October 17, 2004

Mindekirken, Oct.17, 2004
Pastor Jens Arne Dale

When a Norwegian or a Swede fills up the gas tank on their Volvo, it may cost them $75. But when he’s buying insurance for the same car, it may cost only half of what it would have been in the USA. If I have understood this correctly, it’s the high damage payments from accidents that cause insurance to be that expensive in the USA.

There is a lot of money in suing others. Maybe that’s one reason why this country has more lawyers than any other nation. Skilled attorneys and just judges are important for the one who claims his right. On the other hand, one should be critical if compensation trials develop into big business that lives its own life.

Today’s text gives us a picture of the legal life at the time of Jesus. We get to hear about a judge and a widow. The judge was clearly not a Jewish judge. Jewish disputes were taken before the elders, and not into the public courts. If a matter was taken to arbitration, one man could not constitute a court. There were always three judges, one representing each of the parties, and one independently-appointed judge.

It’s a magistrate appointed by Herod or the Romans we get to hear about today. Such judges were notorious. Unless a plaintiff had influence or money, he had no hope of winning his case. These judges were said to pervert justice for a dish of meat. Officially they were called Dayyaneh Gezeroth, which means judges of prohibitions or punishments. Popularly they were called Dayyaneh Gezeloth, which means robber judges.

It’s a totally corrupt judge we meet. He didn’t regard himself as subject to anyone. He feared neither God nor other people.

A widow lived in the same town. She had lost her husband and breadwinner. The widow was poor, defenseless and felt obviously trampled upon. But she had the energy to fight for herself. Normally she would have no chance to win. And we get to hear that the judge refuses her for a while. But she had a weapon: her persistence. This text is an interesting part of biblical evidence that women can obtain whatever they want… in this case by nagging.

I’m not sure if we can consider this a victory for the legal system, but the judge said: Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming. The judge was literally afraid of getting a black eye.

What could Jesus have had in mind with this strange story? Is it a recipe on how to approach a corrupt judge? No, Jesus wants to teach us about prayer. The story doesn’t liken God to the unjust judge; it contrasts him to such a person. When even a judge is affected, how much more will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night.

God is affected by our prayers. This parable teaches us to pray with the same persistence as this widow. Don’t give up praying, is what Jesus is saying.

The first reading today was about Jacob’s fight with the Lord. It’s described as a wrestling match which lasted all through the night. Jacob wouldn’t give up unless God blessed him. This is a strange story that shows us a side of prayer that we seldom think of today. It’s the persistent and strong prayer, coming from the helpless who cling to the only one who can help them.

We read about persistent prayer other places in the Bible, too. When Israel fought with Amalek, Moses prayed by lifting up his hands to God. As long as his hands were held up, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

This episode in Exodus 17 tells us that behind the visible world, there are spiritual powers. Pray for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a peaceable life in all godliness and dignity, Paul says in 1 Tim 2.2. To interact with responsibility in society does not exclude praying for the world which we are a part of.

God answers prayers. Through prayer God does something with us. When we pray for justice, peace and freedom, we are also motivated to become the answer of our own prayers. When Jesus sometimes prayed for the whole night, it was in order to be totally on the same wavelength as his heavenly Father. Prayer is two-way communication with God.

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed that he could avoid suffering. But he added: Your will be done. And finally he went on his way to the cross. We may also experience that answers to our prayers may come in a way we didn’t want. Sometimes our prayers are egoistic. And the answers to prayers we hoped for might not be beneficial for us. Sometimes it seems to be useless to pray. What we pray for just doesn’t happen. We don’t understand why God can’t intervene.

I’m not sure that it’s a comfort, but Jesus once prayed with the words from Psalm 22: My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me? When our prayers may have the same content, God’s answer would be that no darkness is so deep that God can’t be there. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray The Lord’s prayer. In today’s text there is one part of this prayer that Jesus is especially concerned about: Let your kingdom come. The widow who nagged the judge had her private reasons to do so. We are allowed to pray for personal reasons; everything good for ourselves and our nearest ones.

But the final part of today’s text shows us that Jesus has in mind the prayer about the coming of the kingdom of God: And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? We are called to endure with faith, hope and love. We are called to live in prayer and expectation about the coming of the kingdom of God. But this prayer will not receive its final answer before Jesus returns.

God, help us so the prayers don’t die down by us. Let us not lose the hope that you will come near and make everything new. Give us persistence in faith and love to serve other people.

Glory be to God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and for ever. Amen.

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