Sermon 10-19-25

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

Based upon the gospel lesson for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Luke 18:1-8 

No Corrupt Judge!

What I find most remarkable about the parable we just read is that Jesus compared Yahweh to a corrupt judge — the kind of judge you have to bribe to even hear your case; the kind of judge who will totally ignore you if you’re a nobody with nothing. And this is most interesting because there are multiple passages in Scripture that express dismay that Yahweh seems not to hear prayer.

Just two weeks ago our Old Testament lesson was from Habakkuk 1:2-4, “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.” 

And then there are multiple other places in Scripture that cry out in dismay either that the Lord gives no answer or He potentially will give no answer. Psalm 22:1-2, “1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” Psalm 35:22-23, “22 You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! 23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!” Psalm 38:21-22, “21 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” Psalm 102:1-2, “1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you! 2 Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!” Job 19:7, “‘Behold, I cry out, “Violence!” but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.’”

On the other hand, Scripture speaks with great assurance that Yahweh responds. Proverbs 15:29, “The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” Psalm 4:3, “But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.” Psalm 34:17-18, “17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 69:32-33, “32 When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 33 For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.” Psalm 145:18-20, “18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.”

So which is it? Or is it both? Someone might point out that the Scriptures that speak with assurance say that the Lord hears the righteous, the humble, those who call on Him in truth and fear Him; those who love Him. He refuses to hear the wicked. However, godly men also wrote the Scriptures that cry out in dismay. So which is it?

In order to sort this out, we first have to establish a most important point. This life is not the main event in life. As we read in Psalm 39:4-5, “4 O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! 5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” Therefore, again, this life is not the main event in life. However, what happens here sets up everyone’s destiny in the main event — which is eternal life.

Just so that we’re sure about the main event, let’s consult Jesus as He explains the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:37-43, “37. . . ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.’”

Yahweh, our Creator, is not only the most holy and righteous being in the universe, He is the sole source of all holiness and righteousness. He has created both spiritual beings and flesh and blood beings in His Image. However, He has not created mere slaves or mere robots. For relationship with Yahweh and with each other involves Love. And Love is pure commitment one to another. Therefore, we also have to recognize that Yahweh is not only the most holy and righteous being in the universe, He is also the most loving; the sole source of Love. This is why it says twice in the fourth chapter of 1 John that “God is love.”

Now, all this means that in order for any spiritual being or human being to shine like the sun in righteousness in the main event of life, in this life we have to love our Creator as He loves us. And this is where things get troublesome. 

For, in order for love to be real, those who are committed to one another have to be free to walk away from the relationship. That they don’t walk away indicates that their love — their commitment — is real. Therefore, Yahweh’s endgame involves real love for all eternity — real love between Him and people.

But real love demands that all Yahweh’s creatures — spiritual and human — must be free to walk away from Him. It’s often stated that one-third of Yahweh’s spiritual creatures did walk away and followed the one known to us as Satan. That number may not be accurate. However, there is a significant number of spiritual creatures who exercised their freedom to walk away. They are the devils.

Here, among us humans, it’s different. Because of Adam’s Original Sin, we’re all born enemies of God. We’re all born forced to be our own gods, deciding good and evil for ourselves. And so, if it were not for the Love with which Yahweh has loved us from the beginning in Messiah Jesus, we would all be cast out of His presence into the fiery furnace for all eternity.

Jesus told us in Matthew 25:41 that the fiery furnace was not prepared for humans. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. However, all rebellious humans who willfully ignore Yahweh, despise Yahweh, or want some god other than Yahweh, will follow the devil and his angels right into the place prepared for devils. There, such humans will become entirely evil like the devil and will be able forever to practice evil to their heart’s content in the fire. Since that’s what they knowingly or unknowingly desired in this life, Yahweh is a gentleman, He will honor their desire. He loves them that much. The Kingdom of God isn’t a concentration camp where you’re forced into loving big brother. Yahweh will never force those who hate Him to love Him.

So, eternity is Yahweh’s endgame. Eternity is the main event in life. However, our situation in eternity — to shine like the sun in righteousness or be exiled to the outer darkness in the eternal fire of evil — is determined entirely in this life. And our destiny is determined by our relationship to the man Yahweh sent to save and judge the world — Jesus. As Jesus said in John 3:16, “‘For  God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’” In Christ, we all have opportunity to repent of our rebellion against our most holy, righteous and loving Father in heaven. Through Jesus we all have opportunity to join with Yahweh in love and righteousness through the forgiveness of our sins. We all have opportunity of joining with Yahweh in the main event of life — eternal life — again through the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus on the cross. For, when sin is removed, righteousness is all that remains. This is all by the grace of God. It’s by the gift of the Word of God. It’s by the gift of faith in the Word of Christ.

The problem is that if we come to faith in Messiah, our faith will be tested time and time again right to the end of our lives. To survive the testing, we have to keep Yahweh’s endgame in mind. This is especially true when it seems that prayer is not answered. We have to remember that if the prayer of a person Yahweh has declared righteous by faith in Messiah goes unanswered in this life, it will be answered in the resurrection to eternal life.

