The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
\nOctober 16, 2016
\nLuke 18:1-8<\/p>\n
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.\u00a0 He said:\u00a0 \u201cIn a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.\u00a0 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, \u2018Grant me justice against my adversary.\u2019\u00a0 For some time he refused.\u00a0 But finally he said to himself, \u2018Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!\u2019 \u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And the LORD said, \u201cListen to what the unjust judge says.\u00a0 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?\u00a0 Will he keep putting them off?\u00a0 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.\u00a0 However when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n As I was studying our sermon text for today I couldn\u2019t help but automatically think of Isaac.\u00a0 On more than one occasion, perhaps even quite often, Isaac will \u201cconvince\u201d us to change the channel on the television so that he can watch Disney or so that he can watch Wildkrats.\u00a0 On more than one occasion, perhaps even quite often, Isaac \u201cconvinces\u201d me to watch Mickey Mouse videos on You Tube\u2014 even though I would rather be reading the news on the Internet.\u00a0 On more than one occasion, perhaps even quite often, Isaac \u201cconvinces\u201d us that he \u201cneeds\u201d this or he \u201cneeds\u201d that and then he tops it off with a very sincere \u201cPlease?\u201d\u00a0 How does he do it?\u00a0 Simple.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t give up!\u00a0 He is persistent\u2014 so persistent that on more than one occasion, perhaps even quite often, Isaac \u201cconvinces\u201d us to do what he wants to do or give him what he \u201cneeds.\u201d\u00a0 If you have any experience dealing with young children, and especially young grandchildren, then you probably know what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n In much the same way, my friends, if you have any experience dealing with a persistent child or a persistent grandchild, then you will not have any difficulty understanding what our Savior is saying to us here in our text for today.\u00a0 As we continue our sermon series this morning let\u2019s see how this portion of Scripture reminds us of this truth:\u00a0 As Disciples of Jesus\u2014 We Pray Persistently!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 There are two things we need to do today.\u00a0 First of all we need to look at the example that a widow gives to us.\u00a0 Then we need to listen to the encouragement that our Lord gives to us.<\/p>\n As we read through the Gospel accounts of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry we see that our Lord very often used parables to teach His disciples some very profound truths.\u00a0 Many times we have to study a certain parable in order to understand the central truth which that parable is designed to teach us.\u00a0 Sometimes the Lord has to interpret the parable for us so that we understand it correctly.\u00a0 Not so with the parable that Jesus speaks to us this morning.\u00a0 The opening verse of our text reveals to us exactly what Jesus wants us to learn and exactly what Jesus wants us to remember in the Parable of the Persistent Widow.\u00a0 Luke writes, \u201cThen Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 A more literal translation of the Greek here would go like this, \u201cAnd he spoke a parable to them for this reason:\u00a0 that it is necessary for them to pray always and not to become discouraged.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Why?\u00a0 Why is it \u201cnecessary\u201d<\/em> for us as disciples of Jesus to \u201cpray always\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Why is it \u201cnecessary\u201d<\/em> for us as disciples of Jesus to \u201cnot become discouraged\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 If you have your Bibles open to our text for today look at the verses immediately preceding our text\u2014 verses twenty to thirty-seven.\u00a0 Here Jesus not only talks about how quickly and how unexpectedly Judgment Day will arrive, but He also reminds His disciples of the very same truth He pictured for us in the account of the sheep and the goats.\u00a0 (See Matthew 25:31ff)\u00a0 On Judgment Day two people can be living or working side by side.\u00a0 One will be \u201caccepted\u201d<\/em> and the other will be \u201cleft behind, forsaken, dismissed.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This reminds us that not everyone will be saved.\u00a0 Not everyone is going to heaven.\u00a0 Only those who believe and trust in Jesus as their Savior will be \u201caccepted\u201d<\/em> by Him and allowed to spend eternity in His heavenly Home.\u00a0 Now look at the very last verse of our text.\u00a0 As the end of the world draws near things will become so difficult for Jesus\u2019 disciples that the Lord asks the question, \u201cHowever, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In that context, my friends, is it difficult to understand why Jesus tells us, His disciples, that \u201cit is necessary to pray always\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 In that context is it difficult to understand why Jesus tells us, His disciples, that \u201cit is necessary to not become discouraged\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 But what does this mean?