Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 19, 2025
The parable of the widow and the unjust judge (today’s gospel reading) and its following companion parable of the Pharisee and tax collector are found only in the gospel according to Luke. They are not found, unlike many other parables, in the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Mark.
The two parables which open Luke chapter 18, both address the “need to pray and not to lose heart.” So we are told at the beginning of the chapter. (Luke 18:1)
When it comes to prayer, the parables underline the importance and the place of perseverance and humility.
The parable of the widow and the judge is pretty simple! Or so it might seem.
There is a judge who refuses to hear a case. And there is a complainant who won’t take, ‘No!’ for an answer: “Grant me justice” is her plea. And she will not rest until her case is heard and judgement given. (18:3)
Now, the widow’s adversary is not named. Not much is said about him. He was probably a rich and influential man in the community. The widow, of course, was too poor to bribe the judge or his assistant. And they would be wary of alienating an important member of the community which her adversary undoubtably was. That she is a widow…raises the stakes. And it is the hinge on which the story turns!
Jewish custom and the Law (Torah) assigned a particular responsibility to judges when it came to protecting the rights of the poor. The Law was direct: God’s people were to look out for widows and orphans and strangers in the land. In word, and in spirit, Torah urges and directs God’s people to protect and care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger ensuring they are not abused, ignored, or dismissed.
A tall order then. And a tall order in this sad and troubled present age!
Those called to pass judgement were directed and bound to look out for widows and orphans and the strangers in the land. Any God-fearing judge would feel obliged to give the woman a hearing, to take generous good care in giving her the time of day to hear her case. The problem is that the judge in the parable, “neither fears God nor had respect for people.” (18:4)
An ingrained respect for people is essential for any judge to pass judgement in any case or situation. The judge in the parable pays scant attention to God and, the truth be told, has little interest in justice being done. He ignores the widow’s pleading. But she kept coming back day after day, pressing the judge to hear her case.
Like the parables of the rich fool, the prodigal son, the dishonest steward – whose central characters are all faced with a personal dilemma — the judge, we are told, ‘talks to himself,’ working out how to extricate himself from a situation that would go on indefinitely and could potentially be more troublesome than it already was. Escaping the wear and tear of the widow’s demands, he gives her what she wants and hears her case.
Always surprisingly unconventional in his approach, Jesus uses this short tale about a determined widow and a weary judge to get the disciples thinking about prayer.
The parable of the widow and the unjust judge, and the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, should get the disciples (and us!) questioning what prayer is all about. And hopefully digging deeper into its reality and its qualities.
Jesus is using the widow’s insistence for a hearing and her perseverance in getting what she wanted as a byword for prayer. In both parables, as in anything Jesus has to say about prayer, he never resorts…like you and I might tend to do…he never resorts to specialized, esoteric, magical, mystical, or theological language when talking about prayer and about God.
His teachings about prayer are easy to hear and to understand. They are illustrated with examples that make immediate sense, examples we can readily identify with. The story of the judge and the widow is an encouragement to pray and to never lose heart or faith in prayer.
Now, we should not get tempted to draw hard and fast equal signs between the woman and the praying Christian. And between the judge and God. The judge’s behaviour and motives in finally hearing the widow’s complaint are reprehensible. He didn’t act on the motive ‘justice be done.’ He acts on the widow’s behalf in hearing her case solely out of self-interest. He wants her out of court and off his back!
Surely God doesn’t answer prayer simply because he has heard enough from us about any particular concern – like the parent who relents and lets you get into the cookie jar because you’ve made such a fuss. And while we should be persistent in prayer, not everything we take to God in prayer will be answered as we require, or we desire. The parable ends: “Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?” (18:7) “I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them” says Jesus. (18:7-8a)
The important word is justice. And where justice is in demand, God will always be on the side of justice.
As is often the case with Jesus’ parables and teachings, there is a twist: “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (18:8b)
Prayer doesn’t come easy. Prayer is work. Prayer can be hard work!
First, there’s finding, or making, the time to pray. Our days can be busy and time for prayer may be sparse. Then, there’s the place, or as we might say today: the best environment in which to pray. Either from experience, tradition, or association, we tend to think the place to pray needs to be special, a place set apart. Somewhere quiet and bright perhaps. Or somewhere solemn and hushed.
Someone once told me they can best pray in church. But that was in the days when church buildings were left unlocked and open to anyone who wanted or needed to slip in for some peace and time away from the day’s demands.
Churches, sadly, are locked most of the time, opening their doors only when security and surveillance are in place. Well, there’s always room at home. Perhaps your bedroom, or another room, even a convenient corner set apart from the rest of your home.
A while back, a man once told me he does his praying in the car while driving from business call to business call. There is the garage, or the workshop, or that room you set apart for crafts and hobbies. And, for many of us, in this day and age, there is ‘the gym.’ People may surround you. But, you are on your own, in your own world, doing your thing.
Once you find and settle on the place to pray, there are the ‘distractions’ to be dealt with! The smartphone; the computer; emails to read; emails to send; Facebook friends; and the consuming and the unrelenting attractions and temptations of Linkedin, Pinterest, and a myriad of social media.
There are always the chores. The laundry. The housework. Your work. Your commitments. There’s shopping for groceries, etcetera, etcetera. All the tasks you have just got to get finished before you climb back into bed at the end of the day.
What do we do when people are always around us? When we are rarely on our own?
The commitments we have to the people in our lives have to be taken into consideration. After all, loving neighbour is loving God, isn’t it? Who and what takes priority?
Once the place, the time of day, the duties and the distractions are dealt with, how do you get started?
What book should you use to pray?
Now, that is a peculiarly ‘Anglican’ thing to ask” Maybe…
Accustomed to an ordered, written liturgy, we might reach first for a book of prayers – that book of prayers we were given at our Confirmation, or a birthday. That booklet of prayers we were given years ago – the one stashed in a drawer somewhere.
When we finally have the right book, there is the getting down to the business of prayer. How should I go about it?
Read some scripture first? But which scripture? Old or New Testament? The psalms? One of the four gospels?
We might reach for a guide to prayer developed by one of the great Christian mystics: Theresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, Francis of Assisi and Evelyn Underhill, the great Anglican writer about the spiritual life.
What prayer should I use to start things off?
After all, it is a bit self-centred to hit God with all my concerns right off the bat.
Well, there are the A C T S of prayer – perhaps something we learned at Confirmation.
The A C T S of prayer: Adoration; Confession; Thanksgiving; Supplication.
Maybe that is the best formula to get prayer going in the right direction.
Prayer is ultimately a conversation. A conversation, a relationship, between you and God. An ongoing conversation whether or not we are aware of it.
It happens all the time. It began at our birth and continues throughout our lives.
We forget that God initiates the conversation as well as ourselves.
God speaks directly to us by name, calling us as he did the boy Samuel in the Temple. (1 Samuel 3:1-18)
Sometimes we hear God’s voice loud and clear. Other times, there is interference that muffles and distorts God’s voice.
Throughout our lives, the conversation with God lasts. So…where do we start with prayer?
The parable of the judge and the widow starts us off on the right track.
The parable does not provide a fail-proof form of prayer It urges us to continue in praying, in talking with God. We ought “to pray always and not to lose heart.” (18:1)
Like the widow, persistent in having her suit heard, we must pray to the point where prayer is a constant and ever-present part of our lives.
Something as natural as breathing!
Something, surprisingly, as normal as daily life itself!
Amen.
Fr. Ted Hales