“And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who
cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he
will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he
find faith on earth?” (Luke
18:7-8)
We
talk a lot about justice lately. You can’t turn on broadcast TV in the United
States without seeing commercials for law firms, most of whom would qualify for
the moniker of “ambulance chasers.” You’ve heard them. They all go something
like this:
“Injured?
We’ll get you justice and a HUGE CASH SETTLEMENT!! Just call the law offices of
Wiedluff, Toscroom, and Goode. We’ll sue ‘em down to their boxer shorts and get
you the BIGGEST PAYOUT the law allows.”
I have to wonder what is more
important to these TV lawyers—justice or money?
Of
course, any settlement depends on the opinion of a judge. Jesus suggests in the
parable assigned for our Gospel Lesson for Pentecost 19 Year C (Luke 18:1-8)
that there may have been some judges in his day who weren’t exactly on the up
and up. In fact, the judge in his story admits to having no fear of God or
respect for anyone (v.4). Sound familiar? I guess some things never change.
Naturally,
we’d love to believe that every jurist who has donned the black robe will be a
paragon of wisdom, logic, fairness, and impartiality. Nevertheless, I’ve heard
it said by more than one Philadelphian that, since our judges are elected and
reliant on the goodwill of certain unions or other monied interests, it’s
entirely possible their judgements might be a trifle skewed in
favor of one party over another[i]. Am I out of line here?
Doubting
the proclivities of the folks in our legal system has a real downside. It’s
pretty easy to get jaundiced, to believe the game is rigged against us, and
simply let ourselves sink into the lake of hopelessness and drown without even
trying to swim. But the little widow lady in Jesus’ story isn’t going to go
under quite so easily. She knows the judge who hears her case is bent like an
Amish pretzel, but she’s not going to let him get away with injustice. No sir.
She’s going to raise holy hell until this guy caves and does the right thing.
In the end, it turns out she has more power than he does. Jesus says nothing
about the merits of her case. He praises her for her persistence.
And
this is how our Lord tells us to pray—with persistence. I can understand why
people would ask what the point of prayer is. After all, if God is going to do
what God does anyway, why bother? But there’s power always in our prayers. We
can pray prayers of praise, prayers of intercession for our fellow saints, and
prayers of petition for our own needs, fears, wants, and whatever. Our prayers
may not change God, but they will always change us. Prayer is the necessary
medicine for the sickness of cynicism and disillusionment. To be in constant
prayer is to affect your whole view of the world and your outlook on life. It
changes you.
Prayers
of praise keep us focused on how good God has already been to us. In The Small
Catechism, Martin Luther included a morning blessing, an evening blessing,
and a table blessing, instructing the faithful to begin and end each day with a
word of thanks, and to give praise to God for every meal. The discipline of
praise reminds us that we’re not as totally screwed as we may think we are. In
fact, the crappiest day we’ll ever spend on this earth will be full of more
blessings than we can count. If you’re reading this and you’re not in Gaza
right now, you’re having a pretty blessed day. If you’re not living on the street,
you’re doing pretty okay. If you turned on your tap this morning and drinkable
water came out, you’re ahead of the game. As we say in the consecration of the
mass:
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy that we
should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, Almighty Father, through our Savior Jesus Christ[ii].
Our
prayers for others (prayers of intercession) are equally essential. When our
friend gets a cancer diagnosis, our prayers for their healing keep their circumstances
before us. We continually practice empathy and compassion, and such empathy and
compassion will lead us to action. Whether our prayers for a loved one encourage
us to visit them or undertake some task they can’t do for themselves, or if our
prayers for peace on earth lead us to social action, volunteerism, or protest, the
prayers we pray have an effect.
Our
personal prayers before God, the longings and pleadings of our hearts, aren’t
just a matter of bathing in our own depression and disappointment. Prayer is
our guide. It’s our hope. If hope is dead, faith will follow it to the grave. Like
the widow in the parable, we are called to “pray without ceasing.[iii]” Even if one avenue
appears to be closed, our constant prayer of hope will lead us down another
path. Despair is not an option.
We
pray our earthly judges will all be fair and impartial and seek that which is
best for all concerned. We can be thankful that our Heavenly Judge is
merciful and always partial to the needs of his children.
God
bless you for reading this week. Please leave me a comment if you are so
inclined—and keep praying even if you’re not inclined!
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