\u00a0 What does it mean to \u201cpray always\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 What does it mean to \u201cnot become discouraged\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Jesus uses a parable to give us an example of exactly what He means.\u00a0 He says, \u201cIn a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.\u00a0 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, \u2018Grant me justice against my adversary.\u2019\u00a0 For some time he refused.\u00a0 But finally he said to himself, \u2018Even though I don\u2019t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won\u2019t eventually wear me out with her coming!\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The basic tenets of this example are very simple and very clear.\u00a0 Most towns had someone who served as the town \u201cjudge.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 He would sit at the town gate and decide disputes between the people living in that area.\u00a0 A judge was supposed to be someone who rendered judgments that were guided by God\u2019s holy revealed Word.\u00a0 A judge was usually someone who was highly respected by the people of that town.\u00a0 Not so with this judge.\u00a0 This judge had no fear, no respect for God or for what God said in His Word.\u00a0 This judge couldn\u2019t have cared less what other people thought of him or said about him.<\/p>\n Then there was the widow.\u00a0 This widow was the subject of a legal dispute.\u00a0 In fact, the Greek word which is translated here as \u201cadversary\u201d<\/em> very literally refers to an \u201copponent at law.\u201d<\/em> Sadly, there have always been people who are willing to take advantage of those who are vulnerable or those who can\u2019t defend themselves.\u00a0 We see it all the time right down to this very day with all the scams that people are trying to pull\u2014 especially on the elderly.\u00a0 Just recently I heard that the people who are behind the IRS scam (they call you up and say that if you don\u2019t pay them a certain amount of money right now they will have the sheriff come and arrest you), have already scammed over ten million dollars by scaring people into thinking they are in trouble with the IRS.\u00a0 Another common scam is for people to convince an elderly person that their child or their grandchild is in trouble and needs money right away.<\/p>\n In Jesus\u2019 parable, it was a widow who had no one to help her, no one to defend her.\u00a0 So what did she do?\u00a0 She did what she was supposed to do!\u00a0 She went to the only person who could possibly bring her justice.\u00a0 She went to the town judge.\u00a0 Unfortunately this particular judge \u201cneither feared God nor cared about men.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 He refused to grant her the justice she deserved.\u00a0 Did this widow become discouraged and simply give up?\u00a0 Absolutely not!\u00a0 She kept going back to the town gate over and over again.\u00a0 She kept asking the judge to grant her justice over and over again.\u00a0 Finally, for his own selfish reasons, finally \u201cbecause this widow keeps bothering me,\u201d<\/em> the judge says, \u201cI will see that she gets justice, so that she won\u2019t eventually wear me out with her coming!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The example that this powerless but persistent widow gives to us is an important example to remember.\u00a0 What makes it important, however, is the encouragement that our Lord gives to us on the basis of this example.\u00a0 Look at verses six to eight of our text, \u201cAnd the Lord said, \u2018Listen to what the unjust judge says.\u00a0 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?\u00a0 Will he keep putting them off?\u00a0 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cListen to what the unjust judge says.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Those words are critical to a correct understanding of Jesus\u2019 encouragement to you and to me.\u00a0 So what do they mean?\u00a0 They mean this:\u00a0 If an \u201cunjust judge,\u201d<\/em> a judge who \u201cneither fears God nor cares about men\u201d<\/em> will ultimately grant the request of a powerless but persistent widow, how much more will our God, a God who loves us so very much that He willingly sent His own Son to suffer and die for powerless wretched sinners like us (Pointing to the cross), how much more will our God graciously hear and answer the prayers of His \u201cchosen ones, who cry out to him day and night\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 Yes, our God wants us to be persistent in our prayers to Him.\u00a0 Our God wants us to understand that we can come back to Him over and over and over again in prayer without ever being concerned that perhaps we are \u201cbothering\u201d Him.<\/p>\n When we are persistent in our prayers, my friends, that persistence will then reveal at least three things.\u00a0 First, when we are persistent in our prayers this reveals our conviction that there is only one Person, only one God who can help us\u2014 our Triune God.\u00a0 There is no one else to whom we can turn to for help.\u00a0 Allah is an idol.\u00a0 The god of the Mormons and the god of the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses are merely figments of men\u2019s imagination.\u00a0 Horoscopes and mediums, fortune cookies and tarot cards are worthless.\u00a0 Even human resources fail us.\u00a0 It\u2019s the Lord our God\u2014 or nothing.\u00a0 When we believe that truth in our heart then we will knock on God\u2019s door in prayer over and over again.\u00a0 When we believe that truth in our heart then we will pray with persistence, then we will pray with the confidence of the apostle Paul himself when he says, \u201cHe who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all\u2014 how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?\u201d<\/em> (Romans 8:32)<\/p>\n Second, our God wants us to pray persistently because our God wants us to use <\/strong>the gift of faith that He has created in our hearts!\u00a0 Our faith, like our muscles, grows weak from lack of use.\u00a0 Ask anyone who has been bedridden for any length of time and they will tell you that it doesn\u2019t take long for our physical muscles to grow weak.\u00a0 So also our faith.\u00a0 Prayer is an act <\/strong>of faith.\u00a0 Prayer exercises<\/strong> our faith.\u00a0 Persistent prayer reveals and acknowledges our dependence on our God.\u00a0 Persistent prayer doesn\u2019t change God, but it sure does help us grow stronger in our faith.\u00a0 And if God doesn\u2019t give us the help that we seek the moment we ask for it, we don\u2019t become discouraged.\u00a0 We don\u2019t give up.\u00a0 No rather, instead of giving up we rev up our faith and pray\u2014 again and again and again!<\/p>\n Finally, persistent prayer helps us see our own personal value system.\u00a0 At almost six years old Isaac\u2019s value system doesn\u2019t put watching the football game or reading the news very high on his list of personal priorities.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he is so persistent when it comes to watching the Disney channel or watching Mickey Mouse videos on You Tube!\u00a0 That is what is important to him!\u00a0 In much the same way, when we follow Jesus\u2019 encouragement and pray persistently, that reveals how much importance we put on the content of our prayers.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t pray persistently, if we quickly become discouraged in our prayers, then perhaps that reveals that what we were praying for really wasn\u2019t all that important to us.\u00a0 An easy way to see how this applies to you on a very personal level is to take a moment to examine what you do\u2014 and do not\u2014 include in your daily prayers to your God.\u00a0 Take a moment to also examine what you used to include in your prayers but now no longer include in your prayers.\u00a0 Is your God waiting to hear from you?\u00a0 Does your God want you to show Him how serious you are about the things that you include in your daily prayers to Him?<\/p>\n I\u2019d like to close today with an anecdote I ran across as I was studying this text.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if it is true, but even if it is purely apocryphal it does indeed give us a very good visualization of persistent prayer.\u00a0 It goes like this:\u00a0 \u201cI was walking along one hot, sunny day.\u00a0 I was wearing my shorts, my sandals, and my sunglasses.\u00a0 Whew\u2014 it was hot!\u00a0 I sat down in the shade of a tree and noticed that the grass was turning brown.\u00a0 It had not rained for weeks.\u00a0 Then I saw the strangest thing!\u00a0 A woman was walking down the sidewalk on this hot day, but she wasn\u2019t wearing shorts or sunglasses.\u00a0 Instead, she was wearing a raincoat and boots and she was holding an umbrella over her head!\u00a0 I thought I was seeing things!\u00a0 When I asked her why she was carrying an umbrella she said, \u2018Don\u2019t you know that it\u2019s going to rain?\u2019\u00a0 I looked up at the sky and said, \u2018I don\u2019t think so.\u2019\u00a0 Then she said, \u2018Aren\u2019t you praying for rain?\u2019\u00a0 \u2018Well sure,\u2019 I said, \u2018but it doesn\u2019t look like my prayers are doing any good.\u00a0 I gave up on praying for rain a long time ago!\u2019\u00a0 Then she said, \u2018Too many times people pray for rain but forget to carry their umbrella.\u00a0 They pray, but they don\u2019t really believe God will answer their prayer and they give up too soon.\u2019\u00a0 Then she started whistling and went on her way.\u00a0 I prayed for rain and then I fell asleep.\u00a0 I woke up when the first raindrop fell on my sunglasses.\u00a0 I smiled and ran all the way home, thanking God for listening to the umbrella woman\u2019s prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n Pray like the \u201cumbrella woman,\u201d my friends!\u00a0 Better yet, as disciples of Jesus pray like the persistent widow!<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost October 16, 2016 Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.\u00a0 He said:\u00a0 \u201cIn a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.\u00a0 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him 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