We pray.. God listens. (Luke 18: 1-8)

 
Psalm 121 
Luke 18:1-8

Oh Lord hear my prayer… When I call, answer me

O Lord hear my prayer… Come and listen to me.

 

It is only natural sometimes in our lives to feel that we need answers in our prayers. We call, we wail, we weep, and we wonder if anyone is actually listening.

 

Perhaps as you were meant to be listening to our Bible readings you were finding it hard to concentrate. Perhaps you’ve been worrying about a member of the family – an elderly relative with health problems, or a younger one in financial difficulty; perhaps you’re worried about your own health, or fearful of the future in some other way.

 

Perhaps you’ve confided in someone else or maybe you’re the only one who knows what it is that you’re bothered about.
With all this potential for distraction going on in our minds and in our lives, how are we meant to quieten our own voices for a moment and listen to the Bible?

 

I hope some of us found Psalm 121 helpful

“I lift up my eyes to hills.. God will not let your foot be moved.. the Lord will keep you”

Here is a voice reminding us that God, as the one who made us, is also the one who cares for us.

A piece of scripture can sometimes cut through our feelings of helplessness and we hear a voice of hope.

But it seems that Jesus knows, when he speaks to his followers, that sometimes we wobble, and wonder whether God really is keeping us.

For those times, Jesus tells his parable “about the need to pray always and not to lose heart”.

 

He tells the story about the voice of the widow against the mighty judge.

The story needs to be read carefully: Jesus is NOT saying that to get a blessing out of God we have to nag and harass. The point of the story is to compare the judge with God - to lay this example of the judge, beaten into submission, alongside Jesus’ teaching about God.

 

If an unjust judge will give justice to a widow, even though she has no legal rights, because she plagues the life out of him,

how much more will God, who wants to bless people, listen to those who are persistent in prayer, says Jesus.

Whatever we have come to church carrying in our minds and hearts, we are not here to batter on God’s door and demand help, or to complain until both we and God are exhausted.

We are here to pause from all the worrying and to remember that God’s blessing is with us : even when life feels incredibly tough.

Another story which helps us understand what persistence looks like is the true story of the athlete Derek Redmond.

Derek was the sprinter who was part of the UK Olympic team in 1992, in Barcelona.

Having won his quarter-final heat in the 400m sprint he was tipped to win a medal in the event.

But in his semi-final, disaster struck. Just over a third of the way into the race he suffered a torn hamstring and pulled up in agony.

He said later in an interview to the Guardian “Everything I had worked for was finished. I hated everybody. I hated the world. I hated hamstrings. I hated it all. I told myself I had to finish. I hopped towards the finishing line. Then with a hundred metres to go, I felt a hand on my shoulder.”

 

A man had fought his way past the stewards to help him – his father, Jim. With his father’s support, Derek Redmond crossed the finishing line – to a standing ovation from the 65,000 people in the crowd.

 



 

Whatever challenges we face we are reminded that God is with us. We are here to worship the God who is not aloof and unconcerned but here on the ground in Jesus, struggling with us, dying despite us, defeating death for us.

 

And that same God offers us bread and wine as a sign of that presence which is with us always.

In this communion meal we are offered a blessing from the God who is always waiting to hear and to help, rather than being a despot who bolts the door to us & responds to us only when battered into submission.

A final thought – it could be that in the parable of the widow and the judge we, the church, are the judge & Jesus Christ is the widow – pleading for us to listen, to respond to the voice of love, whatever problems are assailing us. May God’s Spirit make us quick to hear.

 

So may we all know God’s love and blessing with us today and forever. Amen.

 

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