Luke 18:1-8 "Will Jesus find you waiting?" (Carlton 10:30am)

G', day everyone.

There are just some people who are good storytellers. There are some people who know how to tell a story well. There are also people who are not good storytellers and who manage to make great stories sound really boring and uninteresting. But I want to focus on the positive because whatever else Jesus is, and he's the Son of God, our Messiah, our savior, but he is also a great storyteller. And, and what makes a great storyteller, what makes a great story?

I think there's lots of things, but I think one of them is that they know how to keep you guessing a little bit. A good storyteller knows how to make something happen that's unexpected, to have a twist in the tale of the story as they tell it. It doesn't go where you think it's gonna go. I think that's part of what makes a good story and a good storyteller. And that is what Jesus does.

He draws people in with stories. So much of his teaching was parables, was telling these little stories. And we're in this section of Luke where we're looking at a lot of the parables. I want to ask as we start, why do you think Jesus taught in parables so much? Why did Jesus talk by teaching and telling stories?

I think people often assume, and people often say this, he did it to make it easier for people to understand. Some people say that's why he did it. He used everyday illustrations to make a point in a memorable way. And some of his little stories are like that. So if you think about it like build your house on the rock, not the sand, you know that story, it's a simple point and it brings it home and makes it easy to understand.

And anyone, even the smallest child in kids church comes out saying, I know what Jesus said that and makes it so clear. Build your life on the foundation of Jesus. That's what you want to do. Build your life on the foundation of faith. In just as often, though, Jesus parables don't make it easier to understand at first.

Hearing that might be relieving for you. And you've read some parables and go, I know what it's talking about. Jesus actually said this a few times that one of the reasons he taught in parables was to make it less clear for people, at least initially, which we sort of think, hang on, is this Jesus? For a minute I thought he wanted to be clear, but actually one of the things he says is, I want to make it less clear initially. Just sometimes in some of these stories.

And instead he does it to draw people in and see, are you willing to think, are you willing to actually consider what I'm talking about and do the hard work of seeing what I'm saying? So often Jesus will say something outlandish really, just to make people go, did he really say that? And then grapple with what he's talking about. And we saw that a couple of weeks ago, I think with the story of the dishonest manager. Remember that parable a few weeks ago?

You know, we came to it, we thought, was Jesus really saying he wants us to be like that dishonest crook? Is that really what Jesus is saying? The first listeners would have thought, is he really saying we should be shifty like that guy? And I know that parable works because people are still asking me questions about it about four or five weeks later. So there you go, it's done.

What Jesus wanted it to do today is another one of those parables. And I think this one, if you're willing to think, if you're not one of those people who just go, I can't be bothered, like many people in Jesus day, if you're willing to think, this will make us think on two levels. Firstly, because at first read, you think you know what this is saying, so you think you know what this is saying. But then you listen more if you're willing to listen and you realize maybe I've got this wrong. And then secondly, more than that, it really makes us think because you think, is Jesus really comparing God, not us comparing God to this dishonest, corrupt judge?

And it was Keith didn't do it on purpose, but a slip of the tongue there where he said the corrupt God, not the corrupt judge. Because that's what the parable does as you're reading it, you think, hang on, is that what it's saying? So I'm going to pray for us first and now then we'll look at this little story. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus spoke in these parables and how often they really make us think to consider the claims of Jesus, to consider what it is to be a part of the kingdom of God, to consider who he is. And we pray as we look at this story that we might be willing to think and grapple with it and see what Jesus is teaching us.

In Jesus name, amen. I don't know about your experience of children, but I think that most children are born experts in the art of dripping water torture treatment. You might only have perfect children. I don't know, but my children, I was going to say when they were younger, but actually sometimes even as adults. No, but when you went to the shops is where you see it and it begins.

You know what I'm talking about. It's the. Can I have a chocolate? No. What about that?

Chocolate? No. Can I have a donut? No. Can I have a packet of chips?

