October 21, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Exodus 17:8-13 + Psalm 121 + 1 Timothy 3:14-4:2 + Luke 18:1-8
A rich and wonderful parable comes to us as we near the end of the journey to Jerusalem. We get a vivid picture of two opposing characters.
It is easy to fall into pious stereotypes here: he judge is God, and the widow is you and me; or pray long enough and hard enough for anything, and you’ll get it.
There are some details here that will not allow that thinking. To begin with, the character of the judge is hardly a God-like figure. His own self-description will not bear that comparison. This judge does not act right. His internal dialogue reveals some very unpleasant things about him. The final incongruity is even a bit humorous. He’s a afraid of a black – eye! The word Luke uses for what the judge fears is a boxing term that refers to a black eye! In the end, this guy is really afraid of being found out. He is afraid of others seeing that a little old lady beat him up! What ultimately sways him is a consideration of what others will think. This is hardly God-like behavior.
Then, what about her? She is not the typical widow in Israel either. They are weak, powerless, helpless, and voiceless. They have no way to appeal to the law only men do that. She is anything but the stereotype of a widow. She is strong, steady, and a voice of justice that will not be silenced. So all those first glance expectations fail to lead us into the heart of this parable.
Remember, Luke is the Gospel of great reversals. So, turn it all around and something else starts to be revealed here. It is not about prayer or persistence in prayer. It is about Justice. The Judge is not a figure of God, the widow is. The parable is left open ended – leaving us to wrestle with its meaning. We would like to identify with the widow. It is a much more comfortable position and role, but I don’t think God will give up that position to us. When this parable is proclaimed in this age, we are the ones who in control of justice. We cannot trivialize this parable and its roles to ease our responsibility. Justice is in our hands, and we know only too well how it has been going. The powerful and the rich have access.
The voiceless are just that, and the poor rarely get the justice that is theirs.
It is not just a matter of legal justice either. It is a matter of access to education, to opportunities, to jobs, food and housing, health care, peace and security.
This story tells us about God. It reveals God’s insistence, persistence and God’s demands because God, this widow, and everyone like her are one and the same. God’s identity with the poor has not gone away since the beginning of the Incarnation in Bethlehem. When the widow is seen as a god-like figure, then the behavior of the widow becomes god-like behavior for a people of God.
There is also an important comment on the methods to be used in accomplishing a just end. The ludicrous image of a powerful judge hearing a seemingly helpless widow may be Jesus’ wry comment on the futility of resorting o violence in the work of justice. This message receives its fullest force in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His seeming helplessness in the face of his executioners is transformed into the very defeat of the powers of sin and death. Followers of Jesus are invited to take up this same stance: to draw on the power of apparent weakness to overcome death-dealing powers.
Finally, do not forget that Luke is always the Gospel of Women. They figure prominently in every chapter. In a culture that measures power in terms of acquisition of wealth, this parable underscores the power of weakness. It shows that the initiative in seeking justice comes from the one who has been wronged, and her power is in raising her voice day after day after day. The parable portrays not violence, but persistence in naming and confronting injustice as the means to accomplish righteousness.
Further, she can encourage those who are intimidated at the enormity of the challenge in dismantling interlocking systems of racism, sexism, militarism, and economic imbalance. A seemingly helpless widow has more power than a corrupt judge.
When Jesus wonders aloud in the last verse of today’s Gospel if he will find faith on the earth at his return, the parable would lead us to think the “faith he longs for is really “justice.” Is he going to find it is the question this parable raises. For those of us responsible for Justice, there is a message here.