PENTECOST PROPER 24 C
Luke 18:1–14
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Grace mercy and peace be to you from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
You can’t serve two masters. Jesus has made this clear. In Luke 16-18, He has told us a series of stories that illustrate this point.
And today in Luke 18, we hear the Lord instructing us in prayer, which reflects this truth. This truth that He alone is our master. The Gospel reading includes the first of two parables about prayer. In the story of the persistent Widow, we are taught to be persistent in prayer and to not lose heart.
And in the text that immediately follows our Gospel reading, we see another story about prayer. It’s the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, one of whom prayed proudly, while the other prayed humbly.
Taken together, these parables teach us a posture of prayer. And this proper posture of prayer embodies a life that is devoted to Christ alone as our Master.
So let’s take a moment to dig into this.
First the Gospel reading for today. In this reading you have a widow and a judge. The widow is seeking justice from the judge against an adversary who has done her wrong.
But the judge is unjust. The judge in the parable lacks any principles. He neither fears God who has authority over him and who has given him his position as a judge. Nor does he respect or honor the people he is set in authority over. He has no particular interest in justice at all.
This is interesting. When God puts someone in a position of authority, they are meant to fulfill their vocation. But many do not. Even some of us have received callings from God that we do not fully embrace or embody. Our sinful nature does battle against us here. We have duties fulfill, but we are taken in by the temptation to serve ourselves. And what are we to do about this? Well, pray for our leaders, that they would fulfill God’s calling in their lives…and pray for God’s help to repent…and do our duty to those whom we have been called to serve.
Ok, so the widow is in a poor position. She cries out for justice, but she’s at the mercy of the judge. She has no power and she has no assurance that the judge will fulfill His duty and deliver justice to her. Yet still she cries out. Again and again and again. She bugs the judge, pesters him, with her appeals. Until finally, the unjust judge just gives her what she wants, just in order to shut her up.
This is a strange example that Jesus gives, but the point is clearly made: be like the widow, keep on praying. Keep on asking for God’s help and mercy. Because if this woman could faithfully beg an unjust judge for something he did not want to give her….then surely you can persistently ask God for something that He has already promised to give you.
So you, dear Christian, be persistent in prayer and don’t lose heart.
And then Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Luke writes that Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Pharisee’s prayer is a performance. In fact we could say that he doesn’t actually pray at all. In the Large Catechism, Luther reminds us that praying is calling upon God in every need. (LC, 3.8) It’s asking God for something. But like many self-righteous men, this Pharisee asks for nothing. He asks for nothing because he perceives no need in himself. He trusts in himself, not in God, which proves just how self-deceived he is.
Meanwhile the tax collector, like the widow in the earlier parable, feels his need keenly. And what does he need? Mercy. He says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
You see, the tax collector recognizes God as master. God is powerful but he is not. Like the widow before the unjust judge, the tax collector is powerless. God is righteous but he is not. The tax collector is a sinner and he knows it. And so He prays, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” God, by your power and authority, grant me what I need most of all: forgiveness and peace with you.
So Christ teaches us to be humble and persistent in prayer.
But we’re told by the devil and the world that we’re fools for praying. We’re told that no one is listening to our prayers. God doesn’t care. Maybe He’s not there at all. How do you even know there is a God? The devil and the world sow these seeds of doubt in our hearts.
And then we’re told that humility is foolishness. Don’t humble yourself, stand up for yourself. Take what you want. Do what you want. Look out for number one. Humility is for the weak! Trust in yourself! The devil and the world teach us pride rather than humility.
But these lies are just a regurgitation of the devil’s lies in the garden. Did God really say that you can’t eat that fruit? God’s lying to you. Don’t listen to Him. Don’t trust Him. And instead, Do what you want. Ignore His commands and be your own god, your own master. Trust in yourself.
Dear Christian, what do you suppose is the antidote to these deadly, poisonous lies? More talking, more planning, more pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps? No! By No means!
