Just Persistence
Luke 18:1-8
Luke 18:1-8 (NRSV):
1 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my accuser.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Who here likes being pestered? Who likes being a pest? Do we have any self-identified pests in the room?
Has anyone ever been so persistent with you that they got the thing they wanted from you, not necessarily because of your goodness or generosity but because they just kind of wore you down? Maybe a salesperson? Or your child? Or your now-partner, but back when they were pursuing you? Maybe me, encouraging you to volunteer?
How about you…have you ever seen your persistence pay off? Have you been a nuisance to someone, in an effort to get something from them, and it worked? You don’t have to admit whether your goal was noble, or whether your persistence crossed the line into manipulation, but just…for now…did it work? What helped you, stay persistent, as opposed to just giving up or letting it go?
Surely a widow in this time could have had some economic privilege, but we should probably assume, given the symbolism of “widows” in Bible stories and parables, that she didn’t. And because of the vulnerability that the word “widow” represents, and because it matters in the parable, I’ll keep using that term for her, even though there is certainly more to a widow than being a widow.
We don’t know what she’s being accused of, but we can assume it’s unjust, and that someone–likely a man with more social privilege–is being manipulative or cruel in some way, perhaps blaming this widow for something that is his own fault. Could have been another widow, who knows, it doesn’t matter. Jesus, given the story, and the whole scope of his…career…is clearly rooting for the widow.
This judge, though, what a piece of work. “Fear God and respect people.” We could talk about “fear of God” like last week or what “respect people” means but let’s just cut to the chase–he was not a good dude.
It’s not that he wasn’t religious, or could stand to be a little nicer. We’re supposed to understand the judge character as an enemy to the common good, an enemy to the urgent needs of the people. The judge is fictional–this is a parable–but the actual people in our lives and world he represents are not.
This is not a tale of individual transformation. This judge makes it clear: “yeah, I definitely have no fear of God and no respect for anyone.” I love how the judge narrates his internal process, making Jesus’ evaluation of him very clear. But why? Why is Jesus so insistent that this guy sucks? Doesn’t Jesus, like us, believe in that of God in every person, and that we shouldn’t give up on people? That even Grinches and Scrooges can change their ways? Hasn’t Jesus seen a Christmas movie?!
I do believe Jesus is optimistic about people. I don’t think he has the pessimistic view of versions of Christianity that make human depravity the theological cornerstone of faith. But here, we’re to understand that this judge’s character is set in stone. People can change, but not this guy! Now why is this so important?
The judge grants justice, yes, but not because he has a change of heart. Let’s not get too cute and imagine some kind of curmudgeonly guy who says “I’ll right, you can have justice,” and then we see a twinkle in his eye and know deep down he’s good. There’s no twinkle! If the good is there, it’s down very, very deep! He might be sacred, like all of us, but believing he will change might be…sentimentality…a foolish hope that will deplete us, when other things are more urgent.
I think this characterization is important because the focus is on the persistent widow. It is the widow who is good. It is the widow who makes justice happen. The widow deserves all the credit. The widow is the hero. Not the judge. The judge doesn’t get to say “look everybody, look at this great thing I did! I’m very generous.” He doesn’t get to say that! He probably will say that! But all he did was get worn down and succumb to the pressure and persistence of the mercy-seeking, justice-demanding woman.
The parable, says Luke, is about the need to pray and not lose heart. But based on the parable itself, I would expand this beyond “prayer,” and suggest the parable is about the good that comes from not giving up the struggle for what you need, and what others need, and what we all need.
Jesus then tells his disciples, “look what happened! Listen to what the unjust judge says! This persistent woman sought justice and got it! She did it!” And perhaps Jesus would turn slightly Quaker for a moment, and query his disciples: ”where are you seeking justice? Where are the people around you seeking justice?”
Then Jesus raises questions about God. “Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?” I know Jesus believes “yes, God will grant justice, no, God won’t delay” because that’s his experience of the Divine–a God who shows up for people, when they need it most.
Jesus believes that God, unlike the judge, respects people. God cares about what they need and what they say they need. God listens well and God responds. One of you, when you lead prayer, often refers to God as “Perfect Listener.” And what I hear in that is a sense that God pays attention, empathizes, validates, and responds; that is the model of listening and action God sets for us.
And how does this sense of “not delaying” and “quickly granting justice to them” square with Quaker process? Quakers often self-deprecatingly describe ourselves, in a corporate sense, as slow. We’re like Ents, those talking trees from Lord of the Rings. “Don’t be hasty!” But when Quakers are at their best, delay is about inclusion, about not rushing ahead without making space for all voices and really listening to the movement of God, the movement of Love, among us. But when the way forward is clear, Friends are also at our best when we act emphatically, because at that point, action is not rash, the action’s already been determined. It’s a matter of: are we willing to do what we’ve already discerned we ought to do?
When the Ents do eventually take action, as a group–thanks in part to the hobbits’ persistence–their action is positively and destructively transformative.
But back to the widow. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This seems like a reference to a second coming of Jesus, which might be interesting to you, as a theological concept, but not as crucial to the heart of the question: “can this kind of faith be found on earth–the confidence that through our persistence, in prayer, in action, in whatever…that good things will come, that people will get what they need.”
