“Do Not Lose Heart!”
Luke 18:1-8
The parable of the Persistent Widow is often misinterpreted as an illustration of how to get one's own way with God — by wearing God down with persistent prayer requests. If we persist in asking, eventually God will give in to our will and grant our request. Since Luke often puts God in his parables as one of the main characters, if we’re not careful, we will try to force God into the role of a reluctant, grumbling, unjust judge. Let us take a closer look at this parable to see what it reveals about God, prayer, and perseverance.
In this illustration by Jesus, we hear of a judge in some unnamed city who has no interest in pursuing justice. A widow in that city keeps after him, telling him repeatedly that her rights are being violated.
Widows in Jesus’ day were often exposed to harsh treatment and exploitation. Widows had no inheritance rights and lost all property and possessions upon their husband's death. This woman, who was among the weakest and least influential individuals in first-century society, takes on one of the most powerful figures of that time—a judge. She keeps going back persistently to the judge, telling him that her rights are being violated. She keeps asking for justice. Initially, this judge, who, according to the parable, does not respect people nor God, whom Jesus calls “unjust,” pays no attention to her. In time, however, due to what this unjust judge perceives as her incessant whining, he gives in. “If I finally give in to this woman and give her justice, she’ll stop pestering me and pounding me mentally!” This poor widow, like other widows in scripture such as Tamar in Genesis 38 and Ruth and Naomi, refuses to be ignored. She is persistent and aggressive. Theologian Brittany E. Wilson, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity school says, “In the original Greek, the judge says: “Because this widow causes trouble for me, I will give her justice, so that she may not, in the end, give me a black eye by her coming” (verse 5). By using the verb hypopiazo, which means “to give a black eye,” Luke situates the judge’s language within the arena of boxing metaphors.” This widow used her strength and persistence to change the judge’s mind and challenge the corrupt judicial system of the day.
This parable speaks of 3 things for us today. First, it speaks of God’s nature, yet not in the way you might at first perceive. In this instance, with the grumpy, unjust judge, we may think this is how God is with us when we pray. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus is setting up a contrast here. If an unjust judge will finally begrudgingly grant a widow’s request for justice, how much more will a loving God grant our requests in prayer? God is never begrudging with us. We are encouraged to ask, seek, and knock, and do so enthusiastically! God LOVES us. God shows us mercy! This is a God of whom scripture says, “Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)
The second thing we learn from today’s passage is regarding prayer: be persistent. God wants us to cry out and pray, and to do so often. As we pray, continuously and persistently, we are shaped and moved by God’s Spirit. St. Teresa said, “Prayer is putting yourself into the hands of God.” Continuous prayer connects us with our loving Creator in a very close and caring way.
Consider the fall of the Berlin Wall, which happened 35 years ago today. You will hear much more about how many faithful Protestants in East Germany initiated a prayer movement led by Pastor Christian Führer and other faith leaders. This continuous, persistent prayer service, begun in 1982, lasted for seven years, eventually drawing people outside the church, helping to bring about the end of oppression, and leading to the reunification of two nations split apart by a wall, with no violence whatsoever.
On October 9, 1989, Pastor Führer and those gathered in his church, which included many members of the state security police, known as the Stasi, were trying to end the prayer services and intimidate those who came. That night, however, the secret police and others who had gathered could not fill all the pews, and many faithful people came and took their seats. Pastor Führer focused on my favorite section of Jesus’ teachings, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and emphasized the importance of nonviolent resistance and praying for peace.
When they finished the service, thousands of others met them in the streets, many of whom had lit candles and had attended other prayer services. By this time, Stasi leaders had agreed that the solution to the protests by East German citizens, faith leaders, and their congregations was the “Chinese Solution.” They saw power in the Tiananmen Square massacre, which had just happened that June.
The President of the GDR at the time, Horst Sindermann, said, “We had everything planned. We were ready for everything, except for candles and prayers.” Despite soldiers with weapons full of ammunition, despite GDR leaders' Chinese Solution plans, not a finger was lifted. Not a gun was fired, and the fall of the Berlin Wall had begun. Reunification and peace came, in a very massive part, because of faithful prayer led by Pastor Führer and others.
In times when answers to prayer seem confusing or frustrating; when God seems silent,: When answers take decades to manifest; when an answer is not what we wanted to hear, in times of great conflict and fear- It is in times such as these that through our persistence in prayer we are being molded and shaped into a vessel that will be able to hold and understand the answer when it comes. The key is to trust that God is much more than a grumpy, unrelenting judge. God loves us, is working to bring about the kindom of peace, and has our best interests at heart, always. An anonymous Christian once said, “When we pray, God hears more than we say, answers more than we ask, gives more than we imagine, in God’s own time and in God’s own way.”
