Nevertheless, She Persisted

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Luke 18:1-18
October 20, 2019
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL
Christina Berry



In his commentary on the readings for this week,
Tyler Mayfield from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary writes,
“Despite all of the destruction wrought by Babylon,
despite all of God’s judgment,
despite the threat of divine punishment,
God persists in hope.” (Workingpreacher.org)

The prophet Jeremiah spoke to a people in exile.
His message was often bleak, reminding them of their failures,
but he also, eventually, followed that up with a word of hope.
Even though the Israelites were fickle and faithless, God remained faithful.
Let’s listen for God’s persistent hope in Jeremiah 31:31-34

The days are surely coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—
a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the LORD:
I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other,
"Know the LORD," for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD;
for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

We’re well into the gospel of Luke now
with our exploration of prophets and parables,
and Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem,
where he will be arrested, executed, and resurrected.
En route, he is teaching, healing and telling stories.
He has been telling his disciples about the kingdom of God,
that kingdom which is coming and is already here.
Luke’s gospel pays particular attention
to the people who are on the bottom –
those who are without status, without means, without power.
So through the lens of Luke’s stories about Jesus,
we gain a clearer view of what has been called
“the preferential option for the poor.”
Let’s listen for what God has to say to us today in this story
from Luke 18:1-8:

Then Jesus told them a parable
about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge
who neither feared God nor had respect for people.
In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying,
‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’
For a while he refused; but later he said to himself,
‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me,
I will grant her justice,
so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones
who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them?
I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.
And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Let’s talk about widows.
To be a widow is to be a woman who has lost someone;
to be named only as a widow is to be defined by that loss.
Poet Donald Hall described that loss like this:
You think that their dying is the worst
thing that could happen. Then they stay dead.[1]

That’s the hard truth of loss, isn’t it?
For a widow, the loss of her husband is a permanent, ongoing truth.
For many widows, it is the loss of almost everything good.
Say the word “widow” and what comes to mind?
Someone like that that sweet little old lady in the Tweety Bird cartoons?
a dear old soul in frumpy clothes, gray hair wrapped up in a bun,
in a dusty parlor surrounded by collector’s plates and figurines
and painted china and seventeen cats?

The truth is far more interesting, and more varied.
A widow in the real world may be just as active, and more engaged,
than her younger, married counterparts.
She may live on a shoestring, but she lives well,
and often is active in the community, in volunteer work, and in the church.

Sadly, in the United States, as in Jesus’ time,
elderly widows are more likely to be terribly poor.
Many widows in developing countries are in devastating circumstances.
They are living in poverty, without access to health care or income,
often homeless -- exiled from their homes
and deprived of rights to property or even any legal recourse
to claim inheritance, or support for their children.

In Jesus’ time on the earth, to be widowed
was often to be in a terrible situation.
Absent a caring family or supportive community,
a woman could be forced to become a slave or a beggar – or worse.
But the expectation regarding the care of widows was clear in the law.
Severe judgment was threatened for those who threatened widows,
or those who neglected them,
or who treated them unjustly.

In the 1st century early church, widows had a place of honor and respect.
First Timothy says, “The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God
and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.”
Because she was alone, she could devote herself fully to God’s work.

We encounter widows often in Luke’s Gospel:
Anna, the widow who blessed the infant Jesus,
“never left the temple but worshiped there
with fasting and prayer night and day”
Jesus severely condemned those who “devour widow's houses.” 

These widows were not just vulnerable victims in need of protection,
they were strong, faithful women, devoted to prayer, serving God.

The widow in this parable Jesus told was obviously that kind of widow –
even though the judge obviously cared nothing for what the Torah said
about the requirement to support and provide for the widow.
This widow, in this parable, was going to get justice for her case,
whether the judge liked it or not.
Her pressing of her suit was relentless.
She badgered the judge.
Day and night. Night and day. Grant me justice!
On and on and on and on and on…

In fact, in the Greek it is almost funny – the judge says she is
“battering” him with her demands!
He said she was “giving him a black eye” with her persistence.
Maybe she was crying as she told her story – maybe he was angry.
But she persisted.
Maybe he tried to silence her, to make her stop speaking up for justice –
nevertheless, she persisted.
And eventually, he gave in.
The judge did not give in to the widow because of the merits of her case,
though from the way Jesus told the story,
we assume that her case did have merits.
The judge gave in to the widow because she wore him down.

