Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said,
There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1-8
There are lots of times I struggle to be a good Christian. Jesus tells us this parable to encourage us to pray and rely on God in Heaven.
Unfortunately, I keep focusing on the underlined portion that is the lead-in to the main message. Widows were among the lowest status and least powerful in the time of Christ. They had no visible means of support. They either begged or turned to prostitution.
It begs the question: What can I, a deplorable from dirt-country, do to emulate the persistent widow and pressure those "who neither fear God nor respect any human being"
That is a good question, and no good answers here.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be a decreasing number of folks who fear God, I believe there is an increasing number who fear man, one man is disguised as a tweet or a thumbs down on social media. Not sure how this affects the problem or how we get that genie back in the bottle but it’s worth talking about.
ReplyDeleteOne brief addition, thanks for bringing up an excellent point, and never underestimate what can happen when people, no matter where they are from, set out to solve a problem.
ReplyDeleteYou persist. Faith is a form of persistence in itself.
ReplyDelete"...lest she finally come and strike me"
ReplyDeleteWell, if the soap box is locked up, the ballot box is contaminated, the jury box is intimidated, I wonder what box might be employed to "strike" the "judge" of the parable?
Speaking strictly in biblical metaphors, of course.
Give him something to fear and respect...
ReplyDeleteGive him something to fear and respect...
ReplyDeleteGive him something to fear and respect...
ReplyDeleteAnd we need to boycott any company, local or the big ones like Coke, who supports the tyrants. And make a lot of noise about it.---ken
ReplyDeleteDo not need them or their system, exist outside of it, and be an example of autonomous freedom and self reliance.
ReplyDelete