The Nag (Luke 18:1-8)
Several years ago, David Willis, from Texas, was browsing through some books at the Waterstones bookshop in London’s Trafalgar Square. Willis said he had been upstairs in the shop for 15 minutes and when he came down all the lights were out and the doors locked. He found himself trapped inside.
After posting on Twitter and asking for help, he received hundreds of replies, with many people asking him if he was taking the opportunity to read some books. Others said they would love to be locked in a bookshop, and more than one suggested he should build a fort out of books. Then he tweeted Waterstones and said, “Hi @Waterstones I've been locked inside your Trafalgar Square bookstore for 2 hours now. Please let me out.” Someone from the bookstore came and let him out shortly thereafter (Staff, “Tourist locked inside Waterstones bookshop uses Twitter to be freed,” BBC, 10-17-14; www.PreachingToday.com).
Sometimes, you feel trapped and in the dark, especially in these last days before Jesus comes.
Jesus Himself describes the darkness of those days. He says, “I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Luke 17:34-37).
In the days surrounding the rapture of the church, Jesus describes our society like a rotting corpse. So, what can you do, as a follower of Christ, in these dark, stinky days before Jesus comes? When you feel trapped and in the dark, what do you do? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Luke 18, Luke 18, where Jesus addresses His followers in the context of the dark days before His coming.
Luke 18:1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (ESV).
To keep from losing heart in the dark, to keep from giving up is despair, to keep from debilitating discouragement…
PRAY!
Call on the Lord. Ask God for help. It’s a lot better than going on social media!
Warren Wiersbe says, “If society is like a rotting corpse, then the “atmosphere” in which we live is being slowly polluted, and this is bound to affect our spiritual lives. But when we pray, we draw on the “pure air” of heaven, and this keeps us from fainting (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996). Prayer keeps us from losing heart!
That’s how the International Justice Mission (IJM) keeps from giving up as they work to combat human trafficking around the world. Every staff member spends the first 30 minutes of the workday in silence—for prayer, meditation, and spiritual reflection. IJM also gathers staff for 30 minutes of daily corporate prayer, in addition to hosting quarterly offsite spiritual retreats and providing employees with an annual day for private spiritual retreat.
IJM CEO Gary Haugen believes “prayerless striving” leads only to exhaustion. He says, “I have learned just how crucial it is to settle my soul in the presence of Jesus every morning.” This is what Haugen concluded after working for two decades to combat human trafficking and other forms of violence against the poor. He goes on to say, “Even though it is tempting to hurry into our work, we intentionally still ourselves and connect with our maker: the God who delights in restoring and encouraging his children” (Jedd Medefind, “The Fight for Social Justice Starts Within,” Christianity Today, 6-21-17; www.PreachingToday.com).
Are you discouraged in the work God has called you to do? Then take a few moments to still yourself before your Maker, and let Him restore and encourage your exhausted heart. In these dark days before Jesus comes, pray! Then…
PERSIST IN PRAYER.
Don’t just pray once. Keep on praying. Or as Paul put it in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing.” That is, make prayer a regular habit, in which you constantly ask God to bring justice in an unjust world. That’s what Jesus encourages His followers to do, especially when life gets hard, and people treat them unfairly.
Luke 18:2-5 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming’” (ESV).
Literally, so she will not give me a black eye by her continual coming. The judge was afraid he might suffer shame or damage his reputation if he refused the constant nagging of this widow. It’s the only thing she had going for her, because women (and especially widows) had no legal rights in Jesus’ day.
In that day, the “courtroom” was not an ornate building in the town square where justice was “blind,” so to speak. It was a tent, which a judge moved from place to place as he covered his circuit. Now, anybody could watch the proceedings from outside the tent, but the judge’s assistants, who surrounded him, approved the cases he would hear. This usually meant bribing one of the assistants so that he would call the judge’s attention to the case. So, the widow’s adversary (vs.3), the one who brought the lawsuit against her, had probably bribed a judge’s assistant, inclining the judge to rule in his favor. The widow had no money, so “the cards were stacked” against her. However, the widow was a nag. She constantly badgered the judge until she wore him down, and he granted her the justice she requested.
Just last year (2024), the United States Supreme Court heard Stuart Harrow’s small claims case in which he sought $3,000 for six days of back pay (with interest) when budget cuts briefly forced him out of work in 2013. Now, the Supreme Court hears only a small number of cases, most of which have national implications. So, how in the world did this small claims case come before the Supreme Court?
