Nag, nag, nag

ByTyler Tankersley

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a fascinating little parable (see Luke 18:1-18) that causes more questions than answers.

In the story, Jesus says an unjust judge refuses to hear the case of a helpless widow. The hardhearted judge turns the widow away. However, she continually returns to the courtroom, day after day. She constantly pleads her case before this judge. Finally the judge, just to be rid of her, delivers the recompense to the widow. The most fascinating thing about this passage is that Jesus tells this story as an instruction on how to pray!

Is that how we are supposed to pray? Are we supposed to nag God until we get what we want? And perhaps even more disturbing: Does God have the disposition of this coldhearted judge? I certainly hope not. And I do not believe Jesus meant for this judge to serve as a stand-in for God. But I do believe Jesus meant for us to learn something from this persistent, nagging widow.

I do believe this woman can help us learn a thing or two about prayer. First, this widow is filled with an intense assurance and hope that she will indeed be heard. This woman does not quit and does not give up, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances. She held onto the hope things could, would and should change. She held onto the hope that the judge would eventually listen to her and understand her perspective. Prayer must be fueled by that kind of hope. We must pray in a way that believes God is still in the business of newness and resurrection.

The second thing we can learn from the widow in this parable is the content of her prayer is justice. It's important for us to remember in the highly-patriarchal culture of first-century Judea, widows often were abandoned, abused and alone. Even though she is often forgotten, she pleads for justice. And in the Bible, the word "justice" does not just refer to bad people getting what they deserve (i.e. punishment). Justice is about dignity, equality, health, joy, peace, security and freedom. When we pray for God's justice to reign in this world, we would do well to remember the biblical vision of justice is an inclusive, broad peaceable kingdom in which the lion lies down with the lamb (see Isaiah 11).

Who are the widows in our context? Who are those who are often forgotten or misrepresented in our culture? That's a difficult question we each must wrestle with. I often hear people whining about the "political correctness" in our culture. And to some extent, I agree; I do think we are too thin-skinned. However, some people seem to lament "political correctness" because it means they can no longer say whatever they want and their voice is no longer dominant in the culture.

Perhaps the lesson we can learn from this story is we have a need to hear the widows among us. We have a need to sometimes, yes, set aside our privilege and to hear from those who may be marginalized in our culture.

We pray with hope and we pray with justice in mind. Justice for all.