It is easy to lose heart these days. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, relied on by 42 million Americans, may or may not receive partial funding for November. The Supreme Court of the United States has allowed a pause on the requirement for the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP benefits for November, leaving millions of Americans in limbo. The state of Oregon has fully funded SNAP benefits for the 757,000 Oregonians in need. A few other states have also implemented this measure, despite the strong possibility that the US Department of Agriculture may not reimburse those funds. Yet many families in other states are still waiting for their SNAP cards to be reloaded with funds and are skipping meals as a result. Furthermore, long-term plans are in place to cut those benefits sometime in 2026, if they are ever fully reinstated. Our God made food abundant on the earth. That food is not available to all people. Many people in our nation cannot afford to buy food or have minimal access to it. How can we call ourselves a Christian nation when 1/8th of our country’s people do not have adequate access to food? It’s not of God for anyone to starve.
In addition, our nation’s freedoms are being threatened. American troops are being used to threaten our own people. Our Presbytery has responded to the possibility of soldiers being sent to Portland, writing in a statement posted on the Presbytery website, “We pray for an America where people are safe in their neighborhoods, are free to speak their minds, and can live without fear of government retaliation, not one where our military is turned against our own communities.” As of Friday, a federal judge has ruled against the use of the National Guard in Portland, and I assume this will be appealed and head also to the Supreme Court. Sigh.
Then there is ICE- Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE agents intimidate people of color, even citizens of our country, as they have been given a green light to do whatever is necessary to remove those without citizenship in America, regardless of the circumstances that brought them here. People have been loaded into vans and deported without any due process, sometimes sent to countries they have never been to. And as we all saw in October, some of these agents do not even respect religious leaders, as Rev. David Black, a Presbyterian pastor offering to pray with ICE agents, was shot in the head with a pepper ball. It is easy for us to lose heart in such circumstances.
Do not lose heart. Do not give in to the darkness. The persistent widow, who had no power in first-century society, is our example to follow, modeling that we must not lose heart.
Consider a parallel parable on prayer, also found in Luke’s Gospel, is the parable of the persistent neighbor, who knocks on his neighbor’s door late at night for some bread (Luke 11:5-8). In this parable, God can be mistaken for a tired neighbor who wants to go back to sleep, but who finally relents and provides a loaf of bread when his neighbor keeps knocking. In a large gathering of people of color concerned over unjust treatment in America, an elderly black minister read this parable and gave a one-sentence interpretation: “Until you have stood for years knocking at a locked door, your knuckles bleeding, you do not really know what persistence in prayer is.”
The persistent widow does not lose heart, does not give up or give in until justice is given, until peace is realized. We, too, need to be in a persistent fight for justice and to pray.
So, how do we do so without losing heart? We need to train ourselves to pray consistently and grow our faith. For example, I am preparing to be on stage in a musical next Spring with OLLI. In addition to serving as the music director for this show, I have several roles to play, including at least one iconic rock star. I need to get myself back into shape. So, I am working out consistently, watching what I eat, and am losing weight. I have dropped 5 pounds in the last week. I even made it to the gym at 6:30 this past Wednesday (Ugh), and have the visual verification of that from at least two church members!
Persistent prayer takes effort and training. Make a specific time each day to make a list and pray. Come to the prayers for peace services and give thanks that they are at 5 pm instead of 6:30 am! Laila Gifty Akita, a Ghanaian author and founder of the Smart Youth Volunteers Foundation, says, “There is power in persistent prayer.”
So, PRAY. Pray persistently. Pray for those people, those situations in this world that are unjust. Pray for peace. Ask God for strength, wisdom on how to make a difference, and do so persistently. Catholic Theologian Allen E. Vartlett said, “Seven days without prayer makes one weak.” The more we communicate with God, the stronger our faith, the more our prayers become God’s prayers for us, the more our desires become God’s desires for us, the more our will becomes God’s will for our lives.
In the book, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, he quotes Indian activist and author Arundhati Roy, who proclaimed at a World Social Forum in Brazil, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” Therefore, we do not lose heart. Strengthened by prayer, we work and pray for that world, a peaceful and just world on earth as it is in heaven. Do not give up! Do not lose heart! Train yourselves for the battle against injustice! Envision a peaceful world, just as faithful Christians did in East Germany 35 years ago today. Keep praying. Keep reading the scriptures. Keep working, so that peace may come. Alleluia! Amen.