With the nine justices lined up on the bench, Justice Neil Gorsuch wondered the same thing. “Here we are in the Supreme Court of the United States over a $3,000 claim,” said Gorsuch. “I’m— I’m just wondering why the government’s making us do this.”
The legal answer trudges a decadelong path including a three-person federal board that couldn’t make a quorum for five years. There was a missed email to an abandoned account.
The human answer is that Harrow, 73, didn’t give up. Largely representing himself, Harrow has seen his appeal be rejected by the Defense Department, an administrative law judge, and a federal board.
However, the case finally came before the Supreme Court to determine whether a missed deadline was so inflexible that it prevented his claim from ever getting its day in court (Ben Foldy, “How an Ordinary Guy Took a $3,000 Case to the Supreme Court,” The Wall Street Journal, 5-2-24; www.PreachingToday.com).
It reminds me of the widow in Jesus’ story. Her persistent pleading finally brought her justice. It’s what Jesus encourages His followers to do when they have been unjustly treated. He encourages you, His followers to keep on pleading with the Judge of the universe, to persist in prayer until He grants you justice.
The 20th century Norwegian pastor [Ole] Hallesby suggest prayer is like mining as he knew it in Norway. Demolition to create mine shafts took two basic kinds of actions. There are long periods of time, he writes, “when the deep holes are being bored with great effort into the hard rock.” To bore the holes deeply enough into the most strategic spots for removing the main body of rock was work that took patience, steadiness, and a great deal of skill. Once the holes were finished, however, the “shot” was inserted and connected to a fuse. “To light the fuse and fire the shot is not only easy but also very interesting… One sees 'results.' … Shots resound, and pieces fly in every direction.” Now, while the more painstaking work takes both skill and patient strength of character, Hallesby says, “Anyone can light a fuse."
In his book on prayer, Tim Keller warns us against doing only “fuse lighting” prayers, the kind that we soon drop if we do not get immediate results. If we believe both in the power of prayer and in the wisdom of God, we will have a patient prayer life of “hole boring.” Mature believers know that handling the tedium is part of what makes for effective prayers, combining tenacious importunity, a “striving with God”" with deep acceptance of God's wise will, whatever it is (Tim Keller, Prayer, Dutton, 2014, page 137; www.PreachingToday.com).
So, keep on praying in times of trouble. Develop a “patient prayer life of hole boring.” Engage in the tedium of a tenacious striving with God until He lights the fuse and blows the opposition away. In these dark days before Jesus comes, pray, persist in prayer, and…
PREDICT WITH CERTAINTY GOD’S JUSTICE IN ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS.
Expect God to right the wrongs and give you the justice for which you ask. Confidently anticipate God’s just and right answers to your prayers. That’s the point Jesus makes as He applies the story of the persistent widow to His followers.
Luke 18:6-8 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (ESV)
Jesus is coming soon when He will speedily bring justice to this earth. Until then, trust God to do what is right for you. For, if an unjust judge will give justice to a widow with no rights, how much more will the just Judge of the Universe give justice to His own elect, to those He has chosen to love as His own.
First, consider the contrast between the unjust judge and God, who is the just Judge of the Universe and your Heavenly Father. Unlike the unjust judge, God is just (2 Thessalonians 1:6). On top of that, “God is a loving Father, who is attentive to your every cry, generous in His gifts, concerned about your needs, and ready to answer when you call” (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996).
The unjust judge respected no one (verse 2). He could care less. On the other hand, God loves you and calls you His children (1 John 3:1).
The Bible says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Please, if you haven’t done it already, trust Christ with your life. Believe in Him so you can live forever with God and enjoy an intimate relationship with Him, who delights in giving His children good things when they ask (Matthew 7:11).
What more encouragement do you need to pray and to keep on praying?
But if that’s not enough, then second, consider the contrast between the widow and you, who depend on Jesus.
Warren Wiersbe says, “To begin with, the woman was a stranger, but we are the children of God, and God cares for His children (Luke 11:13). The widow had no access to the judge, but God’s children have an open access into His presence and may come at any time to get the help they need (Eph. 2:18; 3:12; Heb. 4:14–16; 10:19–22).
The woman had no friend at court to help get her case on the docket. All she could do was walk around outside the tent and make a nuisance of herself as she shouted at the judge. But when Christian believers pray, they have in heaven a Savior who is Advocate (1 John 2:1) and High Priest (Heb. 2:17–18), who constantly represents them before the throne of God.
When we pray, we can open the Word and claim the many promises of God, but the widow had no promises that she could claim as she tried to convince the judge to hear her case. We not only have God’s unfailing promises, but we also have the Holy Spirit, who assists us in our praying (Rom. 8:26–27).
