Thursday Devotion: Luke 18:1-8

In today's world we are in a constant battle for something: peace, love, justice, friendship, money. You name it, we can find plenty of reasons to complain that we do not have enough to quench our insatiable hunger or thirst for the things of this world. However, what about those whose thirst and hunger are never quenched? What about those who have never experienced love, abundance, or friendship? They battle harder, longer and more fervently and yet they gain nothing.

The hungry remain hungry.
The thirsty remain thirsty.
The poor remain poor.
The dead remain dead.

Who are we, then, to say what is the right course of action for those who battle? We are doing them no favors when we cast unfair judgements upon the heads of those we do not know. Jesus would have us love our neighbors, doing the little things for the least of them.

In this week's text we see a judge who gets fed up with the complaining of a woman--she wants justice. She doesn't quit. She doesn't give up. She shouts constantly. Instead of seeing God as an unfair judge, let us see God as the advocate for those who need us the most. Standing with them in the trenches of their daily wars. That's where you find God, and the power of the resurrection.

Amen.

Luke 18:1-8 New International Version (NIV)

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”