2013-10-17 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
29th
Sunday: Grant
us justice, O Lord
Exodus 17:8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8
The revelation that Mother Teresa suffered from fifty years of God’s silence caused consternation among her admirers. Yet, to acknowledge that our communication with God is often one-way – we speak and there seems to be no response – does not require special knowledge. Our experience in prayer speaks for itself. Weeks, months, perhaps years, of waiting for something leaves us frustrated and dispirited. Centuries ago, the prophets warned us about the possibility of God’s absence: “With their flocks and their herds, they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them” (Hosea 5:6). But that absence of God is never so painfully felt as in the area of justice. Failed by all the judges of the world and robbed of the right to a dignified life, we cry, ‘grant us justice against our opponents’ (Luke 18:3), but it does not arrive. And we wonder whether there is anyone who cares.
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?” (Psalm 121:1). I can imagine the community of Luke – the addressee of the Gospel of Luke – being worn out by a constant challenge of professing their faith in Jesus in the hostile environment of the Roman Empire. How long can one bear with public insults and persecution, imprisonment and confiscation of property? (Hebrews 10:33-34). I guess there were many who thought of giving up their belief in Jesus and some who actually left the community. How else does one explain this call to Jesus’ disciples that “they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1)? It could have meant that the community of Luke was in bad shape in regard to prayer and that they were actually losing heart. It probably came to the point that some even doubted whether any Christian would be left to welcome Jesus on the Day of His Second Coming: “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2). The aim of the Parable of the Persistent Widow is encouragement. The widow was heard by the unjust judge, “I will see that she gets justice” (Luke 18:5). We are also going to be heard in our cry for justice. The just God “will bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night” and He will do it quickly (Luke 18:7). That is the promise. The question is: how quick is quickly? It took three centuries for Christians to obtain religious freedom within the Roman Empire. Is God’s timing different from ours?
I am thinking about the people of Myanmar. Since 1962, they have been crying for justice and until now (2007) justice has not been given to them. I wonder whether the people of Iraq will ever get justice for the criminal act of invading their country. I heard about the widow, Sonia Santa Rosa and her four children. Will justice be granted to them for the murder of her husband, Pastor Isias de Leon Santa Rosa committed by the militaries? (The incident took place in the Philippines on Aug 3, 2006). I am also thinking about Cris Anthony Mendez, a student of the College of Law at the University of the Philippines, who was killed during the rite of initiation to a fraternity. Will his mother ever get justice?
We live in a world where criminals receive state funerals with laudatory speeches while their victims are reduced to oblivion. Our history books are written by the ‘secular priests’ working for the victors. Truth gets lost under the garbage of lies. And yet, as the parable rightly tells us, we should not give up our cry for justice. We have to continue pestering our judges who do not fear God and do not care about people (Luke 18:4). There is always a possibility that they defect and join our ranks. Most of all, however, we should never stop wearing God out with our cry for justice. Our faith in His righteousness is the only hope for the earth. Even if we are unable to know His timing, whether quickly means a day, a month, a year, or a century, the history recorded in the Bible is filled with names of those who were given justice by God. Let us look at Jesus, “the author and the perfector of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). His crucifixion was an act of injustice committed by the leaders of our world. His resurrection was the act of justice administered by God. This is our story as well. Unjustly crucified, we are going to be raised by God to a life of dignity and meaning.
We are called to make justice the object of our persistent prayer. Many of our brothers and sisters in the world are waiting for it. Let us not lose hope. Even if He hides his face from us for a while, there always comes that moment when His presence sets things right. “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
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