Perhaps the greatest contrast is that the widow came to a court of law, but God’s children come to a throne of grace (Heb. 4:14–16) (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996).
So pray, and keep on praying, expecting God to hear and answer your prayers.
Deborah Rau, in Today’s Christian Woman, describes a time when she pulled her brimming shopping cart to a stop at the checkout counter. There, a toy truck caught her son's eye.
“Mommy—a truck. Can we buy it? Please?” he asked.
With his fifth birthday only 11 days away, Deborah says they had used their money to purchase his first bicycle, the one item he wanted more than anything else in the world. So she said no to the truck.
“You never say yes to anything,” he muttered dejectedly before retreating into silence.
As she reflected on his childish behavior, she cringed. For she had acted the same way before God just a few days before. She had prayed for something He chose to withhold. She said, “I hadn't stopped to think that his ‘no’ today might be a prelude to unimaginable blessings tomorrow” (Deborah Rau, "Heart to Heart," Today's Christian Woman, www.PreachingToday.com).
God doesn’t always give us what we ask for, no! He gives us abundantly beyond all that we could ask or even think (Ephesians 3:20). So pray, persist in prayer, and predict with certainty God’s justice when you pray. Then…
PRESERVE YOUR FAITH.
Keep on believing even in these dark days before Jesus comes. Continue in your commitment to Christ even when life gets hard.
In verse 8, Jesus asks the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
For in the last days, many people will lose their faith.
2 Timothy 3 says, “In the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Those times will be so difficult, many will stop believing. Many will stop depending on the Lord and start living for themselves. Please, don’t let that happen to you. Instead, keep the faith. Keep on trusting the Lord even in times of difficulty.
Haddon Robinson, seminary professor and president, talked about his father, who passed away at 88 years of age. He says:
During his last adult years, my father lived with us in Texas. Before that he lived in New York City. His family lived in an area of New York called Harlem, in a section of Harlem called Mouse Town, a neighborhood that Reader's Digest said was the toughest section in the United States. The two years before my father came to live with us in Dallas, he was beaten up twice by thugs. Once he was knocked down two flights of stairs and went to the hospital. The second time he was beaten up, he developed a hernia.
My father didn't know what the hernia was, and being a man of simple, perhaps even simplistic faith, he asked God to heal him. But nothing happened. When he finally wrote to me to tell me what had occurred, it was obvious that he was deeply upset. I received his letter in the morning, and by that afternoon I was on a plane to New York. A day or two later, I brought my father back to Texas, where the surgeons successfully operated on him.
My father felt that somehow God had let him down. He had prayed for healing, and the healing had not occurred. I tried to explain to my father that the hand of the physician was the hand of God, but he shrugged all of that off, and the last eight years of my father's life were not good ones. Not only were these years a time of declining health, but he went through them with a diminished faith (Haddon Robinson, “How Does God Keep His Promises?” Preaching Today, Tape No. 130; www.PreachingToday.com).
Difficult times can diminish your faith if you let them. Like Peter on the stormy sea, when he kept his eyes on Jesus, he could walk on water. But the moment he looked at the waves, he began to sink (Matthew 14:28-31).
So, in these last days before Jesus comes, keep your eyes on Jesus and pray! Persist in prayer, predict with certainty God’s coming justice, and preserve your faith. In other words, keep on praying and keep on believing until Jesus comes!
After all, “When life knocks you to your knees—well, that's the best position in which to pray, isn't it?” (Ethel Barrymore. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 3; www.PreachingToday.com).
Timothy Jones in his book, The Art of Prayer, talks about a vacation with his parents in France when he was in high school. He writes:
I had just completed two years of French, hardly enough to make me fluent. Still, there we were, tourists wanting to make the most of our time. So when we needed a bathroom, when we wanted to find a café, or when I lost my eyeglasses… I falteringly used my butchered French. I was trying—to the politely suppressed laughter of others—to speak the language. But I remember more than the townspeople's bemusement. I remember how they warmly received my efforts. They strained to hear past my fractured sentences. They honored me by responding.
Is God any less generous?
He hears all that arises from us—the words of our mouth, the longings of our hearts, the thoughts of our minds, the intentions of our wills. Regret, grief, thanksgiving, hope—God hears our emotions, not just our grammar. Because of his grace, not our eloquence, we can pray. Even if we stammer” (Timothy Jones, The Art of Prayer, WaterBrook Press, 2005; www.PreachingToday.com).
Has life knocked you to your knees? Then pray, knowing that God hears you even if you stammer.
