Luke 18:1-8 "Will Jesus find you waiting?" (Carlton 9:00am)

Hello, everyone. It's great to see you all. There are some people who are just great storytellers. There are people who. There are other people who are not great storytellers, and they can make something really interesting sound really boring.

But there are some people who are just great storytellers. And there's something about them where the way they tell a story, the sort of stories they tell, they just capture you. And whatever else Jesus is, and he is many things, our Savior, the son of God, whatever else he is, he is a great storyteller. What is it about a storyteller or a good story that makes it work? I think often it's that the story has something unexpected.

There's a twist in the tale. There's something that throws you or makes you think. I think that's part of a good story. It doesn't. You can't guess where it's always going to go the moment the person starts telling it.

And that's what Jesus does. He draws people in with a story, but then makes them think with something surprising. Why did Jesus teach in parables so much, do you think? Why did Jesus teach with stories so much? I think people often assumed he taught in that way to make it easier for people to understand.

And whenever I ask people, you know, why did Jesus teach parables? They say, oh, well, what he's doing is he's using a point from everyday life to connect to people, to make it memorable for people. And some of his little stories are like that, I think. So if you think about it, the one build your house on the rock, not the sand. You all know the story, you all know the songs.

Build your house on the rock, not the sand. It's. Everyone gets it straight away. They go, yeah, absolutely. What are you saying is a wise person builds their life on the foundation of Jesus.

They build their life on the foundation of Jesus. Faith in Jesus. Just a simple point. But just as often, Jesus parables don't actually make it easier to understand. At first hearing.

Jesus actually says at points that he teaches in parables to make it less clear for people, which makes us think, what? But he actually talks about how he teaches in parables to make it less clear for people, at least initially, often. And what he's doing is he is drawing people in to make them think and then twisting things in such a way to work out, are they willing to do the hard work of working out what he's saying. And in fact, often he says, my parables harden people's hearts as much as they open people's hearts because people who don't want to interact with Jesus, don't want to grapple with it, walk away and say, I can't be bothered. So often Jesus will say something outlandish to really make people grapple with it.

We saw that a couple of weeks ago with the story of the dishonest manager. Do you remember that one? You know, was Jesus really saying he wants us to be like con artists, he wants us to be like the crook he commends in the story. And I know that that parable worked because now, several weeks later, I'm still having conversations with people about that parable, even after it's been preached on and talked about. Today, I think is another one of those parables.

And this one will make us think on two levels. Firstly, because at first read, I think you think you know what it's saying. I think that's the thing. But then you listen more. You, if you're willing to listen and you realise maybe I've actually got that wrong.

It's subtly different to what I thought it was saying. And then secondly, more than that, it really makes us think, is Jesus really comparing God this time, not us, God, to a dishonest, corrupt judge. So let's look at this next parable of Jesus. But I'll pray for us first. Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus has spoken to us and we thank you for these wonderful parables that we've been seeing so many of over recent weeks in Luke's gospel. We thank you for the way they have challenged people and made people think and in particular helped people who are willing to grapple with them to understand the kingdom of God and understand what it is to follow Jesus. And we pray that this parable might do that for us this morning. In Jesus name, Amen. I don't know about your experience of children, but I think most children are born experts in what I call the dripping tap form of water torture.

That's at least my experience. You might know perfect children, but I was going to say, even as adults, my children aren't bad at it. But when you went to the shops, whenever you go to the shops with a small child, it just begins straight away, you know, Can I have a chocolate bar? No. What about that chocolate bar?

No. What about a donut? No. What about McDonald's? No.

What about soft drinks? No. What about chips? No.

Were my children? I was going to say were, but are my children alone in this? It's relentless, it's persistent, it's hard to resist. And truth be told, there have been occasions where despite all my determination, I give in generally. Because actually, I wouldn't mind a doughnut too.

So I figure if I'm going to have one, they need to get one. And that's what this story seems to be about. And I've heard it taught that way many times. It's about persistence in prayer. Ask God enough and he will give.