No. Can I have McDonald's? No. Were my kids alone in this? You might have perfect children.

But no. It's relentless, it's persistent, it's hard to resist. And truth be told, there were occasions where despite all my determination, I gave in. Mainly because actually, I thought, actually, I do want a donut. And if I get one, they've got to have one too.

That's why the kids always love going to the shops with me rather than Victoria. But anyway, and that's what this little story seems to be about, and I'm sure you've heard it said before and used in that way. It's about persistence in prayer. Ask God enough times and he will grant your request. Is that actually what Jesus is saying?

I mean, learning to persist in prayer is a pretty good lesson. If everyone walked away from today thinking, I'm going to pray more, I'd be pretty happy with the outcome of a Sunday morning. But I think Jesus is saying something different to that. And let's have a look and see. Now, the parable isn't one we have to ask, why did he tell the story we're told up front?

Look at verse one. It says now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up. So straight away we know what Jesus wants us to do in the light of this. He does want us to keep praying no matter what. That's one of the things he wants us to do.

And he wants us to not give up or not get discouraged is another way of saying that. What does he want us to keep praying for, though? That's the question. And for that matter, when it says don't give up, what might we be giving up? Well, just before this story, back in chapter 17 last week, Jesus has been teaching us about how the kingdom of God will come and how he's explained how, first of all, what will happen is that Jesus himself will be rejected and killed.

Like we're going to remember when we share the Lord's Supper later in the service. And then we, his disciples, though, will have to live in this world and we are going to have to wait for Jesus to return. That was the whole point. Of chapter 17, or the part we looked at last week that actually we're going to be waiting for the return of Jesus to bring in his kingdom once and for all. And Jesus explained how while we wait, there will be struggles.

It's not going to be easy. While we wait, there are going to be issues for God's people. There is going to be suffering, there is going to be persecution. If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us is what the Scriptures tell us. And so given that, we might be tempted to give up, we might be tempted to think it's not worth waiting.

Here we are trying to live for Jesus, but it's hard. And other people who don't seem to care about God, they seem to do better sometimes than followers of Jesus. And often they don't face the same struggles that we face as we try to live for Him. Now, of course, we know up here in our brains, we know that that's an illusion. We know that we are looking forward to something so wonderful as followers of Jesus, that anything we miss out on in this life is nothing compared to the glories of heaven.

If you are a Christian, you know that in your brain. And you know that from last week. Go back to chapter 17, verse 33. Chapter 17, verse 33. Jesus says, actually whoever tries to make his life secure in this life will lose it.

If you try to focus on the things of this world, you'll lose eternal life, he says, and whoever loses his life in this life will actually preserve it. If you actually are willing to give up the things of this world, you will preserve your life for eternity. So we know that people who live for this world and who ignore God will face judgment. And we know that if we live for Jesus now, we might miss out in some senses on things now, but we have eternal life to look forward to. But the longer this world goes on and the more you miss out and the more you face suffering and the longer it is Jesus has not returned, the more likely we are to get discouraged, the more likely we are to give up to say, actually, I think I'd rather have worldly security.

And we start to think, actually, I'd rather live for this world rather than live for eternity. The more we're tempted to seek the things of this life and so not hear Jesus warning from last week. You see, we're tempted to give up on our faith in Jesus and drift away from trusting him. And so it's in that light that Jesus says, keep praying and don't give up. In a way, he's really only saying one thing here.

He's saying, keep trusting Jesus. Keep looking forward to Jesus return. Keep living for that which will then mean you keep praying. You keep praying to God, asking for. For Jesus to bring in his kingdom once and for all.

Asking for Jesus to return. Don't give up. That's the point of this story. So now let's look at the story. Come with me.

Look with me. From verse 2 says there was a judge in a certain town who didn't fear God or respect people. So the idea is this guy is not very nice. This is just a throwaway line from Jesus in a story. But actually it tells you something there.

