"WHAT WOMEN WANT"

Rev. Jim Petersen

First Congregational UCC- Great Falls, Montana

10-14-07

Text: Luke 18:1-8  - II Timothy 4:1-8

We are again in our lectionary reading from Luke, as we have been most of the fall.  In truth, today's Lukan text is next week's lectionary reading, but I will not be here, so I thought I would preach it up this morning.

Lyle Hamilton, Rev. Kama's dad and himself a retired Methodist minister, will be preaching next Sunday.  Lyle is currently the minister for outreach at the Intermountain Children's Home in Helena, one of our long supported ministries to abused children, and an appropriate subject for next Sunday, which we will celebrate as both Red Ribbon Sunday and "Children's Sabbath Sunday."

Please be present to hear Lyle. He is a good pastor and preacher, and a friend of mine.  Lyle, along with Kama, was on our Holy Land trip this past winter.  Lyle is the regional representative for Educational Opportunities with whom we travel.  Consequently, he has been to the Holy Lands close to twenty times, and we are beginning to concoct what for me will probably be one last trip.  Stay tuned on that.

Luke.  If I had been asked to speak at this weekend's "What Women Want" Expo, I would have chosen as my starting point this text from Luke.  Fortunately I was not asked to speak, for in truth I have no idea "what women want."  I was just hoping to spike attendance a bit, and I think by the looks of it I have succeeded.

But don't leave!  For Luke knows.  Luke does know, for he is said to be the gospel author most sensitive, supportive and significant for women, which was pretty darn rare back then, even in the Bible, as it is rare today.

We are in yet another of Jesus' parables which is unique to Luke.  In recent weeks we have heard parables about a Good Samaritan, a Prodigal Son, and a Rich Man, all unique to Luke and all about guys.  This morning's parable, again unique, is not about a guy but a gal.  And now I know I have some of your attention.

"In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded people."  So begins our story as told by Jesus.  To say that the judge did not fear God means that he neither respected nor revered God, for in the Old Testament to "fear" God meant to recognize the ultimate authority of God and to therefore hold God in such high esteem as to be in fear and trembling before God. This judge did not tremble.

It would follow, therefore, that this judge in his judgments, did not consult the Torah, the Ten Commandments or the other moral laws of God.  To say that the judge did not "regard people," means that he did not rule with compassion.  Compassion in the Old Testament was an essential ingredient to justice.  Compassion was to be especially poured out upon the widow, the orphan, the poor, the oppressed, as we read over and over again in the holiness codes of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Justice was intended to protect those without power from being taken advantage of by those with power.

This judge did not practice proper power.  In other words, this judge, who "neither feared God nor regarded people," was derelict in duty.  This is why this parable is referred to as "The Parable of the Unjust Judge."

So what's the story?  "In that city there was a widow who kept coming to the judge and saying, ?Grant me justice against my opponent.'" The widow, a person without power in that place,

is being abused by someone with power, we know not whom, a landlord, a creditor, an employer, the step kids, we know not, except someone is coming down on her, cashing in on her crippled

position, pushing her down further.

Yet the widow persists, approaching the judge and pleading, "Your Honor, grant me justice against my opponent."  Which is what the judge is supposed to do.  Dispense justice, with a special penchant for protecting the oppressed.

But we already know this judge, "who neither fears God nor regards people," is a sheet shy on justice.  He has fallen to the temptations of his trappings, the black robe, the mahogany desk, the servile staff, and chooses to favor the rich, the influential, the people of power over the poor, powerless ones who he is sworn to protect.

So the judge ignores the woman.  Her cries for justice fall on deaf ears.  He simply acts as if she does not exist, which is easy enough to do for as a widow she has no rights, no vote, no land, no assets in her name.

Yet the woman will not play her part and go away.  She refuses to be ignored into nothingness.

She refuses to be silenced into submission.  She persists in pursuing justice from the unjust judge.

Which is why this Parable of the Unjust Judge is also referred to as "The Parable of the Importunate Woman."  And here is your gift for this morning, even if I can't tell you "what women want." I can teach you a new word.

Importunate.  It means to be persistent when addressing problems.  It means to be a nuisance if you are treated like nothing.  It means to be annoying if you feel ignored.  In other words, importunate means to nag.  Nag, nag, nag and never give up.  Am I getting close here?

As Winston Churchill clarified it in a graduation speech he is said to have once made, he stood up and said, "never, never, never quit."  And then he sat down.  For as Marian Wright Edelman, that persistent nag for children's rights in America, quotes her father as teaching her, "It doesn't matter how many times you fall down; what matters is how many times you get up again." 

Importunate.  The woman in our parable is importunate.  She refuses to give up her plea that the judge "grant me justice against my opponent."  She is in court every day demanding to be heard.  The bailiff announces, "All please rise," and there she is sitting in the courtroom.  The judge pronounces, "Case dismissed," and she follows him to his chambers.  When he sneaks out the back door, she is there to greet him, when he retires to his ranch for vacation, she is camped out across the county road, crying out, "Grant me justice against my opponent!"  Importunate!

We are told, "For a while the judge refused," but eventually, inevitably, finally, he says, "Though I neither fear God nor regard people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by her continual persistence."

And there you have it.  The unjust judge is pressed into justice by the persistence of the importunate widow.  Notch one for nagging!

That is the parable.  Then the punch line, "Will not God grant justice to God's chosen ones who cry to the Lord day and night?"

For whom is the parable told?  Back to the first verse, "Then Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and never lose heart."

So Jesus is not speaking at a women's exposition, though he could be, but to his disciples.  Jesus is speaking to his closest, beloved, devoted followers, who he is going to abandon, with the burden of carrying on the faith without him.

Jesus knows it is not going to be easy.  Concluding on the cross is not comfortable.  Now the disciples are to take up the cross and follow.  This is no cuddly call, no popular pilgrimage, no prosperous position, no million dollar mission.  This is hard work, and if you are going to do it, you are going to need persistence.  You are going to need to nag.  And "to pray always and never lose heart."

Of course, we know Jesus, and we know this parable was not only meant for his disciples.  It was meant for us.  And it was meant for anyone who has ever been treated unfairly, who has prayed to the Lord for justice, and still not received it.   It was meant for anyone who has ever prayed, and prayed, and not yet had their prayers answered.  It was meant for those who have labored faithfully in the vineyard, striving to do what is right and live by the rules, only to feel whipped by the forces of the world.  This parable was meant for any child of God who is feeling tired of the struggle, disappointed by the vision, defeated by the demons, and just wants to give up. 

Maybe you know somebody like this.  Perhaps yourself.  This parable is for them.  And you.

So you are going to have to tell them.  You are going to have to tell them the "Parable of the Importunate Woman," and how the widow, through her persistence, was able to wear down the unjust judge to finally rule in her favor. 

And if this be so, how much more will the Lord of Life finally rule in our favor.   So "pray always and never lose heart."

It reminds me of a card I received once, probably from one of you, which reads, "My great-grandfather always used to say, ?If you fall off a bicycle, you have to get right back on!'  And when he fell off his bicycle, sure enough, he got right back on.  And when he fell off again, he got right back on again.  And again, and again.  Got right back on...

My great-grandmother, watching his valiant efforts, said something I've never forgotten.  ?You've got to pedal, you damn fool!'"

If we want to stay on the bike, we have got to pedal.  We pedal by "praying always and never giving up."

God bless you.

Amen.