Unjust Judge - Luke 18:1-8

Always pray and not lose heart

Good evening. As Ben said, will you please open your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 18, verses one through eight, as we look at the parable of the unjust judge. Again, that's Luke chapter 18, verses one through eight. Please follow along as I read.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says, and will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

As we look at this parable, I believe the main point and handle to grab hold of this passage is that because of the heavenly justice of God, we can always pray and not lose heart. I believe this works out in three parts. The first is the earthly economy of justice. The second is a contrast to the heavenly economy of justice. Then thirdly, an application of faith. So let's look at our first point. an earthly economy of justice. Jesus starts with a location, in a certain city. He then introduces the judge that is located in a certain city. As we will see later, I think this is important where the judge is located. He is located in the here and now, or what seems to prevail around us, or as what you might say, earthly. It also shows the scope of his jurisdiction. It is limited in a certain city. And with any judge, there presupposes the need for justice for those under him. And we see here in the parable, the widow. We also quickly see the kind of judge that he is. Jesus calls him an unjust judge. So let's explore further the interaction between our common earthly authority and its subjects. Is there anywhere that we see this dynamic around us? Before I was an EMT, I worked in the operating room at UVA. While I worked there, every Wednesday, there were two hours in the morning where surgeries were not scheduled so that administrative things could be handled. Often, management would come down for questions and answers from the nurses and techs. These meetings often started with policy updates or happenings in the health system and quickly devolved into nurses and techs taking turns explaining the need for a raise. This was a week in and week out occurrence. Every week when Wednesday came around, you knew where the conversation was headed. It got to the point that I was worn down with Wednesday morning. Middle management would bring word from upper management from week to week that seemed to attempt to keep frustration at bay. But week after week, the same frustrations and arguments persisted. Until one week, management came with the news that compensation ranges were going to be restructured and a raise was finally coming. We're all familiar with this. It is the water that we swim in. Sometimes the injustice is perceived. Children make us chuckle when they cry out under the perceived oppression from being told that they cannot have ice cream or go to the pool. And sometimes parents consent to this request. or in governments. For instance, the oppression of governments met with persistent resistance of its citizens. But sometimes it can be very disheartening when things are not the way that we think they should be. The equation is observable. We think that there are ways, we think that things are not the way that they should be and are squeezed and compelled by that. Even in the face of injustice, we're persistent. But sometimes this is long and sometimes it doesn't produce the results that we think it should or when we think it should. I think this is exactly what Jesus is illustrating in verses two through five. He is painting our picture. And also look at verse one. Jesus says,

they are always to pray and not lose heart.

