RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD REQUIRES TALKING TO HIM
Luke 18:1-8
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 accuser.’ 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?”
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.
There are many times in life when we lose heart. I have had a number of people in deep grief describe times when they could not pray. It is harder to believe in a loving God when we are watching someone we love die a slow painful death—or be progressively debilitated or become lost to dementia—unable to recognize those closest to them. Every lingering day includes anxiety, helplessness and sleeplessness. It is often a thankless, exhausting job to continue care. And sometimes, that care must go on for years. There are prayers for relief, prayers for miraculous healing, prayers for a gentle death—and it is hard to keep praying.
Less dramatic but no less disheartening is to look around our political landscape. Winning is more important than serving. Partisanship has us so polarized that it is hard not to laugh at the pain of others. We delight when the ‘other side’ missteps and are ridiculed when ‘our’ side missteps. ‘Mistakes’ are not measured by their impact on the community but on their impact on winning. “Render to no man, evil for evil” is lost to getting even and punishing anyone who disagrees.
Demonization becomes a sweeping rationale to justify the erosion of civil liberties. It is routine that politics becomes more important than justice. It is ok to use power to punish. It is ok to cut out healthy tissue because cancer is too dangerous. It is more important to mobilize fear than to see reconciliation. Almost any behavior can be justified if we are sufficiently threatened. Compassion and empathy are weaknesses. Where is justice when justice is measured by ‘who agrees with me?’
More personal are the times our relationships are troubled, when our children are intractable or fail to launch, when our jobs are dead ends, when it is hard to be alone, or unemployed, when our aging is forcing unwanted moves and unwanted concessions to ‘what we used to be able to do.’ Life is hard. Prayers of depressed despair at the grinding down of hopes and dreams leave us as lonely as when we started. Unfortunately, we have a long national history of political expediency. Whoever is in power uses the tools of power to extend their advantage. They are usually justified by the child’s retort; “But he hit me first.” The secular view is: ‘If I have been injured, I have the right to injure.’ The secular value is: ‘My way is the right way’. Therefore it is ok—even righteous—to impose my way. The secular way is: ‘Take care of yourself first’ – impact on others is barely in the equation.
But that is not how Jesus lived and taught. Even as he was dying, he did not call for retaliation. For Jesus, two wrongs never made a right. Nothing he ever said or did was so powerful that all who saw believed. Jesus opened doors to a way of life that challenged our ‘natural’ way of living. The door is always open but he never forced anyone to walk through it.
These are the times Jesus says prayer is important. Jesus does not want us to lose heart. Holding on to Christian values and seeking justice is always an uphill battle. The danger is that we will use secular justifications to explain our own prejudices and failure to respect others. (After all we are on the side of righteousness). That is the moment we become the pot calling the kettle black. These are the times we need God’s care and support.
‘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 will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?
This is the tricky part. It is easy to imagine that the take home message is persistent badgering will wear down the unjust. And by extension, if we pray long enough and hard enough, a good God will provide the justice we need. It is a tactic children have used for millenia on their parents. Sometimes it ‘works’. Sometimes you can cajole or beg long enough to wear a parent down. But that is not how God works. Once again we seek to make God in our image instead of living in God’s image.
Prayer is not about getting what we want—even if it is justice. Prayer is about staying in relationship with God in every circumstance—even death on a cross. Jesus, even when he could see a bad end; even when he asked: “If it be your will, take this cup from me”; even when he was dying a terrible death, Jesus stayed in relationship with God. He trusted God’s presence. That is a very big ask when we feel disheartened and in despair. It is very easy to lose heart.
We are called to love, serve and live in community. There have been plenty of times in history when that was a fool’s errand. The Jews were slaves for four hundred years. The golden years of David’s kingship barely lasted a couple of generations. They were defeated, exiled and scattered. Persistent prayers and many lamentations did not change those outcomes. Yet their doubts, angry questions, and despair were directed to God. Relationships almost always include times when we cannot see a way forward.
Our resurrection faith is: “God is always with us. Love will prevail.” Holding on to that faith means staying in relationship with God—trusting there are possibilities outside of our imagination—and perhaps outside of our lifetimes—that are possible. We are dependent creatures in a frightening world. None of us will live long enough to know if we are right. We can only have the courage and endurance to do what we can do. We are left to live in God’s promises to be with us—no matter what happens to us. We call this faith. We keep the faith by living in a relationship with a God who can share every part of our experience.
Persist in prayer. Pray with an authentic heart even when our prayers are full of disappointment, anger and despair. God is listening. Let it be so.
