Can You Be Righteous, And Look Down On People? (Luke 18:1-14) Series

When it comes to the Bible, most of us have favorite parts. For some of you, it's maybe a book-- Psalms, or Matthew. For others, it's maybe a type of literature-- prophecy. We know the whole Bible is inspired. We know it's useful. We read it all. But some parts, we enjoy more than others. We read them, and we're like a duck taking to water. It just feels right.

For me, near the top of my list of favorites, is Jesus' parables. Parables jump out of the pages at me. They grab me, and don't really let go.

At the same time, some parables are confusing. We read them, and we find ourselves wrestling with what Jesus meant. We struggle with where to put our focus. What's important? What's not? And how do you know?

What I'd like to do today, is work through two short parables from Luke 18. Through them, I want to teach you a trick to help you understand the parables. When I tell you the trick, you might not be very impressed. It's obvious, once you see it. And it's not going to work for every parable. Some parables are just tough. But when the trick works, it works great. So that's my nerd goal for the sermon. But as we work through our passage, I'm also hoping that you'll be stretched spiritually, and maybe change two things in your life: (1) how you pray, and (2) how you treat non-Christians.

So let's turn to Luke 18, and start by reading just verse 1:

(1) Now, he (Jesus) was telling them a parable to show them that they must always pray and not be discouraged, saying,

Let's pause here. Whose words are we reading, in verse 1?

Right. These are not Jesus' words. They are Luke's-- the narrator for our story. Luke is giving you an introduction-- a framework-- for understanding the parable you are about to read. He's telling you, up front, what you are supposed to learn. He's like the nice teacher, who gives you the answer before asking the question.

That's the trick I wanted to show you. Lots of parables have an introduction that tells you how to read them, or what you should learn. This maybe seems really simple, and obvious. It maybe doesn't seem like much of a trick. But it's amazing how easy it is to miss this, if we aren't looking for it.

So what Luke's introduction does here, is tell you that this parable encourages you to always pray, and to not get discouraged. Sometimes when you pray, God doesn't answer. You pray, and you get nothing. And if that happens for long enough, you might stop praying. This parable is designed to keep you from stopping.

In verses 2-5, Jesus gives his parable. These are Jesus' words, now:

"There was a particular judge in a particular city,

God not fearing,

and people not respecting/having regard for.

(3) Now, there was a widow in that city,

and she kept coming to him, saying,

"Give me justice against my opponent/adversary,"

(4) and he wasn't willing for a time.

Now, after these things, he said to himself,

"If even God I don't fear, nor man respect/have regard for, yet because this widow is bringing me trouble, I

will grant her justice,

in order that she doesn't, in the end, by her coming, torment me."

(6) Now, the Lord said,

"Listen to what the unrighteous judge is saying."

So let's stop, and listen to the unrighteous judge. This judge doesn't fear God, and he doesn't care about people, at all. That's a horrible combination in anyone, but especially in a judge. But even this judge, in the end, does the right thing for the widow.

Why? The judge tells us. He gives us a window into his thought process.

It's not because the judge cares about the merits of her case. It's not because he cares about her. And it's not because he knows that God is picky about how judges make decisions, and that the judge has his own day of judgment coming. None of those things matter to him in the slightest.

The judge does the right thing, because this widow is a pitbull. She's tenacious. She's relentless. She's the kind of person who won't leave you alone, until you help her.

So if you're the judge, you may have a million other things to do. But that widow's case, rises to the top of your inbox. You have to deal with her, so that you don't have to deal with her any longer.

What should we learn from this?

Jesus tells us, in verses 7-8:

(7) Now, isn't it a sure thing that that God will carry out the giving of justice to his chosen ones-- the ones