Jess Moody, pastor of the First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, needed a secluded place to study one night. He decided on the sound booth of the church. He was engrossed in his studies when suddenly he heard two boys talking loudly, laughing, cursing in the sanctuary. “Why don’t you go up into the pulpit where that blankety blankety preacher gives his sermon,” one of them said loudly, “and ask those blankety blankety deacons to take up an offering so you can buy a new car?”
Pastor Moody was horrified. He wasn’t sure what he should do.
Then he remembered he was in the sound booth. He turned the volume on the church’s sound system to full blast. The boys stood on the stage continuing to pretend to preach while cursing like sailors in the beautiful chapel. Suddenly a voice boomed through the sound system, “I am the Lord your God . . . You shall have no other gods before me.”
“You should have seen their faces!,” says Jess Moody. “They tucked their tails and ran, and all I saw were two shirttails flying around the corner of the building . . .” Then Jess Moody adds with tongue in cheek, “Those boys are now on the mission field, having heard the call of God in the night!” (Not really) (1)
Some of you may have seen a billboard that is popping up around the country. It features a simple black background with white text with this stark message on it: “Don’t make me come down there. ‑- God.”
It is part of an ad campaign that includes other supposed messages from on high such as:
Let’s meet at my house Sunday before the game. ‑- God;
What part of “Thou Shalt Not . . .” didn’t you understand? ‑- God;
We need to talk. ‑- God
That “Love Thy Neighbor” thing . . . I meant it. ‑- God
You think it’s hot here? ‑- God
I don’t know if that campaign is making any difference. It’s amusing, but sometimes I wonder what kind of image of God it is portraying.
And yet I thought of that billboard, “Don’t make me come down there” when I read today’s lesson from Luke about the widow who kept harassing the judge.
You remember the story. Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”
It’s a wonderful story about not giving up. About persistence in prayer. But have you read THE REST OF THE STORY.
Jesus continues, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 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? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
This is a story not only about persistence in prayer, it is a story about justice and about God’s plan for God’s world. In effect, Jesus is having God say, “Don’t make me come down there. I will not ignore the cries of those who are being oppressed, those who are being exploited, those who are being abused. I hear their prayers and I will not forever abide the injustice that they are experiencing.”
It’s not a popular theme like persistence or prayer, but let’s talk about justice.
Pastor Ed Markquart of Seattle tells a story of two brothers, Billy and Bobby. The story will sound familiar to many of us, because it is lived out in so many relationships we see around us. Billy, the older brother, has everything going for him. He is smart, popular, athletic, handsome. And he is always in charge at home. What he says, goes.
Bobby, on the other hand, does not receive the blessings that we assume make for a happy life. He is mildly handicapped, shy, not athletic. Nothing comes easily for Bobby. Bobby always lives in the shadow of his brother’s successes.
One day, the boys’ mother makes three cinnamon rolls for breakfast. This is the boys’ favorite treat. They each have one roll, but it’s not enough to satisfy their craving. When Mom steps out of the room, Billy announces that he is taking the last cinnamon roll. He is older and smarter and he gets to choose. And so he snatches that roll off the plate and devours it in front of his disappointed little brother. This goes on day after day, and Bobby becomes more and more frustrated.
Before we go on, let’s get one thing straight: Billy is not a bad person. He is not out to hurt his brother. He is like all of us--determined to look out for #1, so focused on our own fulfillment that we don’t notice the injustices we leave in our wake. Billy used his age and strength to get what he wanted, without looking out for the needs of his weaker brother.
But the boys’ mother soon becomes wise to the situation. She knows that it is important to treat both boys fairly. She also understands that sometime the Bobbies of this world need to be protected from the Billies. So the next time she cuts the third cinnamon roll in half and gives one half to each of the boys. She ensures that they are both treated equally, and that no resentment or aggression springs up between them.
Likewise with God, God is just; God’s will is that the Bobbies of life will be protected from the Billies of life. (2)
That’s what justice is, and it is a very important part of the biblical message. This woman in Jesus’ parable came to the judge and pleaded with him to give her justice. Someone was doing her wrong. And the judge heeded her request. And Jesus says that the Judge of the universe is like that judge. One day God will set the world right. God will intervene on the part of the Bobbies of the world so that they no longer will be taken advantage of by the Billies.
In fact, biblically, it is impossible to overstate this truth: God hates injustice. It is a constant theme throughout the scriptures, but particularly in the writings of the prophets. God hates injustice. And here is what we need to see: God’s people ought to hate injustice as well.
We’re told that the early 1900s were a time of harsh labor practices in Canada, just as in the United States. Employees worked 70 or more hours each week for low wages. Workers had no guaranteed vacation time. The inequities of the labor market led to riots and other unrest.
A pastor and newspaper editor named J. S. Woodsworth wrote an article calling for fair treatment and fair wages for laborers. Upon the article’s publication, J. S. Woodsworth was arrested and thrown in jail.
The next day, Woodsworth’s paper issued another article on the labor situation in Canada. It was titled, “Editor Arrested for Quoting the Prophet Isaiah.” Woodsworth wrote that his earlier article had been based entirely on the ideas of justice, equality, and mercy found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. These were not his ideas, he was saying. These were God’s ideas. God cares about justice and fair play.
It is said, by the way, that J.S. Woodsworth’s life and beliefs could be summed up by the words on his tombstone: “There is still time to build a better world.” (3)
We need to understand that God hates all injustice and that God calls His people to hate injustice as well.
We can see it in our own land. We allowed racial injustice to fester like an infected wound for 200 or so years. It may be another 200 years before we finish dealing with the consequences of that injustice. It does not take a rocket scientist to trace how many societal problems are due even now to our earlier mistreatment of our African-American brothers and sisters.
I’m no Mideast scholar, but I wonder how many of our problems with disaffected people in the Middle East are caused not by religion, but by the western nations’ willingness to exploit the resources of Arab nations. Don’t forget, it was westerners who drew the boundaries of that part of the world in the first place. We were the ones who put Saddam Hussein in power. Chickens come home to roost, the ancient adage says, and they do. Take any injustice in the world today, wherever it may be, and there is a price that must be paid. That’s the promise of scripture. God hates injustice wherever it occurs.
Listen to me. If you are being bullied in school, God knows about it and God hates it. If you are being harassed in the workplace, for any reason, God hates it. If you are being taken advantage of--or if you are taking unfair advantage of someone else--there will be a day of reckoning. If there is anyone anywhere praying for God to intervene and put an end to their oppression, eventually that prayer will be heard and that which is wrong will be set right. That’s the promise of Scripture.
Now, where does that leave us? Let me tell you a story.
A young black man asked his minister why their people had to suffer so much poverty, hardship, and oppression. “Why doesn’t God do something?” he wailed.
“He has,” said that wise pastor. “He has created you.”
And so Desmond Tutu, now the archbishop of South Africa, became the answer to his own question.
That’s a good lesson for you and me. While we are waiting for God to bring in a perfect and just society, you and I are God’s answer to the injustice in our world. That’s what it means to take up a cross and follow Jesus. It’s not a comfortable position to be in. It’s not popular. But it is Christ’s way.
Bible teacher Fred Craddock tells about a young pastor who delivered a spiritual talk on the Bible verse, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you.”
An elderly African-American gentleman stood up and said, “Until you have stood for 70 years in front of a locked door with bloody knuckles, you don’t know the kind of prayer Jesus is talking about!”
We’re not talking about the broad way, the easy way. We are talking about the narrow way, the way of the cross. We are the answer. Anywhere people are being mistreated, anywhere people have needs that aren’t being met, we are God’s hands reaching out with love.
Social activist Jim Wallis tells about one group of Christians who are doing their part. It’s Saturday morning. The food line has formed early outside the Sojourners Neighborhood Center, just one‑and‑a‑half miles from the White House. Three hundred families stand in line to receive a bag of groceries which is critical to getting them through the week.
Just before the doors are opened and all the people come in, all those who help prepare the food and get it together join hands and say a prayer. The prayer is often offered by Mary Glover. She is their best pray-er, says Wallis. She is a sixty‑year‑old black woman who knows what it means to be poor and knows how to pray. She prays like someone who knows to whom she is talking. She has been carrying on a conversation with her Lord for many, many years. She first thanks God for another day, “Another day to serve you, Lord,” she says. On that day, Wallis says he will never forget she prayed these words, “Lord, we know that you’ll be coming through this line today so, Lord, help us to treat you well.” (4)
That’s how we are to look at life. Wherever we see injustice or need of any kind, we are to understand that it is Jesus who is being victimized. “When did we see thee hungry? Or naked? Or in prison?” And the Master answered, “When you did it unto the least of these, You did it for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
That’s what the story of the persistent widow is all about. She was looking for justice. Justice is what God wants, for all people, everywhere.
1. http://pastordave.tblog.com/archive/2006/05/.
2. Edward F. Markquart, http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_baptism_of_jesus.htm.
3. http://www.jameslove.com/sermons/Sermon%20Nov.%2015%201998.htm.
4. www.csec.org/csec/sermons/medema_3410.htm