Let the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O God. Amen.
In
the Parable of the Unjust Judge, Jesus selects a widow as the model for discipleship.
This widow, as any other widow in Jesus’ time, had no one to intercede for her
in the decisions of the judge. The widow, as a woman alone in the first
century, was vulnerable to being taken advantage of in any number of ways. She
was easy prey to those who would take advantage of her dire financial straits
and her physical vulnerability. She was probably up against a wealthy opponent
and his bribes, but she was so poor that she had no money by which to bribe the
judge for herself.
The
question of bribery is not out of question for this parable, for this judge was
one who had “no fear of God and no respect for anyone.” The person who would
have heard these words while listening to Jesus speak would understand that the
lack of fear for God naturally entailed lack of respect for human beings, since
the two were closely related throughout the Hebrew Bible. A judge in Israel was
not only expected to be an unbiased umpire, but a defender for those who had no
defender, the champion of the oppressed – the widow, the orphan, the poor, and
the foreigner. Because God was the one who cared especially for the victims of
persecution, it was necessary for any judge to see that the rights of the
powerless were heard.
The
judge in the story today did not fear God and therefore considered himself
under no mandate to be a defender to the defenseless. The widow came to the
judge asking him to secure her rights, but the judge refused to act on her
behalf. There is no indication of what her cause is, who has wronged her, or
what she wants. And no details about the judge’s reluctance to do so. We don't
know what the opponent she wants justice from has done to her, but whatever it
is, she is not going to stand for it. The woman persisted in her demands for
justice.
Finally,
the judge succumbed to her persistence and said to himself:
“Though I have no
fear of God and no respect for anyone,
yet because this
widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice,
so that she may
not wear me out by continually coming.”
The
translation that she will “wear him out” has been diluted over time. A more
literal translation of the judge's grievance is that the woman "is giving
me a black eye." Like all black eyes, the one the widow's complaints
threaten to inflict have a double effect, representing both physical and social
distress. That is, the judge complains that the widow's relentless badgering
may not only cause him physical harm but also risks publicly embarrassing him. For
this reason, he says – perhaps justifying his actions to his wounded sense of
self – that he relents not because he has changed his mind but simply to shut
up this dangerous widow.
After
the judge grants the woman’s request, Jesus proceeds to put the questions to
the hearer: “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him
day and night?” Here, Jesus is not holding up the conduct of an unjust judge
for commendation. He is saying that if even an unrighteous judge will grant
justice out of fear and self-interest, will not God, who is the champion of the
poor and the oppressed, grant them the justice that they pray for and seek day
and night?
The
reign of God is vindication of the oppressed. It is glimpsed when the oppressed
get justice, even when they have to take it from an unwilling and an unjust
judge. It is glimpsed when we see one who is powerless demand and obtain for
herself the justice that is hers.
Luke’s
point with this parable seems to be that we need to be persistent. Where has
the persistent widow showed up in your life? Or, maybe better, who has been the
persistent widow in your life? Perhaps it was an advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+
inclusion, motivated by the love of a gay son, lesbian daughter, or transgender
child, pushing for rights in school, government, and church. Perhaps it’s the
mother of a child in a wheelchair demanding better accessibility at school. Perhaps
it’s people you know on either side of the climate change debate, one
passionate about care of creation and the other against the economic cost of
proposed climate protections. Perhaps it was you, fighting for something you
believe in even if no one else was on your side.
Persistence
is important when encouraging ourselves and those suffering injustice to
continue complaints and demands for justice. Persistence is needed for not only
continual demands for justice, but also for change in the systems that are
doing the oppressing in the first place. Jesus calls on us to “pray always and
not to lose heart,” reminding us that faith is not a passive undertaking. The
things we toss and turn with in the night call out for our attention, advocacy,
and justice. To fulfill this call, we must be willing to be persistent. We must
be willing to bring our prayers to God unceasingly, trusting that our petitions
will be heard. God, the Bible has persistently insisted, gives special
attention to those who are most vulnerable; therefore, we should persist in our
complaints, even to the point of embarrassing the powers that be in order to
induce change.
But
as you fight alongside God for the widow, the orphan, the poor, the foreigner,
and anyone else who has been oppressed, remember this one word…Empathy. Empathy
for the person on the other side of the conversation. Empathy for the widow or
judge or someone in between. Empathy for each other and for ourselves. For
while we are fighting to right an injustice, we must remember that we are all
human beings who deserve to be respected and who crave the mercy, care, and
justice of the God we know in Christ.
Amen.
