Luke 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 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. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Our lessons of today share common threads, situations and circumstances which apply not only to those we read about but extend to our own lives.
The first of these is struggle:
1. Jacob is alone on a dark night when he is confronted by a stranger whom he battles into the early dawn. Jacob does not seem to know the identity of his foe until he suffers at a mere touch from his opponent which dislocates his hip….That alone should have ended the fight. A hip dislocation is an orthopaedic emergency. A great amount of force is required to pop the thighbone out of its socket, …pain, inability to move the leg, nerve damage can ensue! IT is at this point Jacob is convinced this is no mere opponent but someone with the power to bless…! He is in a struggle against God himself!
Jacob…no stranger to struggles, he is born holding on to the heel of his twin brother, he struggles with him over the blessing of the fistborn, He fled to his uncle’s house and wanting to marry for love found that a struggle as he had to marry another for the sake of custom, he struggled to prosper under the direction of Laban his father in law who tool every opportunity to cheat him….Jacob struggles with himself and now with God.
2. Timothy is a young pastor, friend to the Apostle Paul who in prison and shortly before his death pens these words to his young friend who struggles- Here are some words of exhortation and aonsel
Ch 1:6 So I ask you to make full use of the gift that God gave you when I placed my hands on you.[a] Use it well. 7 God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.
8 Don’t be ashamed to speak for our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, just because I am in jail for serving him. Use the power that comes from God and join with me in suffering for telling the good news.
3 As a good soldier of Christ Jesus you must endure your share of suffering.
1 Timothy 2 v22,Run from temptations that capture young people. Always do the right thing.
It seems that Timothy was struggling, with the loss of faith of some, with a decrease if fervor and use of his spiritual gifts, perhaps with a bit of fear…timidity at the fate of his friend and the labor before him…temptations all to common to each of us….
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
We can all relate to that- struggles of daily life, husbands, wifes, children , parents, struggle to be faithful to God, to his call upon our lives…
Young Timothy is in a struggle and his mentor and friend writes to him to encourage him-CONTINUE IN WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD AND FIRMLY BELIEVED….
.
Our gospel lesson speaks to us of a struggle for justice- There is power in the hands of one who wields it with impunity. Power in the hands of one who does not fear God – holds no reverence for the divine, nor regards for religion and has no respect for people! One who refused , was unwilling to meet out justice….
“he was not willing” is the crux of the problem here. A judge whose power was in the service of fearing God and respecting humanity would not shirk the responsibility of granting justice to a ‘powerless’ widow.
If the judge did fear God, then he would have known Exodus 22:22-24, “You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.” He would have known that his role as judge should be grounded in the character of God according to Deuteronomy 10:17-18 , “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing.”
Why does it sometimes seem that people like this flock to position of power and influence….? Why does it seem, even in religious circles! We could look at this in the light of so many struggles for justice, abolition of slavery, equal opportunity for all, rights of women, protection for children, struggle to uphold the dignity of every human being, womb to the most vulnerable! Personal struggles in a world where the unwilling, the ones who refuse …hold sway!
The un-respected people are represented here by a widow, like so many we read about in the gospels, a picture of vulnerability.,,,it is her struggle for justice Jesus points out to his disciples!
2. We must consider Persistence
An exhausted and wounded Jacob refuses to let go of his strange heavenly visitor, holding on perhaps for dear life- I will not let you go until you bless me-
Paul in prison and knowing he faces probable death speaks to Timothy of persistence and firmness in what he has believed, proclaim the good news persistently whether the time is favorable or unfavorable, patience…
A widow in need and persistent is featured in the gospel! One would have thought that no was enough of an answer for someone seeking favor, but when the issue is justice, a widow would not take that as a final answer and kept up her pleas by continually asking, coming- It is clear the judge though it a bother, it wore on his patience- she wore him out-!
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring. – St. Catherine of Siena
If there is anything we need to take away from these passages is that for the Christian in his struggles with God and self, difficulties faces in livng the life of faith, constant striving for justice and peace, upholding the dignity of every human person….quitting is not the answer!
3. Thirdly- Thankfully we see Progress-
Jacob’s name is changed after his encounterwith the angel, when he demanded a blessing from the Lord, the angel pronounced a blessing upon him, and a new name to go with it: Isra-El, which can mean "He who prevails with God," or "May God prevail,"
For Timothy, a word of encouragements that helps him stay steady in his service to God
For the widow, finally, justice done!
Here a verse from Scripture that reminds us of this important lesson in life as we follow God and serve him in the path he has placed before us!
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him
Blessings
Seraph
