( Luke 18:1-8 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Akündigungen637.69 KB ]
Dear congregation, the parents among us know what I am talking about. You go to the supermarket with your children or better yet: to Toys R us... and actually you didn't want to buy anything for the little ones, ... But then... Mom, can I get this? You're welcome... Askyou to... and they look at you with their big eyes... And actually, you want to stay tough... but, well, you buy it, so that the dear soul has peace.
Reading Sermon text Luke 18, 1-8 (Basic Bible)
Dear congregation, in contrast to my story from everyday life with children, this is a parable that Jesus tells. The initial situation is very similar. Luke himself gives the theme of the parable right at the beginning: it is about not letting up in asking and begging, sticking to prayer.
There are prayers that I only say because I have to. Sometimes here in the service, because everyone does. Sometimes in the evening. Because I think that's the way it should be. Sometimes it is simply good to enter into pre-formulated prayers, because I myself am at a loss for words and I feel part of a large community with the words that were there centuries before me and will outlast me.
But there are also prayers in which I place a personal, an urgent request. In times of silence, at home and also here in the divine service. Prayers with which I bring my concern, my requests and wishes before God.
Jesus now tells this parable.
The widow has a very serious concern. Presumably, it is a matter of inheritance. And this widow seems to be very persistent. Over and over again she presses the judge. He does not care about this widow, nor about God, by the way, and he rejects her several times. At that time, a woman, a widow at that, was not worth bringing her concerns before the judge. But she didn't give up. She wants to be right. And then? Then it becomes too much for him. He grants the widow the desired right. But not because he cares about justice. No: he is annoyed by the widow, does not want to have trouble with her – he is even afraid that she will beat him. So she doesn't let up, and he wants to have his peace. The widow gets what she wants, simply because she does not stop asking and pressuring the judge.
Each and every one of us has our own personal concerns. Maybe it's a disease that bothers us. Maybe a professional situation that could cost us our jobs. An important interpersonal relationship that is on the verge of failure. The situations are diverse. All of them are suitable to bring them urgently and again and again before God. Just like the widow. Over and over again. And then we wait for our requests and wishes to be heard. And sometimes it works out the way I want it to. I get well again, a misfortune is averted or a situation does not become as bad as I feared. But prayers are not magic. And that is why we often experience that our most intense prayer does not lead to the desired success. Our prayer then remains seemingly unanswered.
Some then give up because God does not seem to answer their prayers. Just the way they wanted it.
But Jesus encourages us with his parable: not to give up. To bring our concerns before God again and again. Because he wants a relationship with us. In prayer we place our trust in God. Sometimes we give thanks, sometimes we ask, sometimes we complain, sometimes we scream and cry. God can cope with all this. But to stay tuned, even if our wishes were not fulfilled, that is difficult and important. It is not always possible to explain why a prayer wish has remained unfulfilled. It is also pointless to worry about it. Often there are no discernible obstacles for us and yet God does not answer us. Or he doesn't do it the way we want it to.
That is why I find this line in the Lord's Prayer so good and so important and right: Your will be done. Not mine. Yours. Because I know that God wants to prove me right. But in his own way. Not on mine. Prayer means that I give my worries, my requests, my desires. And make them his. I put everything in God's hands and that relieves me because sometimes things just get too hard for me. Prayers are precious.
Constant prayer can lead to making a situation that seems difficult, perhaps hopeless, bearable. We can experience in prayer the source of strength that makes us endure, because the world, because my world is not or not yet as it should be. And our prayer allows us to experience a quiet time
And even if our prayer does not seem to change anything externally, the thought that Albert Schweitzer once put in a nutshell remains: "Prayers do not change the world. But they change people, and they change the world."
But all this also includes a good portion of faith. Praying also means trusting in God's great promise. It means thinking and hoping about oneself and – as crazy as it sounds – beyond the borders of this world.
when the Son of Man comes, will he find such faith on earth?
Do we continue to have the strength to carry our concerns before God as persistently as the widow? Or did we give up out of disappointment?
Many people today have a problem believing in what they can neither see nor touch. Far too quickly they are a little further away from faith if the fulfillment of wishes and requests does not succeed. And in such situations, Jesus speaks. persistent pleading is worthwhile. For the widow it was worth it. It can encourage us to hold fast to the faith, to pray and ask constantly. Praying helps us endure what seems unbearable.
And so one insight remains: As a rule, we can eliminate the pleading and jostling among people relatively easily. By the children simply get this toy and parents have their peace.
Our concerns, which only God but no human being can take care of, can and are often not fulfilled immediately. They often have a meaning other than that of fulfilment.
Namely, to bring my life into conversation with my God.
His promise is valid: He will soon help us to our right!
Amen.
