Written Sermon: Luke 18:1-8 Homiletics I - Ken Chitwood November 11, 2010 Iʼll be the Judge, Iʼll be the Jury. (Total time with movie clip 12-15 minutes) *Pre-sermon movie clip from Disneyʼs Alice in Wonderland, - Off with her head! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=endldgje0wc Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. As Lewis Carrollʼs famous character Alice travels through Wonderland she experiences the odd, the wonderful, the terrifying and the dramatic. Above all, it is her adventures with wonderland justice that leave her the most perplexed and petrified. As shown here, the Red Queen is not the most forgiving judge. For Alice, the justice of wonderland is foreign and frightful. In one particular episode of Lewis Carrolʼs original work, Alice is confronted with a story from the character mouse who tells of his desperate defense before the judge, Fury: " Fury said to a mouse, that he met in the house, Let us both go to law: I will prosecute you. Come I ll take no denial; We must have a trial: For really this morning I ve nothing to do. Said the mouse to the cur, Such a trial, dear Sir, with no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath. I ll be judge, I ll be jury, said cunning old Fury, I ll try the whole cause and condemn you to death.
Although presently unaware, mouseʼs story would soon become Aliceʼs tale as she is accused, sentenced and condemned in wonderlandʼs court of law. In a foreign land, Alice struggles with having no legal rights and no one to intercede on her behalf. There is little hope of her being found innocent in such a place of perverse prosecution. As we approach the God of the universe in prayer we may feel a bit like Alice in wonderland - seeking justice, yet fearing rejection and reproof from God because of our sin and lack of righteous rights in the courtroom of sin and death. All the while, we cry out for mercy only to be constantly condemned to death and discouragement by the malevolent magistrate of this world, Satan. Thus, we often cease to pray and lose all hope, engaging in rote repetition for the sake of religion, rather than praying in true faith. A look at Luke 18:1-8 opens our eyes to God s righteous reality in Christ. In this Gospel parable God is shown to have just judgment towards, and a willing heart to hear, the prayers of his chosen faithful people by and through our intercessor - Jesus Christ. To understand this more fully, let us turn from the story of Alice in wonderland to that of the widow in the Holy Land. Jumping into the narrative of Luke in chapter 18 we find Jesus traveling to Jerusalem on his way to a glorious arrival, a horrifying betrayal and his eventual suffering, death and resurrection. Along the way he takes opportunities to teach his close band of disciples, his wider group of followers and others whom he meets. Having just healed ten lepers
and taught concerning the coming kingdom of God he intends to teach his disciples a parable to the effect that they might always pray and never lose heart. To teach such a point Jesus relates to his disciples an account of a widow who consistently and persistently brought her cause before an unrighteous judge. The persistence of the widow in the parable mirrors the ever hopeful and constantly present prayer Christ encouraged his disciples to adopt. It is her example that we are to follow. Yet, as much as this is a parable on prayer, it is also a lesson in God s justice. Hearing the story with a Hebrew understanding of justice and law, we note two things: 1) a widow in such a situation has no legal rights in a court; her case was often not heard by even a righteous judge and 2) this unrighteous judge, who neither fears God or respects other persons, has no reason to hear the cries for justice coming from such a lowly widow. For all intensive purposes this widow should have little hope and every expectation that her pleas will not be heard and her negative circumstances will not be changed. The turn comes when surprisingly, the unrighteous judge gives in to the persistent pestering of the widow, and he grants her justice. The unexpected happens, the widow s pleas are indeed capable for her cause. After the story is told, Jesus brings the point home, Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (vv. 6-8). Jesus means for us to put ourselves in the place of the widow and to
see God as the judge who hears our cries. In our story, it is the Lord who is judge, it is our Triune God who is the jury. Like the widow, we have no righteous standing before God on the basis of our merit or position in God s kingdom. As it is written in Romans, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23). Daily, and in a myriad of ways, we dismiss our own defense in the universal court of righteous Law by consistently and persistently falling into sin. Like the widow we have little reason for hope. Like the mouse we fear the judgment that leads to death. This standing in sin includes our lack of faith. We challenge God s sense of justice and question if he will hear the prayers of a sinner. As you and I hear the words of this parable we must realize that unlike the widow, we often lose heart, we rarely pray in faith and when we do pray, it is regularly vain repetition (Matt. 6:7). Jesus intends that our prayers be filled with faith and bulging with the belief that He will not only hear our prayer, but will quickly come to our rescue. However, we neglect to come before him with faithful and frequent prayers. When the numbers on the budget at the end of the month don t stack up in our favor; when we ve broken the trust of a close relationship and we don t know our way back in; when we are caught up in conflict; when our father, our mother, our husband, our wife, our brother, our sister, our son, our daughter or any loved one is laying in a hospital bed so close to our reach but so far from our human aide...surely we pray, but do we do so in faith or are these prayers of desperation and last resort? On Sunday mornings and in daily devotions we mumble through prayers of rote repetition. We pray, Our Father who
