There is this judge, Jesus says, who has neither decency nor conscience, a corrupt public official interested only in his own advantage. A widow appears in his courtroom. She is a poor and powerless woman, somebody not noticed by the movers and shakers in her town. She has no money to bribe this crooked judge; she cannot afford a lawyer to speak up for her. So she speaks up for herself: “Defend me from my adversary! Defend me from my adversary! “Defend me…” To spare himself of further annoyance, he grants her justice.
Jesus tells us this story to encourage us to continue in prayer and not to lose heart. But what is the point? Is the unscrupulous judge, who does justice to spare himself annoyance, a portrait of God? Though that is how some people look at the practice of prayer, that is not the message of this story.
Some people paint a picture of God as an unscrupulous judge or petty bureaucrat or an arbitrary boss…or an abusive parent. With such a picture before them, it is startling that they ever pray at all. God is not like that! Instead, the Lord is the author of all justice and compassion.
Many people have trouble with prayer or even give up the practice. The primary effect of prayers is not on God, but on us. God’s love is already unconditional; his justice perfect; his compassion without limit. He recognizes our needs even before we do. It is not God who needs to change, it is up to us to get in line with God’s program and prayer is a large part of how that comes about.
Prayer is our declaration that we do not want to be a closed universe, dependent only on ourselves and our own solutions. Prayer is our desire to be open to God.
In our prayer, the Holy Spirit speaks in the voice of the poor widow who demanded justice from the unscrupulous judge. The miracle of prayer is that the judge’s resistance breaks down and for once he does what is right and may even do so again in the future.
That widow would not have succeeded that she not been persistent, confident, and unconcerned with what others thought of her. She had what is known in Yiddish as chutzpah. Our prayers need to have chutzpah! Not because God is deaf, but because opening our hearts to God is no easy matter.
There are things in each of us that can keep God out. Self interest is not the only obstacle. Attitudes of mind may keep the door shut and bolted. We may doubt that God hears us. We may consider ourselves unworthy. We may think God has better and more worthy things to do… These attitudes can be driven out by persistent prayer. Just like the voice of the widow who refuses to take no for an answer.
There is a wonderful story about a girl who watched a holy man praying at the riverbank. Once that man had finished his prayer, the girl approached him and asked, “Will you teach me to pray?” The holy man studied the girl’s face and agreed to her request. He took her into the river. The holy man instructed her to lean over, so her face was close to the water. The girl did as she was told.
Then the holy man pushed her whole head under the water. Soon the girl struggled to free herself in order to breathe. Once she got her breath back she gasped, “Why did you do push and hold me under water?” The holy man said, “I gave you your first lesson.” “What do you mean?” asked the astonished girl. He answered, “When you long to pray as much as you long to breathe, then I will be able to teach you how to pray.”
May each of us long to pray, and learn to pray, and persist in our pray. Not so we can change God, but so that God can change us to enjoy the fullness of life that he intends for us.
AMEN
The Reverend Brian Couvillion, October 20, 2019