The Widow and The Unjust Judge

The Widow and The Unjust Judge

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 20, 2019

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples 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?”

When we hear this story from the Gospel of Luke we usually think about the nagging widow as an example of perseverance in prayer and also doing the work of the Lord. I’m going to go out on a limb to say that I am identifying with the judge right now, not because I do not fear God and not because I do not respect people but because I can identify with all that bothering stuff – other drivers on the road, being a customer in a place that defies all sense of customer service, etc. etc.

I was listening to an audiobook this week called You are a Badass Every Day which was written by Jen Sincero. She also wrote the book simply entitled You are a Baddass.  I want to read you a paragraph from her book and see if any of you can identify with her feelings. 

I know that one of my big challenges here on earth is learning to master or even acquire a tiny smidge of patience. Because the universe always gives us exactly what we need I currently find myself living in a historic town full of elderly seniors who refuse to surrender their licenses, lost tourists, 15 mile an hour speed limits and endless mazes of narrow and confusing streets.  The other day I got trapped behind someone who was so lost, incompetent, dedicated to making me grow, that I was forced to sit through not one but two rounds of light changes ladies and gentlemen while they tried and failed to make a left term.  I heard myself yelling, “Oh my God I hate you” only to immediately after mumble “here I go, it’s happening right now.” In order to change unwanted behavior patterns it’s so helpful to become aware of what set us off so we can practice catching ourselves in the act. The moment you realize that not-so-great-behavior is rearing its head, you can interrupt it by saying something like “here I go, it’s happening right now.” Then step back and watch yourself make a more impressive choice about how to respond. As I sat there at the intersection embarking on round three “will this person finally make the turn?” instead of fanaticizing about following them around for the rest of the day, and leaning on my horn and shouting obscenities out my window, I sat back rolled down my window and looked at the flowers growing in the median.

The exciting and educational conclusion to this story is that I made it to my doctor’s appointment with two whole minutes to spare.

Think about what situation and people that trigger your not so favorite sides of yourself.

So what does this have to do with the Gospel? This parable from Luke is pithy in length but so complex in so many other ways.  I could have preached a sermon on perseverance in prayer or about the pursuit of justice, or the care of society’s most vulnerable, or Jesus’ second coming again and looking for the faithful. I could focus either on the widow or the judge. The sermon could have been about all of these things because that is the nature of scripture – it is multifaceted, deceptively rich and applicable to our daily living.

We learn from our Epistle lesson for today that “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”  And what I understand that to mean is that the bible is, in a sense, a living book – and what I mean by that is that the Holy Spirit draws out for us particular lessons and encouragements depending on our frame of reference or context at any given time.  So in approaching this text of the unjust judge – we can quite rightly search out the good news of Jesus Christ in whatever form speaks loudest to us in this moment in this moment.

So for me, having heard this humorous comment about patience by Jan Sincero – it made me reflect on how hard it is to be human with other humans.  “Hell is other people” the existential philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre wrote. It is hard to be around people who get under our skin, and we can waste a lot of time fretting or mulling over such encounters.  But I think if we can think about people who get under our skin as personal trainers in our midst, our own nagging widows to judges, we can be a lot more patient with them and with ourselves.  That does not mean that we have to or should include such people in our closest circle of friends, but it does mean that we have a lot to learn from them.  Maybe it’s patience, maybe it’s humility, maybe an open mind, maybe forgiveness, maybe it’s quite simply don’t ever let them borrow your car or take care of your cat.

It’s a pretty simple message this morning – we have a lot to learn from people whom we find most challenging. And this may be one of the most difficult spiritual lessons we have to endure on a fairly regular basis.  And besides that, it’s pretty important.  The Dalai Lama wrote: “Overcoming negative tendencies and enhancing positive potential are the very essence of a spiritual path.”  Who better to help us find out our negative tendency than those who bring them out most boldly? 

And this is the last thing I want to say – many who go to the Bible, or church, or pray, hope to be inspired, and that is good.  However, what God has in mind for us is not only inspiration but also transformation.  What is it that God wants transformed in you? And who is helping you transform?