"Pray Continually Never Give Up"

In the 1991 movie "What about Bob," Bill Murray plays a neurotic patient named Bob Wiley. Bob has a seemingly endless list of phobias and he meets an acclaimed psychiatrist named Dr. Leo Marvin, played by Richard Dreyfuss. Although the doc is getting ready to go to New Hampshire on vacation with his family, and promote his new book "Baby Steps" on TV, he agrees to meet with Bob.

Bob is convinced that Dr. Marvin can help him, and Dr. Marvin agrees to see Bob again after he returns. But that’s not good enough for Bob. He cleverly finds out where Dr. Marvin is going on vacation and goes there too. Dr. Marvin’s family takes a liking to Bob, but the doctor feels like Bob is just intrusive, and no matter what he does, Bob just won’t go away. Persistence! Persistence! Persistence! Bob was persistent.

The widow in Jesus’ parable, our text for this morning was persistent. But Jesus sets up a blessed contrast to Bob and Dr. Marvin and even to the widow and her unjust judge. Bob and the woman needed to be persistent, because they were petitioning resistant and reluctant helpers. But what about God? Will God delay long over His elect, Jesus asks? No, indeed. Rather, Jesus tells us, "I will give justice to them speedily."

Every now and then you hear about someone who was arrested and convicted of a crime they didn’t commit. After spending years behind bars, some new evidence come to light that exonerates them. When we hear a story like that, we realize that our system has failed.

But what if your life or freedom hung in the balance, and you had a judge like the judge in today’s parable? Unlike the hypothetical person who finally gets exonerated, the judge in the parable does nothing. A widow comes to him for help, time and time again, and he refuses to do anything.

The widow is forced to inundate the judge with her requests until he does the right thing and listens to her. The text makes it clear that he does the right thing in the end, but he doesn’t do it because he’s had a change of heart. He does it simply to get rid of the persistent and pesky widow.

In biblical times, widows had no power or economic clout. They were among the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Old Testament law stipulated that the worshipping community was supposed to take care of them, and God repeatedly warned his people not to take advantage of the widows and orphans in their midst. We don’t know what the exact problem was that kept this woman in front of the judge. What we do know is that this woman was going to someone who was supposed to help her in her quest for justice.

This widow in our text may have been like a child who needles his or her parents when they really want something. They keep on pestering and increase the intensity as long as there is resistance. That is the intensity that Jesus wants us to have. He wants us to not give up – to keep at it.

Now, you can almost get the sense from our text that prayer is reduced to an act of pestering God until God cries, "Enough!" But the argument Jesus makes here is like the one he makes in the Gospel of Matthew, where he says, "Which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (7:9-11)

The judge, who neither feared God nor cared about his fellow man, finally does the right thing, like evil parents who can somehow manage to feed their own children. The theological principle is in the how much more. How much more will God do what is right? When it comes to God, we’re assured that God listens and will surely grant justice to the one who cries out to him day and night.

Beyond persistence, this parable calls us to pray, to have courage, and to act on our faith. Picture Jacob in our Old Testament reading, wrestling with God throughout the night. It took courage to refuse to let go until he received a

As we read this text, many of us probably identify with the persistent widow. And I’d be willing to bet that none of us identify with the judge. But there is a part of all of us that is just like the judge. Our natural state is not to fear God and not to care about anyone but ourselves.

Theologians throughout the centuries have often defined sin as being turned in on one’s self. How may of us, when we see someone in need, turn the other way? We all have an "it’s not my problem’" or "I don’t want to get involved" attitude. How many of us are like the judge and only relent when we see it to be in our best interest?

This woman was persistent, even in the face of injustice. She could have given up, but she didn’t. Jesus is teaching us to be persistent and trust God, even when it appears to be futile.

But Jesus often uses parables to teach us more about who he is, and in that respect, this parable is no different from any other. In this parable, we see Jesus in the persistent widow.

When Jesus relates this parable to his disciples, he is still outside Jerusalem. He is still some distance from his passion. But soon he would arrive and experience injustice at the hands of Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, and the crowds of people who would shout, "Crucify Him!"

Even then, Jesus lives in his life the kind of trust he speaks about in this parable. Jesus keeps faith with the One from whom he expects vindication at the end. He keeps faith all the way to Calvary and his death on the cross. "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit."

In this parable, Jesus teaches us to pray continually and never lose heart. We can do that with faith because He promises that he will grant vindication and justice for his chosen ones and that he will do so quickly.

But keep in mind that this vindication and justice are not necessarily what we expect. Justice will indeed be brought about quickly, but it will not be through the power of his almighty hand. Instead it will be through love and grace. Jesus shows us that God’s justice is not rightly understood until you understand God’s suffering love, a suffering love that has as its aim to make the sinner whole and the ungodly just. This suffering love is for people like the unjust judge, and it is for you and me as well.

When Luther teaches about prayer in his Small Catechism, he says that we are to be confident when we pray. We "ask His as dear children ask their dear father." That’s the language of relationship. We are God’s children and he desperately longs for us to approach him, describing to him the needs of our lives and the longing of our hearts.

Do we do it once? Do we do it twice? No! We pray continually. We never give up.

Jesus ends this parable with a question: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Will he find faith that is persistent and loyal? The answer to the implied question is yes, he will! He will find people like those that are mentioned in the verses just after our text.

He will find faith in people like the tax collector, who humbled himself and beat his chest, imploring God for mercy. He will find faith in people, who, like little children, look to Christ and trust him completely. He will find faith in people like the blind beggar, who cried out to Christ for healing and mercy, and people who are leaning on him for everlasting hope.

So can we pray and not lose heart? Yes! Can we pray and not give up? Absolutely. For we know to whom we belong. Peter the Apostle said, "[Cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1Pet 5:7)

He cares for you, and unlike the judge in today’s parable, God wants to hear from you. You are his beloved child. So take heart! Pray continually and do not lose heart. To God alone be the glory, forever and ever, Amen.