When someone does not fear God, they have no moral compass. When our world rejects God, it has no reason for doing the right thing. And that's this man. He doesn't fear God, so he has no reason for doing the right thing. What do I care if I can get away with it?

And more than that, he doesn't like people either. He doesn't care. He treats people. But this widow just keeps coming and she just keeps pestering. She's seeking justice in her legal case.

There's someone who's wronged her and she wants a remedy and she wants this judge to give her justice. And so with verse four, says for a while he was unwilling. You can imagine it. The first time she comes asking, she doesn't even get past the secretary. But then she just keeps hanging around in the.

In the office. And he's thinking, I can't be bothered with you. You're just some poor widow. You've got nothing good for me. And it's the same.

The second time, it's the same. The third time, it's the same. The fourth time, we don't know how many times. But after maybe the 10th time, she really starts to annoy him. Like that fly in your bedroom at night.

You know what I'm talking about when you're trying to go to sleep. And so look at verse four again. It says for a while he was unwilling. But later he said to himself, even though I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice so she doesn't wear me out by her persistent coming. So by the 15th or the 20th time, like a child in the checkout queue, she gets her way.

Just to get rid of her, he gives in and answers her requests. Now at that point, I think we're meant to think, and I think Jesus wants us to Think, Hang on, Jesus. Are you seriously saying this? And this is the beauty, this is the incredible thing about Jesus parables. Hang on.

Is Jesus saying that God is like this unjust judge? Is Jesus really comparing God to this crook? Is he saying that God needs his arm twisted? That God doesn't actually care about things, but if you ask him enough, if you pray enough, God will give in? God is like me at the checkout with my kids, if you like.

Do you see how if you're willing, Jesus draws you in and he gets you to think, let's go on. Because Jesus point is actually sort of the opposite of that. Look at what he says at verse six. Then the Lord Jesus said, listen to what the unjust judge says. Do you notice how he keeps pointing that out?

This is an unjust judge. He's stressing that. See, his point isn't to say that God is in any way like this lowlife. His point is no. Even if this unjust, awful, selfish, hypocrite judge will eventually give people justice, if this unjust hypocrite will eventually give people justice, how much more will the loving and righteous and holy God of the universe want to give his people justice?

You see? How much more will the judge who loved the world by sending His Son to be our Saviour? How much more can you be certain that he will give his children justice? And so we come to verse 7. Go to verse 7.

Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? If you trust in Jesus, God has chosen you to be one of his children. That's what it means to be called his elect. There we are God's chosen children. And so his point here is, if an unjust judge will give justice to a widow he doesn't like, but who pesters him, then of course our loving Heavenly Father will grant justice to his children who call out to Him.

Of course he will answer our prayers for justice. Of course he will help us. But what is the answer that he is promising? This is not a promise to answer every prayer and to give you what you ask for if you ask often enough. He is promising to answer our prayers for Jesus to return.

And he is promising to answer our prayers to deal with the injustices of our fallen, broken world. His point is, God knows your pain if you are one of his little children living in this fallen, broken world, God hears the prayers of those who cry out to Him. Whatever pain, whatever persecution, whatever suffering suffering God's children suffer now, Jesus will return. And when he does, he will bring perfect justice. And part of that justice is that he will bring judgment on those who have rejected God.

And especially he will bring justice for those who have persecuted his people. Do you remember we saw a couple weeks ago where Jesus said for someone who leads one of my little ones astray, they would wish they had a millstone tied around their neck and be thrown into the ocean. You see, that is part of the justice God will bring. But he will also bring vindication and relief for his children, for those who trust Jesus. Now, I just want to pause at this point and make sure we've got this.

So two quick points at this point. The first is, I hope you can see this is not just a general prayer promise. This is not saying God is some genie who will give you your wishes if you just rub the jar enough or whatever, rub the lamp enough. It's not saying if you pester Job, if you pester God, I want a higher paying job. That God says, well, if you ask me enough, I'll give it to you.

