Luke 18:1-8 "God is Better Than That"
James McTyre
Lake Hills Presbyterian Church (USA)
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Father James Martin, a Jesuit Priest and writer, published a prayer last week in response to a teen suicide. It's called, "A Prayer When I Feel Hated."
"A Prayer When I Feel Hated"
Loving God, you made me who I am.
I praise you and I love you, for I am wonderfully made, in your own image.
But when people make fun of me,
I feel hurt and embarrassed and even ashamed.
So please God, help me remember my own goodness,
which lies in you.
Help me remember my dignity,
which you gave me when I was conceived.
Help me remember that I can live a life of love.
Because you created my heart.
Be with me when people make fun of me,
and help me to respond how you would want me to,
in a love that respects other, but also respects me.
Help me find friends who love me for who I am.
Help me, most of all, to be a loving person.
And God, help me remember that Jesus loves me.
For he was seen as an outcast, too.
He was misunderstood, too.
He was beaten and spat upon.
Jesus understands me, and loves me with a special love, because of the way you made me.
And when I am feeling lonely,
help me remember
that Jesus welcomed everyone as a friend.
Jesus reminded everyone that God loved them.
And Jesus encouraged everyone
to embrace their dignity,
even when others were blind to that dignity.
Jesus loved everyone with the love that you gave him.
And he loves me, too.
One more thing, God:
Help me remember
that nothing is impossible with you,
that you have a way of making things better,
that you can find a way of love for me,
even if I can't see it right now.
Help me remember all these things
in the heart you created, loving God.
Amen.
--
Jesus tells a story.
In a town there was once a judge who didn't fear God or care about people.
In that same town there was a widow who kept going to the judge and saying, "Make sure that I get fair treatment in court."
For a while the judge refused to do anything. Finally, he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care about people, I will help this widow because she keeps on bothering me. If I don't help her, she will wear me out."
The Lord said: Think about what that crooked judge said. Won't God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won't he be concerned for them? He will surely hurry and help them.
A lot of times, I think, people read this passage and they come away comparing God to the grumpy judge.
A lot of times, I think people come away thinking Jesus is telling us we should persist in prayer the same way the lady persisted in bugging the heck out of the grumpy old judge.
As if God's policy is to grant the prayers of the most annoying people.
I think what Jesus is really saying is, "You know how the judge feels.
(Tired. Irritated. Hated?)
"You know how the widow feels.
(Tired. Irritated. Hated?)
You know how you feel when you get what you want, whether it's a positive answer, or just getting someone off your back.
"OK, now. Set all that aside, because God's better than that."
God is better than a grumpy judge.
And God's better than your impatience.
The Lord said: Think about what that crooked judge said. Won't God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won't he be concerned for them? He will surely hurry and help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith?
Prayer is not about prevailing.
Prayer isn't about winning and losing in the same way we win or lose when we're trying to get our way.
Prayer isn't about getting what you want.
I think Jesus is telling us to pray not because of our wants for what we don't have, but because of the faith that we do have.
I think what Jesus' sermon comes down to is this:
Prayer isn't about getting what you want; prayer is about surrendering your wants.
Prayer is about surrendering your wants.
If there is surrender in prayer, it's not in God surrendering to your annoyance.
If there's surrender in prayer, it's about us surrendering –
us surrendering those things we want so badly –
it's about us surrendering those things we want so badly, and laying them at the feet of God who already knows us inside and out.
That's what I think Jesus means when he asks, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith?"
Faith isn't convincing a grumpy old man to give you what you want.
Faith is giving in to the feeling that even before a thought is on your mind or a word is on your lips, God understands, God cares, God loves.
God made you as you are.
And so you can take that prayer to God, having faith – faith – that God cares about the burdens that weigh you down, as well as the joys that make you say, "Halleluia."
You can take that prayer to God having faith – that God will supply the "Amen."
If someone already knows what you're going to say, and if that someone wants the very best for you, what, then, is the purpose of the words you speak?
If your kids tell you they love you, you don't say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You told me that last week."
There's no way you could hear it enough.
You want to hear those words because you love back.
I would guess it's pretty much the same for God, wanting to hear our prayers, even though God already knows what we're going to say.
When we give in to that feeling, we start to understand that we're not alone.
Life is not us against City Hall or us against the bullies, or even us against God.
We're not alone.
God is with us.
God listens.
God cares.
If God is with us, if God listens, and if God cares, then prayer grows and changes into something truly amazing.
If God is with us, if God listens, and if God cares, then prayer turns into so much more than just us talking and talking and talking.
You talk enough, you pray enough, and eventually there's going to come a time when you're talked out and prayed out, and there's nothing left to say.
Then, maybe, maybe, if we listen really, really close, we can hear God answering those prayers.
Faith is surrendering to the idea that we're not alone.
But faith is also listening – listening for the reply – of the Quiet One who's there beside us.
When was the last time you really, really just listened – for God?
Didn't cajole God, didn't bug God, didn't tap your foot for God – when was the last time you really, really just listened?
How much time did you give God?
Five minutes? Ten?
You know how long the average attention span lasts these days?
About seven seconds.
No wonder people give up on prayer.
God's got all eternity, and we want answers in seven seconds.
You may not be able to hear,
and even if you hear, you might not be able to understand,
and even if you understand, you may not be able to accept God's answer to your prayers.
That doesn't mean God isn't answering.
Faith isn't the magical power to get what you want in seven seconds or less.
Faith is the trust that there is an answer from God, whether we get it or not.
Think about it: does it take more faith to pray when you're getting what you want, or does it take more faith to keep praying, even when you don't?
The first half of prayer is surrendering your wants, but the second half is listening, even if don't hear the answer.
Even if we don't hear the answer right away.
Even if we don't get it if we hear it.
As Father James Martin said in his prayer,
Help me remember
that nothing is impossible with you,
that you have a way of making things better,
that you can find a way of love for me,
even if I can't see it right now.
Most of us don't pray until we're in trouble.
Couldn't think of a better time.
Maybe when you're low, maybe when you're feeling alone, maybe when you feel hated – those are absolutely the best times to pray.
Let God have it.
You will never be able to talk God's ear off; you will never be able to pray so much you become a nuisance.
You might wear yourself out praying, and that might just be another lesson of the parable.
Because when we wear ourselves out from talking, we might just hang around a while in the silence.
Maybe even eight seconds, or nine.
So the lady, who feels alone, who's treated unfairly, who probably knows this judge guy hates her... this lady keeps on.
So you and I, who might feel alone, who might feel like life is unfair and God is ignoring us... we keep on.
We keep on, not because for some strange reason we have faith that we're precious to God.
We have faith that even if God doesn't rescue us from the pit, at least God's down there with us.
We pray.
We listen.
And we do it again.