Is that actually what Jesus is saying in this parable? I mean, learning to persist in prayer is a great point. And if you walked away thinking, I'm going to pray more, that'd be a pretty good morning, I think. But I think Jesus is saying something more than that, something subtly different to that. So let's look at it and see.

Now, this story, this parable isn't one where you have to ask, why did he tell the story? Because we're told up front. Look at me at verse one 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. He wants us to keep praying no matter what.

And he wants us to not give up or not get discouraged is another way of saying that. But what does he want us to keep praying for? And for that matter, when he says don't give up, what might we be giving up? Well, just before this story, Jesus has been talking about how the kingdom of God will come. So we saw this last week in chapter 17.

He's explained how, first of all, he himself will be rejected and killed. And then we, his disciples, we will have to live in this world, waiting for the King to return. That was the point in chapter 17 last week. And Jesus explained how while we wait, there will be struggles, there will be pains for God's people, there will be suffering, there will be injustices. And so given that, we might be tempted to give up.

Here we are trying to live for Jesus, but it's really hard. And as you live for Jesus for 10 years, for 20 years, for 30 years, for 60 years, it's really tempting to just give up. And other people who don't care about God, they seem to be doing well. They seem to be living an alright life. Sometimes they actually do better than Christian people.

Often, in fact, they seem to have the same struggles as us in some ways. But we have more struggles because we're trying to follow Jesus. Now, of course, we know up here, we know that's all an illusion. We know up here that actually, no, no, no, no, we are looking forward to something so much better than anything we will miss out on in this world for following Jesus. If you're a Christian, you know that in your brain you know that up here you know that.

Look at chapter 17, verse 33 from last week where he says, whoever tries to make his life secure in this world will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. You know the point Jesus is making. We know that people who live for this world and ignore God will actually face God's judgment into eternity. And we know that as we live for Jesus now, we might miss out on things. And in this life, or at least perceive that we miss out on things.

We might face struggles, but we have eternal life with our world to look forward to. But the longer this world goes on, the longer it goes and the longer it is that Jesus has not returned. And the longer you live the life of a disciple of Jesus, the more likely we are to get discouraged, the more likely we are to give up to say, actually, I'd rather have worldly security for this life than live for the life to come. The more we're tempted to seek things in this life and sadly to lose the life that matters, the more we're tempted to give up on our faith in Jesus and drift away from following 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 is not saying, keep praying for whatever it is you want and eventually God will have his arm twisted and he'll give it to you. He's actually saying, no, no, no. You keep trusting God. You keep looking forward to the return of Jesus, which will mean you will keep crying out to God for him to bring the justice that is sadly lacking in our fallen, broken world.

Don't give up. That's actually the point of this story. So now let's look at the story. Come with me. Look.

From verse two, it says there was a judge in a certain town who didn't fear God or respect people. The idea is this guy is not very nice. When it says he doesn't fear God, it means he doesn't care about how he acts. And actually, Jesus is just telling a little story here, but it's actually the problem of sin in our world that people who do not believe there is a God do not believe that they're ultimately accountable for their actions beyond this life. He doesn't care more than that.

He doesn't respect people. He doesn't care how he treats people. But this widow just keeps coming and pestering him. She's seeking justice in her legal case. She's been wronged in some way.

She wants the judge to make a ruling. And so look at verse four. It says, for a while he was unwilling. So the first time she asked, he just can't be bothered doing anything. What do I care?

I don't care what people think of me. Don't care what God thinks. She's just a widow. Don't care. And then she comes again, the second time, the third time, the fourth time, and we don't know how many times.

But after maybe the 10th time, she really starts to annoy him. She's like that fly that gets into your bedroom and buzzes around just as you're trying to get to sleep. And so look at verse four again. 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, whatever it is, time.

Like a child in the checkout queue, she gets her way. He buys her the doughnut just to get rid of her. He grants her request and gives her justice. Now, at this point, I think most of us, and what Jesus wants us to do, this is that drawing in with the twist, most of us think, hang on. And as I say, this is the beauty of Jesus parables.

Hang on. Is Jesus saying God is like this unjust judge? Is he saying God needs his arm twisted? He doesn't really want to give us justice, but if you twist his arm enough, he will. He's just saying if you pray enough, God will give in.

