Sunday, October 17, 2010

Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

LUKE 18:1-8
I HAVE A GRANDSON WHO HAS NO FEAR. IF THERE IS A BICYCLE TO BE RIDDEN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, HE'LL DO IT. IF A BANISTER NEEDS TO BE SLID DOWN, HE'S THERE. SOMETIMES HE ROLLS DOWN THE STAIRS AND YOU WONDER WHY HE DIDN'T BREAK SOMETHING. MY OTHER GRANDCHILDREN ARE LIVELY AND ENERGETIC, BUT THEY ALL HAVE A NATURAL CAUTION. THERE IS A REAL DIFFERENCE HERE.
ONCE IN A WHILE YOU MEET A PERSON WHO HAS NO FEAR. AND THAT IS A WONDERFUL WAY TO BE, I GUESS. I'M NOT ONE OF THEM. FEAR IS SOMETHING THAT CONTROLS MOST PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR. WE FEAR BEING POOR, HEARING A POLICE SIREN BEHIND US AS WE DRIVE, HAVING THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE SET UP AN APPOINTMENT TO MEET WITH US. WE FEAR PEOPLE LAUGHING AT US, IGNORING US, GETTING ANGRY WITH US; WE FEAR INJURY, SICKNESS, DEATH. AND MANY PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY EXERCISE THEIR POWER BY STIRRING UP THOSE FEARS WHICH ARE JUST BELOW THE SURFACE IN MOST OF US.
BUT THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE WITHOUT FEAR, PEOPLE WHO RACE CARS FOR A LIVING, PEOPLE WHO WORK IN DANGEROUS OCCUPATIONS; PEOPLE WHO AREN'T AFRAID TO GO AGAINST THE PREVAILING CULTURAL OR POLITICAL ATTITUDES. I THINK OF LIU XIAOBO, WHO JUST WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND WHO IS SERVING A PRISON TERM IN CHINA FOR ACTIVITIES PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS. WHAT COURAGE IT MUST TAKE TO STAND UP TO POWER KNOWING THAT YOU MIGHT SPEND MUCH OF YOUR LIFE IN PRISON, OR POSSIBLY EVEN BE EXECUTED. OF COURSE WHEN WE SAY “NO FEAR”, WE PROBABLY DON'T REALLY MEAN NO FEAR, WE MEAN PEOPLE WHO CAN ACT AS THOUGH THEY HAVE NO FEAR.
IN JESUS' TIME AND LONG BEFORE, ONE OF THE MOST HELPLESS OF PEOPLE WAS A WIDOW. A WOMAN BELONGED TO HER FATHER UNTIL SHE WAS GIVEN IN MARRIAGE. THEN SHE BELONGED TO HER HUSBAND. IF THINGS FOLLOWED THEIR NORMAL COURSE, SHE WOULD HAVE CHILDREN, AND THAT WOULD GIVE HER SOME ASSURANCE OF BEING CARED FOR IN THE EVENT THAT HER HUSBAND PASSED AWAY. BUT IF SHE HAD NO CHILDREN AND HER HUSBAND DIED, SHE WOULD DEPEND ON THE CHARITY OF RELATIVES AND STRANGERS, AND HAD NO OTHER PROSPECTS; SHE COULDN'T EARN A LIVING, HAD NO SOCIAL SECURITY, AND UNLESS SHE WERE YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, SHE WAS UNLIKELY TO FIND ANOTHER HUSBAND. NO WONDER THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS MENTION WIDOWS, ALONG WITH ORPHANS AND RESIDENT ALIENS WHEN THEY WANT TO GIVE EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO ARE MOST HELPLESS.
