Text: Luke 18:1-8

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Have you ever had the experience of reading a passage in the Scriptures that just doesn’t seem to make sense—at least at first glance?  I know that I have.  And today’s Gospel lesson might be one of those times.  This parable of Jesus seems to portray God as an unrighteous judge.  And this is not exactly the way we normally think about Jesus.  Perhaps some of you are thinking to yourselves that this parable does make sense, it’s really about prayer.  After all, Jesus does say in this passage that we “always ought to pray” and that “the elect cry out day and night”.  Still, the parable itself seems to point to something more, something deeper than we initially see.

So what is this parable really about?  Well, a close examination will reveal that this parable is really about God’s vindication of the elect, of those who trust in Christ.  And only then after we understand the vindication of the elect does this parable actually turn to the topic of prayer.  But perhaps you don’t believe me, perhaps as many preachers will tell you, this parable is really an example of how prayer can give you what you want if you just persist enough—just look at the widow they will tell you—she finally got what she wanted.

Now if we do take a closer look at the people in this parable, it’s not too difficult to understand the character and role of the judge.  He himself tells us that he doesn’t fear God nor does he have any consideration for people—he’s just a mean guy looking out for himself.  But what about the widow?  It seems as though she has been wronged in some way, she is the one who can’t help herself, and left to her unfortunate situation she appears to innocently pester the judge.  The only problem is that the widow is not entirely faultless.  In Jesus’ time it was considered reprehensible to pester one’s superiors—even if your cause was just.  So as it turns out that the widow was also a guilty party; she didn’t actually deserve justice from the unjust judge simply because she had a difficult situation.

And then what exactly is Jesus doing when he compares God to the unjust judge?  For most of us its probably easy to realize that Jesus does not mean to actually portray God as unjust, this would be inconsistent with the testimony of the Scriptures.  The point Christ is trying to make is that God similar to the judge in this way: he has a reputation.  And God intends to protect it.  However unlike the judge, God’s reputation is one that is founded on mercy and grace.  Just look at God’s greatest promise that he will mercifully vindicate his people through his Messiah.  And this is a promise that God intends to keep.  So in the end, the judge did not want his reputation ruined by the widow, and God does not want his reputation of mercy and grace ruined by not keeping his promise.

Lastly in the parable Christ compares us to the persistent widow.  It’s tempting to think that Christ’s main point of comparison between us and the widow is the actual act of persistence.  And although there is certainly a correlation between those who believe in Christ and the widow on this point of persistence, it is not the main point Christ is trying to emphasize.  What he is trying to emphasize is the reason why the widow persists with the judge.  She doesn’t persist because she has confidence in her own persuasive abilities, that somehow if she works hard enough she will be vindicated, but rather she persists because she knows the character of the judge.  He claimed he had no regard for man, but the widow knew this was not true because he was in reality worried about his reputation.  And so she persisted with him because she knew that eventually he would relent and vindicate her rather than have his reputation ruined.

It is for this reason that Christ compares us with the widow.  In other words, if the widow who knew the character of the unjust judge was able to obtain vindication, how much more will we who know the character of the Lord obtain vindication from him.  And as Christ has already made clear in his comparison of God and the judge, the Lord cannot break his promise that he has given to us—the promise that he will redeem us from our sins and bring us into his kingdom for all eternity.  Now it is in these two points, forgiveness of our sins and deliverance into his kingdom, where Christ wants us to look for vindication.

On the one hand, we have a promise from the Lord that all who believe in Jesus will be cleared of the guilty sentence that hangs over them.  And indeed we are guilty of our sins.  Just like the widow who was guilty of pestering her superior, we too are guilty before our judge and yet no amount of our own persistence can relieve us of the guilt that we have incurred.  Although we may try to clear ourselves of the charges that we are sinful in thought, word, and deed, every attempt to vindicate ourselves will only leave us more guilty.  Instead we must count on the character of our judge.  We must look to God not as cruel executioner who only seeks our destruction, but rather as a judge who is merciful.  And indeed we can with all confidence and hope, trust in this judge because he has pronounced the guilty verdict, not upon us, but rather upon Christ.  In this way God has cleared us.  He has vindicated us of our sins because they are all laid upon Christ and he is the guilty one.  So now we can with all comfort and hope wait in expectation for our Lord to bring us out of this life into the life to come.

And yet waiting for this final vindication, when God will at last purge us of our sinful flesh with all its evil desires and inclinations, is not so easy.  Our lives are full of trials and troubles and at times we can begin to lose heart.  The devil seems to prowl around us constantly looking for ways to deceive us and make us fall from the faith.  Our flesh never seems to relent and so often our desires are contrary to the will of God; one need only to look at the Apostle Paul for confirmation that our very bodies are struggling against the spirit which is now at work in us.  And then there is the world that only seems to want to destroy us; we have trouble in our occupations, with our families and friends, and even in our churches.  Some days it probably seems as if everything is coming apart.  Indeed it seems very easy at times to lose hope.

And yet in the midst of all these spiritual challenges, Christ reminds us of his reputation and of our final vindication.  He tells us that we have no reason to be afraid, that God is merciful and has forgiven us of our sins, and that in the end he will deliver us from this evil life and bring us to be with him in his heavenly kingdom.  We can in fact be assured of this promise by the very fact of Christ’s resurrection, which is itself testimony to God’s reputation and evidence that Christ has overcome our sins and is enthroned at the right hand of God for all eternity.

Only in the midst of this assurance may we now turn to the prayer which Christ mentions in our text.  Prayer is not here some work or power to be accomplished, it is not some promise of guaranteed wealth or success.  Instead, it is simply the exercise of faith.  It is the activity of those who have assurance in God’s promise and await his final vindication.  We cry out day and night in the midst of all our troubles because we have the assurance that Christ will hear us.  Our motivation is not for selfish gain, it is not for material possessions or fame, rather it is the voice of those who have found a merciful judge.  And the petitions we send forth call upon that judge to make good on his promise for deliverance from sin, death, and the devil.  And like the widow we do persist in calling upon our judge, but it is not our persistence that we look to and find hope in, rather it is the character and promise of God.  May he keep us steadfast in his Word until with all the saints we receive our final vindication.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Vicar Mark Taylor