2018 0610 Always Pray and Never Give Up

Описание: Luke 18:1-8and Psalm 55:16-19; Kenny Foster, Associate Pastor
Stories have a way of bringing truth to us in manageable chunks. In much the same way a parent will break food down for their baby to eat, stories break down truths for our minds and imaginations to comprehend.
This week’s parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge in Luke 18:1-8 is a parable that breaks down the truth of persistent prayer and what it means. This sermon’s focus will give us reasons why we should always pray and never give up.
Prayer, in our culture, is often misunderstood and therefore neglected. The Church is the community that should lead others in praying. This is true because the Church are God’s chosen ones who cry out to him day and night. What are they looking for? Justice. Persistence in prayer is the pursuit of justice. The praying church is, in and of itself, too weak and vulnerable to bring about justice on it’s own. (Like the widow.) However, the Church is reminded that unlike the widow, who is giving a black eye to the judge for delaying justice, we are praying to a God who is full of compassion for his people and who will suddenly see to it that they get justice.
But while the Church waits for God to bring about justice where do they get the stamina to not give up? It is in the hope of the coming of the Son of Man. Christ’s return is justice’s end. The promise of Jesus’ coming is the fuel that keeps the smoke of the prayers of the Church ascending to the throne of God. Like the Psalmist we can persist in prayer, evening, morning, and at noon, because it is the Lord who saves us. We can be assured that we are heard, because it is God who saved us, who is enthroned forever. We are unharmed in the battle since Jesus, though unjustly, yet willingly, suffered the harm of the blows of justice that were aimed at us, in order to bring God’s justice into our lives. Therefore, because Jesus suffered, the just for the unjust, God’s love can never be taken away from his chosen ones. For this reason God’s people are able, yea, duty bound, to always pray and never give up. This is the faith that the Son of Man is looking for when he returns to the earth.