Praying for justice in an unjust world
When you pray, how do you imagine God's posture toward you? Is he busy and hardly paying attention? Is he leaning in and listening intently? Is he ignoring you unless you pester him again and again, like a toddler tugging on their parent's clothes?
Jesus told a very strange parable about prayer to help answer these questions.
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
~ Luke 18:1-8
This parable has confused many pray-ers due to the way we misinterpret it. We read the parable of the persistent widow and often assume two incorrect conclusions:
A mistaken concept of God: we conclude he is like the unrighteous judge and will only begrudgingly grant our prayer if we bother him enough
A mistaken concept of prayer: we conclude God will grant us what we ask if we persist in asking… for anything
Both these conclusions lead us to false images of God and of our relationship to him. The context and the content of the parable reveal that both thoughts are incorrect.
First, as my study Bible points out to me, this parable is a “lesser to greater” argument, meaning if A (the lesser) is true, then how much more B (the greater) must be true. These types of arguments are fairly common in Luke.
So, in the context of this parable, if A (the reluctant actions of an unjust judge) is true, then how much more B (the willing actions of a just and loving God) must be true. Jesus isnotsaying God is like the judge - unjust, reluctant, and petulant. He isnotsaying God will only bother with us if we pester him enough.
Jesus is saying just the opposite: if an evil judge will eventually grant justice, how much more will a willing, loving God do so? It’s an encouragement to keep praying!
However, secondly, let us not mistake this to mean that we can pray for anything persistently and expect God to eventually grant us our request. That would never allow the Sovereign Lord sovereignty to say “no.”
The context of the widow’s plea and Jesus’ interpretation reveal something different. The widow in the parable, representing the poor, needy, and oppressed, is praying for justice (not healing, not a new car, not even for daily bread). Jesus is teaching his followers who are crying out for justice in the midst of an unjust world, perhaps even suffering injustice themselves, to keep praying and not lose heart because of the delay of the Lord’s return.
Justicewillcome, even speedily from God’s perspective. Jesuswillreturn, and when he does he encourages / expects his people to be persistently praying and watching for him (v8).
PAUSE and REFLECT:This parable encourages followers of Jesus to pray and keep praying for justice, both now and most notably in the Lord’s return, when everything will be made right. How does this change your image of God's posture when you pray? If even an unrighteous judge will give justice to a persistent widow, how much more will your heavenly Father who loves you listen to your plea for help and justice.
God listens intently to you, all the time. He is for you, all the time. He promises justice will be done. But when we speak of justice, what actually does that mean? More importantly, what does it mean to God?
That is our topic next week.
In the meantime, as we wait, Jesus leaves us with a piercing question: when he returns, will he find you and me still praying and watching for him?