A young boy was praying very loudly in his room: “Dear God, he prayed, please send me a box of chocolates for Christmas.”
His mother reprimanded him for praying so loudly - “God’s not deaf you know!” she told him.
“Yes, but Grandpa is and he’s in the next room,” was his reply.
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In two parables from Luke’s gospel Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer… Luke makes it easy for us to understand the purpose of these parables by offering a brief note of interpretation before each one:
The first parable, the one about the Widow and the Unjust Judge is about the disciples need to “pray always and not to lose heart.” (18:1)
The second parable, the one about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is addressed to people who: “Trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” (18:9)
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In our tendency to read passages of scripture in isolation - without much regard for how passages fit into the wider and ongoing story recorded in the gospels we would not understand these passages properly if we didn’t understand where or why they occurred.
In Luke 17:20, just before Jesus tells these parables - the Pharisees asked Jesus when the
Jesus response is quite clear: “The
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We are not people who wait passively for one day when Jesus will fall out of heaven and take over the earth and everything will be OK… As if we have nothing to do with it. Nor are we people who are called to endure this earth until one day we die and we go some place else…
We are people living within the reality of God’s Kingdom reign right now; it began when Jesus defeated Satan - displacing him from his throne by dying and rising again from the dead. It began at the beginning of time because God has always been Jesus-like - Jesus death and resurrection always reflected an inevitable truth, that God ultimately reigns.
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The Anglican Theologian, John Stott commented that the
Jesus told the Pharisees that the
It is right here right now when; as individuals or as a community, we choose to make God King.
It is absent right now, when we as individuals or as a community choose not to make God King.
It is always present - but we are people who choose minute by minute, day by day, month by month, whether or not God is going to be King in our lives, our family, our wallet, our business, our minds, our friendships… or not.
When we choose yes - the Kingdom is here. When we choose no - it is simply near by… we could enter it in a moment, we can leave it in another.
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Having spoken to the disciples about the immediate reality of the
The first: So that they would pray always and not lose heart…
The second, reminding them not to be confident in their own self righteousness - or ‘regard others with contempt’ (something so easy to do.)
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The first parable tells the story of a widow and an unjust judge.
That the widow herself has to address the judge tells us that she was probably very poor… she had no male relatives to represent her in court. Legally she couldn’t testify because of her status.
Being a widow she wasn’t a legal entity - without legal rights other people could take advantage of her very easily - someone wealthy could claim her land and her property and she wouldn’t be able to prove that it was hers.
A vulnerable, powerless woman before a judge who has no fear of God nor respect for people has no chance. She has nothing with which to buy his favour!
But because of her persistence in bothering him he eventually grants her the justice that she asks for.
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Our immediate response to talk about the
Our immediate response to the cry to end poverty, to the hope of wiping out AIDS and HIV and stopping crime in our country is a simple: It can’t be done.
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Jesus end to the story about the unjust judge and the woman is that if the unjust judge can offer what is good and just to the woman… how much more can God answer our prayers when we keep on praying them.
If even the worst sinners know how to do the right thing… how much more will a righteous and good God know how to do the right thing.
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Luke tells us that this parable is about the need to pray always, and not to lose heart.
The Greek verb behind what English translations translate as “to lose heart” or “to not give up,” literally means not giving in to evil.
The kind of prayer that Jesus speaks about is not just passive wake up at 5am and pray for an hour in the quiet of your room every day (which is good), but it is active prayer, prayer that involves the use of your hands and feet… in doing what God calls us to do.
For Jesus’ prayer always led to action… he would pray, then do God’s will, even if it meant going to the cross peacefully and without a fight.
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The second parable, Luke tells us is about people who are confident in their own righteousness and look down on everybody else.
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In the case of the widow and the unjust judge, someone unlike the widow - someone who had a lot of wealth would have rejoiced at coming across a corrupt public official…
He would be able to buy the judgment he preferred. He would have been confident in his own wealth.
Just like money or favours can buy favour with a corrupt judge, people believed, and often still believe and behave like righteousness can buy favour with God.
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The Pharisee, confident in his own righteousness prays; trying to manipulate God. Pharisees believed that if they kept all of the laws, adhered to all the superficial rules of righteousness then God would do what they wanted God to do… (that would be to liberate
But a righteous and perfect King can not and will not respond to manipulative bribery.
The prophet Micah in Micah 6 realises that thousands of rams, rivers of oil - even offering his firstborn can not buy righteousness with God… the Psalmist in Ps 51:17 reminds us that the only sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken and contrite heart, an attitude of humility and repentance….
The tax collector cries out - have mercy on me and is justified. The Pharisee boasts of his righteousness, proudly condemning others and receives not reward.
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When we come to God in prayer - remember the teaching of Jesus… God is just - he will hear our prayers and answer them, he will grant justice when we ask for it… when we work with God, God will work with us.
When we pray we do not rely on the fact that we are particularly holy - that we have paid our tithes, or observed God’s law… relying on these things is forbidden according to Jesus - detestable even.
We rely simply on the mercy of a loving and righteous King - who will answer our prayers when we humble ourselves enough to work with him.
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When all of our lives, and our prayers embrace the reality of this present and real
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