Or even I want to be healed if I pray enough, God will do it for me. No, that is not what this is saying. And frankly, that is not the God I want to worship. Because if you think about it, who would want to worship a God who lets me, with my divided, sinful heart decide what is best for me? I want the God who knows what is best for me, even when I don't.

Secondly, I don't think it's even particularly a call to pray lots. As I say, if we walked away from today and people felt compelled to pray lots, that's a good outcome. But I don't think that's the point here. This actually assumes you will pray lots. You see, Jesus is sort of assuming here that Christians will pray to God.

Because if you know that God is your loving Father and you are living in this fallen, broken world, of course you will cry out to Him. Of course you'll praise Him. Of course you will thank him for his grace and forgiveness. Of course you will ask for his help. Prayer is faith in action.

Prayerlessness is faithlessness. You see, prayer is not something you add to faith. Prayer is the expression of faith. If we know the God who loves us, we will pray. When we don't pray, we're acting as if God is not real.

We're acting as if God is not relevant. The Christian doesn't pray to get what they want or to twist God's arm. We pray because we know God loves us and he is in control. That's why Even as we ask things of God, what did Jesus teach us to pray? What did he ask us to pray?

Not my will, but your will be done. Because prayer is not about twisting God's arm to do my will. Prayer is expressing our relationship to God and seeking his will. That is what it is. But the point here is, when we face injustice in this world, when we face suffering in this world, when sin and sinners seem to be winning, don't give up.

When it's hard to keep following Jesus, don't give up. Don't let it cause you to walk away from faith in Jesus. Don't let it make you stop praying. Instead, he says, keep crying out to God. Keep praying.

Keep asking him for help. And even if it seems like nothing changes, remember he will grant justice. Remember, if an unjust judge grants justice to an annoying widow, how much more will the God of the universe who loves us so much, grant justice to his chosen children? But there's one problem in this. Come with me again to the last part.

Look at verse seven and then verse eight. It says, will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Yes, but then it says, will he delay helping them? I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. What are we to make of the fact that it says there that God will not delay and that it then says he will swiftly grant his people justice?

What are we to make of the fact it's been 2000 years and Jesus hasn't returned? Well, there's a few answers to that. Some people, and probably the most common one, respond to make the point that Peter makes. Who would have been hearing this story in 2 Peter chapter 3, where he says, well, for the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. And we're told that any slowness in our conception of time is to give people the chance to repent and find salvation.

It's because God does not want to condemn our world. He wants to save it. So in God's timing, there is no delay. And I think that is absolutely true. But I don't think it's sufficient to answer what Jesus is talking about here.

Other people think it means when Jesus does return, there will be no messing around, it will be swift. The point is, it's not going to linger on forever. When Jesus comes back and he tells so many parables about this, doesn't he, there'll be a division, the sheep and the goats, light and darkness. And again, that is absolutely true. When Jesus returns, he will bring justice swiftly.

Both of those things are true. But I think there's a third element to it to add to those. I think Jesus is promising more than that. God does not delay in helping those who call out to him. He does not delay in helping those who cry out to Him.

But he doesn't always promise that. The answer is to remove the problem. The answer is to help you persevere to receive that justice. See, God doesn't just promise that Jesus will return. He promises to help us persevere to the end.

No matter what happens, he will help his children keep trusting Jesus until He returns. It's actually the promise he makes in John chapter 10. It'll come up on the screen where Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish.

No one will snatch them out of my hand. Isn't that a wonderful promise? Even when we struggle, God will hold on to his sheep. And that's his point here, I think. Don't get discouraged when life is hard.

Don't give up when being a Christian is hard. Don't get discouraged when people who ignore God seem to go through life with less struggles than people who follow Jesus. Well, even though you trust in Jesus, you're just struggling to hang on. God hears your prayers. God will help you persevere.

