Should We Shout At God In Prayer?
Sermon
A few years ago, the clergy and lay readers in the diocese all enjoyed a very special treat. We were privileged to attend some lectures by Dr Kenneth Bailey, a research professor of NT studies, who had lived and taught in the Middle East for the past 35 years or so.
Dr. Bailey has lived and worked within Middle Eastern peasant culture. And in some of the more isolated peasant communities in parts of the Middle East, in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the culture has remained almost unchanged for the last 2000 years, since the time of Jesus. So by studying these cultures and living amongst them, Dr. Bailey has been able to really flesh out the background to the parables which Jesus told. And for me, he's made those parables come alive in a new sort of way.
He's also looked at the parables in relationship to the Old Testament. And he's discovered Jesus very often based his stories on well-known passages of Old Testament scripture. But Jesus amended and enhanced those passages and drew new conclusions from them. They were all passages which Jesus' listeners would have known extremely well. So they would have instantly spotted Jesus' radically new theology, his new way of thinking about God.
Today's parable of the widow and the unjust judge is one which I've always found difficult. But thanks to Dr. Bailey, I think I now begin to understand it a little better.
During the Lebanese civil war of 1975-76, a friend of Dr. Bailey's, a Palestinian peasant woman, lost her cousin. Or at least, her cousin disappeared. Everyone assumed he'd been kidnapped by one of the militia groups fighting in Beirut at that time. It was a fairly common occurrence - Terry Waite suffered a similar fate. The whole extended family searched for weeks for this particular young man, but in vain. He was the only son of his widowed mother, and he wasn't part of any paramilitary group.
In the end, in desperation, the family sent a delegation of three peasant women to the leader of the forces in the area where the young man had disappeared. The leader was a very powerful man, internationally known as a strong military and political figure. The three women shouted their way into an audience with him, and then flung an abusive torrent of harsh words into his face. And a few days later, the young man was restored to his family.
Dr. Bailey asked his friend what would have happened if the men of the family had approached the political leader in such a way. The woman raised her eyebrows and said: "Oh, they would have been killed at once."
In traditional Middle Eastern society, men can be mistreated in public, but not women. Women can scream at a public figure and nothing will happen to them. So the family had deliberately sent women because they could openly express their sense of hurt and betrayal in the sort of language guaranteed to evoke a response.
Hence the background to the story of the widow and the unjust judge. Women don't usually go to court in the Middle East, usually the men go. And if those men are able to give a fee, (a bribe), to one of the court officials, their case is more likely to be heard, and they're more likely to win. That's the way the system works.
That the widow in Jesus' story went to court at all is an indication that she was utterly alone in the world, and too poor to attempt to bribe the court officials. The case was almost certainly about money, because a judge could hear money cases sitting alone. Probably the widow had been cheated out of an inheritance, and needed that money to survive. So her cry is for justice and protection, not for vengeance.
Perhaps the judge was reluctant to hear her or to find in her favour because she was unable to offer him a bribe. And perhaps her opponent had offered a substantial bribe.
The judge, by his own admission, cared nothing for little people like the widow. He didn't care about God, either, so he had no shame, no conscience at all. Yet because the woman screamed at him, and kept coming back and screaming at him so much, he found in her favour just to shut her up.
What does this tell us about prayer and about God? That God is sitting in judgement on us and we have to keep on and on at him, shouting at him until he gives in for a quiet life, for a bit of peace?
Well no! Jesus says very clearly that God is not like the bad judge. That God instantly hears the cries of his people and will respond speedily, will not delay.
But to enjoy the real depth of meaning which the disciples who were listening to the parable enjoyed, it's important to compare the parable with the Old Testament passage on which it was based. And to note the differences, to see where Jesus has brought new meaning to the age-old tradition.
This parable is based on a passage from the Apocrypha, that part of the Bible which is only half included, and which we therefore seldom read in church. But listen to this passage from the book of Ben Sirach:
Sirach 35:14-20
He is not deaf ..to the widow when she pours out her complaint; 15Do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against him that causes them to fall? 16He who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. 17The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, 18Nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right. 19God indeed will not delay, and like a warrior, will not be still 20Till he breaks the backs of the merciless and wreaks vengeance upon the proud.
Jesus' story is very close to the Ben Sirach writings in many respects. The widow is heard by God, and indeed, all the faithful are heard: "the prayer of the lowly does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right."
The disciples would have instantly recognised the origins of Jesus' story. They would know this teaching on prayer, and would hear it affirmed in Jesus' parable. They would be waiting for the ending, expecting a punchline similar to that of Ben Sirach, something in the order of: "God will not delay till he breaks the backs of the merciless and wreaks vengeance upon the proud."
But it didn't come. There are no words of judgement against the enemies of the faithful, no vengeance against the bad judge. Merely a rather wistful challenge, that when he comes, the Son of Man will find faith on the earth.
We're all sinners. All have fallen short. The only difference between us all, between the good and the wicked, is the degree to which we've fallen short. Therefore, to hear our prayers, the prayers of the faithful, God must put aside his anger. Our cry for vindication doesn't make us holy. Only God, and receiving his response can make us holy.
And what he does for us, he does for all his children. He puts aside his anger for all his children. He always hears and responds to prayer, so it's worth keeping on praying. Not shouting at God the same thing over and over again, that's unnecessary because God isn't a vindictive judge, he's a loving parent. But it's worth continuing to keep in contact with him, continuing always to pray, always to reveal myself to him, because as Jesus showed us, no matter what sort of a person I am or I have been, God always hears and always responds.
