Loving God, you ask us to persist in being faithful, trusting in your timing and your mercy.  Empower us by your Spirit to seek justice as we grow in faith and love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

           Today we hear a parable from Jesus that involves a judge who should not be a judge, a widow who is pleading for justice, and an opponent who is most likely a rich and influential man (Jeremias).  Unfortunately, it is a scenario that still takes place all too often, and to the widow, it must have seemed pretty hopeless.  She is in the midst of a money dispute with somebody who can afford to bribe judges, and the case has come before a judge who has no real interest in truth or justice.  If you were in the widow’s position, what would you have done?

         One could hardly blame her if she had just given up, believing that her quest for justice was hopeless.  However, this particular widow has no intention of stopping until justice is done.  And so, she comes to the judge, day after day, pleading her case and demanding justice, and eventually, the judge gives in.  He rules in her favour, not because he values justice, but simply to stop her from bothering him all the time.  “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?  Will he delay long in helping them?” (Lk. 18:7).

         Our translation says that God “will quickly grant justice to them” (v. 8, NRSV).  The word that is translated as “quickly” actually means suddenly or unexpectedly.  God will suddenly and unexpectedly grant them justice!  In other words, the answer will come at exactly the right time, which is often different from when we might expect it.

         In so many cases, it seems as though both prayer and persistence are needed.  It is painfully easy to point out the injustices that are going on in our world right now.  We see the senseless destruction and murder in the ongoing war in Ukraine.  We see the hungry who continue to cry for bread.  We see the big corporations who trample on anybody or anything that stands in their way.  We see rich and influential people who seem to escape any accountability for what they do.  We see treaty promises that have still not been fulfilled even all of these years later.  It might be easy to look at any of these things and conclude that our prayers and the prayers of others are falling on deaf ears.  “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8).

         Part of the issue for those of us who pray and who seek justice is a matter of timing.  We ask, “how long, O Lord?”, and believe that God should have already acted.  However, one of the things that we learn from the Bible and from history is that answers to prayer sometimes take time.  It was 400 years that the Israelites spent as slaves in Egypt (Gen. 15:13; Acts 7:6), and presumably they were praying for God to set them free the entire time.  The exile in Babylon was more like 70 years, with the promises we heard today from Jeremiah fulfilled at the end of that exile.  Previous wars have lasted four years, or 30 years, or even 100 years, all while God’s people were praying for peace.

         While people were in the midst of any of these trials, it must have seemed as though nothing was happening.  However, once people were able to look back, they were able to see signs of God’s grace and mercy.  One of the things that we sometimes forget is that God doesn’t step in and do things without our permission and our cooperation.  Just as human beings were involved in starting wars and perpetuating injustice, so, human beings need to be involved to bring an end to such things.  God has always insisted on working through imperfect human beings – just like Moses, and Cyrus, and Nehemiah, and Deborah, and Mary Magdalene, and maybe even you and me!

         Part of the context in Luke when Jesus tells today’s parable is that people were asking him when the kingdom of God was going to come.  In answer, we find the extraordinary statement that, “in fact, the kingdom of God is among you” (or within you) (Lk. 17:21).  Then, as now, people often associated the kingdom of God with the end of the age and the heavenly realm.  Today, as well, people are asking when God is finally going to step in and bring an end to it all.

         However, as we are reminded time and again, only God knows when that time will be.  In the meantime, our task is to continue seeking justice with persistence and prayer.  For, perhaps others will encounter the kingdom of God in and through us!  On this World Food Day, I keep thinking of the persistence shown by mothers and fathers whose children are hungry.  Especially mothers, it seems, will persist in seeking help for their children, no matter how long it takes.  I also think of those who stand up against tyranny, fighting not only for their homeland, but for freedom from oppression.  They, too, will persist.

         Let us, then, continue to pray, and persist in seeking justice.  For, we are not dealing with an unjust judge, but with the one who loves us so much that he gave his life for ours.  “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?”  God will suddenly and unexpectedly grant justice.  Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Amen.

Lectionary 29C                                 Luke 18:1-8

October 16, 2022                             (Jeremiah 31:27-34)

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2022 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved