10-19-25     Luke 18:1-8

1 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?”

Pray always. Do not lose heart. Christ encourages you to come forward to encounter the divine for you will be blessed.

Why do we do this?  Have these readings from Scripture, listen to sermons?  Why not just sing some songs of praise, offer up prayers, take a collection and go home for lunch? 2nd Timothy explained how these writings are for your salvation to bring you to faith in Jesus. It says: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God (you) may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” So we gather to worship and in doing so we are also meant to learn, to review our own behaviors and attitudes, repent where needed, and then get prepared for going out to do good.

Our stories today involve characters who are out there in the midst of life, facing the situations that consume them. Jacob was heading home after years of being away. He had initially run from the anger of his brother, Esau, who had legitimate reasons for being upset with him. Jacob knew it was time to admit his offenses and make an effort for reconciliation. Yet he was afraid, his brother had become powerful. Jacob had sent his wives, children, servants, and animals on ahead in a conciliatory action, humbling himself before his brother. He knew that his brother was heading toward him with soldiers and arms, but Jacob was hoping for peace between them. Jacob had stayed that night on the far side of the stream, by himself. Perhaps with that solitude he hoped to come up with a way to approach his brother, figure out the right words to say, and achieve his desire, to return to the land of his faither. Then he was approached by a man and a wrestling match ensued. That struggle went on all night long, ending up with Jacob having his hip put out of joint. Despite his injury, Jacob persisted in the tussle, giving evidence of his determination and unwillingness to back down. It was that trait of standing up for himself that generated the gift of a new name to be assigned to him – the name was Israel.  That is the name which labels the nation that eventually develops from Jacob’s offspring. Jacob had demonstrated that he would strive even with God to work toward what needed to be done. 

In Jesus’ parable we meet another person who would not give up. She was a widow, a woman left alone upon the death of her husband. It became incumbent upon her to stand up for herself for there was no one else. It was often the case that widows were taken advantage of in society because they did not have the confidence to insist on what they needed. Here was one woman that we not going to let this judge brush her off. She insisted that justice be done. She kept her needs before that judge, even when he did not respond favorably.    She finally wore him down, so he determined it would be to his advantage to meet her request, even when he didn’t truly care about her concerns.

Jesus was not only teaching us about the persistence we need as we live our lives in relation to others and to God. He wants us to realize what God is like so that we understand that we can indeed trust in our Lord. We hear in this short story that a disreputable judge, who doesn’t really care about anybody else will do what is right and necessary eventually.  Our God does care about us; we are loved by our Creator. With that simple truth in mind, we are to realize that if a selfish, bum of a judge can do what is right, how very much more will our loving, benevolent God do on our behalf! We do need to have patience, and we must communicate to him our needs and concerns. But we can be assured that God listens and is eager to respond. We do not always operate on the same timetable as our God, so waiting is difficult for us.

Here is an account by Linda Rooney about modern life which she published in America, in 2008. It is a situation that has become far too common among us. 

A teacher and counselor wrote of watching her 90 year old mother’s deterioration due to Alzheimer’s disease: 

“She lives with me now, something neither of us ever wanted, but it is a responsibility and a privilege I do not take lightly. Though the physical care required is constant and at times challenging, it is the emotional death that I grieve – the loss of connectedness to the woman who has always been a mainstay in my life. 

“My mother has forgotten me, and every time I look at her my heart weeps. If my mother forgot me, will God? I ask. What does this 21st century version of a mother’s forgetfulness say to me of an ever-remembering God? Is there any comfort left in contemplating God’s love?  Oh, yes. 

“God’s memory is not brain-based, subject to electrical blips and shortages. God’s memory is heart-based. It embraces all the nuances of who I am as a human being and stores, as only a creator’s memory can, each cell of my existence. God’s memory operates always in preset time... The past, present, and future are one in God, and my early fumbling to know God is equally alive with my present clinging to his unconditional love and the future ‘all-knowing’ that awaits me. God’s memory of me is constant with the person known before I was formed in my mother’s body.

“This gives me an odd consolation as I gaze at my unresponsive mother. Perhaps, physical co-creator of my being that she is, she too stores somewhere within her the unconditional love she always gave me, a memory of me so blessed that it need not be spoken to be known. She may not be able to tell me that I am her daughter, but that does not mean she does not remember her child.”

We need to hold on to God’s love for it goes beyond our own doubts, distractions, hurts, and disappointments. God persistently embraces us within His eternal care, filling us so that we are equipped to go forth to do good for others. Faith empowers us with hope and courage, like that of the widow. God makes His presence known through us, so others experience His grace and the work of his mercy. May you have the fortitude of Jacob and the stamina of the widow, being encouraged by the stories that scripture tells.