Luke 18:1-8
"Hang in There"
I don't know about you, but I want it all and I want it now.
I was speaking with my parents this past week and they happened to mention--off hand-- that my brother-in-law, the CFO for Proctor and Gamble, had dinner with Mark Zuckerburg a few days ago: Mark Zuckerburg is the creator of Facebook.
Zuckerburg wanted to "pick my brother-in-law's brain" as it pertains to how he runs Proctor and Gamble so that Zuckerburg can put those things into practice at Facebook.
My brother-in-law also meets with the President of the United States on a fairly regular basis, along with other top CFO's across the country, so that the President and his staff can get advice on how to run the country's finances and also try and talk my brother-in-law into moving Proctor and Gamble's plants and factories back into the US, rather than going for the cheaper labor overseas.
I remember, not too long ago, when I was in high school and my brother-in-law was dating my sister.
He was just another "boyfriend" that I could beat at basketball.
He zoomed up the ladder fast!!!
They live in a Mansion which is stocked to the rafters with 14th Century Chinese antiques.
Each piece of furniture, each painting, every rug is probably worth more than I make in a year....and then some!!!
It's really quite amazing.
Recently they bought an incredible home on an exclusive Island in South Carolina, and although it was perfect when they bought it, they have gutted the whole thing--gotten rid of the extremely expensive furniture and appliances which came with the home and added a third story and are now in the process of re-furnishing the place.
I don't know about you, but I want that!!!
(Pause)
We do live in a time when we want it all and we want it now!!!
If the internet in my office is working a bit slow, I get stressed.
How am I gonna get my work done?
If attendance is down a bit on a Sunday, it might bother me the entire week.
And how about the personal stuff?
How about the really important stuff?
How about the issues I'm dealing with in my life?
How about when I get so frustrated with myself because I make stupid mistakes--stupid mistakes that I should have learned not to make years ago!!!
Or when I fall into sin?
Or what about when my wife and I are praying and praying for something specific to happen in our lives--and it doesn't work out?
We are devastated!!!
What are we to do with all these feelings, all these things which make us question and feel crummy?
What is the couple, who have been praying and trying to have a child for years and years...been praying and trying...supposed to think when they finally get pregnant and then they have a miscarriage?
And yet there are folks who don't even want children...but it seems every time they take a drink of water they are pregnant again?
And what about the mother who has been praying for years that her alcoholic son will come to Christ...only to have her hopes dashed again and again?
What are we to think; what are we to do?
(Pause)
Our Scripture Lesson for this morning is incredible.
It is deep.
It speaks to this stuff and more.
On the surface, it can seem shallow--but it's not.
So, let's look at it carefully.
What does Jesus mean when He says in verse 7: "Won't God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them?"?
I mean, just when we think we have Jesus figured out as a teacher, a healer, and a man of prayer, He goes and tells a story like this!!!
Who knew that Jesus was a comedian too?
It's not hard to imagine Jesus' listeners throwing their heads back and slapping their knees as they laugh at this, seemingly, ridiculous tale.
A woman pounds and pounds on the door of a rotten politician who could care less about her problems, until he finally sticks his head out the window and shouts, "All right, already!!! Knock it off! I will give you whatever you want if you will just shut up!"
The listeners laugh because they know this woman.
This woman is a lot like them.
She always gets a raw deal, because she has nothing--no social standing, no money, nothing!!!
They know this judge too, the one who is only out for himself.
And he finally does something good in spite of himself.
Good story!
They laugh, and then they sigh when they realize that this is what Jesus is telling them that prayer is like.
Well, Jesus wasn't exactly telling them that prayer was like this.
Remember that in verse 1 we are told, "Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not be discouraged."
And one thing we need to keep in mind is that this is a parable!!!
It's not a story about two real people.
It's not trying to resolve the mystery of answered and "seemingly" unanswered prayer.
This unjust, and corrupt judge who "neither feared God nor respected people" does not represent God in this parable.
He represents what Jesus says he represents: The human, political system.
The worldly institutions which don't seem to care a bit about the plight of everyday people like you and me.
