The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of
\nIsrael and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals.
\nAnd just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow,
\ndestroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,
\nsays the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:<\/p>\n
\u2018The parents have eaten sour grapes,<\/p>\n
and the children\u2019s teeth are set on edge.\u2019<\/p>\n
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour
\ngrapes shall be set on edge.<\/p>\n
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
\nwith the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the
\ncovenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand
\nto bring them out of the land of Egypt\u2014a covenant that they broke, though
\nI was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will
\nmake with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put
\nmy law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be
\ntheir God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one
\nanother, or say to each other, \u2018Know the Lord\u2019, for they shall all know
\nme, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive
\ntheir iniquity, and remember their sin no more.<\/p>\n
97 Lord, how I love your law! \u2022<\/p>\n
All the day long it is my study.<\/p>\n
98 Your commandments have made me wiser than my enemies, \u2022<\/p>\n
for they are ever with me.<\/p>\n
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, \u2022<\/p>\n
for your testimonies are my meditation.<\/p>\n
100 I am wiser than the aged, \u2022<\/p>\n
because I keep your commandments.<\/p>\n
101 I restrain my feet from every evil way, \u2022<\/p>\n
that I may keep your word.<\/p>\n
102 I have not turned aside from your judgements, \u2022<\/p>\n
for you have been my teacher.<\/p>\n
103 How sweet are your words on my tongue! \u2022<\/p>\n
They are sweeter than honey to my mouth.<\/p>\n
104 Through your commandments I get understanding; \u2022<\/p>\n
therefore I hate all lying ways.<\/p>\n
The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his
\neleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent
\nthem across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was
\nleft alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw
\nthat he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket;
\nand Jacob\u2019s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said,
\n\u2018Let me go, for the day is breaking.\u2019 But Jacob said, \u2018I will not let you
\ngo, unless you bless me.\u2019 So he said to him, \u2018What is your name?\u2019 And he
\nsaid, \u2018Jacob.\u2019 Then the man said, \u2018You shall no longer be called Jacob,
\nbut Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.\u2019
\nThen Jacob asked him, \u2018Please tell me your name.\u2019 But he said, \u2018Why is
\nit that you ask my name?\u2019 And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the
\nplace Peniel, saying, \u2018For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life
\nis preserved.\u2019 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because
\nof his hip.<\/p>\n
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; \u2022<\/p>\n
from where is my help to come?<\/p>\n
2 My help comes from the Lord, \u2022<\/p>\n
the maker of heaven and earth.<\/p>\n
3 He will not suffer your foot to stumble; \u2022<\/p>\n
he who watches over you will not sleep.<\/p>\n
4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel \u2022<\/p>\n
shall neither slumber nor sleep.<\/p>\n
5 The Lord himself watches over you; \u2022<\/p>\n
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,<\/p>\n
6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, \u2022<\/p>\n
neither the moon by night.<\/p>\n
7 The Lord shall keep you from all evil; \u2022<\/p>\n
it is he who shall keep your soul.<\/p>\n
8 The Lord shall keep watch over your going out<\/p>\n
and your coming in, \u2022<\/p>\n
from this time forth for evermore.<\/p>\n
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed,
\nknowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known
\nthe sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through
\nfaith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
\nteaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
\nso that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every
\ngood work.<\/p>\n
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living
\nand the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly
\nurge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable
\nor unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience
\nin teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound
\ndoctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves
\nteachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to
\nthe truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure
\nsuffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.<\/p>\n
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not
\nto lose heart. He said, \u2018In a certain city there was a judge who neither
\nfeared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who
\nkept coming to him and saying, \u201cGrant me justice against my opponent.\u201d
\nFor a while he refused; but later he said to himself, \u201cThough I have no
\nfear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering
\nme, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually
\ncoming.\u201d \u2019 And the Lord said, \u2018Listen to what the unjust judge says. And
\nwill not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?
\nWill he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice
\nto them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus said, \u2018And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on
\nearth?\u2019\u201d What is the relationship between faith and justice? What do our
\ncontemporaries say? Do they have any faith? Do they have any expectation
\nof justice? What do you think?<\/p>\n
I despair when I come to ponder these questions. At times I don\u2019t think
\nthere is any faith amongst my fellows, nor do I believe there to be any
\njustice in the world we inhabit. How can I say such things as I stand here
\nin these robes of office?<\/p>\n
The unjust judge is my reason, for I think he is the most accurate description
\nof contemporary society. The unjust judge looks just like anyone you might
\ncare to name. He even looks like me, doesn\u2019t he? After all, he dresses
\nin fancy clothes like mine \u2013 gown and scarf adorn him just like me.<\/p>\n
What are the main points of this story? First we have the widow constantly
\ndemanding justice in her case before the judge. Next we have the judge
\nand his attitude toward everything, Finally he relents and decides to give
\njudgement in the case. This is a simple story about life, isn\u2019t it? Essentially
\nthe story is this \u2013 We get into trouble, argue about it, appeal to someone
\nwho should be able to sort out the difficulty, but that person is unwilling
\nto help or see any justice done. What are we to do?<\/p>\n
The widow persists in asking for justice. The judge who has no truck with
\nGod or his fellows does not wish to do anything for her. But she persists.