And ultimately, when Jesus returns, He will bring justice once and for all for his people. Which brings me to the final verse, my final point for this passage. See, Jesus was particularly worried here about us giving up because of suffering and persecution. Don't give up trusting God. Don't give up praying, no matter how hard life is.

And there are some of us here who really need that word. And can I tell you, I think these original apostles, these original disciples, they really needed this world. Cause every one of them other than John was martyred for their faith and would have been tempted to give up and say, no, no, no, no. And there are people in other parts of the world who are persecuted for their faith every day, who just to say, I am a Christian means you end up in jail or in fear for your life. That's sadly many parts of our world.

And you can imagine how encouraging a passage like this is. Don't stop crying out to me. God is listening. But there is another type of prayerlessness. There's another type of giving up.

And it's where we stop praying actually, because life is too good. It's where we drift away from Jesus. Because actually we're pretty secure and Comfortable in this world where we haven't heard that warning from chapter 17. And we're actually finding our security in this world. So we don't need to cry out to God, because actually, it's pretty good.

It's that wonderful proverb. You know, that proverb that we often talk about when we're talking about money, where it says to God, don't give me too much and don't give me too little, because if you give me too much in this world, I will forget you. It's a really wise prayer. He says, don't give me too little so that I end up stealing and dishonoring you. But if you give me too much, if I get too secure, if I get too comfortable, I won't cry out to you.

I'll live as if you don't exist. See, it's so powerful to put it in a New Testament setting. It might be God, don't let me get too secure. Don't let me get too comfortable. Otherwise I might stop praying because I have everything I need.

Otherwise I might forget you and not receive eternal life. So my point is prayerlessness and then walking away from Jesus. It doesn't just come because of suffering and persecution. In fact, often it's the opposite. Often suffering and persecution.

The people who face that, that really fires their faith. And they realize, wow, I need Jesus because this world is awful. You see, Actually, just as often, it happens because comfort and security make our Christian faith go cold. Which brings us to the last thing Jesus says in this little story. Having promised God will help us.

Having promised God will bring justice. He actually finishes, I think, with a really ominous question at verse eight. Come to verse eight. He says, nevertheless, despite all of this, when the Son of Man comes, when Jesus returns, will he find faith on earth? Isn't that a somber question?

It's a really powerful question. Yes. God is faithful. Jesus will return. God will bring justice for his people.

But sadly, many people, the majority of people, will be found faithless. Many, many people will not be found waiting for Jesus. Sadly, they have not taken up Jesus offer. They do not cry out to God. Sadly, for many people, God's justice will mean they face judgment without forgiveness.

More than anything, we need to pray for people to come to know Jesus so that when Jesus does return, he finds them trusting him. He finds faith on earth. But I think more than that, here Jesus is talking to his disciples. He's asking his disciples, which included people like Peter and John and included Judas. He's asking his disciples, will I find faith when I return.

And he's asking the same question of us. He's challenging us. He's saying, will I find you faithful when I return? Will you still be praying? Will I find you trusting me?

Cause that is the point of this story. Do not give up. Keep trusting God. Keep praying. Keep waiting in faith until Jesus returns.

So, yes, pray. Never stop praying. And if you struggle to pray, talk to me. Let's work out how to help you learn how to pray. But not because we can twist God's arm.

Not because God is some crooked judge who needs to be cajoled into helping you. You don't need to wear God down with your persistence. No, we pray always because we are God's chosen people. We are his children, who he loves. Why would we not call out to Him?

And what should our prayer be more than anything else? Come, Lord Jesus. That's what we should pray. Come, Lord Jesus. Let's be people who live ready and waiting, who are found trusting in Jesus when He returns.

Let me pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the certain promise that Jesus is returning and that on that day he will bring justice once and for all. And as we face both the trials and tribulations as well as the joys of this world, we pray that we would not forget you, that we would keep crying out to you, and in particular, that we would look forward to that day and we would cry out, come, Lord Jesus, come. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.