Don’t Give Up

October 16, 2016

GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 18:1–8 [Pray always and with confidence]
And Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’
“And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

It is important to know when to give up, when to throw in the towel. At the same time, it is important to know when not to give up, when not to lose hope. When it comes to our relationship with God, Jesus tells us that we should never give up on God, because God will never give up on us. I think there are times in the Bible when God almost gave up on humanity. When Adam and Eve sinned, God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, but he still loved his people and gave them animal skins to give them protection and to take away their shame. When the world was hopelessly sinful, he sent the flood, but saved the people he loved and provided an Ark. When the people of Israel worshiped the Golden Calf in the wilderness, he could have given up on those stubborn people, but he loved his people and led them for 40 years in the wilderness, training them to trust him. Many years later, when Israel had deserted Him, he led the people he loved into Babylonian Exile where they learned to appreciate the love and the promises of the Lord God, and then he led them back home to the Promised Land. Then finally, rather than give up on the world, he loved the world so much that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to take the sin of the world upon himself and die on the cross to save the world. God does not give up. And so we know that he will always love us.

But we live in this sinful world and sometimes the challenges seem too great. Should we give up? Sometimes we should for certain things. Jesus said not to give up on God. Luke 18:1, “And Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” The widow had an adversary. Perhaps someone was trying to cheat her out of her inheritance. I say that on the bases of Luke 20:46-47 where Jesus says, 46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” This widow woman knew she was in the right and she pestered the judge until he heard her case and gave her justice. She kept asking and did not lose heart.

This is a parable to encourage us to keep praying and not lose heart. That is because God hears our constant prayers and will give us justice and vindicate [RSV word] us. This is where we enter into the parable. We all have our adversaries and adversities. There are people and things that fight against us. We do what we can, and at the same time, ask God to help us. But how long can we persevere? At what point do we give up? Jesus knows that temptation and so he asks in conclusion, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Who or what are the adversaries and adversities? There are many problems in life that seem never to go away. We pray constantly to God about them. And that is what Jesus wants us to do. To pray is an act of faith. To pray is to know that everything is in God’s hands. So we pray for health and peace and love and friendship and other blessings.

When the adversaries are other people, we pray for wisdom and the power of love to solve the problems.

When the adversary is the devil, we pray for strength in the time of temptation and doubt and testing.

But how can we pray to God when our adversary is God Himself? Really! When God accuses us of sin and misbelief, how can we stand before God? How can we plead before a righteous judge when we know we are guilty? This is when we need a special lawyer or advocate. This is when we need the Holy Spirit.

At the Last Supper, Jesus promised to the send the Holy Spirit. John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.” Sometimes this verse is translated “Helper” or “Comforter” or “Advocate” or “Intercessor.” And another passage that gives me a lot of comfort and strength is Romans 8:26-27, “26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

Sometimes it might seem that God is our enemy. Sometimes it might seem that God is not listening or is ignoring us. Sometimes God seems to be taking a long time to answer our prayers and come to our aid. King David expressed this anguish in Psalm 22. Yet, he knew that God was the only one who could help him. Listen to Psalm 22:1-5.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

Psalm 42:1,11,
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 40:1,
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

When we come before God in prayer, it should not be like we are on trial. We are not. It was Jesus who was on trail. And he took upon himself all our sins and took the punishment when he was crucified. And so, through Jesus Christ we have been declared forgiven, innocent, and righteous. When we pray “in the Name of Jesus Christ,” we are praying with his authority, as if it is Jesus Christ Himself who is praying. And of course, in our baptism, we were baptized with his name, and so, as a baptized child of God, we know that God will give his love and help to his dear children!

It is important to know when to give up. It is important to know when to give everything over to the Lord God. The Bible word for this is repentance. It is the confession of sin and the confession of faith and the reception of the forgiveness and love of God. God never gives up on us.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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