God is like, you know, the bad Father in the checkout queue, if I can put it that way. You see how if you're willing, Jesus draws you in and gets you thinking with his parables. Well, let's go on. Because Jesus point is actually sort of the opposite. Look at what Jesus says in verse six.

Then the Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge says. Do you notice how he stresses that? Again, this is an unjust judge who does this. See, his point isn't to say God is in any way like this low life. He's not saying God is in any way.

No. His point is, if even an unjust, biased, selfish hypocrite like this judge will eventually give you justice, well, how much more will the loving and righteous and holy God want to give his people justice? How much More will the judge who loved the world by sending His Son to be our Savior. How much more will he give his children justice? And so we come to verse seven.

Go to verse seven, he says, will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? He's saying, if you trust in Jesus, God has chosen you to be one of his children. That's what it means when he calls us his elect there, that we've been chosen by God to be his children. And so his point 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 the loving God of the universe will answer the prayers of his children.

Of course he will help us. But what is the answer that he is promising? This is not a promise to answer every prayer if you just ask enough. That's not what it is. He's promising to answer our prayers for Jesus to return and deal with the injustice of our fallen, broken world.

That's what it's a promise of. His point is, God knows the pain of his children. God knows the pain of his children living in a fallen, broken world, waiting for the return of Christ to bring true justice once and for all. God hears the prayers of his children who cry out to Him. Whatever pain, whatever persecution, whatever suffering that 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 for those who have rejected God. And especially he will bring judgment for those who have led his children astray or persecuted his children. Like we saw just a couple of weeks ago. When Jesus says it will be worse to have a millstone around your neck and thrown into the ocean.

It will be worse than that if you persecute my little children or lead my little children astray. But Jesus will bring vindication and he will bring relief for those who trust Him. Now I just want to pause at this point and make sure we've got this. So two quick points. First is I hope you see that this is not just a general prayer promise.

This is not saying God is like a genie who will give you what you want if you just pester him enough. I want a higher paying job. If I pray enough, God will give me it. Sadly, there are many forms of modern Christianity that that's the God they paint. That's the God they say we follow that he, if you just ask him enough, he will Give you if you have enough faith.

I want to be healed. If I pray enough, God will do it. That is not what this is saying. And frankly, that is not the God I want to worship. Think about it.

I do not want a God who lets me, in my often selfish sinfulness, decide what is best for me. I want the God who knows what is best for me and gives me that. Secondly, I don't think it's even particularly a prayer, a call to pray more. I mean, if we walked away from this passage, as I said before, just deciding to pray more, that's a pretty good outcome. But I think we'd have missed the point.

Jesus is sort of assuming. If you are a Christian and you are struggling in this fallen, broken world, you will pray. You will cry out to God. Because if you know that God is your loving Father, of course you will pray. Of course you will talk to Him.

Of course you will praise Him. Of course you will seek his grace and forgiveness. Of course you'll be asking for his help. Prayer is faith in action. That's what it is.

That is what it is. Prayer is faith lived out. If we know God and His love for us, we will pray. Jesus is just assuming that when we don't pray, we're acting as if God is not part of the equation and he's irrelevant. The Christian doesn't pray to twist God's arm.

The Christian doesn't even pray to get what we want. That is not prayer. That's why even as we ask for things, what did Jesus teach us to say? Not my will, but yours be done. That's what the crucible.

Because we know. Actually, I can ask for what I think I need, but God knows better. And God loves me more. That's how Jesus taught us to pray. But the point here is, when you face injustice in this world, when we face suffering in this world, when sin and sinners seem to be winning, when God's people seem to be losing, when it is hard to keep following Jesus, don't give up.

Don't let it cause you to walk away from Jesus. Don't let it stop you praying. Instead, keep crying out to God and know that he is listening. Keep asking him for help. And even if it seems like nothing changes, remember he will grant justice.

Remember, he will help his children. But there is one problem in this. Look at verse 7 again, and then verse 8. Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Yes.

