"Exercising Power"
Sermon Presented October 21, 2007
Luke 18:1-8
Last Thursday I led worship for Bob Murphy's funeral. This celebration of Bob's life was also a celebration of the lives of his parents and especially of his mother, Mary. You see, the doctors believed that the only place for Bob following his birth was the Southern Center, a place for severely mentally handicapped people. Following surgery when Bob was only a few months old, his parents decided to take him home. That decision changed Bob's life, and it changed theirs too.
The reason is that a Down's syndrome autistic child can't make it through life without an advocate! If that child is to survive - and to thrive - both of which Bob did, he or she must have someone to see that education, medical care, housing, and employment opportunities are accessible. Mary became Bob's advocate. She changed her employment; engaged her intellect and will for justice; and exercised power for the powerless. Bob's success was largely due to Mary's hammering on the doors of those who had the power to make changes.
I doubt if Mary would tell you that she read Jesus' parable about the widow and the unjust judge and decided to bombard the establishment with her advocacy. I imagine she would tell you that she began working for justice for the mentally challenged because of the birth condition of her son. However, I see Mary as one who fits the role of the widow in this morning's parable. You can judge for yourself. I'm reading Luke 18:1-8.
Luke writes to his community many decades after Jesus' death and resurrection, and he's trying to encourage them not to lose heart in the reality of Jesus' failure to return in the time frame expected. Christians are losing faith that the kingdom of God will ever arrive. They have forgotten Jesus' words about what the kingdom of God entails and are focusing only on a timeline. As encouragement, Luke - and only Luke - relates this parable.
The writer doesn't explain what issue is plaguing the widow, but we can assume that it concerns her widowhood and support. Because a widow had no man, she had no power. A woman couldn't receive an inheritance and was at the mercy of the men in her family to care for her, and that fact alone speaks injustice. The judge has the responsibility to hear complaints fairly and impartially. There is no jury - only a single judge. The woman comes before the judge seeking justice, and when justice isn't forthcoming, she goes back again and again and again.
The law of Moses as stated in Deuteronomy (1:16-17) gives this charge to judges. "Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien. You must not be partial in judging; hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's." By the way, the person who spoke at my son Gary's swearing in as a judge quoted that scripture as a charge to him. The responsibility of the judge in the ancient world and in the present world is to give justice to the one who is wronged.
The woman pled for justice because the injustice affected her life! Mary pled for justice because the injustice affected Bob's life! People plead for justice when it affects them personally or when it affects someone they know. I become much more passionate about a justice issue when I know someone who needs justice. I am much more concerned about people than statistics. (However, the statistic that Milwaukee ranks 3rd nationally in childhood poverty DOES concern me!) Our parable is the story of a widow who fights an injustice that affects her.
This widow is courageous! She is a first century feminist who demands her rights, even though this isn't an acceptable role for women. She has been wronged and she demands over and over again that the judge make it right! She stays in his face! Her passion and unrelenting spirit keep pushing until she receives justice.
Just as the widow was "in the face" of the judge, sometimes justice is only achieved when people get in the face of those allowing injustice. When there are marches for civil rights, peace, or immigration rights, the marchers literally get in the face of the community and the lawmakers. The judge in the parable was worn out by the constant reminders of his injustice. People don't like to be confronted with their unjust acts. Confrontation makes us uncomfortable! It takes courage for the judge and the lawmakers and the people to change their minds and act for justice. However, the judge didn't change his mind because of the rightness of the issue; he changed because of his personal discomfort from constant harassment.
This is a great story! It gives hope for all who fight injustice! However, I can see one major flaw. Sometimes injustice continues for decades in spite of ardent prayer! Sometimes we batter God with prayers over and over again and we see no change.
Politics, the justice and welfare systems, and even the Church can be immobilized by corruption, apathy, or bureaucracy. Most people give up when the going gets rough, so the story of one who fights for justice and wins, inspires us. But how does this story help us to understand prayer? What keeps people going in the face of injustice and adversity?
I believe that in our crying, our tears and our persistent prayers, our hope in God is revealed. I believe in the truth of a statement by Martin Luther King, Jr. that "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that even though we don't see answers to our prayers, if the cause is righteous, we must be persistent.
At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus asks a sad question. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" It makes us think that Jesus doesn't know many persistent widows. He doesn't know many people with the faith to stay with something forever. Then as now, most of us pray like we brush our teeth - once in the morning and once at night as part of our spiritual hygiene.
However, constant prayer shapes the one who prays. Repeated prayer gradually tests what we believe is really important. If an issue isn't that important to us, our momentum for prayer diminishes, and we don't put our lives and finances into affecting change.
Last Thursday at Bob's service, I mentioned the meeting Bob had with Archbishop Weakland at the time of his confirmation. Following the service a woman introduced herself and said that she was the one who arranged the meeting. She shared that the archbishop asked Bob if he prayed. Bob said through his letter board "What do you mean?" Weakland asked if he prayed every day, and Bob responded: "My life is a prayer." Bob prayed without ceasing.
The widow's prayer was action oriented. More was required than to speak her requests to God. We aren't called to pray passively, but to break down the door in person! We must act on the African proverb: "When you pray, move your feet!"
The widow pestered the judge until he felt something and the "something" that he felt wasn't compassion but annoyance! That kind of pleading can wear out our hearts if we're not careful - especially when there is no sign that God has heard, much less answered. When we listen to ourselves speak into the silence, we start to wonder if anyone is listening. When this happens, we need help because we are "losing heart." Jesus tells his followers to pray always and not to lose heart.
We lose heart when we believe no one cares - that no one is on our side or concerned about our needs. We lose heart when we feel all alone. What we can expect from God that we don't expect from the judge is compassion. Prayer isn't a last resort when all of our plans and programs and power plays have failed! It's the first and primary task of Christians.
Some of us find it easier to worry about the health of our prayer life than to be concerned for the well being of the widow or the poor. We're concerned that we don't pray often enough or fervently enough - and we're probably right! But keep in mind that God works almost exclusively through people! God call us to be God's instruments for good and for justice! When we fail to respond to the needs of others, then the speed with which justice is done is slowed tremendously.
Superficial prayers are less painful than prayers of the heart, and not praying at all is the least hurtful! Don't ask and you won't be disappointed! Don't seek and you won't miss what you don't find. The persistent widow knows that the most important time to pray and act is when your prayers hit the wall. Day by day by day, we are to get up and ask for what we need. We pray, regardless of what happens because the process itself gives us life. That's the way we bother God and that's how God bothers us back.
Have we turned a deaf ear to those who cry out in need
or have we given up hope that God will hear our calls for help? What
does faith require of us? Do we have the faith of the widow or do we
lose heart and give up? Are we willing to help those in need or do we
ignore their cries? These questions are just as valid for us as they
were for those first century Christians. When the Son of Man comes,
will he find faith on earth?
(Resource: Barbara Brown Taylor, Home by Another
Way, pp. 197 ff.)