Jesus is not really comparing the judge and God in terms of character. God, in the mind of Jesus, is wildly different from this judge. But even with Jesus’ praise of God’s responsiveness–maybe a model for how we ought to be responsive to each other–the focus is on the faith of the one who persists. Granted, maybe some people who persist don’t really have faith, they just feel like they’ve got nothing to lose, so they…keep at it. But Jesus celebrates the faith of one who cries out for justice, until justice is granted.
Do you see this faith on Earth? Where do you see it? Who might the “widow” be in our time and place? While there are plenty of men and non-binary folks who have demonstrated this kind of persistence, I want to read you a children’s story about a few women who are heroes of persistence. This was written by Chelsea Clinton–yes, those Clintons–and inspired by Senator Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to be silenced in the Senate in 2017. Remember that phrase “Nevertheless, she persisted?” This book is entitled She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World. In the interest of time I’ll skip a few and just highlight seven of them, but that should give you the idea.
All italicized text below is directly from: Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World (Philomel Books, 2017).
Sometimes being a girl isn’t easy. At some point, someone probably will tell you no, will tell you to be quiet and may even tell you your dreams are impossible. Don’t listen to them. These thirteen American women certainly did not take no for an answer. They persisted.
Harriet Tubman was born a slave, and her story could have ended there. Instead, she persisted, escaping from slavery, and becoming the most famous “conductor“ on the underground railroad. She risked her life many times to lead countless slaves to freedom, including her family, friends, and strangers; every person she led to freedom arrived safely.
“I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted.” -Harriet Tubman
Once Helen Keller became blind and deaf as a toddler, few people thought she’d be able to learn to read, write or speak. But she persisted. Helen learned how to do all three and not only became the first person with deafblindness to graduate from college, but she used her story to help fight for more opportunities for people with disabilities, in the United States and around the world.
“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” -Helen Keller
After her family fled poverty and the threat of violence in Ukraine for a new home in New York City, Clara Lemlich got a job working at a garment factory. She wrote that the factory’s conditions made women into machines, and so she persisted, organizing picket lines and strikes that ultimately helped win better pay, shorter hours and safer working conditions for thousands of workers–both women and men.
“I am one of those who suffers from the abuses described here, and I move that we go on a general strike.” -Clara Lemlich
Inspired from an early age by her brothers’ childhood illnesses, Virginia Apgar was determined to be a doctor, long before many girls had such dreams. Even though she qualified to be a surgeon, the male head surgeon at her hospital discouraged her because she was a woman. Nevertheless, she persisted, becoming an anesthesiologist, and creating the Apgar score to test a newborn baby's health, which hospitals all over the world still use today.
“Nobody, but nobody, is going to stop breathing on me.” -Virginia Apgar
As a fifteen-year-old riding a bus home from school in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudette Colvin was expected to give up her seat to a white woman just because she was African-American. In her refusal to get up, she persisted in taking a stand for what’s right, helping to inspire Rosa Parks to make the same choice nine months later, an act many point to as starting the modern civil rights movement.
“I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can’t sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, ‘this is not right.’” -Claudette Colvin
When Ruby Bridges was in kindergarten, many schools across America, particularly in the south, still refused African-American students their equal right to an education. Ruby wouldn’t be treated like a second class student, and she persisted, walking for weeks past angry, hateful protesters to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans.
“That faithful walk to school began a journey, and we all must work together to continue moving forward.” -Ruby Bridges
Watching fictional judges on television inspired Sonia Sotomayor to want to be a real-life judge when she grew up. She knew she’d have to speak English as well as she spoke Spanish, study hard in school and manage her diabetes before she could one day where a judges room with a gravel hand. She persisted, eventually becoming a Supreme Court justice and the first-ever Latina to sit on America’s highest court.
“I have never had to face anything that could overwhelm the native optimism and stubborn perseverance I was blessed with.” -Sonia Sotomayor
So if anyone ever tells you no, if anyone ever says your voice isn’t important or your dreams too big, remember these women. They persisted and so should you.
Of course, these are stories of individuals. And maybe that means that we ought to be listening and looking for individuals practicing this kind of persistence, so we can support them in their struggle for justice. Maybe you and I will find ourselves in this situation, persisting, not even for justice beyond us, but for injustice done to us. I’m sure you’ll face authorities, whether doctors, superintendents, law enforcement, bosses, presidents, and others, who, while in theory are there for your good, don’t really seem to be interested or able to do what’s good for you and others. And so maybe you’ll feel called to persist–in which case, let us know, so we can support you!
But persistence is often not about one person or one hero, but about communities, groups, networks, churches, Quaker meetings, coalitions, working together, finding their strength not in one person but in the power of inspired and mobilized communities, diverse in many ways yet seeking a common goal. Where are those communities doing this justice-seeking, persistent work of Love? How can we support them? Where are we called to do this work? What support do we need?
Queries:
Where has my own persistence brought about something good?
Who is persisting in the work of justice in our world?
What facilitates personal or social change?
Where is our attention and active response needed?