Can I get a witness?
Proper 24, Year C
The parable told by Jesus in today's Gospel (Luke 18:1-8) has two characters: a judge and a widow. Jesus used this parable to teach the value of persistent witness. Persistent witness is needed to build the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus asks disciples this question, “Can I get a witness?” From the call of Abraham and Sarah to this very day, God asks a similar question. “Whom shall I send, who will go for me?” At our baptism, each of us was commissioned to witness to the good news of God’s mercy, love and justice. Paul said we must witness both in favorable and unfavorable times.
In the parable read today, Jesus used a widow to model persistent witness. Widows were the most vulnerable and powerless people in Jesus’ day. Women could not own property. Females were property. Unlike slaves, granted the right in civil law to purchase their freedom and granted liberation in a jubilee year by religious law, females remained property from the cradle to the grave. While this parable does not disclose the injustice endured by the widow, it does show that the widow knew her rights; she did not let intimidation from others or her own fears stand in her way, and she was an unrelenting advocate for justice, She was a persistent witness. Listen again to the parable
There was a judge, who like federal court justices today, had life-time tenure. This judge neither feared God nor respected people. A widow, no lawyer dared represent because of the judge’s reputation, kept appearing in court to present her petition. She asked the judge to grant her justice against her opponent. Over and over, the judge refused; but after umpteen appearances by this woman he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for people, yet because this widow is pestering me, I will grant her justice, so that she will stop wasting my time.” Luke 18:2-5
In many parables Jesus told, one character represented God. The father in the Prodigal Son; the woman searching for her lost coin; and the farmer hiring workers at sunrise, midday, and just before sunset all model divine attributes. In this parable, the judge does not represent God’s love, mercy or justice, but the widow does.
The widow in the parable mirrors the behavior of Jesus, and the widow represents how you and I should behave. Like Jesus who was unjustly accused by religious authorities and sentenced to death by politicians appeasing constituents, the widow was subjected to injustice. Like Jesus who held fast to his purpose, the widow held fast to her purpose. Jesus stood firm in who he was and what he was called to do as disciples denied and abandoned him; guards, bystanders, the man executed at his side taunted him; and while he cried “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, have you forsaken me?”) Matthew 27:46. Like Jesus whom God vindicates by raising him from the dead; the widow was vindicated. The judge relented and granted the unrelenting widow justice against her opponent. The widow’s witness mirrors the witness of Christ. The widow’s persistent witness also models behaviors we must emulate in order to build the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
The widow’s actions foreshadowed those of Stephen’s. Saul arranged the arrest and execution of Stephen. Saul, before his conversation and renaming as Paul, participated in the raids to arrest, try, and execute Christians. During Stephen’s trial, he held fast to his purpose. Stephen used the Bible to show how God’s love, mercy, and justice toward Israel were represented in Jesus. Acts 7:1-53 Stephen continued to witness as he was battered by stones and dying. Acts 7:54-56
Like the widow and Stephen, believers need to be persistent witnesses. Paul wrote in the Second Letter to Timothy;
I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience… the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. But we who confess Jesus, must be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist… 2 Timothy 4:1c-2
Persistent witness is needed, now more than ever. If we are to build the kingdom of God while children continue to starve and hostage bodies remain in Gaza and gangs terrorize Haitians, persistent witness to God’s love is required. If we want to make America great by heralding God’s kingdom, we must do works that demonstrate God’s justice to federal workers going without pay, farmers who have no buyers for soybean crops, and ICE agents who detain and deport both illegal and documented immigrants. Unrelenting witness to God’s love, mercy, and justice are needed in the wake of politically motivated assassinations and unabated mass shootings in schools and houses of worship. God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s justice demonstrated by us can aid people struggling to care for themselves and their loved ones as prices rise and wages stagnate. Everyone who loves God, anyone who confesses “I believe in God…” must respond to the age old question: “Whom shall I send, who will go for me?”
God calls us to witness by our good works. The Bible has countless references to the need for evangelists, for witnesses. Paul said,
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16
Christ Church has many witnesses. They proclaim God’s love, mercy and justice in a variety of ways: one member proofreads my sermons; more than a few attended the recent No Kings rally; one donated 12 months of loan payments on the money being borrowed to install an elevator, ramp, and access bathrooms in the parish hall; a handful of members drive sick or elderly members to church and on errands; one brave soul coaches my son’s soccer team. On behalf of Jesus, I ask you, “Can I get a witness?” With God, I ask, “Whom shall I send, who will go for me?” As you wait for vindication, can you persistently witness to God’s love, mercy, and justice?
