Luke 18:1-8 (NRSV)
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Chapter 18Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. Verse 2He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. Verse 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' Verse 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, Verse 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" Verse 6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. Verse 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? Verse 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Devotion
This gospel parable ends with a somewhat surprising question, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" I've been puzzling over what that means. It seems such a strange way to end a parable about God's willingness and desire to answer the prayers of the faithful. As I read it over and over it seems to me to be more for the purpose of inviting reflection than for giving a definitive answer. Jesus seems to be saying that whether the Son of Man will find faith is up in the air, it is at risk. It is almost as though Jesus knows that true and honest faithfulness is all but impossible for us. I know that the more faithful I attempt to be the more aware I become of how greatly I fail. So we return to the call to be persistent in prayer and thank God for God's gift of grace and unwavering love. For what we know is that God is without question faithful to us even when we are not. When we break God's heart, God continues to come to us especially amidst the pain of our shattered realities and brokenness.
Prayer
Faithful God, you claim us in love and remain faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to you. Continue to be patient with us when we break your heart. Amen.