Monday Meditation: ‘Tell Me a Story,’ Part 4: Continuing to pray
The parable we’re reading today ends with a question that gives the story its punch.
Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Jesus repeatedly promised he would return to earth, signaling the end of the age and the start of a whole new reality. But if we’re honest, we’ll admit the idea sometimes seems distant. We may believe such a day will come, but it has not come yet. Instead, each of our days dawns like all those before it, with a mixture of pleasures and sadness we’ve seen year after year. We know his promise, but we have today to deal with, without fantasizing or worrying about what his second coming someday might look like.
We suffer, too
And for many of us, today will not be easy. Like the poor widow in today’s story, we suffer, although perhaps we’d choose a different word: struggle, endure, cope. We might long for the better day Jesus foretold and its promise of a new heaven and a new earth when he returns. But in many moments, we’re too preoccupied to give it much thought.
This is why we need the challenge and the hope offered by this little story. It reminds us to keep seeking a better day.
Life had not been fair to the unfortunate widow at the center of the parable. But now she had identified a measure of unfairness that could be remedied if the judge would just bring her adversary to justice.
But this was not a judge like those we know. He was loyal to the Roman oppressors, not an objective standard of law, and not to the Jews who stood before him. He was not committed to justice but to the bribes he could receive from those manipulating him to rule in their favor.
This widow had no money to offer, but she did have something else. Persistence. And so she continued to present her case to the judge, day after day, until he finally caved in just to get her off his back.
We face our enemies
We, too, have an adversary. Maybe several of them, in fact. Most obvious is the condition of the person in our care. We’ve never faced an enemy more unyielding than the Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or cancer or paralysis or other physical disability plaguing the person we live with. But sometimes we must admit we are our own worst enemy. Our selfishness or insecurity or ignorance get in the way.
Jesus told this story for people like us. Like the persistent widow, we can hope for help if we’ll continue “always to pray and not lose heart.”
Our loving God is nothing like the unjust judge. He wants the very best for us. The challenge is to realize two facts about that best:
1) It may not look like we think it should. The Lord’s justice encompasses all people for all time, and we cannot possibly grasp how our story fits into the whole.
2) It may not come when we wish it would. One day with him is as a thousand years for us. And so we try to relax and acknowledge that our understanding of “speedily” may vary from his.
But the question of Jesus need not go without reply. With our faithful service and our persistent prayers, we can answer, “Come today, Lord. And at least in my little corner, you will find faith on earth.”
Read: Luke 18:1-8 ESV
Pray: Lord, we call on you day after day, with faith that you’re listening and with determination to trust you one more day for what we need. Even if we don’t get the answer we want, we will keep praying. We know you are the source of justice and peace.
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