Ex 17:8-13; II Tim 3:14-4:2; St. Luke 18:1-8
In our Gospel this morning we heard the parable of the unjust judge, a parable about prayer - Jesus tells us of the need to “pray continually” and to not lose heart.
We hear of a widow who keeps coming to a judge again and again and again wanting justice, but the unjust judge keeps refusing. In our translation we hear him eventually saying to himself that if he doesn’t give her what she wants, she’ll keep pestering him and worry him to death - in one commentary that I read, I believe that perhaps a more accurate reading of the original Greek words in fact uses a word which means that the judge fears that the widow will give him a black eye - it’s perhaps a bit of a boxing metaphor which Jesus uses. She keeps persisting, and eventually the judge gives in, and gives the widow her rights.
But, nevertheless, this judge is described as being a man who has no respect for man, nor for God - and he himself knows this. Maybe we can think of people today who would be similar - people with no respect for others and for their dignity, and no respect for God - some may be very open about this, and some others can hide it quite well. There are many ‘unjust judges’ in our world. And the unjust judge can wear lots of different disguises - maybe the unjust judge may represent real people, but maybe the unjust judge can be prejudice, hatred, fear, violence - and maybe even different afflictions or illnesses or difficult things that we may face - like the unjust judge, these difficult things can have no respect for people or for God. I’m sure we’ve all been in some of those situations where we can feel as if we’re standing like the widow before the judge - we stand before and in the midst of something which has no respect for us, or for God - and it’s easy to think: “why has this happened to me?”, “make it go way” - but nothing happens, it’s still there - I know that I’ve been in that situation myself.
The unjust judge - whoever or whatever he is - can seem big, and powerful, and overwhelming, and all-consuming; and in turn we can feel small, powerless, and consumed - alone, with no one to support or to defend us. And like the widow in the Gospel, day after day we may cry out, but nothing happens.
Sometimes when this happens we can react in different ways. Sometimes of course it’s good for us to challenge structures or people which are unjust, but on the one hand we can sometimes get angry and fight back against the unjust judge and if we’re not careful we may actually end up becoming hardened ourselves; - and on the other hand, we may sort of give up and believe that the unjust judge is right, this is the way things will always be, and we can’t do anything to change it.
But then Jesus calls each of us to a different way - He calls us to be like the widow - to be persistent - to “pray always” and not lose heart - to have the faith and the persistence of the widow in our prayer to God, in our giving to Him all that worries and troubles us. Day after day after day the widow presents her pain and her injustice to the judge.
And she eventually receives her request because she’s persistent - because she keeps coming again and again to the judge. In the same way that she is persistent - so we too are called to try to be equally as persistent in prayer, in asking God for what we need.
We heard in our first reading from Exodus about Moses - Moses held his hands up, which was a gesture of prayer in the Old Testament. When he held his hands up Israel had the advantage in battle, but when he lowered them, their enemies had the advantage. When his hands are in a gesture of prayer things go well - but when he then lowers his hands, there are problems.
His hands get tired so others come and help him to keep his hands up in prayer. And so again the call is the same for us - to be in constant prayer, even if we’re tired or feel like giving up - but crucially to accept that often we can’t do this on our own, and we need the help of others in our life of prayer, in our life of reaching out to God.
To pray always and to pray persistently doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re continually giving God a shopping list of all the things we feel we want and need, and then going away and expecting Him to do it - but to pray always is to continually be crying out to God - in the good times and the bad times, continually reaching out to Him -
We’ve all started to do that today by simply being here - but it’s something which we can do anywhere - crying out to God in trust. Sometimes prayer can be hard, sometimes it can be slow - but even when we want to pray, that itself is prayer; when we orientate ourselves to God, that itself is prayer.
And also in the meantime we can do many things which are in our power and which will help us or others - which will help to change things - offering support and compassion to another, speaking out against injustice - but all the time trusting that God is somehow working and will bring about His will.
God is not like the unjust judge - but maybe Jesus tells this parable precisely because He knows that at times we do get weary and we may well feel that God is like the unjust judge.
Sometimes results may not be immediately visible for us, sometimes God will act not in the way we expect or hope, but in His own way and in His own time. But Jesus encourages us to persevere in prayer and in the sacramental life - the Mass, receiving the sacraments. We become a praying community - rather like Aaron and Hur in the first reading - as they uphold Moses when he is tired, so in our church community we uphold one another’s faith.
The widow perhaps becomes a model of relentless spiritual pressure - not because God needs convincing, but perhaps because we do - prayer, regular prayer, a rhythm of turning to God and trusting in Him, changes us in deep ways; we don’t annoy God by keeping praying, but over time we’re formed by God’s steady presence. And this can be what the Mass can teach us - repetition, pattern, rhythm, prayer; even when we’re not necessarily ‘feeling’ it, the Mass can be our own holy ‘nagging’ if you like, nagging like the widow - we come again and again and the rhythm and the prayer of the Mass - corporate prayer to God - helps to form us into what we are, whether we consciously realise it or not.
And like the widow, there is waiting; waiting doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care or that He’s not listening - but for each of us there’s often waiting. And what’s crucial is that when we wait, we don’t wait whilst God is in another
room, we wait with God. Praying and crying out to God at all times keeps us trusting in God, and keeps us from losing heart. Christian perseverance isn’t passive waiting, but it’s active trust in God.
Jesus calls us to constant prayer - even if that prayer is just a whisper - a crying out to God, which any of us can do, and at any time - we don’t need to be experienced Christians or to be very knowledgeable about different types of prayer to be doing this - a continual and persistent calling on God for ourselves and for others.
Jesus calls us to be persistent in prayer almost like boxers in a ring - and if the unjust judge answers the cry of the widow, then how much more will God our heavenly Father answer us, stay with us, and give us heart and strength.
And so today I wonder what part of the story we are each in right now.
Maybe you're the widow – tired but still knocking, still persisting. Maybe you’re Moses – you’re praying, things are progressing, but your arms feel heavy, and you're not sure you can hold on much longer. Maybe you’re Aaron or Hur – called to hold someone else's arms up, to support others in their faith.
Or maybe you're someone who’s wondering, deep down, whether any of this works, whether your prayers will make any difference - if so, you're not alone, we're can all be in that place at times.
But our call from Jesus is to not give up, even if we're praying with just a whisper, or just a word, even if we're borrowing someone else's faith, even if we're not sure it's working.
Things may drag on, but God has not left.
And in the end, Jesus says that God will not delay forever, He still listens, He still hears, and He will still grant justice.
But until then, we lift one other's arms, we strengthen one another, we say the prayers, and we keep showing up, showing up to God, and that persistent showing up for God is faith.
Amen.
Fr Nick Archer