\nShe continues to ask for justice. The judge is exasperated. He wants a
\nquiet life, doesn\u2019t he? He talks it over with himself \u2013 a very satisfactory
\ndiscussion, it seems. He says to himself, \u201cThough I have no fear of God
\nand no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I
\nwill grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually
\ncoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge tells us a lot about ourselves, doesn\u2019t he? He is contemporary
\nsociety at a stroke, isn\u2019t he? He, like so many of our neighbours, has
\nno fear of God. He also has no respect for any around him. Don\u2019t we know
\npeople just like that? Humanity has not changed at all, has it? So many
\nprofess no feeling for the divine. They say, \u201cI gave up God when I left
\nprimary school.\u201d They have no awe in their lives. And I would like to say
\nthat the other, self-confessed characteristic of the judge just follows
\nfrom the fact that they have no wonder \u2013 I would say that they have no
\nrespect for anyone else.<\/p>\n
I am making a value judgement on this sort of life \u2013 I would like to say
\nthat this lack of awe towards the world in which we find ourselves is very
\nlimiting. When we can wonder about the purpose of life and imagine the
\ndivine touching our lives in some way \u2013 whether it is the beauty of a sunset
\nor the slaying of the holy spirit \u2013 then life adds up to something. Life
\nis mysterious. In this openness toward the world, we can be open with one
\nanother and so have respect for everyone and everything. In this openness
\ntoward the extraordinary, we might even see God as the reason for life.
\n\u2013 As I have said before, if we truly love, then there are no bounds to
\nour care. No person or thing can be \u201cboring\u201d because everything can become
\nan object of concern in and of itself. We are wide awake to infinite possibilities
\nand can comprehend them, in them and in ourselves.<\/p>\n
That judge is not like Chesterton\u2019s Father Brown who can understand the
\ncriminal in his possibilities and so foil him. Unlike Father Brown, however,
\nthe judge has no respect for anyone and so will never understand in this
\ncase why the widow seeks justice. Father Brown engages with all he experiences
\nand can care for the highest and the lowest of society because of his faith.<\/p>\n
I have heard it said that the widow is like that mosquito in the middle
\nof the night \u2013 she buzzes around incessantly, far enough away, always close
\nenough to cause annoyance. We just have to arise from our bed and get
\nrid of that pesky mosquito!<\/p>\n
I have also heard it said that the widow is like a squeaky wheel. It just
\ngets on our nerves so much that we have to grease it.<\/p>\n
What do you think? Do these similes make sense of this parable? I don\u2019t
\nthink so.<\/p>\n
Let us really hear what Jesus says: \u201cListen to what the unjust judge says.
\nAnd will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and
\nnight? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly
\ngrant justice to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus is telling us that if a man finally will give justice in a petty
\ncase, how much more will God provide that final justice we all desire.
\nThis is a rhetorical device, the argument from the lesser to the greater.
\nWe have heard it many times in the bible \u2013 if God cares for the smallest
\ncreature, how much more will God care for the greatest of his earthly creations?
\nIt is a compelling argument. It counsels patience in the face of God\u2019s
\ncare.<\/p>\n
But this discussion of Jesus about the judge speaks to an active patience
\nto compel God\u2019s care. Incessant and insistent prayer about the world around
\nus concerning where justice is required, this is the rule the faithful
\nmust live by.<\/p>\n
I would say that if we did live up to this rule, everything would be so
\nvery different. Our neighbours would hear our pleas for what is right.
\nWe would act as the world\u2019s conscience. Rather than \u201cinterfering in politics\u201d,
\nchristians would be seen as the people who act morally based on their care
\nfor the world \u2013 christians would be the people truly engaged with everything
\nin the created order.<\/p>\n
That question about \u201cthe turbulent priest\u201d might be asked again, but what
\nif so many were acting with conscience and demanding it? Could the callous
\njudge or king act so badly ever again?<\/p>\n
I suppose the widow is like our conscience, like what I remember of Jiminy
\nCricket from Disney\u2019s Pinocchio<\/i> of so many years ago. That voice which
\nenters your mind compelling you to do the right thing \u2013 well, if you hear
\nit. That is why I think Jesus said, \u201cWhen the Son of Man comes, will he
\nfind faith on earth?\u201d The question I leave you with is this \u2013 Will humanity
\never listen to that insistent voice of conscience just as the judge finally
\nlistened to the widow?<\/p>\nAmen<\/h5>\n