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 won't delay and that it says that 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? The problem is actually clearly built into the parable Jesus tells because he presumes you're spending a long time crying out like the widow in the story.

So which one is it? Some people respond to that and make the point. It's the point that 2 Peter chapter 3 makes, that for the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. So any slowness of God sending Jesus to return is to give more people time to repent and find salvation. And that is an absolutely true point in God's timing.

There is no delay. Absolutely true. I don't think it's totally what he's saying here, though. Other people think it means when Jesus does return, there will be no messing around. So that when Jesus does return, it will be swift.

And Jesus tells lots of parables about that. Everyone will be divided, the sheep and the goats. There will be judgment and glory. They are the answers. But I think Jesus is promising more than that.

I think that's part of what Jesus is promising. But God will bring justice. And God does. The point is God will bring justice then, but he does not delay now helping those who call out to him. Because God doesn't just promise us that Jesus will return.

He also promises to help us persevere to the end. He promises to help us stand no matter what happens. He will help his children keep trusting him until he returns. It's that promise Jesus makes in John 10. It'll come up on the screen where he says, my sheep.

Another way of talking about his children or his elect. 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 I think that's part of the answer here, along with those other points he's saying, 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 seem to ignore Jesus do better in life than followers of Jesus do.

God hears your prayers, and God hears them now, and he will help you persevere. And ultimately, when Jesus returns, he will bring justice once and for all for his people, which brings us to the final verse and my final point for our passage. Jesus was 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. That was sort of the encouragement.

But there is another type of prayerlessness, and I think it's more of a problem in the modern Western church. You see the person hearing this in a country where Christians are oppressed every day they hear this and they go, yeah, I will keep crying out for justice. I think many modern Western Christians don't ever cry out for justice other than for third parties in other parts of the world, because we don't actually feel that much injustice, personally. You see, there is a type of prayer where we give up, a type of prayerlessness, sorry, where we give up because life is too good. It's where we drift away from Jesus because actually we're pretty secure and comfortable in this world.

There's that wonderful proverb that says, don't give me too much or too little, otherwise I might have too much and forget the Lord. Don't give me too little so that I do not dishonor the Lord by stealing. I think that captures the two sides of the coins to put in a New Testament setting. It might be God, don't let me get too secure in this world. God, don't let me get too comfortable so that I've got everything already in this world.

Otherwise I might stop praying because I think actually I've got everything I need. Actually, I might stop praying because actually I don't feel that this fallen, broken world is that bad. Otherwise I might forget you and not receive eternal life. My point is prayerlessness and then walking away from Jesus. It doesn't just come because of suffering and persecution.

If anything, that often causes us to cry out to God more. It's often actually comfort and security that are the greater threats to the Christian life. Which brings us to the last thing Jesus says in his little story. Having promised that God will listen to us, that he will help us, that God will bring justice, he finishes with a really, I think, ominous question at the end. Go to verse 8.

He then says, nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? It's a really powerful question, isn't it? Yes, God is faithful. Yes, God will send Jesus to bring justice for his people. But sadly, many people, the majority of people even won't be found waiting for Jesus.

Sadly, they haven't taken up Jesus offer. They don't cry out to God. Sadly for many people. God's justice will mean that they face judgment rather than forgiveness. More than anything, we need to pray for people to come to know Jesus so that he finds them waiting for Him.

Isn't that right? We want people to be found trusting in Him. But I think more than that, Jesus challenging his disciples with this final question. He's challenging us here. If you are a follower of Jesus, Jesus is saying, will I find you faithful?

Will you be someone who has been crying out, will I find you still praying? Will I find you still trusting me? And that is the point of this story. Don't give up. Don't be like Judas who was standing there that day listening to this story, but threw it all away.

Keep trusting God. Keep praying. Keep waiting in faith until Jesus returns. So, yes, pray. If you struggle to pray, talk to me.

Let's see if we can help you learn how to pray more. But not because you can twist God's arm. God isn't some crooked judge, needs to have his arm twisted. 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. And we are longing for Jesus to return. So what should our prayer be more than anything else? Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus.

Let's be people who live ready and waiting for him to return. Amen.