3rd Feb 2021 - Stories Jesus Told - The Persistant Widow

​APC 3rd Feb 2021     “Stories Jesus told…The Persistent Widow”
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Midweek worship.  Today we continue looking at some of the greatest stories Jesus ever told.  The title of today’s story is, “The Persistent Widow”.  But before we hear it and discover what lessons we can learn, let’s take a moment to talk to God, let’s pray…
Opening Prayer
Living God, we thank you that you are a God of love and compassion, slow to anger and full of mercy, a God of infinite patience, infinite goodness, infinite care – with infinite time for each of us.
Help us to make time for you.
We thank you that though we so often fail to make time for you, yet you are always ready to receive us, to accept us, to respond to us, and to help us in our time of need.
Help us to make time for you.
Teach us to create space in our lives for you, for one another and for ourselves.  Help us to measure time, not by our standards but yours, and so may we live our lives as you would have us lead them.
Let us join together in the words of the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
 
The Persistent Widow
 
Intro:
 
Do you ever feel like packing in your job and trying your hand at something else?  Do you ever feel like just letting the kids do what they like because all your advice seems to be going in one ear and out the other?  Do you ever feel like just tossing your mask or your hand sanitiser in the bin, because this blasted virus just doesn’t seem to be going away?
 
There are times in all of our lives when we think “What’s the use?”  There are times when all of us are tempted to give up on things that we know are right and good.  There are even times when we are tempted to give up on our relationship with God, like the true story of a couple who wake up one Sunday morning.  The lady poked her husband gently in the ribs and said, “Come on honey we’ve got to get up if we’re going to be ready for church.”  The man groaned, rolled away and went back to sleep.  A few minutes later his wife faithfully gave him another nudge only this time with a bit more force.  “Come on dear, we really do need to get up and get going!”  A little crossly the man replied , “Give me one good reason why I should!”  She answered, “Because you’re the minister!”
 
There are times when we all wake up on a Sunday morning and think, “Will I or won’t I?”  And if we’re all honest, there are many times when we think, “What’s the point in praying about this anymore?  Sure it’s not making any difference!”
 
I think this is a particular temptation at the minute as we wait for the vaccination program to begin lowering the Covid infection rates and allow us to get back to school, college, work and play. 
 
But it’s also a temptation we can face at any difficult time in our lives when troubles and difficulties don’t seem to be getting any easier despite our prayers.
 
Nobody knows us better than Jesus, which is why he told his disciples a story in order to encourage them not to give up praying.  We find the story in Luke 18 v 1-8.  Let’s listen to it now…
 
Bible Reading         Luke 18 v 1-8      ‘The Persistent Widow’
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time the judge refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
 
In this story there are two characters, a widow and a judge.  The judge is described as a man who “neither feared God nor cared about what people thought.”  When Jesus lived on earth, Middle Eastern culture was largely based on what is called a shame/pride system.  Social behaviour was determined by the entire community’s sense of what brought honour or shame rather than an individual’s personal belief as to what was right or wrong.  At that time most of the Community would have had a strong respect for God and also a strong respect for what the rest of the community thought of your behaviour.
 
If you needed someone’s help, then the most natural way to get it would be to appeal to either of these two strong community values. You could ask someone to help you “For the sake of God” because of the strong sense of religious belief or you could ask someone to help you, “For your own sake” because of the strong sense of human solidarity. 
 
In most cases people would be more than willing to help you for either reason.  But in this story we meet a judge who has no concern for God and no concern for other people or what other people think of him.  Most likely therefore this judge was not a Jew, not one of the believing community, but one of the paid magistrates appointed either by Herod or by the Romans.  
 
The fact that this judge is acting alone gives further support to this view.  You see, normally Jewish disputes were settled by the elders, but if a matter was taken to court, there were always three judges- one chosen by the accused, one by the defendant and one independently appointed.  The fact that he is on his own suggests that this judge was not a Jew, he had no respect for God and he didn’t care less what the wider Jewish community thought about him.  Here was a man who would not be easily swayed by religious jargon or by public appeal or outcry.
 
However, historically it appears there was one thing that would have swayed such a judge and that of course was money.  If you had money you might be able to bribe your way to the verdict you wanted.  If you didn’t, you had no hope of getting your case settled.
 
All of this helps us to understand the situation of the widow in the story.  In Middle Eastern Culture, women do not go to the courts, the men go for them.  The fact that this woman is going to the courts alone suggests that as well as having no husband, she had no father, uncle, brother or nephew to speak for her.  She had to plead her case alone.  This also suggests that she must have been in abject poverty for in those times women were completely financially dependent on their husbands and his family.  It seems as though she had no-one to provide for her and was destitute with no social welfare to step in and bail her out.
 