Frederick Douglass – you remember the amazing things he did - said
“Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never has and it never will.”

If this unjust judge could be worn down by this insistent widow,
how much more, Jesus said,
God will hear our prayers for justice!
God does not need to be badgered and worn down – to the contrary!
God is a God of justice, the justice that restores all things.

The Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharris of the Poor People’s Campaign writes:
“Here, religion is not an abstract collection of platitudes,
a recitation of doctrines, a superstition or a detached ritual;
nor is it the purview of ordained clergy.
Rather the only way to demonstrate your commitment to a higher power
is to fight tirelessly for justice,
and the way God shows the divine is through asserting
that all deserve and will have justice and freedom.
God’s justice is juxtaposed to the “justice” of the unjust judge,
the “justice” of the ancient criminal justice system.
Even two thousand years ago, the courts were on the side of those
with wealth, power, citizenship.
The power of the Roman Empire extended to everything –
housing and living conditions, the farming and fishing industries,
urban development, taxation, slavery, and debt, even state religion
and especially law enforcement.
In the Roman Empire, Caesar was the ultimate judge, savior, and God.
But the God of Israel was not on top like Caesar.
The God of Israel had led the slaves out of Egypt
and had proclaimed release for the captive
through God’s prophets through the centuries.
The God of Israel was executed as an insurrectionist
through Jesus in the first century.”[1]

Here’s the promise of persistence:
even though Jesus was arrested and executed for sedition –
for inciting insurrection! –
God raised him from the dead on the third day.
God persists in hope.
And so, because God persists in hope,
we persist in prayer, and as we pray, we move our feet.
We persist in prayer, because prayer changes us.
Prayer changes people, and people change things.
When we are persistent in prayer, our prayers change.
As our words are sifted through prayer,
they become a call for righteousness.
Our prayers continue until the desire for God’s perfect justice emerges.
As we persist in prayer, our desires begin to conform
to God’s desires for justice, mercy and righteousness.
As we are transformed by God and our wills conform to God’s will,
we arise from prayer as changed people who can change people.
An African proverb says, “When you pray, move your feet.”
You see, persistent prayer makes for persistent people.
Persistent people take action in the world.
Persistent people are not afraid to stand up to the powerful,
even judges in the highest courts;
persistent people are not reluctant to speak truth to power
even when someone tries to silence them.

As Christians we are called by Jesus to demand justice,
even when that may mean that we surrender some of our privilege,
especially when our privilege has contributed to another’s poverty.

Persistent people care for those whom God loves and they do not give up.
We pray with words, and move in action,
knowing that even though the rich and powerful may seek to divide us,
our action in the name of God can unite us.

We pray for as much light and truth as we can bear,
and then we rise to bear what light we can.

We persist in the pursuit of justice,
even though the politicians and the lobbyists
want us to be afraid.

Our action in the name of God makes us fearless,
because perfect love casts out fear.

Jesus ends his story with questions for his listeners.
He asks, “will not God grant justice to his chosen ones
who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them?”

We persist in prayer, trusting that God WILL grant justice,
that the long arc of the universe bends toward justice.
God’s timing is not our timing; nevertheless we persist.
We persist in prayer, trusting that God will empower us
to get up on our feet and act.

As people changed by God, we work to change injustice,
trusting that Christ is at work in the world,
in us, among us and through us.

When you pray, move your feet.
And God WILL grant justice.

The world is full of troubles and strife, discord and injustice.
People are anxious and afraid; divided and angry.
Nevertheless, God persists in hope,
and we persist in faith and love.

And when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith on earth.

Amen.




[1] Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharris https://kairoscenter.org/unjust-judge-persistent-widow/