God will do anything for us

By John Pearring

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111420.cfm
3 John 5-8
Luke 18:1-8

In looking up commentaries on the gospel for Saturday, Nov. 14, (It’s the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8) I found several references comparing this parable with two others, also in Luke.

• Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14)
• Parable of the persistent neighbor (Luke 11:5-8) 

If you study all three closely, you can see a running theme regarding not just God’s intervention in our lives, but a fascinating purpose to his telling of these stories. God wants to convince us that he loves us. 

Because these parables are strange, telling about odd circumstances involving two different people in each tale, their similarity doesn’t stand out right away. We’re drawn into the stories because they seem kind of weird to be in scripture. All three deal with a mix of persistence and prayer, but it’s jumbled. There’s something very important about God, though, that we might miss due to the rancor that comes through in each parable. The consistent theme is that God doesn’t love us for being good or hate us for being bad. He loves us because he wants us to be like him. He wants us to see how much he loves us. By grasping his love as an amazing thing we then turn to him and never turn away again.

In today’s parable, a dishonest judge reluctantly gives into a widow’s persistence for justice. It’s a strange setting. The judge is being harassed by a widow who wants justice but isn’t getting any satisfaction. Finally, the judge gives in to her requests. The judge says he isn’t giving in because he cares about her, or even that God is asking him to do it. He doesn’t believe in God. He’s helping her because she’ll finally leave him alone. 

The story, though, isn’t about the dismissive judge or even the persistent woman. It’s about God. God prompts the judge to help the woman. She’s not really praying for help from God, though. She's overwrought about an injustice. God helps her because that’s who God is. He's not waiting for her to cry out to him. In truth, God is helping the judge too. The judge now has experienced doing a good thing, even if for the wrong reasons.

In the overly proud Pharisee story of Luke 19, Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee who preens before people to show off his holiness. Jesus compares the self-centered holy man to a tax collector, a public sinner who exhorts money from citizens. The tax collector quietly creeps into temple so that no one can see him. He, like the Pharisee, prays, but the tax collector does so with repentance and respect for God. Jesus said the tax collector, humbled by his sinfulness, will be exalted in his cry for mercy. The exalted Pharisee, conversely would be humbled.

Again, this story is about God. God is the one who absolves us of our sin. He will provide what the tax collector needs, but also what the Pharisee needs. God loves them both. The Pharisee will be humbled, hopefully coming closer to God. The tax collector is exalted for his repentance, also hopefully coming closer to God.

And, in the parable of the persistent neighbor, Jesus explains that a hungry man will get what he needs from his wealthier neighbor. With persistence, not with prayer. The wealthy neighbor eventually sees the need in his hungry neighbor. God loves both of these men. Again, one does a good deed, and the other is satisfied. Neither of these men is exemplifying holiness. The exemplified one is God. God works in both of these men's lives. In truth, his working is unbeknown to them. Why tell these stories? 

The verses that follows Luke’s writing about the persistent man tells us what God is up to. Jesus explains:

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
(Luke 11:9-10)

These simple, low brow stories show us broken and flawed people being attended to and formed by God undercover. God wants us to know these stories because they are raw, real situations, where God operates all the time. While the persistent and needy ones are the widow, tax collector, and hungry neighbor the other three characters in the parables are just as much a part of the grace. No one is holy or prayerful. They're all seeking, knocking, and asking. And, they all find and receive. The widow gets the justice she needs. The sinner gets the mercy he needs. The hungry man gets the bread he needs. 

Also, the judge, the Pharisee, and the sleepy neighbor get what they need. They experience doing a good deed, being awakened to another’s lack. And in the case of the Pharisee, God’s humbling of him will surely give him awareness of his own selfishness. God engages us in every aspect of our lives. 

Following today's parable about the widow and the judge, Luke states flatly Jesus' disappointment regarding the chosen people of God, and by rights us, the followers of Jesus. Few of us live by an intimate faith, constantly knowing that God's love operates in everything we do. 

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night? 
Will he be slow to answer them? 
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

That last line is the one that we need to take to heart. “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

God knows that we don’t take advantage of our intimate relationship with him. We’re woefully distracted from God’s love. Instead of concentrating on God to further advance our prayerful requests, we worry that we’re not getting God’s attention. We even think he’s unaware of our presence. We strike out on our own.

Remember when you were young. You may be like me in this. Most of the time, I fully expected that my parents loved me. When I did something wrong, though, I was sure that they wouldn’t love me anymore if they found me out. I not only felt that I was in trouble for some criminal activity, but I believed my very status with them was in peril. I could see their disappointment in me. There were many times that I interpreted their rage as the end of my relationship with them. That wasn’t the case, of course, but that’s what worried me. I was just a child. What did I know about guilt? Mostly, I felt it best to hide. 

Even as adults, are we any different with God regarding our trust in God to care for us? I often hide from God.

Whether for good or bad, our parents’ reactions to our young and youthful criminal ways likely formed our relationship to God. By criminal, I mean anything a child does that drives their parents mad — from pooping in our pants because we don’t want to stop playing in the yard, to breaking into a neighbor’s garage just to look around. 

Our relationships to our brothers and sisters, friends, and peers also warp our relationship to Jesus. Just like we imagine God must think of us, disappointed like our weary parents, we can have difficulty trusting Jesus. Whether real or imagined, we compare human Jesus to our human experiences. Jesus may not like us any more than the friends who have disregarded us, or even betrayed us. Or, perhaps a sibling was cruel to us in response to some cruelty we enacted. We don't easily imagine Jesus as merciful as constantly as is needed.  

Even worse, we may be unable to have an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. We may judge the Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives based on our inability to be present to our family, for example. We don’t think the Holy Spirit can love us enough to stay in our hearts when he sees how much we ignore our own family. Insert whatever problem you deal with. I'm not just speaking of criminality and avoidance.

However we see God as familiar to those who relate to us, all the bad stuff is simply not true. God is the loving parent. Jesus is the faithful brother. The Holy Spirit is the forgiving confidante that we secretly wish we had as our own. We don't have to hide. There is no secret. God is fully what we hoped for.

Based on these three parables that Jesus tells us, I propose that God told these stories to convince us that he will do anything to get us to wrap our arms around him just like he wants to wrap his arms around us. His remarkable love for us flies off the pages in both the Old and New Testament records. “I love you beyond your wildest imagination!”

Too often we’re not hearing God speak to us, because we’re focusing on something else.

• “Sure, sure. You love me. That’s nice, but what’s the deal with the widow being so cranky?” 
  
• “Yeah, we know you love us, but why do you let so many of these pompous Pharisee types run our churches?” 
  
• “Love is fine, but oh man, why tell the story like this? It’s one thing to be hungry, but banging on his neighbor’s door in the middle of the night? Really?”
  

I repeatedly find myself communicating with God based upon my parents outbursts when I was a bad boy as a child. I hold back with Jesus, because too many people have tried to take advantage of me. I don’t easily slide into the Holy Spirit’s prompting because I don’t trust my own thoughts. 

Judge, widow, Pharisee, tax collector, neighbor, and desperate man. We’re all of those things and more. And God loves us. Not anyway, but especially. He’ll do anything for us. 

God is the perfect parent. He has our life’s accomplishment pasted on his refrigerator. He’s the perfect brother. He died for our sins and rose to conquer death. He’s the perfect confidante. He only desires the best for us. He works us always into his plan.

Pray, ask, pray, seek, pray, knock and pray again.