So alone, and against all the odds, this woman plays the only card that she has left to play.  Thankfully this card is the ace of stubborn and courageous persistence.  Basically she pesters the judge night and day until eventually he says, “This woman’s giving me a headache.  I can’t put up with this racket any longer.”  Finally he agrees to settle her case favourably if she promises to leave him in peace.
 
Jesus uses this funny story to encourage the disciples not to give up praying, despite the increased opposition that they are facing as they follow the Master.
 
He turns to them and asks, “If a corrupt and stubborn old judge is willing to plead the case of a helpless and winging old woman just to get her off his case, don’t you think God will answer the prayers of his people when they continue to cry out to him for justice?”
 
The lesson here is not that we should become moaners because that way we’re more likely to get what we want.  The primary lesson Jesus is teaching here is that we should keep on praying even when the situation seems hopeless and we’re tempted to give up.
 
We all face times in our lives when the situation seems hopeless.  It may be like this woman a financial crisis, or an unfair accusation that someone’s brought against us.  It could be a devastating personal loss or the threat of a serious circumstance.
 
I want to encourage you this morning that whatever crisis you are facing not to try and deal with it on your own.  Bring your case to someone who can help you, someone who is the complete opposite of the judge in the story.  Bring it to God, the one who made you, the one to whom you are precious, the one who loves you enough that He died for you, the one who knows all things from the beginning to end, the one who knows what he is doing in your life, the one who only wants what is best for you in the long run, the one who ultimately allows all things in our lives to mould us and shape us into the likeness of His perfect Son.  
 
If you feel that your situation is hopeless, if you’ve given up praying because you think, “What’s the use” then let me encourage you to sit down and reflect on what God is like.  As you do this you will discover that it’s like warming your cold winter hands by the fire.  Bit by bit as you meditate on who God is, you will find His Spirit warming your heart until eventually it is able to beat again with the rhythm of prayer.
 
Having said all this, I think there is one rider that I need to add.  Even though we can be certain of God’s love and His listening ear, we shouldn’t expect to get whatever we pray for.  A good parent loves and listens to their children but sometimes they have to refuse what their children ask for because in the long run it may hurt them rather than help them.  It might be a request for a sharp pair of scissors, one too many biscuits or sweets or a video game that is rated above their age.  Like children, innocently and naively we think we always know what’s best or what’s ahead.  The reality is none of us know the future of this week, next month or next year.  Only God sees the whole of time and only He knows what is best in the long run.  Therefore, if we are going to be able to continue in prayer in the midst of all life’s storms, if we are going to maintain our faith in the midst of this pandemic, we must remember to end all our requests with the perfect prayer, “Lord, not my will but Yours be done.”
 
Conclusion
 
Have you given up praying?
 
Then let me encourage you to reflect again on what God is like and on how He has helped you in the past…As you do that, ask Him to rekindle your heart towards talking to Him.
 
As you begin to pray again, invite God to show you a couple of areas where you have given up praying.  Ask Him to show you whether the answer is ‘no’ or to give you the strength to keep on praying.
 
And in all your prayers, remember to end them sincerely with the words “Thy will be done” remembering that at the end of the day God knows what’s best in the long run,  Keep praying but be willing to let Him answer in the way that He knows is best.
 
Let us pray…
 
Prayer            
Loving God, we thank you for the ways you speak to us through scripture, prayer and worship and the fellowship of your people, through music and nature and the daily experiences of life. 
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
We thank you for the ways you have spoken to your people across the ages, the ways you speak to us today and the ways you will continue to speak to us in the days ahead.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
But today we ask for your help in those times when you seem to be silent, those days when we do not hear your voice no matter how hard we listen for it, those times when we feel ourselves to be alone and far from you.
Give us courage then to ask if we have closed our hearts and minds to what you would say, or if there is something in our lives creating a barrier between us, preventing us from getting close to you.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
Help us also to see that your silence may not be a sign of our faithlessness or your displeasure, but rather of your love, offering us the opportunity to grow towards Christian maturity and to trust you even when we cannot understand what is happening.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
And when we do not hear you speak, help us to remember all those times you have spoken unmistakably, to us and to others, and let those moments sustain and direct us until your word comes again in your own time and in your own way.
Loving God, open our hearts to all you would say to us.
Take a moment now to remember a few people or circumstances to pray for…
All these we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today. Thanks again for logging on.  I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s reflection.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next couple of days reflecting on the parable of the persistent widow.  I do hope you can join us again on Sunday as we will try and answer the question, “Where would Jesus be of an evening?”
 
To close, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction
Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  (Hebrews 12 v 1-3)
And  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”