On being a nuisance
Commentary
Revealed through his parables is the unique ability of Jesus to present us with cameo glimpses of the way things so often are in this world. At the center of the parable that provides today's gospel reading we meet an uncaring judge impervious to Divine influence and deaf to the cries for justice raised by the weak and powerless whom the widow represents. Here is the legal system weighed on the side of power and privilege. If this were not the case in so many places on this planet there would be no need for organizations like Amnesty International. The widow in the parable is not a political prisoner but she is a representative of all those whose cries for just treatment are met by the stony indifference of officialdom of any sort at any level.
The burden of the parable is persistence in prayer, quite specifically, prayer for the righting of wrongs and the redress of injustices. Implicit in the parable is the assurance that God's ears are open to the petitions of the plundered poor. Jesus uses his familiar "how much more" comparison to make his point. If this uncaring judge can be nagged into acting, how much more is God ready to hear the prayers of his little ones. "I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them."
The focus of the parable on prayers for justice and the persistence of the widow makes it function not only as a word of assurance but also as a word of challenge to the church. We are not harming the text if we hear also in these words a call to the community of faith to be like the widow, persistent nuisances knocking on the doors of the powerful as advocates of the powerless, voiceless, and unjustly treated.
You have guessed it by now. I would single out the gospel reading on the lectionary menu as the chief choice for the sermon this Sunday.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Throughout the book of Jeremiah what strikes us is that he reveals, as no other prophet does, his inner life with God. Jeremiah's influence is certainly reflected in the devotional intensity that burns in so many of the Psalms. What he discerned as needful in his days was the internalization of the Torah in the hearts and minds of the members of the community of faith. What he promised was a new initiative of God that would issue in a covenantal relationship that embraced the individual as well as the whole community. We Christians have historically understood Jesus as the mediator of this new covenant.
"I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:33b). This verse brought to my mind Robert Bellah's book, Habits Of The Heart, in which he surveyed the privatized style of do-it-yourself religion so current in our land today. This is not what Jeremiah nor the early Christians had in mind. Central to the New Covenant is the intimate knowledge of God.
Here is some commentary that the preacher will find helpful. The context is the question as to whether the promise of Jeremiah is being fulfilled today among Jews and Christians. "But even a cursory look at the subsequent history of Christianity should persuade us that the complete fulfillment of the promise contained in Jeremiah's flew covenant passage is still outstanding among Christians as well. For many of them, God's Torah is little more than words in a book and far from being an integral part of their being. They still busy themselves with serving God chiefly through outward ritual, shallow lip service, or self-righteous moralism. Even the reality of the new birth by God's spirit has for many become little more than a cultural or sociological shibboleth, by means of which they gain access to certain privileged circles in society. Surely the true knowledge of God is as rare and sporadic among Christians today as it was among the Jews of Jeremiah's day.... On the other side of the Ledger, however, we may confidently assert that Jeremiah's version has been fulfilled and is still being fulfilled among both Jews and Christians, whenever they turn to God in true penitence and humility, and allow God's sovereign spirit to direct and transform the innermost recesses of their whole being." (Lemke, Werner E. Interpretation. April 1983. Union Theological Seminary in Virgina. Page 183)
2 Timothy 3:14--4:5
Here are words for preachers to take to heart. Our role is certainly that of teaching and interpreting the Word in a way that it gets appropriated. I am sure that neither Jeremiah, nor Jesus, nor Paul anticipated that competent preachers would become obsolete in the church this side of the parousia. Take heart from these words of exhortation and encouragement. They could well be woven into a charge to the minister in a sermon of ordination. Verses 3 and 4 seem quite apt as a description of our own time.
You might consider using this reading as the peg on which to hang some reflections about the seriousness of the ministry of preaching and teaching, stressing both the need of the preacher to devote time to study and preparation and the congregation's responsibility to listen. You can use the occasion to remind those who want short, snappy and shallow sermons that sermonettes make Christianettes.