IN THE PARABLE WE JUST HEARD, OUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE JUDGE; JESUS SEEMS TO BE COMPARING HIM TO GOD IN A WAY. IF YOU CAN GET A JUDGE WHO DOES NOT FEAR GOD OR MAN TO RENDER A JUDGMENT IN YOUR FAVOR BY BROWBEATING HIM, HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU GET GOD TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS? BUT IS THAT WHAT JESUS IS REALLY SAYING? IS GOD REALLY AN UNJUST JUDGE? CAN WE CHANGE GOD'S MIND BY WEARING HIM DOWN WITH OUR PRAYERS? BUT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE LISTENING TO JESUS WERE PROBABLY MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN THE WIDOW. FIRST OF ALL, SHE'S WAY OUT OF CHARACTER; SHE IS PUSHY. SECOND, SHE IS VERY CLEARLY NOT INTIMIDATED; SHE CALLS HER OPPONENT AN “ADVERSARY” WHICH IMPLIES THAT THERE IS MORE THAN A DISAGREEMENT HERE. SHE IS IMPLYING THAT HER OPPONENT IS EVIL AND WRONGHEADED. THE WORD THE WIDOW USES HERE IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE WORD THAT IS TRANSLATED AS “SATAN” WHEN JESUS SAYS TO PETER, “GET BEHIND ME, SATAN.” THIRD, THE JUDGE MAY NOT RESPECT GOD OR MAN, BUT THE WIDOW DOES NOT EVEN RESPECT THE JUDGE. FOURTH, THE THE WOMAN IS INTIMIDATING TO THE JUDGE; HE WORRIES THAT SHE WILL STRIKE HIM. IN SOME OTHER TRANSLATIONS HE WORRIES THAT SHE WILL WEAR HIM DOWN. BUT CLEARLY THE JUDGE RECOGNIZES WHO IS SUPERIOR HERE.
MAYBE THE WIDOW IS GOD. MAYBE GOD CALLS OUT TO HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN AND THE POOR, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, UNTIL HIS PEOPLE, YOU AND I FINALLY START TO REALLY LISTEN, AND FINALLY RENDER JUSTICE TO THEM. MAYBE YOU AND I ARE THE ADVERSARIES HERE, AS A WHOLE WORLD OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS, OUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS, WATCH FROM THEIR POVERTY AS WE ENJOY THE GOOD THINGS OF LIFE.
THE UNJUST JUDGE DOESN'T FEAR GOD OR RESPECT MAN; BUT THE WIDOW WEARS HIM DOWN EVENTUALLY. WILL WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE WORN DOWN BY THE VOICES OF THE POOR AND HELPLESS? BECAUSE GOD IS ON THEIR SIDE, YOU KNOW. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AND GOD WILL RENDER JUSTICE IF WE DON'T, AND IT WON'T BE GOOD FOR US.
AND I THINK THE LAST STATEMENT OF JESUS MAKES MORE SENSE IF WE READ THE STORY IN THIS WAY; BECAUSE JESUS WONDERS ALOUD WHETHER HE WILL FIND FAITH ON EARTH WHEN HE RETURNS; AND FAITH IS NOT BELIEF, BUT BELIEF WHICH RESULTS IN ACTION. WILL JESUS FIND FAITH OF THIS SORT?
GOD WON'T STOP CRYING OUT THROUGH THE POOREST OF THE POOR FOR JUSTICE ON THEIR BEHALF. EVEN AN UNJUST, CORRUPT JUDGE IN HIS STORY FINALLY RELENTS AND TREATS HER JUSTLY. WILL WE HEAR THE CRY OF THE WIDOW AND RENDER JUSTICE? OR ARE WE EVEN MORE CORRUPT, MORE UNJUST, THAN THE JUDGE IS?
IN THE BEGINNING, JESUS SAYS THAT IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO PRAY ALWAYS, SINCE THE ALTERNATIVE IS TO LOSE HEART, TO BECOME WEARY. IF WE PRAY ALWAYS, WE WILL RECOGNIZE THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN, AND OUR CONSCIENCES WILL BE SENSITIVE TO THEIR PLIGHT. IF WE DON'T PRAY ALWAYS WE WILL CLOSE IN ON OURSELVES AND GRADUALLY LOSE THE BONDS WE HAVE WITH THOSE AROUND US, AND WITH GOD. AND WE WILL BECOME UNJUST JUDGES, EVEN MORE THAN THE MAN WE MEET IN THIS STORY, BECAUSE HE REPENTED AND FINALLY YIELDED TO GOD'S CRY. BUT IT COULD BE THAT WE WONT.