Proper 24C
October 20, 2019
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8
The Rev. Dr. Kathy Kelly
Most of you have met my dog, Prancer. And some of you live with dogs. Dogs, as Pavlov proved, are conditioned animals. If you train them well, they will do whatever you want. If you spoil them, change the rules at random, ignore or over indulge them, not so much.
I read a great article yesterday about this same problem with raising children, but, while that is something worth thinking about, I won’t go there today.
Prancer was trained well. Well, good enough. He was trained to never get on the furniture, never beg for human food and you know, that whole house training thing went pretty well. He is, for the most part, a good dog. And like most dogs, he has his weaknesses. If he catches the scent or sight of a squirrel I no longer exist in his universe and might not find him until said squirrel is sufficiently out of his nose and mind at which point he might have ended up in Pulaski if I let him off the leash. But that doesn’t happen, well much, and we get along pretty well. Or, we used to.
When my lifestyle changed recently I started breaking the rules. I started letting him on the furniture and sometimes going outside without a leash and worst of all, started feeding him from the table.
He still usually waits to be invited onto the sofa or my lap and stays close if outside off the leash, but he has new weaknesses associated with the joys of chicken and eggs.
So, Prancer has started begging and I have created a monster. He is relentless. He stares with those big sad dog eyes. He gently scratches my knee while I eat. He paces. He wines. He sneezes. He sticks his cold nose on me. He jumps up on me without invitation. Prancer in short has become persistent, a pest, a nuisance, a nag, and frankly a pain in the neck.
That is what this gospel lesson is about. It is about being persistent.
I suppose at times it is imperative to become a pest or a nuisance to get what you want. Persistence will eventually gain justice, as this widow does. Or, being a pest will eventually get the other party to cave. This can be useful when seeking justice. To wear down your enemy can be an advantageous war tactic. In these senses it is possible to see persistence at times as a moral necessity.
But being a pain in the neck can also be immoral. Pestering someone to give over that which is not justifiably yours is not nice. That’s the way bullies act, like the stereotype of bullies who threaten and cajole the lunch money out of the weaker or outnumbered kid.
So, how do we know when to be persistent and when to not be a pain in the neck?
One image that comes to mind is in that phrase, “pain in the neck.” I know, you’re thinking of a less nice version of that one which has more color, but perhaps this colloquialism comes from the literal pain one might have in one’s neck. I imagine this came from the image of burdening another person’s with a load around his neck. If I carry your book bag and mine too I will have a pain in my neck. If I do this out of good will, because maybe you broke your ankle and need crutches and need help, it is a choice I make to be helpful. If you coerce me or force me to carry your burden, like I end up always picking up the tab because you tend to forget your wallet each time we meet for lunch, then you are a pain in the neck because I’m carrying an unjust load around my neck.
(Actually I’m pushing this meaning. The phrase dates back to 1900. Neck was substituted for ass as a more polite versions but you can’t say ass in the pulpit!)
So, in order to follow this parable, we have to buy into the basic point in the story that the judge was unjust. This is difficult to believe, especially at the time when the law usually protected widows, that a judge would not follow the law, especially with a widow was unheard of. I suppose that part is not so difficult for contemporary Americans to buy, however. We live in a time in which any person of authority is distrusted. While we are uncomfortable with the idea of an unjust judge, it is easy to buy when we see corruption and a lack of trustworthiness among politician. But that was not a problem among first century jews. So, the very premise of Jesus’ parable is shocking.
Another image of persistence that comes to mind is from the series of films about that boxer named Rocky. The first one was pretty good and has that iconic scene when Rocky finally gets in shape and runs up the steps of the Arts Museum in Philadelphia and jumps up and down, his arms in a victory pose.
I liked that part O.K. but I never really got the rest. Yeah, O.K. he is washed up but gets re-inspired, partly by a rare chance, partly by a girl. And he works really hard - that’s the persistence part - and then he wins the match at the end and all he really wants is to find his girl, Adrien. It’s sweet, it’s earthy, it’s all about the joy of succeeding against all odds through lots of hard work. That’s a good theme. But I still don’t get why this was enough material for five sequels!