Luke 18:1-8
Let the expositor bear in mind that the widow's pleas are a petition for justice. We are not given the details but she is obviously being cheated. Seeking redress is an appropriate activity for one who has been wronged. The widow is representative of the weak and powerless whose pleas are ignored.
We can imagine her interrupting court and shouting at the judge. Such vociferous conduct on the part of a woman would be more tolerated than on the part of a man. It has been ably pointed out that while women had no role in this male dominated society they were not mistreated in public. The judge could open himself to public criticism if he had her evicted bodily. Yet her constant badgering is wearing him down. Consult the commentaries for some interesting variations of verse 5b. This persistent woman is wearing the judge down. So Jesus makes his point. If this soul-dead clod can be moved to act, how much more is God prepared to respond to prayers for justice, since he is already on the side of the weak and powerless?
There is a little twist at the end when Jesus inserts a sentence that suggests delay. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Does this suggest a time of grace, a time to change? Do we hear in this parable a call to the church to a public ministry of advocacy? Is there something to be said for being a nuisance to indifference in the service of the kingdom?
The parable would remind those who heard it first of Sirach 35. The significant difference in the parable is that Jesus omits all reference to violent retribution. Violence is the trap into which any activist, Christian or otherwise, can fall. Pursuit of a righteous cause does not make us righteous. The patient persistence of the widow is the model. "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Will his followers still be walking humbly in his footsteps? All around Jesus were those who were ready to take things into their own hands through violent action. I hear the parable telling us to let God be God.
There is a story that might be suggestive. It is a folk story about a cobra who lived by the side of the main road outside a village in India. He was a terror for all who passed by, for he often bit them. One day a Hindu holy man passed by and stopped to talk to the cobra. He told the cobra that he must not bite people, for this was evil. The cobra obeyed and soon the villagers noted the difference. In fact some even dared taunt and abuse the cobra by throwing rocks at him and hitting him with sticks. He was battered and bruised. One day the holy man again came to see the cobra. "Look," said the cobra, "see how wounded I am. I have stopped biting the people, yet see how they treat me." Said the holy man, "Friend cobra, you did not listen to me carefully. I told you to stop biting. I did not tell you to stop hissing."
The burden of the parable is persistence in prayer, quite specifically, prayer for the righting of wrongs and the redress of injustices. Implicit in the parable is the assurance that God's ears are open to the petitions of the plundered poor. Jesus uses his familiar "how much more" comparison to make his point. If this uncaring judge can be nagged into acting, how much more is God ready to hear the prayers of his little ones. "I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them."
The focus of the parable on prayers for justice and the persistence of the widow makes it function not only as a word of assurance but also as a word of challenge to the church. We are not harming the text if we hear also in these words a call to the community of faith to be like the widow, persistent nuisances knocking on the doors of the powerful as advocates of the powerless, voiceless, and unjustly treated.
You have guessed it by now. I would single out the gospel reading on the lectionary menu as the chief choice for the sermon this Sunday.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Throughout the book of Jeremiah what strikes us is that he reveals, as no other prophet does, his inner life with God. Jeremiah's influence is certainly reflected in the devotional intensity that burns in so many of the Psalms. What he discerned as needful in his days was the internalization of the Torah in the hearts and minds of the members of the community of faith. What he promised was a new initiative of God that would issue in a covenantal relationship that embraced the individual as well as the whole community. We Christians have historically understood Jesus as the mediator of this new covenant.
"I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:33b). This verse brought to my mind Robert Bellah's book, Habits Of The Heart, in which he surveyed the privatized style of do-it-yourself religion so current in our land today. This is not what Jeremiah nor the early Christians had in mind. Central to the New Covenant is the intimate knowledge of God.
