martin Luther teaches
us in the Small Catechism on The Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer; cf.
also Heb 4:16). So Jesus teaches us an important lesson
in this passage.
6. If we’re easily discouraged
and don’t persist in prayer until we’re heard, then our prayer is in
vain. Also,
every unsuccessful prayer only discourages future efforts. So the Lord tells this
strange parable of the unjust judge and the widow who persisted in begging him
for help. Simply because she pestered him so much, he finally did what
she wanted. This is a parable of opposites.
7. Notice how God isn’t at all like this judge. He’s just and merciful, and
the prayers of His children are pleasing to Him. But the comparison
that Jesus wants us to make is this: if a judge who is unjust, who has no
fear of God or regard for mankind, who is altogether unwilling to help someone
in need, if this judge is finally persuaded to help the petitioner, how sure
would we be that our persistent prayers will finally prevail with our Father in
heaven, even if or a while it appears as though He doesn’t answer?
8. But that’s why it’s of such importance in our life that we persevere in
prayer. God doesn’t always help in the first moment of danger. This widow in her need is
Christ's depiction of the Christian's life on earth. Jesus foretold it:
"In the world you will have trouble"
(John 16:33) And our cry for help often seems to go unheard. How
many centuries of persecution have swept over the Church of Christ, how many
multitudes of prayers sent up to heaven seemed as vain as though there were no
God who hears when His children cry? Haven't we had such experiences
ourselves? Haven't there been days when we felt what Mary and Martha
felt when they sent their message to Jesus--"he whom You love is ill"--and Jesus "stayed two days longer
in the place where He was" (John 11:3, 6). They’d been so
sure that Jesus would come at once, but He delayed until Lazarus had been dead
for 4 days. When God seems deaf to our prayers, we can become
impatient. Our faith weakens. We cry out with the disciples in
the ship who were caught in the midst of the storm on the Sea of Galilee,
"Do you not care that we are
perishing?" (Mark 4:38). We are tempted to think hard thoughts
about our God as though our confidence in Him were misplaced; we are tempted to
say, "What’s the use of
prayer? It's only a waste of time."
9. We can also
see Jesus in this parable? We see
him in the persistent widow. When Jesus relates this parable, he’s outside
Jerusalem. He’s still some distance from his Passion. But, soon he would
experience injustice at the hands of Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, and crowds of
people who would shout, “Crucify him!”
But, still Jesus lives the kind of trust he speaks of in this parable.
Jesus keeps faith with His Heavenly Father, the One he expects justice at the
end. He keeps faith all the way to cross and his death on the cross for the
forgiveness of our sins. He prays,
“Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit!” (Lk 23:46).
10. In this
parable, Jesus teaches us to pray persistently and never lose heart. Why? Because his promise is that he will grant justice
for his chosen ones and will do so quickly. But, the justice he grants
isn’t what we would have expected. He would quickly bring about justice, but it
wouldn’t be by the power of his almighty hand, but by the power of his love and
grace. Jesus shows us that God’s justice isn’t rightly understood until you
first understand God’s suffering love, a suffering love that has as its aim to
make the sinner whole and the ungodly just. This suffering love is for
people like the unjust judge, and it is for you and me as well.
11. It’s not an exaggeration when Jesus admonishes us to pray always and not
despair! That’s
exactly what He means. No promise is given to the person who lightly
taps at God's door and walks away if it does not immediately open. But
because so many do just that, Jesus says, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" (Luke
18:8). Will he find faith that is persistent and loyal? And the answer is yes,
he will! He will find people like those mentioned just following our text. He
will find faith in people like the tax collector, who humbled himself and beat
his chest imploring God for mercy. He will find faith in people who, like the
little children, look to Christ and trust him unreservedly. He will find
faith in people like the blind beggar, who cried out to Christ for healing and
mercy. He will find faith in people like you and me. For we, too, are a people
who stand before God asking Christ for mercy and leaning on him for eternal
hope.
12. So can we
pray persistently? Yes! Can we pray and not give up? Absolutely! For we know to
whom we belong. Peter the apostle
has said, “[Cast] all your anxieties
on him, because he cares for you”
(1 Pet 5:7). He cares for you and, unlike the judge in today’s parable, God
wants to hear from you. You are his beloved child. So take heart! Pray persistnently and Do Not Lose Heart. Prayer--Lord God, our Heavenly Father, who by Your Son has
promised to give us whatever we ask in His name, we ask that You grant us the
power of Your Holy Spirit, that we may make known our requests to You in
faithful prayer, desire of You that which is well pleasing to You and
profitable for us, lift up holy hands without wrath or doubt, and be firmly
assured that You will hear our prayer, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our
Lord. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment