THE WORD 4 ev 1

Yesterday I failed to get anything posted because I just never had the chance to sit down and think. So today we pick up with Luke 18 (click here for link).

In the rarely cited parable in Luke 18, Jesus compares God to an Unjust Judge. This judge neither fears God nor cares for humanity. He only grants justice to the poor widow because she constantly harasses him with her petitions. Jesus observes, "And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?"

The act of nagging God might seem strange to the theologically sophisticated. Can we actually hope to sway the eternal God with the sheer volume of our incessant petitions? Does asking and asking eventually wear God down? The widow in the parable is seeking justice (or vengeance, depending how you translate the Greek). We too offer up prayers of justice in an unjust world. But what good is asking more than once? Unless God is exactly like the unrighteous judge in the parable, in which case we either have to pester him to get what we want or bribe him. Neither method makes a pretty picture of God.

If the parable appears to insult our sense of Almighty God, it also raises basic questions about how the world is governed. We are forced to ponder: If God is good than why is life for his “elect” so often unjust and unfair? Why should we have to beg for justice... and beg, and beg?

It turns out that life is not fair--not to the poor or the poor in spirit, to the comfortable or uncomfortable, to the rich or powerful. Everyone agrees, the world is basically unfair. Just when it gets comfortable, people do surprising things--like die--and we are left holding the empty bag. And apparently there is no judge--neither the one in the parable nor God—who can make or will make unfairness go away. Justice has nothing to do with ridding us of the unfairness of the "changes and chances of this mortal life."

Take the story of Job as an example. Job desperately tries to solve the mystery behind his suffering. He struggles on his own, looking for clues. None appear. Job prays expectantly. God will surely speedily intervene in his life — heal him of his disease and explain to him what in the world is going on. But nothing happens. The horribly painful disease saps Job’s strength. He grows weaker and weaker. Job appeals to God to act before it is too late. At times he even challenges God. Please help me, he cries. Come to me quickly.

Through his agony, Job becomes increasingly confused, perplexed, discouraged, and without hope. In his worst nightmare, Job sees death careening around the corner of his life, ready to run him down. Job knows he is finished. In one place he moans, "My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.” Even though Job has done nothing wrong and pleads desperately for help, God still chooses to stay hidden. "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer," Job wails. Job’s tragic circumstances challenge and contradict everything he has always believed about God.

Indeed, God is very much like that for us, as well! But for one thing... Jesus Christ.

Even in the midst of his worst agony, when God seemed cruel or hostile, Job maintains faith that God will act with justice. He is able to say such amazing words of faith as “I know my redeemer lives,” and “Even if my God should slay me, yet will I trust in him.” Yes, living in this world of injustice makes faith in a just God seem impossible, but faith persists, nonetheless.

For the child of God, Jesus means justice even in the midst of injustice. As people of faith, we persist in our prayers and petition to God even when it doesn’t make any sense to do so. We persist even when it seems futile or foolish. We persist because we know, like Job, that God is just. He is just and loving even when he seems cruel or uncaring. We know because he has proven this in the death and resurrection of Christ.

Think of Job again... When God does finally respond to Job, it is interesting that He does not answer any of Job’s questions. He dismisses them entirely. He basically says, “Job you can never know even a tenth of Almighty God. You can’t comprehend me! You can’t even understand how the physical world works; why do you attempt to understand how the moral world works?” Rather God points Job—points each of us—to the one thing we can know for certain: God has proven that he loves us in Jesus Christ and those whom the almighty, unknowable God loves can expect justice in the end.

So... the next time you cry out to God, do you dare be persistent like the poor widow from our reading today? Well... in Philip Yancey’s words: "One bold message in the Book of Job is that you can say anything to God. Throw at him your grief, your anger, your doubt, your bitterness, your betrayal, your disappointment — he can absorb them all."

Never give up throwing Jesus Christ—your advocate with the Father—in the face of God. There is no more powerful prayer in the Universe than the prayer in Jesus’ name. That name means full justice and redemption for each of us one day yet to come. And that prayer can change even the heart of Holy God for a sinner’s cause.

Blessings as you “inwardly digest” these thoughts,
Pastor Aaron