Speaking of the time that remains until His second coming, Jesus said in Luke 21:10-19, “. . . ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.’”

Endurance to the end in the midst of tough stuff is a mark of the Christian. And as we saw at the beginning, unless you know by faith in God’s Word that He is with you even in the worst of situations, it can seem like your prayers are not being answered. It can seem like Yahweh is a corrupt judge, refusing to hear your case.

So, what did Jesus say to do when it seems like there seems to be no end to a desperate situation and prayer seems unanswered? He said to be like the persistent widow. He said to beat God down with our continual coming — never taking no for an answer.

Of course, there are times when we have to take no for an answer — like when someone dies. But until then, there’s every reason to be most persistent. For very often, a positive answer takes time to develop.

Jesus did say in the parable, Luke 18:6-8, “6. . . ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’”

Speedily! However, God’s idea of “speedily” is a bit different from ours. As we’re told in 2Peter 3:8-9, “8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” A day’s work for the Lord is a thousand years for us. This is why prayer takes persistence. Often it takes a while for things to develop.

Have you ever wondered why we pray for a lot of the same things Sunday after Sunday? Well it’s because of this parable of the persistent widow. With the Lord things can take time to develop. Indeed, how long have we been praying for the release of all the Israeli hostages? I think we started a number of months after October 7th, 2023. However, once we started, we didn’t stop — Sunday after Sunday; 52 in a year. And finally, last week the remaining live hostages were released. So, how long did it take — like 18 months of Sunday after Sunday?

But I’ll go you one better time wise. In January 1980, I was called to a two point parish in Northeast Pennsylvania. Sometime in 1980 or 81 I read about an event in the book of 2Kings that greatly impressed me. During the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, the Assyrian King, Sennacherib, attacked Judah and conquered its cities one after another. A great army was sent to besiege Jerusalem. And eventually Sennacherib sent a message to Hezekiah.

We read in 2Kings 19:9-13, “9. . . So he [Sennacherib] sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 ‘Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”’”

In case you don’t know it, it’s not a good thing to boast against Yahweh. We then read in 2Kings 19:14-18, “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: ‘O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.’” This is a fantastic prayer. Meditate sometime on Hezekiah’s deep understanding of our relationship with Yahweh. 

In response to his prayer, Hezekiah heard from Yahweh through the prophet Isaiah. Yahweh’s Word against Sennacherib ends this way in 2Kings 19:27, “But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. 28 Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.”

That Word was fulfilled with a tremendous miracle. We read in 2Kings 19:35-37, “And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.” Jerusalem was saved by the hand of the living God!

Yahweh spoke of Sennacherib like a mere beast of burden. “I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.” And so Yahweh’s Word came to pass.

Now, in the early 1980’s the mighty Communist empire of the old Russian Soviet Union still ruled. It was the enemy of all free peoples on earth. It was our enemy. It was the enemy of all Christians on earth. Like all Marxist, Communist governments, it was built on atheism. And atheism openly brags and rages against the living God and His Messiah.

Therefore, it came into my head one Sunday in 1980 or 81 to pray that Yahweh would put His hook in the nose of the atheist then premiere of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, and lead him off the stage of history, just as Yahweh had done to Sennacherib. Based upon the parable of the persistent widow, I started praying that prayer Sunday after Sunday in the Prayer of the Church during service. When Brezhnev died in 1982, we continued praying the same prayer against his successor, Yuri Andropov. When Andropov died in 1984, we took up the same prayer against his successor, Konstantin Chernenko.

In February of 1985 I began ministry here at Trinity and continued praying that hook prayer Sunday after Sunday here. In 1985 Chernenko died and Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded him. We didn’t know it, but Gorbachev turned out to be God’s instrument. Under his leadership, the old Soviet Union died on Christmas Day 1991. Russia was delivered from Communism. Gorbachev ceased to be the leader of Russia. Christianity made a comeback, actively encouraged by the new government. It took ten or eleven years, but the prayer for Yahweh to put His hook in the nose of atheist, Yahweh-mocking Communist leaders and lead them off the stage of history was finally answered.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I’m not bragging about this. It was Yahweh who inspired these prayers. He wanted to do what He wanted to do, both in regard to the hostages and the old Soviet Union. He merely invited us to participate with Him in what He wanted to do through prayer.

So, if you’ve ever wondered why we repeat certain prayers Sunday after Sunday, you can blame it on Jesus. He’s the one who told this parable about the persistent widow. He’s the one who taught me to do it. He’s the one who has rewarded us for doing so with significant answered prayer.

So, brothers and sisters, take Jesus at His Word. Listen to what the corrupt judge said in the parable. “There’s no way I want to do anything for this woman. But if I don’t do something for her, she’s going to drive me nuts.” How much more, then, will totally righteous Yahweh do for His elect people who love Him and who cry to Him day and night? We just have to pray according to His Word. If we do so, when Jesus returns to earth, He will find our faith in Him. Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.