Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Luke 18:1-8           

Luke 18:1-8 

Does God hear us? Does God listen to us? He does. Psalm 65:2: “O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.” At the outset of that hymn to God comes this sure declaration. God hears and listens to His children. In our gospel this week Jesus teaches using an example of a pestered, bothered, wicked judge. He is worn down by the incessant pleas of a local widow who is demanding a satisfaction he is simply unwilling to give her. But she simply doesn’t quit. He finally relents and so Jesus takes off from there by teaching, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” (cf. 18:7)

In other words if a wicked judge relents to incessant cries, will not a good God do the same for His people. Jesus assures us He will. But do we gain God’s ear only by our persistence? Is it a condition to be heard by the Divine Governor? I am not sure there is an ever and always answer that fits with that question. First, I believe the Scriptures teach that God is always attentive to His children. But second, like a good parent, God sometimes doesn’t give that for which we ask right away. We all know that. There are things for which we pray and the Lord makes us wait. Not because He is stingy or indifferent, but because of His love. In fact, may I be blunt enough to admit there are things for which you and I pray for which we will not see an answer until we are in glory? 

That truth is not a denial of God’s involvement but perhaps a guarantee of it. Calling on the Lord for aid is a learned, it is necessary, and sometimes the time frame is long. But calling on the Lord is sometimes a cry which erupts from a troubled heart. Either way the point is the same and I think it is the point Jesus is trying to make: Talk to the Father. Call to Him. Leave every burden of heart with Him. Why? Because He’s listening.