We all Need Someone Who Nags
a sermon based on Luke 18:1-8
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn

Before I read the Gospel lesson, I'd like to read another text for you.  This one comes from the book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus.  Sirach belongs to the collection of books we often call the Apocrypha.  These books were a part of the Jewish scriptures that Jesus and his contemporaries used and are considered part of the Holy Scriptures by Roman Catholics as well as Orthodox Christian­s.

The story of how these books were 'taken out' of our Bibles isn't important for what I want to say; and the question of whether or not these scriptures are authorita­tive isn't important for what I want to say.  So while you may wonder about those things – and I'd be glad to discuss them at some point in time – for now I'd like to set those questions aside.

My sense is that in the days of Jesus, people who attended worship memorized much of the scriptures.  There were no chapter and verse markings, so whole paragraphs would be referred to by quoting a key phrase.

I imagine that we can see how some of that may work.

o       If I were to say, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth", many of you, if not all of you, would recognize this as the creation story.  I wouldn't need to read the rest of the chapter.

o       Or if I were to say, "he makes me lie down in green pastures," you'd probably think of the 23rd Psalm.

So my point is that when Jesus quotes a portion of scripture, it may well be that his audience is reminded of an entire passage.  This would be especially true of familiar passages.  The Gospel lesson for today has some strong parallels to this particular passage in Sirach.  So I'd like to read this one for you first.

                                                       Read Sirach 35:12-22

This passage, among other things, describes God as a judge who is not easily swayed by opinions, or arguments, or even money or wealth.  God is a judge who rules based on truth and justice.

The promise of this passage is that God is just.  God is fair.  God hears our prayers and will respond with justice and righteousness.

An appropriate response to this promise is to remain faithful to God and to seek justice and righteousness for others.  It's a call to hear the plea of the orphan and the cries of the widow.  It's a challenge to work within our society for justice and equity for those who have no voice or whose voice has been ignored by those in power.

In response to the promise of God's faithfulness and the challenge set before us by this promise, Jesus tells a parable.  It's a story that suggests we have not always been faithful to God, we have not always been faithful in our response, we have not always heard the plea of those in need and we have been all too slow in seeking justice in our society.

                                                          Read Luke 18:1-8

In this parable, we meet a judge.  The judge has not lived up to the expectations of Sirach.  He may not respect people, but neither does he respect God.  He may actually be waiting for a bribe before making a decision one way or the other.  This wouldn't be without precedence, since that's what we learn about Felix when he has Paul in his courtroom (Acts 24:26).  In fact, while the parable doesn't say it, Jesus informs us that the judge is unjust (v 6).

 

In this parable, we also meet a widow.  We don't know much about this particular widow, but we do know about her place in society.  Widows were often destitute.  They had no access to land.  They had no access to jobs.  Because of their plight, the Law of Moses went to great lengths to protect both the widow and the orphan.

In this circumstance, the widow's only recourse is to persist in her demand for justice.  She cannot bribe the judge because she doesn't have the financial resources.  She can't hire a good attorney who may be able to persuade the judge to hear her case and rule in her favor.  She can only "nag" him until he responds to her, nagging him until he does what he is supposed to do – grant justice to the widows of society.

In more than one case, we find Jesus using the concept known as a minori ad maius, a Latin phrase meaning from the smaller to the greater.  You can remember some of them, I'm sure.

o       "If God is concerned about the sparrow, how much more will God be concerned about you?" (Mt 6:26)

o       "If you as a parent can meet the needs of your children, how much more will your father in heaven meet your needs?" (Lk 11:11-13).

So Jesus says to look at the judge in the parable.  If he can be convinced to grant justice, how much more will God bring justice to those who cry for help?

To those who are familiar with the text in Sirach, this is both an indictment against the unjust and a promise to those who suffer injustice.  It's a promise that God's justice will prevail.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture that tempts us to play the part, not of the persistent widow, but of the jaded judge of Luke's parable.  Notions of irresistible divine justice seem a little silly in a system where it often appears that justice is only for those who can afford good lawyers.  Too much compassion, too much idealism is a liability in this world.  The facts seem to say that life is unfair, and those who learn that, and learn to live with it, survive.

In such an atmosphere, we Christians are tempted to adapt ourselves to injustice.  Especially when we ourselves are comfortable, we find ways to turn down the volume on the cries of life's victims.  Some say that all victims are at least partly responsible for their own suffering, after all.

That's where the promise of God enters the story.  God comes to save those who cannot save themselves.

Several years ago we had a foster child living with us who came home from school one day carrying a Dixie cup filled with dirt.  Every day she would tell us that a plant was growing in the cup.  There was nothing we could see.  There was no sign of life.  There was only a little Dixie cup filled with dirt that Barbara kept watering every day.

Jesus tells us to not lose heart, to have faith in the justice of God even when it looks like that cup of dirt.

I'm still haunted by the question of a Chinese immigrant who lived in Saint John.  John asked me once if I believed that the world was a better place because of Jesus and whether or not the church was making a difference for the future of our world.

While I believe the answer to both questions is yes, I often feel like the persistent widow who sees nothing happening.  I see an empty Dixie cup.  I see a world that seems to ignore God's justice.  I see people being op­pressed.  I see people not being heard.  I see people being left out.

Where is God?  Where is justice?

Maybe the more pertinent question is the one Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (v 8).

God's justice is coming.  God continues to hear the pleas of the needy and the oppressed.  When we hear the same pleas, we can stand with them and work for justice or we can stand with the judge and deny justice.

Jesus is calling us to proclaim God's justice, to nag the system and the powers that be to grant justice.

Who are the desperate widows in our society?

Who are those who find themselves pleading with God for justice?

How are we like the judge who refuses to see their plight?

As a people of faith, how can we stand with them and work for justice in the name of God?

When we can answer these questions, we can begin to see justice happening in our world, we see the promise of life in an empty Dixie cup, and we can celebrate God's presence in our midst.

And when the son of man comes, he will find that our faith is alive and well.

This is my prayer.

Amen.