Here is some commentary that the preacher will find helpful. The context is the question as to whether the promise of Jeremiah is being fulfilled today among Jews and Christians. "But even a cursory look at the subsequent history of Christianity should persuade us that the complete fulfillment of the promise contained in Jeremiah's flew covenant passage is still outstanding among Christians as well. For many of them, God's Torah is little more than words in a book and far from being an integral part of their being. They still busy themselves with serving God chiefly through outward ritual, shallow lip service, or self-righteous moralism. Even the reality of the new birth by God's spirit has for many become little more than a cultural or sociological shibboleth, by means of which they gain access to certain privileged circles in society. Surely the true knowledge of God is as rare and sporadic among Christians today as it was among the Jews of Jeremiah's day.... On the other side of the Ledger, however, we may confidently assert that Jeremiah's version has been fulfilled and is still being fulfilled among both Jews and Christians, whenever they turn to God in true penitence and humility, and allow God's sovereign spirit to direct and transform the innermost recesses of their whole being." (Lemke, Werner E. Interpretation. April 1983. Union Theological Seminary in Virgina. Page 183)
2 Timothy 3:14--4:5
Here are words for preachers to take to heart. Our role is certainly that of teaching and interpreting the Word in a way that it gets appropriated. I am sure that neither Jeremiah, nor Jesus, nor Paul anticipated that competent preachers would become obsolete in the church this side of the parousia. Take heart from these words of exhortation and encouragement. They could well be woven into a charge to the minister in a sermon of ordination. Verses 3 and 4 seem quite apt as a description of our own time.
You might consider using this reading as the peg on which to hang some reflections about the seriousness of the ministry of preaching and teaching, stressing both the need of the preacher to devote time to study and preparation and the congregation's responsibility to listen. You can use the occasion to remind those who want short, snappy and shallow sermons that sermonettes make Christianettes.
Luke 18:1-8
Let the expositor bear in mind that the widow's pleas are a petition for justice. We are not given the details but she is obviously being cheated. Seeking redress is an appropriate activity for one who has been wronged. The widow is representative of the weak and powerless whose pleas are ignored.
We can imagine her interrupting court and shouting at the judge. Such vociferous conduct on the part of a woman would be more tolerated than on the part of a man. It has been ably pointed out that while women had no role in this male dominated society they were not mistreated in public. The judge could open himself to public criticism if he had her evicted bodily. Yet her constant badgering is wearing him down. Consult the commentaries for some interesting variations of verse 5b. This persistent woman is wearing the judge down. So Jesus makes his point. If this soul-dead clod can be moved to act, how much more is God prepared to respond to prayers for justice, since he is already on the side of the weak and powerless?
There is a little twist at the end when Jesus inserts a sentence that suggests delay. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Does this suggest a time of grace, a time to change? Do we hear in this parable a call to the church to a public ministry of advocacy? Is there something to be said for being a nuisance to indifference in the service of the kingdom?
The parable would remind those who heard it first of Sirach 35. The significant difference in the parable is that Jesus omits all reference to violent retribution. Violence is the trap into which any activist, Christian or otherwise, can fall. Pursuit of a righteous cause does not make us righteous. The patient persistence of the widow is the model. "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Will his followers still be walking humbly in his footsteps? All around Jesus were those who were ready to take things into their own hands through violent action. I hear the parable telling us to let God be God.
There is a story that might be suggestive. It is a folk story about a cobra who lived by the side of the main road outside a village in India. He was a terror for all who passed by, for he often bit them. One day a Hindu holy man passed by and stopped to talk to the cobra. He told the cobra that he must not bite people, for this was evil. The cobra obeyed and soon the villagers noted the difference. In fact some even dared taunt and abuse the cobra by throwing rocks at him and hitting him with sticks. He was battered and bruised. One day the holy man again came to see the cobra. "Look," said the cobra, "see how wounded I am. I have stopped biting the people, yet see how they treat me." Said the holy man, "Friend cobra, you did not listen to me carefully. I told you to stop biting. I did not tell you to stop hissing."
