Christians Must Always Pray Luke 18:1-8a by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal Dear elect of the Lord, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess. 5:16-18). These are the words of Paul to the Thessalonians, and they apply in the same way as these words of Jesus. Notice that he tells a parable, and we are told the lesson of this parable from the beginning: And he spoke a parable to them to the effect that they must always pray and not be fainthearted. To the Romans, too, Paul instructed, be constant in prayer (Rom. 12:12). And to the Colossians he said, Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Col. 4:2). What we must conclude from all this is that Christians must always pray. But why? What is the benefit? From our Lord s parable we learn that we are God s elect, and he will give us justice, and that he will be patient toward us and give justice quickly. I. We Are God s Elect, and He Will Give Us Justice As Jesus disciples, we are impatient for the fulfilling of his promises, especially his promise of the End when he will come and bring justice to all the world. We need encouragement, therefore, to keep praying, even when it seems like no one is answering. The words Luke uses are always pray. This does not mean, Pray without taking a breath or ever doing anything else, but instead it means, Take every opportunity to pray.
Luke 18:1-8a 2 In the parable which our Lord presents, there are a number of things to distinguish God from the unrighteous judge. There is one point of comparison: both God and the unrighteous judge will answer the pleas for the sake of their reputations; aside from this, however, God is demonstrated to be far greater than this judge. Notice how the judge is described: There was a certain judge in a certain city, who neither feared God nor respected man. Two things about this judge Jesus counts important: He neither feared God, which means he was a pagan, a non-believer, and a willful one at that; nor respected man, which means that he cares nothing for his neighbor, for the social norms and mores, so that he is not ashamed to ignore someone whom his society and God require that he take notice of and help. 1 This judge was such a heathen that he ignored what God told his people in the book of Exodus: You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn (Ex. 22:22-24). Think also of how Jesus summarized the whole law of God: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-39). This judge apparently rejected all the law. Could this be the reason Jesus later called him the unrighteous judge? The law meant nothing to him. This is certainly different from God himself. God holds to the law which he himself instituted, and Moses writes of him, He executes justice for the fatherless and 1 Just Luke 9:51-24:53, 672.
3 Christians Must Always Pray the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing (Deut. 10:18). Now, if the unrighteous judge has forsaken God s law, has no fear of God who will come in wrath, and no respect for men who would wish justice for the widow, then what does he care for her? She is at the lowest point of the social ladder in his eyes. To validate himself in her eyes would be a waste of his time, because she would never be able to repay him. So he saves his effort for the cases which will be more lucrative for him. And now think of that widow. She pleads with this judge, even though he couldn t care less about her. Could she expect anything from him? Honestly, could she expect that he would eventually answer her in the positive? Jesus says of her, And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him saying, Give me justice against my adversary! And he was not willing to for a long time. What did the widow have? Nothing. What did the unrighteous judge have? Everything. All the cards were in his hand. He had the authority, she didn t even have full rights as a citizen. But who won out? Here s how the parable resolved: But afterward [the judge] said to himself, Although I do not fear God or respect man, yet because this widow keeps giving me trouble I will give her justice, so that she will not keep coming until the end and beat my eyes black and blue. He s exasperated with her and just wants her to go away. He needs her to stop yelling outside his window, shouting at him in the streets, filling his appointment slots at the office, so that he can move on with his life. Just to shut her up, he grants her the justice she requests.
Luke 18:1-8a 4 Take the point of comparison Jesus gives us: the judge ultimately gives justice to the despised and annoying widow; and will not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night? Anglican Bishop R. C. Trench summarizes the point: If a bad man will yield to the mere force of the importunity which he hates, how much more certainly will a righteous God be prevailed on by the faithful prayer which He loves. 2 He also goes on to explain, The certainty that the elect will be heard, rests not, however, on their mighty and assiduous crying, as its ultimate ground, but on their election by God, which is, therefore, here brought especially into notice. 3 It s arguing from the lesser to the greater: if an unrighteous judge who couldn t care less about a widow with whom he has no relation nevertheless grants her request and gives her justice, won t God, who is righteous, who loves us because he has elected us and written our names in his book of life, grant our request and give us justice? Why should we pray, therefore? Because God will answer and give us justice. We are his elect. It is a characteristic of God s elect that we cry out to him day and night. This is a further reason to always pray. It s what Christians do. We do it because we are confident in God s answer. This encouragement, this command, and this comfort, always pray, means, Pray constantly and confidently. There is good reason for this confidence: Who remembers the passage from the Psalms, in which God says, [C]all upon me in the day of trouble; / I will deliver you, and you shall glorify 2 R. C. Trench, Notes on the Parables of Our Lord (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1975), 177. 3 Ibid., 179.
