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<DIV><FONT size=4>...the parable of the widow and the unjust judge is not so
much a parable on how to pray, not so much a parable on steadfastness in prayer,
as it is a parable on trust in God to grant justice and to bring vindication to
God's people. People in Luke's community were beginning to despair, beginning to
lose heart, beginning to question God's promise. And by means of this strange
parable, Luke reassures his community that God will keep God's promises, that
the day is surely coming, and coming speedily, when God will grant justice to
God's faithful ones.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://day1.org/811-keeping_heart_trusting_god">http://day1.org/811-keeping_heart_trusting_god</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Mark Sargent, 2004</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>American Christians knock on God’s door once a day (knock once
on wood pulpit or communion table) whereas Jesus taught that we to knock often
and long. There is an enormous contrast being the teachings of Jesus about
prayer (knock, knock, knock, knock, knock) and the prayer life of American
Christians (knock). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Through research, we discover that the average American
Christian prays four minutes a day and the average American pastor prays seven
minutes a day.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_pushy_in_prayer.htm">http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_pushy_in_prayer.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>If you spend much time with these cynical, negative folk you
will have to beware of getting caught in their downward spiral. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>Some people call the time we live in a "post
Christian" era. We can no longer assume Christian values or attitudes in the
culture around us. In fact, many argue that we live in a culture that is
antagonistic to Christian values. Absent the support of cultural values, the
profound message in today's gospel lesson is that much more important. Faith
provides power for an optimistic, positive view of life and the conviction that
goodness will finally triumph.</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><></FONT></SMALL></DIV><SMALL>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><STRONG>v. 2 </STRONG>The "judge" in this
passage is not to be compared to God, but contrasted with God. An appointee of
Herod or Rome, these local magistrates were notoriously corrupt. Unless a
plaintiff had influence or money, they had no hope of prevailing in court.
Williams Barclay points out that there was a play on words with their
title. Officially these judges were called "Dayyaneh Gezeroth" = "judges
of punishments". The people called them "Dayyaneh Gezeloth" = "robber
judges".</FONT></SMALL></DIV></SMALL>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.lectionarysermons.com/Oct1898.html">http://www.lectionarysermons.com/Oct1898.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Jewell, 1998</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...an anthropologist, <> <SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=4>decided that he would plant his own yam
gardens in two spots that seemed exactly similar in style and sunlight. He also
resolved to tend each of the gardens with equal care. Then he would pray over
one and not the other. Unfortunately he didn’t know any prayers. But he did have
a Hebrew bible with him. He didn’t understand Hebrew, but he could pronounce the
words from after-school class of his youth. So he read a couple of passages each
day from the bible over one of the gardens.</FONT> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman">He later admitted that he probably
cultivated the garden over which he did not pray with more care, because he
really did not</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"> want the prayer to work. But
it did. He had no idea what to make of the outcome of his experiment and
repeated it several times. Each time prayer worked. What does one make of the
story?</FONT></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/hom10/oct17.htm">http://www.agreeley.com/hom10/oct17.htm</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Andrew M. Greeley </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...a poor widow, so she turns to the only means at her
disposal, her capacity to nag.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> What we find today is a general
apathy toward the Christian faith; it is now just one of the many different
spiritual paths. Our privileged position is no more. In the push and shove of
the religious market-place we have to compete for market share; a new phenomenon
for the Christian church. Sadly, we are tending to lose out a bit.<BR>
The sad state of Christianity in Western society can easily lead
us to lose heart. We pray for the Lord to stand up for his people, we pray for
his just intervention, but little seems to happen. Of course, Christ's "kingdom
is not of this world" so we are often unaware of the effectiveness of our
prayers. As for the future, we can be sure something will happen at the return
of Christ, but all seems so far away. Will our God will act for his
people?<BR> The answer, of course, is "yes indeed!" For our
part, let us not lose heart in the waiting. The Lord Jesus has not forgotten us.
He requires but one thing of us, that we persevere in faith. <BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/sunday29cg.html">http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/sunday29cg.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bryan Findlayson</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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