Patience in Prayer

Patience in Prayer

  - Oct 17 2010 - Albert Labun

Lectionary Scriptures: Luke 18: 1-8 (Unjust Judge); Ex 17: 8-13; 2 Tim 3: 14-4:2

Does anyone know the name that is usually given to this parable?...(“the unjust judge”...”the importunate widow”…”the persistent widow”) I always thought this parable was a bit odd. So when it came up in the lectionary I thought I must put a bit of work into it.

We were told last year that we should remember that when we read Scripture we should be ready for a cross-cultural experience. So here it is. This is not a judge like we know in Canada. Here we have a judge who is looking for a bribe, but the poor widow has nothing to give him. No money. No influential husband to stand up for her. So the judge does not want to hear her case. “Throw her out!”, he yells.

And she comes back again another day. “Throw her out!”

And again and again she comes back.

Finally the judge gives her what she wants just to get rid of her.

Is this what Jesus is trying to teach us? God will answer if we keep praying hard enough and long enough? Is God like the judge? Maybe this is the way you have felt about God.

The question about God hearing our prayer gets more confusing. What about the gospel Matthew wrote? Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: Do not pray like the Gentiles do, “for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”(Matt 6: 7, 8)  So you might ask what is the point here. Lots of praying or not so much praying?

First of all, we should stop thinking that Matthew was writing to the same audience as Luke. Matthew’s audience were largely Christian Jews and they were used to thinking that lots of regular praying gave you brownie points, both with people and with God. Luke’s audience needed to learn a different lesson about praying. We need to find out what that lesson is, but let’s not forget what Jesus said about his Father: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Let’s also move past the idea that praying is mostly about getting something, like a successful application for welfare or for a scholarship, a method of getting through to God. A wise man once said – I think it was Augustine but I can’t quite remember- he said “Praying really means a life accompanied by God.”  Prayer – a life accompanied by God. Another writer talks about learning the difference between devotions (with an “s”) and devotion.

That reminds me of a Muslim woman we met in Sarajevo when we were visiting our son there, She had been showing us some of the mosques and then she said, “But you Christians don’t pray.” We were silent – didn’t know in that moment what to say. Later our son, Paul, told us we should have told her we pray in public before every meal. We call it grace. And also when we get up in the morning and then at night before we go to sleep. Five times, just like Muslims do. But is it a matter of counting? Grace before meals is partly about reminding ourselves how dependent we are on God. God doesn’t need our gift of thanks, but we need to learn, deep down, a sense of gratitude and joy in receiving from Him.  We need to learn to know our Father God the way Jesus did, and develop a habit of God-consciousness. Maybe one way to move from devotions (with an “s”) to devotion is to have frequent reminders, like grace before meals.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus points to a Father God who is eager to give. “If a son asks for bread will his father give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will he get a snake?” Of course not!  In his love for us our Father is anxious to see our response to his gifts. Are we learning to love, too? That way our relationship grows deeper. We also learn how to see more clearly how he is working, and how we can work in partnership along with him.

In the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, there is a phrase that sometimes concerns me. We say “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The word translated “temptation” is a tricky one and other translations avoid it. The NRSV that we read from every Sunday says “Do not bring us to the time of trial.” “Do not bring us to the time of trial but rescue us from the Evil One.”

Having lived rather a long time I can say this sentence with great feeling. Looking back over the years there have been times when I feel I have been severely tested. Sometimes the trial has lasted many years. Then it was very tempting to give up. “Deliver us from evil.” It could have been otherwise. Perhaps, losing patience, I take a short cut, a direct action that is quite short-sighted, and I don’t foresee the harm done to others around me. Our gospel asks us not to lose heart.

Most of you know Pioneer Camp and that for many years Nettie and I were involved with leading it. You may know that a new Outtrip packing centre for canoe tripping was needed. An architect friend had done design work. Funds had been raised. Regulations said that buildings had to be at least sixty yards from the water. We thought several locations near the canoe launch were suitable. But the Ministry of Natural Resources refused permission. They were not satisfied that our plans met regulatons. Too close to the water if the water level would change, too many buildings nearby, not good to cut so many trees, and so on. Negotiations for permission went on for three years. Suddenly an official said although he could not give us permission to do any of what we proposed the regulations permitted every cottager to build a boathouse next to his dock. We could build the Outtrip Centre right down on the waterfront and call it a boathouse! The solution was better than anything we had hoped for! Many of us here helped to build it. It is called the Rob Winter Outtrip Centre.

Is that story similar to our parable?....In some ways ... patience over quite a long time… trying to find an answer… Let’s not blame the official – he wasn’t looking for a bribe; he ended up being creative in solving the problem. Perhaps he was more like our God, wanting us to give up our plans and look for a more imaginative, a more bold solution. Maybe there is something to learn here about praying.

So far I have been mostly caught up in the storyline of the parable. There is a danger we miss the main point. Luke starts the parable with a blunt statement. Verse 1 says, “Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart”.  He ends by saying God is not like the judge. Verse 7  ”And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?” God loves his children. He longs to give them the best gifts. To do it as soon as possible. Perhaps he is waiting for them to change what they are asking.

In the example from Pioneer Camp we see the problem finally solved. Many of us have personal matters that have been of deep concern to us for many years and they do not have neat solutions. We have to come to God again and again. Some of us have seen welcome developments. For instance, recently at Wednesday sharing meetings we heard from some parents who had been praying for years for their children who seemed far from God. Now one of them was telephoning from another city every week, wanting to pray together over the phone.

On the other hand we heard from another person about a deep personal pain that would not go away. However, in crying out in lament and weeping before God there were also times of deep personal comfort. He said, Jesus understands suffering, not only physical, but also spiritual. He has been rejected by those he loves. So there were “God-views”, messages from Jesus that were very precious to him.

Our Old Testament reading gave a dramatic picture of the need for a community in support of patient prayer. Moses praying for Israel in the midst of battle could not carry on. His arms lifted up in prayer grew weary and dropped and Israel began to fail in battle. Then his brother Aaron and friend Hur supported his arms in prayer, one on each side, until the victory was won. It is possible in a very dark time one of us should lose our faith. Then it is up to others of us to hold that faith until that person finds it again.

Luke says, “Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”His parable ends with a challenge to us. Verse 8 “And yet when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This faith is not about accepting Jesus into your heart. Nor is it just about asking in prayer and receiving. This is faithfulness even when carrying wounds that are slow to heal. Not losing heart even while, yes, acknowledging that, in a time of trial, a wrong path was taken, but trusting that God can yet deliver us from the Evil One.

“…to pray always and not to lose heart.”  Prayer is a life accompanied by God.