Sermon – Luke 18:1-8 – Called to Prayer

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Presbyterian Churches
Sermon – Luke 18:1-8 – Called to Prayer
October 17, 2010

Today we continue with our look at God’s calling. God calls us to discipleship with its great cost on our lives. God calls us to repentance with the promise of great joy. God calls us to service with the command to love our neighbors. God calls us to faith with a lifelong commitment to spiritual disciplines. God calls us to thanksgiving and directs us out of the church crossing barriers to bring the good news to people unlike ourselves. And today we will see that God calls us to prayer that will shape our hearts so that we begin to work for justice. But before we get to this call, please pray with me.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (Calvin)

Then he told a parable to them concerning their need to pray all the time and not become discouraged saying: “In a particular city there was a judge who did not revere God or respect people. Also in that city was a widow who came to him saying, ‘Give me justice from my adversary.’

He refused for a while and after this he said to himself, ‘even though I do not fear God or respect people, because this woman troubles me, I will grant her justice so that she might not be coming continually to torment me.’”

And the lord said, “Listen to what the evil judge says. Would not God grant justice to his chosen, the ones crying out day and night, and wait patiently on account of them? I say to you that he will not grant justice quickly.” Luke 18:1-8 (my translation)

Today I am going to preach two sermons on this text. I am not talking about the two sermons usually preach at Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek churches. Rather I am going to preach two sermons at each church for a total of four sermons today. You will only hear two of them unless you attend both churches. And I can assure you that these will be half length so that we will not be here all day. So here we go with sermon one..

Our scripture today is about God’s call to justice. We live in a world of grinding poverty where many people live in squalid condition on less than a dollar a day. We live in a country where nearly 10% of us are unemployed and record numbers depend on food stamps. According to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board economic prospects look bleak because business spending has slowed, there is uneven improvement in consumer spending, the housing market remains depressed, and job growth is not expected to be strong enough to impact the unemployment rate. People are crying out for justice continually day and night.

Our scripture today features a widow. Widows in ancient times were the poorest of the poor. They had no job prospects and no family for support. God required that the government of the day support the widows by mandating that their husband’s family care for them. But when the husband’s family refused to take care of her, her only recourse was to go to a judge demanding justice. The judge had been commanded by God to order the husband’s family to do their duty. But he refused the command and ignored God. God was patient and called on the widow to press her case over and over again.

Injustice also prompted the prophet Jeremiah to speak these words as written in the book of Lamentations.

Lamentations 3:1-17 NIV Lamentations 3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; 3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. 5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. 8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. 9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked. 10 Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, 11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. 12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. 13 He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. 14 I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. 15 He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall. 16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. 17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

In an era of economic downturn we, who have been blessed by God, are called to keep our eyes open for any injustice and, like the widow, make our demands for justice continually day and night. If we see someone being unfairly treated, if we hear about someone being taken advantage of, if we find someone who has fallen through the cracks, then we are called to respond to injustice by demanding justice. Jeremiah asked this question, “to deprive a man of justice would not the Lord see such things?” (Lamentation 3:36). Of course God’s see injustice in the world and like the widow in our story today we are called to demand justice continually until justice is fully realized.

Lord Jesus, we see injustice in our world today. People are treated unfairly. Help us to see injustice as it occurs and to demand justice continually until your justice reigns on earth. Amen.

So that was my first sermon for you today on God’s call for justice on earth. Now let’s turn to my second sermon, this one on God’s call to prayer. Once again let’s hear the scripture passage for the gospel of Luke.

Then he told a parable to them concerning their need to pray all the time and not become discouraged saying: “In a particular city there was a judge who did not revere God or respect people. Also in that city was a widow who came to him saying, ‘Give me justice from my adversary.’

He refused for a while and after this he said to himself, ‘even though I do not fear God or respect people, because this woman troubles me, I will grant her justice so that she might not be coming continually to torment me.’”

And the lord said, “Listen to what the evil judge says. Would not God grant justice to his chosen, the ones crying out day and night, and wait patiently on account of them? I say to you that he will not grant justice quickly.” Luke 18:1-8 (my translation)

Our scripture today is about prayer. We see a widow praying for justice, but her prayer seems to have to effect. All of us have prayed for things to happen. Maybe a loved one is sick. Maybe you are looking for a job or a spouse or children. You pray over and over again and nothing happens. And you begin to think that God must be sleeping or on vacation or something. You pray and pray and pray and God’s seem to never respond. Jesus is telling us today to keep praying every day, morning and night. Be persistent. Don’t stop. God wants us to keep praying and will respond in God’s time. We have to be patient and continually pray trusting that one day God will act.

The widow in our story today prayed for justice, day and night, every day and every night until one day the judge finally responded to God’s call for justice and acted on her behalf. Rest assured in your prayers that God loves you and hears you when you pray. God wants to keep on praying continually and be patient, as God is patient, until the world is ready to God to act.

Over the last few weeks I have met several people with loved ones suffering from chronic diseases. These people have been praying for years. Day and night they pray for healing. They pray for wisdom for their doctors. In their prayers they hope that one day God will act. But now they have to be patient and keep praying.

That’s God’s call to us. Keep praying morning and night. Pray over and over again. Keep praying the same thing every day if you have to. God never tires of what you have to say. And be filled with the hope that one day God will act in God’s way.

Father in heaven, hear our prayers. Sustain us as we pray day after day. Fill us with the assurance that you hear our prayers. And fill us with the persistence we need to keep on praying. Amen.

This morning you have heard two sermons on this parable from Jesus. One focused on our need to search out and defeat resistance to justice with persistent action. The other focused on our need to patiently and continually pray, assured the God will respond. Of course we need both of these. We have to pray continually before we can see injustice in the world. And God uses our efforts to end injustice to respond to our prayers. So these go together: praying day and night and working to bring God’s justice to the world.

This then is the mission of the church. We are called to pray unceasingly. Pray every day confident the God hears and one day will respond. As we pray our hearts will change. We will begin to see injustice in the world, and we will find ourselves motivated to end that injustice. As you work for God’s justice on earth you will find the need to pray even more. So prayer and justice go together.

Father in heaven, help us to keep praying. Open our eyes, ears and heart to recognize injustice when we see. Help us to respond to that injustice. And equip us in prayer. In Jesus’ name who prayed continually and work to end injustice. Amen.