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?” – Luke 18:1-8
Above we read a lesser known of the parables from the gospel of Luke, but with all that has been happening in our nation, and around the world we should pay close attention to its meaning.
I don’t know about you, but over the last 2 months or so, I have begun to read and hear things through a different lens. It is not that the way of interpreting the text are any different, but the reality in which we live is shifting, and with those shifts come new understanding to old and even familiar texts. When we fully immerse ourselves with the teaching of Jesus, understanding the political climate in which he lived as a Jewish man whose territory was under Roman authority, we begin to see the teachings a little differently.
Just yesterday, I was driving to take our mission buckets to Fairview United Methodist Church so they can make their way to Zimbabwe. As I was driving with the radio on, a very familiar song came on the radio, but it sounded very different this time. The song known as “For What it’s Worth” written in 1966 by Stephen Stills and originally performed by Buffalo Springfield. But as I listened to that song in the light of the protests going on around our nation, and the images of the National Guard being deployed in some areas, all of a sudden this song had a different feel. This song that predates me, was written in a time when such unrest and action was happening in our nation once before. This song used to be a part of history, but now it seems very current.
In the same way, as I read Jesus parable form Luke 18, we see that a widow who is seeking justice, continuously goes to an unjust, ungodly Judge. According to Jesus this earthly judge couldn’t care less about anyone. Yet, because of the widow’s persistence, because of the widow’s picketing, protesting, persistence in begging for justice; the parable says she is granted the justice she seeks. In the same way, Jesus says, God grants justice to those who cry out in prayer.
We all know the power of prayer. We have prayed over the sick, the grieving, for healing of body, mind, soul, relationships for many. We pray to give thanks for God for the many blessings we know he has given us both of which we are aware, and even unaware. We pray for forgiveness, often, cause we need it. Yet, right now, we need to truly petition God in prayer to bring a peaceful resolve in our nation. We need to pray that our leaders would have good sense, and ears to hear. We need to pray that voices can be heard, peacefully, and that justice will prevail. Many in our world are hurting, we are living in fear of a virus, or political unrest, or economic unrest, or unremitting racism. We need to persistently, and continuously call out to God for justice, for grace, for love to be our guide, that we might learn what it is to truly care for sisters and brothers as we do ourselves. I hope you will spend time today praying that God would bring justice.
Grace & Peace,
Sam