The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost - October 19, 2025

Summary

Mother Suzanne explores the parable of the persistent widow from the Gospel of Luke, emphasizing that continual prayer should be a way of life rather than a burdensome task. She teaches that prayer can take many forms - from breathing to walking to singing - and encourages the congregation to persist in prayer just as the widow persisted in seeking justice from the unjust judge. The message reminds us that if even an unjust judge will eventually respond to persistent pleas, how much more will our just and loving God hear our continual prayers.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                              Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Artwork: Parable of the Unjust Judge and Persistent Widow, engraving by Jan Luyken, created in 1712

Transcript

Mother Suzanne:

The Lord himself watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. It is he who will keep you safe. In the name of the triune Godfather, Son and Holy Spirit, amen. Please be seated. Well, continual prayer and submission allows one to act in courage. Do things might seem crazy or might be quite difficult for most to understand. Do you, the people of God, have a favorite prayer? I ask. Is there a prayer that you might carry in your heart that brings you peace, comfort, or connection to the Holy one when needed? Maybe it's the Lord's prayer. Maybe it's words that you find your heart being led to that you say again and again.

I will share a prayer that I have carried with me for many years is simply known as the Jesus prayer. Maybe some of you might recognize it. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me as sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God. Have mercy on me a sinner. But then there are times when my prayers are really quite simple. Help me. Help me. Which then is followed by the simple words. Thank you. Thank you. One thing that I've learned and continue to be reminded is that prayer isn't meant to be hard, but it is meant to be continual.

Whether by our words or by our actions, prayer is a way of life. And prayer certainly should not be seen as dad gum at one more thing to do. Or which I'm prone to. I got to put prayer on my to- do list, right? One more thing to cross off. No. No, no, no. That is not what it's meant to be. And as we dive into today's passage, I'm hopeful that you might discover that prayer is indeed something you already might be doing continually and perhaps you're not even aware of it. And that is why I think we have an interesting character who shows up. She's a widow and she is persistent.

Because from the heart of today's gospel, we see this woman does not give up. And so we have Jesus sharing this parable, a short story about her. So as we've been moving through the gospel of Luke and preaching through the parables, one common theme that keeps coming up is this notion that parables are used continually by Jesus to shed light on God and his ways of working in the world. In other words, it is a way to understand how God works, how we can understand the nature of God better. So today we're introduced to widow.

A group of folks whom we know Jesus always goes out of his way to acknowledge and protect. This is a unique story and one that is so outlandish for Jesus' day that his hearers would have understood its irony a bit better than our modern day ears do. For Jesus' day, in no way does this story make sense. A woman, much less a widow, would have never crossed paths with a judge, let alone had the chance to even encounter someone considered to be so lofty. At this time, not everyone was allowed to have their day in court, especially not a lone widow, because she was not with a man to speak for her.

The ironony is that this woman doesn't have any rights if any that certainly includes seeing a judge in a formal court hearing. This just did not happen. On all accounts, sadly, her crying out for justice is in fact a parody. For in reality, this woman can only call out to this judge unofficially. But eventually, the persistent and unrelenting cries of this widow sway the heart of this unfeeling and cold-hearted judge. She kept at it. She didn't give up trusting and believing that there would be a breakthrough in her hopelessness. The actual Greek word that kind of makes me chuckle to describe her persistence is one that is likened to a boxer. She was giving the judge a continual black eye and he was sick of it. He grew weary of it.

"Woman, leave me alone." Their paths would have never crossed in that time to engage in any kind of meaningful discussion. But interestingly enough, this is who Jesus chooses to pair together, a widow and an unjust judge. Starkly different characters to shine down on a greater truth. And it is this. If even the most unjust of judges will finally relent to the ceaseless petitions of a defenseless widow, then how much more will God who is after all a good judge answer our prayers? The parable is not about the judge finally responding. The parable teaches that it is about the widow's persistence for justice during the long periods of the judge not responding and giving no indication that he ever would. She kept at it.

The widow's persistence is praised because it's persistence for justice, for what she felt was right, for what she knew in her heart. Yes, prayer and faith are held up in this passage, but so is that emphasis on justice, especially between the vulnerable widow and this unfeeling judge. And if you've heard anything I've said in the gospel of Luke, he is in the business of turning things upside down and inside out. And here we see the ultimate role reversal when the powerful and just God takes the place of the cold and unjust judge in the end, ultimately granting justice to the vulnerable, which as Jesus called them, the chosen ones, the chosen ones who cry out to him day and night, the ones who pray continually.

So if there's any gospel message, if there's anything good to be said about this, and there is a lot of good, persist in your prayers. Believe that they are being heard by a just and powerful God, even when it seems they aren't being heard, even when it seems that they aren't being answered, keep at it. One thing that I have learned is just about any action taken with intention directed towards God can be a kind of prayer offered. Learning that I didn't have to hunker down in a closet and pray with my eyes closed for hours on end, but understanding now that prayer is breath. Each time you breathe, you are breathing in the love of God and as you breathe it out, you breathe that same love of God into a hurting world that needs the love of God.

Breath is prayer, my friends, and we do it continuously. You can pray by walking, singing, painting. The possibilities are endless, and they are all accepted and wanted. The important thing is not how you pray, but you pray and you strive to make prayer a part of your daily life because when you do, your life will be better. I promise you. Prayer is meant to be done regularly, frequently, and it can also become easier and more instinctive and ingrained the more it's done. And truly, it was so freeing for me because I was raised a Baptist and I was taught you go into a closet and you pray, not necessarily a closet, but you know what I mean. You go and you pray for hours. And most of us aren't made that way, are we? No.

We find ways of prayer that are meaningful, that engage our lives, that are offerings for God that are accepted and wanted. And remember, as you pray, you are being formed, deeply formed so that one day with God's help, you will actually inhabit and become the very words for which you are earnestly praying, just like the widow. We are his chosen ones. He wants to hear our cries. And in so doing, he wants to watch our prayers lived out in action. So as we close today, would you bow your heads and remember these words from saying? Holy God, help us quiet our minds and offer you our hearts. Inspire us to live and breathe and pray with greater ease as a child loved by you. Amen. Amen.