But then I read this from Biblical commentator, Brittany Wilson this week, about this parable from today’s gospel:
“The widow in this parable resists the exploitation to which she is being subjected. Like other widows before her, such as Tamar (Genesis 38) and Ruth and Naomi, the widow in Luke 18 takes matters into her own hands. Her persistence and call for justice is such that the judge characterizes her actions as those of a boxer. (That’s right, she said boxer! Hang on, I’m going to do one of those original greek word sermon examples so bear with me.)
Wilson goes on to say, “It is difficult to discern this boxing image in the New Revised Standard Version, which translates the judge’s words as follows: ‘because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming’ (verse 5). In the original Greek, though, the judge says: ‘because this widow causes trouble for me, I will give her justice, so that she may not, in the end, give me a black eye by her coming’ (verse 5). By using the verb hypopiazo, which means ‘to give a black eye,’ Luke situates the judge’s language within the arena of boxing metaphors.”
Well that is really rich. And it’s funny. A humerous image of a little old lady beating up the big ol’ man in power. Like granny protecting Tweety Bird against Sylvester the Cat or if you’ve seen the Madagascar movies, there is a stereo typical, purse wielding, old lady of whom the zoo animals, especially the lion are terrified. It’s funny, I guess. It is a demeaning stereo type though. I do love any image of strong women. Especially older women. My nearly-ninety-year-old mother is constantly reminding me that she is quiet capable of taking care of her self and I do believe it. And I am grateful for her stamina.
But the the humor in this parable is not one of comic relief. The humor here instead pokes fun at the powers-that-be. It’s a tactic Jesus uses to get his listeners to pay attention to what really needs to change.
And it’s a simple message. The law helps ground us when we need to stand up to corruption. The law is useful - until it is abused.
Maybe it’s the Christian in me, but I prefer stories of persistence to be about marginalized folks making a difference rather than powerful folks getting more powerful. I see there is a new film about Harriet Tubman coming out. Check that out for a story about persistence and perseverance.
Or here’s a better image for this particular parable. St. Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa, as you know, captivated the world in the 20th century as few other people have by serving the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. Her simple message was: “We are put on earth to do something beautiful for God.”
But she didn’t just go out, educated and ambitious, to conquer poverty. She started with prayer. She spent a great deal of time daily in silent and contemplative prayer. Mother Teresa’s spiritual vitality can be described with many wise sayings she left us. Here’s another quote: “Don’t search for God in faraway lands. He is not there. He is close to you. He is with you. Just keep that lamp burning, and you will always see him.”
You see, this parable is not so much about brow beating the powers-that-be for justice as it is about the persistence of prayer. This is found in the first verse: “Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”
So this message of this parable is a question. Will we persevere by praying always? Or will we lose heart?
By ending on another question, of whether he will find faith at his return, Jesus raises a number of additional questions for us. How do followers not lose heart and maintain the faith in light of the fact that Jesus is not returning as soon as many would like? How are we to act if God’s justice is not delivered according to our own timetable? How do we go on in the face of injustice if God’s ultimate justice only arrives “suddenly” (en tachei) at Jesus’ return?
In response to such questions, Luke maintains that we are to act like this widow. We are not to wait quietly for Jesus’ return and accept our fates in an oppression-ridden world. We are instead to resist injustice with the resolve and constancy of the widow. As Jesus explains elsewhere (Luke 11:1-13), prayer is not a passive activity but one that actively seeks God and pursues God’s will. Like the widow, we are to persevere in the faith, crying out to God day and night. This is what persistent prayer looks like.
Without prayer, we are only insistent on our way, on what we think the injustice is. With prayer we are much more likely to follow God’s way.
When I look back on the past few years of Grace parish, I see so much perseverance and persistence. Those of you who have stayed and have cared so much about keeping this parish alive and well have shown a great deal of ability to “not lose heart.” I admire that. I am blessed to have been called to be a part of it. But it is you who make this parish alive and well by being alive and well. And you can continue to do this through perseverance in prayer.
We quiet ourselves for prayer and sacrament and then we are sent into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit, to love and serve the Lord. Prayer leads to action. Persistence aids both the prayer and the action. How can you nurture this path and this journey?
Amen.