Luke 18v1-7 - Luke 18 (1)

Luke 18

Chapter 18 – 5 parables – a story Jesus told with a meaning –
Chapters and verses.
Anyway 5 parables And we’re going to look at each one.
Each one is about people.
Different kind of people.
I suppose of all the ways to understand this chapter that most probably is the key and we’re going to keep coming back to it again and again.
So this afternoon we’re going to look at v1-8
It’s all about what happens when God doesn’t seem to be answering prayers.
It’s a sad little parable and Jesus explains it in v1 – Jesus told the parable that they should always pray and not give up.
He is speaking to someone who does pray, who’s actually a Christian somebody who believes and knows the Lord Jesus Christ and he says to that person don’t lose heart.
Because it seems that God constantly delay sand doesn’t answer prayers – now if you know any Christians you’ll know that give example.
The danger is that as we keep on praying and God doesn’t seem to answer that we lose heart and as we lose heart and what happens we stop praying.
It’s like the runner on a long run – they start off and they go really quickly and they’re leading the race but as the race goes on and there is no sign of the finishing line they start to get tired and then the hills come and people begin to overtake them and they get discouraged and then there’s another hill and they stop running, they jog and they get slower and slower and it turns into a walk and in the end they just stop running.
So I can think of people who’ve come to our church and become Christian and they love it they read their bible furiously when they get home and they tell they’re friends they’ve become Christians and they pray but then things just don’t go as they’d hoped, they get discouraged and they gradually stop praying and stop reading their bible, they lose heart.
Jesus is a realist, This is a very realistic parable.
Look at v7 – read verse – there’s a delay.
That is exactly the point.
We can’t understand sometimes why doesn’t God answer?
Why is there a delay.
You see Jesus is so realistic he knows us and he knows what it’s like to be a human being.
Jesus knows what it’s like to have your hopes dashed.
He knows what it’s like not to have prayer answered by his father – that happened to him on the cross.
He knows we ask the question.
Why doesn’t God answer?
Why hasn’t he done something?
Do we stop praying?
It’s a temptation isn’t it.
So Jesus tells a story about ourselves really and he says if this is how you behave in ordinary life why don’t you behave like this in your Christina life.
In things in the world we’ve got great stickability so that in spiritual things.
Let’s look at the passage
2 characters
1. A completely heartless man
He was a judge.
Now judges in our society are good people.
But corrupt judges are a terrible thing
We should thank god for justice because bent coppers and bent justice is an awful thing.
Look what Jesus says about him.
He doesn’t fear God and he doesn’t care about men.
He’s all round a bad man.
Now we live in a society in lots of ways like that.
He doesn’t care about God and if you don’t care about God you won’t care about man.
He was a bad man
2. A completely helpless widow
V2 to be a widow in Jesus day meant to be completely helpless.
You got no help from the government, she had no pension. No social security.
Her husband had died and nobody was there to care for her.
She has a good cause doesn’t she, she needed justice but nobody cared and with this judge she’s got no chance.
She couldn’t get a lawyer and so had no real hope for justice but she doesn’t give up.
She’s got no rich friends that can help her all she can do it persist.
So the judge is working in his chambers, in his office and he’s been working all day and he says to his secretary is there anything else and she says there is a woman waiting in reception for you and he says fetch her in.
When he sees it’s this woman he face drops and he says no, no I can’t see you now and the woman is ushered out.
The next evening the judge is at home with his feet up he’s watching the endless Britain’s got talent and his son comes into the room and says it’s the telephone for you it’s urgent.and hands him the phone – he hears the words grant me justice and realises it’s this wretched woman and cuts her off.
The following week he’s with his friends in a plush London restaurant and they’ve had a great meal all his friends are telling him what a great man he is and they are about to go. They are waiting for their taxi in the lounge when a waiter comes up and says there is a woman here to see you.
He says bring her over but it’s that woman again – Grant me justice.
He says get rid of her and won’t talk to her
The following morning he’s come out of his house and he’s walking to his Bentley in the drive and the woman is standing there with a sandwich board saying Grant me justice.
Later that afternoon the policemen comes in with the court name and he sees it’s her name and he is so fed up of seeing this woman he does something about it rather than putting up with her.
Now this could well have happened in the town where Jesus was.
A completely heartless judge and completely helpless widow.
The woman has got justice just by nag nag nag.
So is Jesus saying we’ve got to go to God and nag, nag, nag.
No, of course that is not what he is saying but he is saying you don’t give up on men like the judge.
So why do you give up on God?
Look at v7,8
It starts with a question
Read the verse – ask yourself that question?
What’s your answer to it?
It’s reminding us isn’t it?
Don’t you know him?
Don’t you trust him?
God is committed to you.
If you’ve believed in Jesus Christ and following him you’ve only got to ask yourself the question because we know God will not give up on us.
In v8 Jesus is giving us vital and important information.
It’s Jesus saying to you listen to me this is vitally important.
What this verse means is rely on God – he will give justice to them, he will vindicate them, give justice to them quickly, he will act quickly.
Now that doesn’t seem to make sense does it, Jesus has been talking about a delay and then he says God acts quickly.
Saying so doesn’t make it so Jesus.
Well we know that when I pray there may be a delay but when God replies he will reply quickly.
He will reply quickly and the shock is in v8 Justice will come quickly.
It’s the same truth for prayer and for judgement.
The bible tells you that God is slow to anger, he hasn’t got a short fuse.
He restrains he holds back but when the moment comes for God’s judgement, God’s anger it will come fast.
It’s the same when actually when we call on God to save us – he acts speedily.
In v8 there’s another question – when he comes will he find faith on the earth?
Faith that hopes, faith that is in God.
He is saying when he comes will you still be praying or will you have given up.
That doesn’t mean you’ve got to pray for an hour each day but what it is saying if you mustn’t give up.
So when you pray and delays are your experience – the delays always have a reason.
So you may have been praying for something for years and it hasn’t happened, God hasn’t forgotten and God delays for a reason so keep praying.
Or you may say but you don’t know what I’m like, you don’t know how bad I am, I’ve never even given God a thought. This is the first time I’ve even thought about praying.
I want to say to you look at the widow.
She has got nothing going for her.
This chapter is a chapter of people God welcomes – look at it with me the kind of people they are – the tax collector, the children, the blind beggar and in our story the widow.
A chapter of people who’ve got no hope God welcomes.
It’s important you understand God is not like the judge.
God is not like the man who dreads seeing you.
He is waiting for you and he wants to hear your prayers.
Let’s pray