A cry for Justice!

[From Dec. 7, 2012]

"And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day & night?"

(Luke 18:7)

The pastor in me wants to use the parable of the Unjust Judge to encourage people to be consistent in prayer.  (You know the parable I'm talking about, right?  A widow keeps pestering a judge and he finally grants her request because he's sick of her bothering him.)  But the other part of me is a bit bothered by the notion that God will grant whatever we ask if we just are persistent enough.  So I've sort of lived with this conundrum. 

Then I reread this parable today. And suddenly a light dawned on me.  It's not about asking God for whatever we want.  The widow came to the judge because she wanted JUSTICE.  She was somehow being taken advantage of (probably because she was a widow - some of the most vulnerable people in Biblical society).  Even the judge acknowledged it when he said, "... yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out."

God is all about justice.  The Bible is full of admonitions to care for the weak and vulnerable, to treat others with excellence, and to extend compassion.  When we come to God with a call for JUSTICE, God hears!