LK 18: 1-14 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost + 19…Revised 2019

Jesus reminds us that if our teaching is to be effective, we need to hone our skills at story telling. Here He tells two yarns portraying arrogant contempt towards fellow human beings & therefore against God. He links them - is it wistfully? -  with, “When the Son of Humanity comes, will He find faith on earth?”. With Jesus, Faith is always a matter of Now, or Never. Now, or too late! For the contemptuous judge (‘Eli’ - even characters in yarns merit a name) for the pleading woman ‘Sarah’. For the Pharisee ‘Asaph’, & the tax collector ‘Simon’. Any time later than Now is too late for you & me, whatever our names! 

The judge holds not only the plaintiff, but justice itself, & God, the Personification of justice, in contempt. This yarn isn’t about persisting in prayer, as we may have taught or been taught. It’s about persisting in living justly, doing the justice we pray for. But let’s not batter so loudly on God's door we miss God’s gentle knocking on our own!

I was startled years ago, to come across a poem by Peguy¹ in which he likens the 'Our Father’ to a line of battleships attacking God. Led by Jesus, hands joined in prayer as a battering ram! I can't come to terms with its implication that Jesus is teaching us to break God down, wear God down, as the woman wears down the unjust judge. That's not Jesus' point, & does no justice to God or anyone else. Avoid, too, the trap a S.S. teacher is reputed to have fallen into (& some preachers?) of ending a lesson / sermon - on these yarns with a prayer ‘that we may not be like that Judge or that Pharisee’!

 Arrogance is insidious! Eating away at Judge, Pharisee - & us! What about other things that ‘eat away’, though? Is the woman of the first yarn being eaten away by the denial of the justice she seeks? Is it reasonable to wonder, too, whether Jesus’ first story speaks also to the denial of justice that lies behind a lot of strife & violence in today’s world? May the lack of self-worth felt by the customs-gatherer in the 2nd story have something to say about those often spoken of today as ‘losers’ & whose sense of  worthlessness makes them prime targets for those recruiting terrorists & the like? Are there really any ‘losers’ in God’s eyes - except for those who lose Him? 

Brian

Afterthought: One of the mysteries of faith is that if, as Jesus says, God 'grants justice to His chosen ones who cry to him day & night' why isn't that happening a lot more now? Is it that we, as the Body of Christ, are not active enough? Or, is it a paradox we just have to live with? Let’s ponder that. To transfer justice to the next life, though, is a cop-out, isn’t it? Not as compelling, or converting, as justice Now would be?

¹ From ‘The Mystery of the Holy Innocents’.