Not Fearing God or Respecting People

Choosing persistent and unassuming humility instead.

In today’s passage, there is a bit of a tension in all three of the illustrations. It could be described in a number of ways: injustice vs. justice, human priorities vs. kingdom priorities, or false importance vs. true significance. However we name it, Jesus is revealing something about the nature of God’s reign that stands in opposition to the values we instinctively live by.

First, we meet a widow and a judge, the powerless and the powerful. The widow has no leverage, no legal standing, and no societal status. The judge, by contrast, has all the control and none of the compassion - doesn’t fear God, doesn’t respect people (might sound familiar). Yet it is the widow’s persistence that moves the story. Her faith does not rest in the fairness of the system but in her refusal to give up on the possibility of justice.

Second comes the Pharisee and the tax collector, two individuals praying in the temple. Again, the one who appears righteous by human standards is the one least in tune with the heart of God. The tax collector, by contrast, beats his chest and cries out for mercy. His humility opens the door to grace. It’s another upside-down image of kingdom understanding.

Finally, Jesus welcomes the children. The disciples, operating by rules of status and order, try to manage access to him. But Jesus flips it yet again: Let the little children come to me. Dependence, not dominance, is the posture of the kingdom. Or maybe it’s willful innocence and curiosity. Or any number of other childlike characteristics. Regardless, the message is strong and clear: Let them come.

What is the posture of the Church?

Pursue justice endlessly.
Stand, sit, and kneel in unassuming humility.
Let those who would come to Jesus…come to Jesus.

Luke 18:1-17

Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.’ For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don’t fear God or respect people, but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.” The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?”

Jesus told this parable to certain people who had convinced themselves that they were righteous and who looked on everyone else with disgust: “Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself with these words, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everyone else—crooks, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.”

People were bringing babies to Jesus so that he would bless them. When the disciples saw this, they scolded them. Then Jesus called them to him and said, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.”

Psalm 9:7-10

But the Lord rules forever!
He assumes his throne
for the sake of justice.
He will establish justice in the world rightly;
he will judge all people fairly.
The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed—
a safe place in difficult times.
Those who know your name trust you
because you have not abandoned
any who seek you, Lord.

Prayer

God,

Thank you for a new day. For the oxygen flowing and the Spirit’s presence in it all.

Did you make us inherently highfalutin or is that like, part of the fall? Shoot, even as I write this, I’m remembering Adam & Eve’s all-of-a-sudden desire to put on clothes. And I guess we’ve been trying to dress up justice, humility, and innocence ever since.

Lord, help us to live unabashedly. Not dogmatically or like we’re trying too hard, but with real un-abandonment for justice, genuine efforts toward humility (is humility an effort?), and with smashed pretension.

Remind us that divine order in the chaos is brought about by your Spirit hovering over it all and your Word speaking into it all. Help us pursue that kind of justice.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.