And yet, if we keep bugging them enough...
...If we write enough letters, if we get enough folks on our side...to the point that they get worried that they will be voted out of office unless they grant us what we are asking for...
...if we persist in this--even if it takes years and years and years--justice just might prevail.
And if we can hope to get justice out of godless worldly systems that could care less about us--how much more can we expect from the God Who loves us more than we could ever know...
...from the God Who knows what we need before we ask...
...from the God Whose good pleasure it is to give good gifts to His children?
That's the basic, first layer of meaning we can glean from this parable.
But there is much, much more.
Put in context, this parable is an answer to what Jesus was telling the Pharisees and His disciples in Luke Chapter 17.
The Pharisees had asked Jesus "when [is] God's kingdom...coming"?
And Jesus replied, "God's kingdom isn't coming with signs that are easily noticed.
Nor will people say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!'
Don't you see?
God's kingdom is already among you."
In other words, Jesus is here now.
Jesus is God's Kingdom.
If you want to be a part of that Kingdom, you can get on board now.
This answers verse 8 in Chapter 18 where Jesus says, "Will [God] be slow to help [those who pray]?
I tell you, he will give them justice quickly."
As soon as we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and begin following Him, the greatest prayers and desires of our hearts--true justice has been provided.
We have been saved--forever!!!
We have been changed.
We are new creations.
But, truth be told, we are still in this world...
...and this world is crooked...broken...hurting...
But there will be a time when everything is put right, and those who are saved will be part of that!!!
When will this happen?
This is where it gets real interesting.
Because in Luke Chapter 17 verse 22 Jesus turns from talking to the "godless" Pharisees and begins to talk to His disciples--the ones who are already living in the Kingdom.
"The time is coming when you will long to see the days of the Son of Man, and you won't see it.
People will say to you, 'Look there!' or 'Look here!'
Don't leave or go chasing after them.
The Son of Man will appear on his day in the same way that a flash of lightening lights up the sky from one end to the other...
...As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be during the days of the Son of Man.
People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark.
Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
It was the same in the days of Lot.
People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."
Then we move to Chapter 18 where it begins with: "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."
Do you see what Jesus is getting at?
He's saying, is He not, that the world is broken.
And in this world we will have trouble--but persevere in Christ; things will be put right.
In the meantime, as it reads in Philippians 4:7: "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
But I want it all and I want it now.
And the grass "is" always greener on the other side of the street.
My brother-in-law seems to "have it all."
But he doesn't.
He's a great guy, but he has a number of health issues--even at his young age.
He works extremely hard and is rarely home.
He's always stressed to the max.
He is continuously battling with his weight.
He has high blood pressure, and heart issues.
He can't hardly wait for the day he can retire.
There is no such thing as "having it all" in this world.
If anyone tells you there is, it's a lie.
We really are all in the same boat.
But for those who believe, we can have peace and we have hope!!!
And what a great hope that is!!!
We can count on Jesus.
We can trust in Jesus.
Jesus never leaves us; Jesus never forsakes us.
And as we walk more and more in Jesus' will--that "peace which transcends all understanding" becomes more constant, more real.
It does truly, "guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
At the very end of our Gospel Lesson from Luke for this morning...in the second part of verse 8 Jesus asks, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Will we have "prayed continually..."
Will we have "not given up"?
A time is coming when all evil will be done away with.
The parents who had a miscarriage will meet their baby or babies.
And the joy will be so great that this life and the pain we are experiencing now will be forgotten.
The young children who lost their mother to cancer will be reunited with her, and she will be whole and healthy.
There will be no more war.
Never again will the starving be hungry.
Never again will the parched thirst.
There will be no more tears or crying, for God Himself will "wipe away every tear from [our] eyes."
There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and God will dwell among us!!!
In the meantime, we are called to "pray continually and not to be discouraged."
Bad things are going to happen in this life.
We will not get everything we pray for, and we will not understand everything.
In John 16:33 Jesus tells us: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Will we persist in prayer?
Will we continue to meet together?
Will we trust in Jesus?