The answer is Prayer. Because in our prayers, our appeals to God, we humble ourselves before Him, and trust in Him and His Holy Word and Sacraments for our life and our future.
Trust that He is your faithful master. Trust that He hears your prayers. Trust that He answers them, according to His good and gracious will.
We read this in the small catechism. When we pray as Jesus taught us, and say Amen…What does this mean? It means that we should be certain that these petitions are acceptable to our Father in heaven and are heard by Him. For He Himself has commanded us to pray this way and has promised the He will hear us. Amen, Amen means, “Yes, Yes, it shall be so.” (SC, Lord’s Prayer, Conclusion)
But we still struggle with this.
What keeps us from embracing this life of humble, persistent prayer? What prevents us as Christians, and as a church, from laying our burdens and the burdens of others before our faithful God and trusting in His mercy?
Is it because we’re too busy. But then again, don’t we have and make us of all manner of time-wasting technologies? And don’t we remember the saints of old, like Martin Luther, who said, “I have much to do today, so I have to to pray a lot.” And Luther is known to have prayed for 3 hours at a time.
Maybe it’s because we feel self-conscious about prayer…we think we don’t know how to do it right. But hasn’t our Lord given us the very words to pray in the Lord’s Prayer?
Or maybe we just don’t think it’s that important…that it will accomplish anything.
But God says otherwise. He says, “cry out to me, day and night.” Day and night! Cry out because you need God’s mercy. Cry out because you know that the Lord hears your prayers and answers them.
Again we read this in the Large Catechism, where Luther writes, “Let no one think that it makes no difference whether he prays or not….” (LC, 3.6)
But still we struggle to believe that Gods hears us and we struggle to practice the humble and persistent prayer that He commands.
But this struggle does not disqualify us from the Kingdom. Remember the disciples! On the night when Jesus was betrayed, they were charged to wait and pray with Him for just one hour, but instead they fell asleep. So it is with this weak and sinful flesh. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
But who did not fall asleep? Jesus did not fall asleep in the Garden. Where we fail, and succumb to weakness, Jesus does not. He faithfully and earnestly prayed. And Luke reports that His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And this faithful, earnest prayer, brought comfort, strength, and fortitude for His work.
He humble prayed of the cross, “Not my will, but yours be done, O Father.” He prayed for the Father’s will, which was His own death, and your salvation.
And still he prays, as Paul writes,
Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)
Jesus faithfully prays for you, seeking mercy for you from His Father, which is granted for the sake of His own holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death. And likewise the Spirit of God within you prays. Again, Paul writes, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans (Romans 8:26)
When weakness and doubt and exhaustion grab ahold of us. When we are confused and self-conscious and just don’t know what to pray, how to pray, the Spirit of God within us prays.
Quite often in my life as a pastor, I have encountered times and situations where I had no words. What can I pray? I don’t know. And so I pray the Kyrie, which the church has prayed for centuries in the face of the brokenness and suffering and sinfulness of this world: Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
This simple prayer is the rich tradition of the church because it confesses the truth. The truth is that we are sinners. We have no power to save ourselves. And we are in desperate need for the Savior, for Christ.
And so we pray. Persistently. Not to unjust judge, but to the King of All Creation, who is just and loving and generous toward us. And we pray humbly, knowing we deserve nothing, but Christ grants us everything. Everything we need for life and godliness. Everything our church and school needs for the months and years ahead. We don’t have it. We can’t trust in ourselves and our wisdom for the future. But we can trust in God. So let’s humble ourselves before Him and pray and pray and pray.
You can’t serve two masters. There’s only one God. So fear, love and trust Him above all things. For He comes to us this Day in Word and Sacrament. And In Him, there is life and salvation, hope and a future. Because He has forgiven all of your sins, and He welcomes you to His table here and even into His Kingdom, which has no end. Amen.
Now the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in this one true Faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.