Ganbare!　　がんばれ！

October 20, 2013

Luke 18:1-8
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?”

Let's start with a Japanese language lesson. The word in Japanese is "Ganbaru." This means "to persist in something, insist on something, stick to something, hold fast to the end." There are different Japanese words for endeavor (doryoku) and endure (shinobu), but they are similar. Oftentimes the word is used to encourage someone who is trying hard. "Ganbate kudasai." Or it is used to cheer someone in a race, like a Marathon, when they look tired, "Ganbare!" "Don't give up, keep on going, head for the goal!"

Perhaps it is a good word for our Christian life, too. In Luke 18, Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. It was the parable about the widow who kept coming to the crooked judge and said, "Grant me justice against my adversary." In the parable, the judge is just tired of this noisy woman, she is a nuisance, so he gives in to her plea. The point is, Jesus says, that God is not like that unjust judge. God listens to the pleas, the prayers of his believers and will answer them soon. So, Jesus says, "Ganbate, keep on praying and don't give up."

It seems that Jesus was worried about his disciples. He tells the parable and then at the end asks, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Will he find that faith that keeps trusting in God no matter what? It may take only faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain or replant a tree in the sea, but do the disciples have even enough faith to keep praying?

Runners keep running a race because there is a goal. Students keep studying because they have a goal. Teachers keep teaching because there is a goal. Parents keep parenting their kids because there is a goal. Preachers keep preaching because there is a Goal. Jesus says to keep praying because there is an eternal goal. Jesus says not to give up, to "ganbaru."

It is easy to give up praying. When we do no see results or an answer to prayer, we might think God does not care, or we think that maybe God has different plans that we do not know of that are different than our own. We make up all kinds of excuses to quit praying. And like most excuses, they are based on a bit of fact and a lot of laziness. They may even sound like statements of great faith rather than our weak faith. My favorites are, "God's sense of time is different than mine, one year is like a thousand to him." Or, "God knows what we need even before we pray, so we do not need to pray, except to say thank you." Or, my favorite, "I prayed three times for this, God knows what I need, so I'll not bother him and just let him take care of it in his own time."

If we give up on prayer we give upon God, and tht means we give up on salvation, too.

Jesus says, "Ganbate kudasai!" "Keep on praying, don't give up!" I think that prayer is a sign of faith. Our daily prayers, even if only prayers before eating or an occasional "Oh, my God!" type of prayer when appropriate, are signs of our faith. The sign of a Christian is not his or her good works, but their prayers. The famous Christians in history were all people of prayer. Prayers in public worship, private prayers, and prayers said at special devotion times, and prayers that come spontaneously from the heart countless times a day.

In the Gospels, we often see Jesus at prayer. He prayed in the wilderness, on the mountain, in the garden, and on the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, Jesus kept on praying the midst of suffering. In the Garden, he prayed that God would help him ganbaru, "Not my will, but thine be done. Help me drink the cup of suffering even to the dregs on the bottom." And on the cross, he didn't stop praying, even when it looked humanly hopeless. Nailed to the cross, he knew his only hope was in God. It looked like God had forsaken him, but yet he could pray, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

Why did Jesus keep on going? Why did he suffer unto the cross? It was because he had a goal. The goal was to bring salvation and forgiveness and eternal life to all believers. The power for Jesus to keep going was love. It was because he loved us. And his love is the power for our life as Christians. The love of Jesus gives us the goal and the power to love others and to show that love in our prayers.

When people run the marathon, it is important to have spectators line the street and cheer them on. "Ganbare! Keep going! Don't give up! You are doing great!" When the runner hears these words, the words give hope and strength and courage. Why? Because in the word "gambare" there is love. When mother says to the child who is studying hard, “gambate kudasai," it means "I love you and hope you will succeed." The runner hears the words and knows that he or she is not running alone, and is not running just for self, but is also running for that other person who is standing on the sidelines cheering.

We do not "ganbaru" in our prayers only for ourselves, but also for those whom we pray. We know that Jesus cares about our prayers. He says, "Keep on praying! I love you. God loves you." Jesus loves to see our faith. He loves to hear our prayers.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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