art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done... but do we really mean it? We pray for friends, for enemies, for the church and the government, but do we pray these words in earnest? We pray for God to intercede and for things to change in this world...but do we really expect them to? Against such a skewed vision of prayer Jesus posits prayer that is more than request, but instead is a fellowship of constant communication with our Lord, our judge and our jury. For God is not an unrighteous judge who stands far off from us, instead he is the Lord who came and dwelt among us in his Son Jesus Christ and dwells with us still in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the blessings of Word and Sacrament. The author of Hebrews writes majestically of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. It is written, we do not have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin (Hebrews 4:15 - The Message). Having lived the life of humanity, Jesus knows our weaknesses and sympathizes with us (Hebrews 4:15). He faced misunderstanding and conflict (John 7:32-36; 8:48-59), he dealt with the betrayal and denial of his closest friends (John 6:66; 18:1-11, 15-18) and the death of loved ones near to him (John 11). Jesus knows what it s like to live in this wonderland of a world where weakness abounds and sin causes so much pain and damage. Jesus understands our condition, because he lived in our condition.
Simultaneously, Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord. He is truly divine and all powerful. The author of Hebrews says he is our perfect priest. Why is this? For in his life, in his suffering and in his death he did that which we could not, living without sin. As both the sacrifice and one making offering, he paid the penalty for our sins. In his resurrection he openly declares our just standing in the court of the Lord. No longer do we have to fear the condemnation of death from the judge and jury. Instead Christ serves as both the just and the justifier (Romans 3:32). Jesus is the one who gives us our righteous rights to pray. Because of Christ s intercession on our behalf we are no longer widows in the court of law but instead are the daughters and sons of a righteous judge. Knowing this, we are called to come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Through his life, his understanding of our situation, his bearing of our sin, his suffering, his death and his resurrection, Christ intercedes for us and proclaims us innocent. Now, in place of the condemnation for our sins we are given life and called to a close relationship with our righteous judge. In such a relationship the unapproachable Lord and Judge becomes our approachable Father and Friend. The discouragement of death is now turned to the encouragement of life in Christ. That which seems closed is open to the faithful in prayer. Even today as we may still doubt, we are strengthened by God s faithfulness and presence in Christ. We are given the gift of faith by the power of his Word. We are invited to come and share in his grace at the altar of Holy Communion. Through his
chosen means of Word and Sacrament, Christ emboldens us to pray fervently, faithfully and frequently; to never lose heart but instead to believe in his righteousness, his justice and his mercy. Thus, when finances our tight, when loved ones are on the edge of death, when relationships are falling apart, when mistakes are made, when the weight of sin is too much for us to bear, Christ encourages us with the example of the persistent widow. Christ gives us his Spirit to boldly pray, and so we do, being full of faith that our righteous judge and holy jury will not only hear our prayer, but be faithful to answer us according to his will and for the sake of our deepest needs (Psalm 34:17-19). And so hearing these words I present to you a new lullaby to replace the condemnation of Fury s words from Carrol s pen. May we hear the words of Christ spoken to us today - that we should not be discouraged and are always to pray. May we know that it is his faithfulness and grace that enables us to seek his face. May we be strengthened by Christ and forgiven of sin so that in the storms of this life we find shelter in him. In place of old Fury may we hear Christ say, I ll be judge, I ll be jury, I will give up my life and save you from death. May this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus and may we be encouraged to come boldly to Jesus, praying to him in faith for grace, mercy and help. Amen.