From the Deacon’s Desk 10/20/19

Dear Friends:

We have been hearing a lot in the Gospel of Luke about perseverance. Today’s Gospel from Luke 18:1-8 is no exception. It’s a story about a judge in a town “who neither feared God nor respected any human being.” A judge at the time of Jesus would have been an appointed official who could make certain decisions and judgments about disputes people were having. The people were bound by the decisions of a local judge.

As the story goes, the poor widow went to the judge many times looking for a decision in her favor against her adversary. The judge always ruled against the widow. The widow would never give up and continually came up with new arguments hoping that this time the judge would rule in her favor. Although the judge never believed the widow was correct, he eventually gave in to the woman’s plea. Basically he just wanted to get rid of her! She was driving him crazy.

Jesus uses the story to illustrate the fact that if a dishonest judge would give in to perseverance, wouldn’t God who loves us more than we can imagine give us what we ask for?

The last line of this Gospel might strike us as a little odd: “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Perhaps Jesus is asking us if we will have enough perseverance (faith) to ask God to show us how to be closer to him and accept the challenge he places before us. That, my friends, is the question!

Peace and All Good!

Deacon Jim