5 Christians Must Always Pray me (Ps. 50:15). Now that s a promise. We can hold God to it. And this one: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). Another promise, and it s unrestricted. We may call on God, and he will answer. These promises in God s Word are called the Gospel. The Gospel is that Word of God which gives us the confidence to come before him, demonstrates the certainty that he will give us justice. As Paul confessed, so should we all, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith (Rom. 1:16-17). The Gospel is the power of God for our salvation, and we receive that salvation, we live, by the faith which is given to us by God in that same Word. That salvation comes because we are given God s own righteousness. Christ s righteousness is attributed to us. We wear his righteousness, just as he wears our sin. All this is told to us, and given to us, in the Gospel. Even in this very Gospel lesson, Jesus communicates that promise: I tell you that [God] will give justice to them quickly. Therefore, the reason for our confidence and our persistence in prayer is the nature and name of God himself. II. He Will Be Patient Toward Us and Give Justice Quickly Consider the parable once again, and the resolution of the unrighteous judge: Although I do not fear God or respect man, yet because this widow keeps giving me trouble I will give her justice, so that she will not keep coming back until the end and beat my eyes black and blue. We saw earlier that the judge cared nothing for the opinion of man, however, that expression that he is concerned that the widow will
Luke 18:1-8a 6 beat [his] eyes black and blue implies that he is in fact worried about his reputation. She was not literally beating her fists upon his face to give him a black eye, but by her continued pestering and his continued rejection of her requests would cause a shift in the public opinion. As a judge, his work would likely become less reliable in the public eye if he would not give justice to this one widow who needed his help. His reputation is at stake, and we see there the connection, that the point of comparison between [the unrighteous judge and the righteous God] is that character trait that motivates eventual vindication because one s reputation is at stake. 4 That is, the judge will be true to his reputation, to the honor of his position, and God will be true to himself and his Word. 5 God answers his elect, then, not because of our persistence yes we are to always pray, but we are mistaken if we think that our prayers are designed to coerce God into giving us what we want. Instead, God answers his elect because he is merciful and compassionate. Yes, God answers prayer not because of what we are or do, but because of what he is. His answers are his patience at work. Did you catch the paradox in Jesus words? [W]ill not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night, and be patient toward them? I tell you that he will give justice to them quickly. How can God both be patient and answer quickly? The answer is that it is in fact a false dichotomy. Patience and quickness are not opposites. Slowness and quickness are, as Peter explains, The Lord is not slow to 4 Just, Luke 9:51-24:53, 674. 5 Ibid.
7 Christians Must Always Pray fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Therefore, the patience of God is united with his mercy, and his grace. He is patient as a parent can be patient with a child who asks many, many, many questions. That is, he will not take annoyance with us who would seem to be trying his patience. See the point Jesus is making? You will not exhaust God with too much praying! He loves to hear our prayers, and is patient toward us! But it is also so much greater than that: God is patient toward us in this: that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them (2 Cor. 5:19). God s patience is a quality innate in himself causing him not to count our sins against us, causing him instead to release his wrath on his own Son instead of us, causing him to forgive our sins, to reconcile us to himself, to give us his grace and favor and love and life in short, it is God s patience toward his elect that causes him to give justice to them quickly. Our experience seems to contradict this. Can t we live days, weeks, months, or years in pain and anguish, desperately crying out to God day and night for his justice, and it never comes? Indeed, this is our experience. It s the age-old question, Why do bad things happen to good people? Consider: When man faces suffering, Because it happens with God s will, indeed because God knows it completely and knows it better than we ourselves, only God himself can help. But therefore also must all our questions again and again assault God himself. This is the most valuable thing to remember. When we suffer, who else can we complain to? Who else will hear us? There may be counselors, friends, or perhaps pastors
Luke 18:1-8a 8 who will listen to the troubles and sufferings of one s life, but these ultimately can do nothing to relieve the pain. Only one knows all our suffering, one who in fact experienced all our suffering the same only one who has the power to remove that suffering. To whom else should we go? [God s elect, therefore,] turn from the God of their experience[ ]to the God of their belief and assume that God does care about their distress, that he will hear their prayers, and that he is rich in steadfast love. 6 Think about this parable in context as well: The beginning of the passion story is only a few verses away [with Jesus riding into Jerusalem in Luke 19:28]. Jesus enemies are gathering strength for the final act of their opposition. Will God vindicate him? The reader is given a clear answer, but what an answer! Yes, God will vindicate His Son who also prays to Him day and night, but that vindication will be seen in resurrection and will come by way of a cross. 7 Do you see the wonder of God s grace and patience? He delivered his Son, highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11). This Jesus also promised, If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you (John 15:20). Therefore we can expect persecution and suffering. But this does not mean God has abandoned us or is ignoring our prayers, for Jesus further promised, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a 6 Lilienthal, The Righteous Cry Out, and the Lord Hears, 39; quotations from Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible, 47, and Fløysvik, When God Becomes My Enemy, 158. 7 K. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, 140, quoted in Just, Luke 9:51-24:53, 675, emphasis Bailey.
9 Christians Must Always Pray place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:1-3). Through Jesus death on the cross, he demonstrated the path of the Christian s life: we will also suffer in this life, and we will die. Further, we will rise again and ascend to glory with Christ in the mansions of the Lord. We are certain of this, because Jesus death and resurrection was not merely an example, but the actual payment for our sins, the purchase of our heavenly inheritance. We know this to be so, because we are told so in his Word, in his Gospel, in his promises. Because God has promised these things to us, he will give us that justice quickly, and indeed has already given it to us we will receive it in fullness when we come into that glory. In his patience toward his elect, therefore, God demands and lovingly invites us to always pray and not be fainthearted, but to wrestle with him, and demand of him as Jacob did, I will not let you go unless you bless me (Gen. 32:26)! This is no affront to God, but our right as adopted children, purchased by Jesus blood. Amen.