Dr. Bailey has lived and worked within Middle Eastern peasant culture. And in some of the more isolated peasant communities in parts of the Middle East, in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the culture has remained almost unchanged for the last 2000 years, since the time of Jesus. So by studying these cultures and living amongst them, Dr. Bailey has been able to really flesh out the background to the parables which Jesus told. And for me, he's made those parables come alive in a new sort of way.
He's also looked at the parables in relationship to the Old Testament. And he's discovered Jesus very often based his stories on well-known passages of Old Testament scripture. But Jesus amended and enhanced those passages and drew new conclusions from them. They were all passages which Jesus' listeners would have known extremely well. So they would have instantly spotted Jesus' radically new theology, his new way of thinking about God.
Today's parable of the widow and the unjust judge is one which I've always found difficult. But thanks to Dr. Bailey, I think I now begin to understand it a little better.
During the Lebanese civil war of 1975-76, a friend of Dr. Bailey's, a Palestinian peasant woman, lost her cousin. Or at least, her cousin disappeared. Everyone assumed he'd been kidnapped by one of the militia groups fighting in Beirut at that time. It was a fairly common occurrence - Terry Waite suffered a similar fate. The whole extended family searched for weeks for this particular young man, but in vain. He was the only son of his widowed mother, and he wasn't part of any paramilitary group.
In the end, in desperation, the family sent a delegation of three peasant women to the leader of the forces in the area where the young man had disappeared. The leader was a very powerful man, internationally known as a strong military and political figure. The three women shouted their way into an audience with him, and then flung an abusive torrent of harsh words into his face. And a few days later, the young man was restored to his family.
Dr. Bailey asked his friend what would have happened if the men of the family had approached the political leader in such a way. The woman raised her eyebrows and said: "Oh, they would have been killed at once."
In traditional Middle Eastern society, men can be mistreated in public, but not women. Women can scream at a public figure and nothing will happen to them. So the family had deliberately sent women because they could openly express their sense of hurt and betrayal in the sort of language guaranteed to evoke a response.
Hence the background to the story of the widow and the unjust judge. Women don't usually go to court in the Middle East, usually the men go. And if those men are able to give a fee, (a bribe), to one of the court officials, their case is more likely to be heard, and they're more likely to win. That's the way the system works.
That the widow in Jesus' story went to court at all is an indication that she was utterly alone in the world, and too poor to attempt to bribe the court officials. The case was almost certainly about money, because a judge could hear money cases sitting alone. Probably the widow had been cheated out of an inheritance, and needed that money to survive. So her cry is for justice and protection, not for vengeance.
Perhaps the judge was reluctant to hear her or to find in her favour because she was unable to offer him a bribe. And perhaps her opponent had offered a substantial bribe.
The judge, by his own admission, cared nothing for little people like the widow. He didn't care about God, either, so he had no shame, no conscience at all. Yet because the woman screamed at him, and kept coming back and screaming at him so much, he found in her favour just to shut her up.
What does this tell us about prayer and about God? That God is sitting in judgement on us and we have to keep on and on at him, shouting at him until he gives in for a quiet life, for a bit of peace?
Well no! Jesus says very clearly that God is not like the bad judge. That God instantly hears the cries of his people and will respond speedily, will not delay.
But to enjoy the real depth of meaning which the disciples who were listening to the parable enjoyed, it's important to compare the parable with the Old Testament passage on which it was based. And to note the differences, to see where Jesus has brought new meaning to the age-old tradition.
This parable is based on a passage from the Apocrypha, that part of the Bible which is only half included, and which we therefore seldom read in church. But listen to this passage from the book of Ben Sirach:
Sirach 35:14-20
He is not deaf ..to the widow when she pours out her complaint; 15Do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against him that causes them to fall? 16He who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. 17The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, 18Nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right. 19God indeed will not delay, and like a warrior, will not be still 20Till he breaks the backs of the merciless and wreaks vengeance upon the proud.
Jesus' story is very close to the Ben Sirach writings in many respects. The widow is heard by God, and indeed, all the faithful are heard: "the prayer of the lowly does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right."
The disciples would have instantly recognised the origins of Jesus' story. They would know this teaching on prayer, and would hear it affirmed in Jesus' parable. They would be waiting for the ending, expecting a punchline similar to that of Ben Sirach, something in the order of: "God will not delay till he breaks the backs of the merciless and wreaks vengeance upon the proud."
But it didn't come. There are no words of judgement against the enemies of the faithful, no vengeance against the bad judge. Merely a rather wistful challenge, that when he comes, the Son of Man will find faith on the earth.
We're all sinners. All have fallen short. The only difference between us all, between the good and the wicked, is the degree to which we've fallen short. Therefore, to hear our prayers, the prayers of the faithful, God must put aside his anger. Our cry for vindication doesn't make us holy. Only God, and receiving his response can make us holy.
And what he does for us, he does for all his children. He puts aside his anger for all his children. He always hears and responds to prayer, so it's worth keeping on praying. Not shouting at God the same thing over and over again, that's unnecessary because God isn't a vindictive judge, he's a loving parent. But it's worth continuing to keep in contact with him, continuing always to pray, always to reveal myself to him, because as Jesus showed us, no matter what sort of a person I am or I have been, God always hears and always responds.