This parable does not come out of thin air. It is not just another parable in the lineup that Jesus had to squeeze in before he went to the cross. Far from being a flat prescription to be blindly persistent, I think Jesus with verses one through five is being more descriptive. He is setting up his argument moving from the lesser to the greater. the familiar to the unfamiliar, the earthly observable to the heavenly reality. If even the unjust can bring justice, how much more will God bring justice? Now for the much more of God's justice. Let's look at our next point, the economy of heavenly justice and the contrast to its judge. Verses six through 8a. Luke quickly clues us in. The first two times he quotes Jesus, Luke uses the pronoun he. But now Luke quotes Jesus by saying, the Lord said. We just leveled up in authority and changed the field of play. Jesus also locates this justice. Look in verse eight, when the son of man returns, this justice is located in heaven because it is God's justice. In contrast to the unjust judge who is located in a certain city. The scope of God's justice swallows up that of the unjust earthly judge. I also want us to remember that Jesus was the most powerful and authoritative teacher that has ever walked the earth. Those around him described his teaching as one who had authority. When Luke heightens the authority in his narrative, Jesus immediately begins to contrast God with the unrighteous judge. And we begin to see that the justice of God is unfamiliar and so much better than our earthbound notions of justice. So what is the justice of God like? His justice is perfect. His act of justice sees exactly the level of crime committed and knows exactly the degree of punishment fit for it. not an ounce of punishment, more or less. His justice is a heavenly justice, and this heavenly justice, in large part, is seen by the first and the second coming of Jesus. The first coming that he would receive justice for the sins of his elect, receiving every drop of wrath that sin was due, so there could never be another payment required for those sins. anything more being unjust and therefore inconceivable. The second coming, to bring a final delivering justice to his elect, where he will judge the living and the dead. Furthermore, God's justice is not impotent. He has all the power and authority to set every wrong right. Absolutely nothing stands in the way of his giving justice. Even the wrongs that we are completely helpless against and unable to fix. It is completely effortless. God's justice is not delayed. It is not indecisive like the unjust judge. This judge is speedy and decisive. The heavenly judge also listens. He is not like the unjust judge who only hears a disruption to his own peace. No, he hears the cries of his elect, his ears bent towards them. Indeed, Christ is their very advocate, carefully listening and weighing. God's justice is for the weak. Who are the ones that he delivers in his justice? It is those who cry to him day and night. God's justice has no eye for profit. It is the humble he delivers and exalts. It is the broken he makes whole. But it is the proud that he humbles, and it is the whole that he dashes to pieces. God's justice is satisfying. Never again will there be tears, mourning, sorrow, or disease. For the elect, there is an inheritance waiting for them that he will justly give to them. God's elect are chosen by him and precious to him. God and his justice are not familiar to the economy of this world. This is a heavenly judge and a heavenly justice. Truly this justice is greater. This is the God that brings prayer out of the fainthearted. Which leads us to our final part. Since this justice is not familiar to us and is greater than our earthbound notions can conceive, faith is required. Faith is taking what we cannot see but is clearly revealed by God and submitting it to the reality that God is far greater than we can imagine. Faith is the hand that grasps hold of this, the leg that leans on this, the arm that pulls and compels us towards this. And this is exactly what Jesus is looking for when he returns in verse eight. Therefore, let me set forth a few considerations for faithful prayer. Faith prays in a childlike way. Remember those who cry to him day and night? We hold on to God's character and promises. Providence does not negate what God clearly says. We do not see all that is going on with providence, and we like to put our trust in what we see, but it is only the clearly revealed promises and character of God that will keep us persistent in prayer. When God says he will give them justice speedily, we don't need to do any more math. Faith does not hold on to guilt. Let's revisit verse one. We explored the ought earlier and recognize that this parable comes from the reality that we are prone to losing heart and for prayer to follow. I'm sure many of us carry around guilt for our lack of prayer, but let this be encouraging. Carrying the guilt does nothing to produce persistence. Let go of that and grasp God's clear disposition toward us. Receive conviction, but not guilt. After all, these are the disciples who would shortly fall asleep at the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus requested that they keep watch and pray. Faith prays together. I heard another pastor say, and I think it is helpful, he stated he was often more encouraged by the prayers of his brothers and sisters than he was his own. We also need to learn to pray. We don't do this by reading a book by ourselves and then taking to our closet having mastered prayer. We need to hear the prayers of other believers. Let us set aside any prayer and competition and receive the humility to acknowledge we may be immature in prayer and that others may be more mature in prayer, that we might learn from them and mature and grow. Let us pray together. After all, these are the ones by God's grace we will persist with. Faith prays always. We can pray in all circumstances. Let's revisit verse one again and look at the word always. We are to always pray and not lose heart. Therefore, there is never a time when we cannot pray. When providence seems so dark, we can pray and not lose heart. When we sin, we can pray and not lose heart. When we are surrounded by the accusation of the evil one, we can pray and not lose heart. When the voice of self-condemnation sounds so loud it almost seems audible, we can pray and not lose heart. When we are persecuted or our brothers and sisters are persecuted, we can pray and not lose heart. When we are anxious, we can pray and not lose heart. In conclusion, thinking back to when I taught Sunday school last year, my favorite question came when we were talking about the return of Jesus. One student asked,