WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:08.939 Well often the things that are most precious and worth having are the things that we have to wait longest for. 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:09.939 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.119 Praying and waiting for something precious to come. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:35.579 Hoping for something precious. 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:45.299 Luke tells us, doesn't he, just next to the big number 18 there, that Jesus tells this parable about a widow coming before a judge. 00:00:46.120 --> 00:00:51.280 That his disciples ought always to pray and not lose heart. 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:54.219 Wait for it, he's saying. 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:55.240 Praying and waiting. 00:00:55.240 --> 00:01:05.019 And the context that we've read here tells us that this waiting and praying is for something pretty specific that Jesus has in mind. 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:08.920 Waiting and praying for something particular to happen. 00:01:09.879 --> 00:01:20.780 So back at the beginning of the passage in Luke 17 20, we see that the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God is going to come. 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:26.640 And Jesus in the conversation begins to teach them about his return. 00:01:26.820 --> 00:01:28.060 That's what it develops into. 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:33.280 When he will bring about what we are all longing for. 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:38.740 And actually he is what we are longing for and what we are waiting for. 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:44.060 To bring justice for those who cry out to him day and night. 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:50.460 That is the event, that is the day that forms the focus of this parable. 00:01:51.320 --> 00:01:54.299 We are praying and we are waiting for him. 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:58.240 Now let me highlight a few big ideas here. 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:02.879 First of all Jesus shows us the challenge of waiting for him. 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:05.280 The challenge of waiting for him. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:10.319 Now obviously Jesus wouldn't have told this parable at all. 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:14.639 And it wouldn't be here if waiting for Jesus was not challenging, would he? 00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:20.960 It's how the parable ends if you look to the bottom of your sheet in verse 8. 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:28.479 With the challenge, nevertheless when the Son of Man does come, will he find faith on earth? 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:38.079 We are showing that waiting for Jesus to come and bring vindignation and to end suffering is a challenge. 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:40.419 It is not a normal thing for us to be doing. 00:02:41.859 --> 00:02:46.199 What are we most looking forward to in the world? 00:02:47.419 --> 00:02:58.019 Well we see that Jesus' return comes into a world that looks no further forward than very short term things. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.979 Very short term solutions to the problems that it experiences. 00:03:03.579 --> 00:03:06.639 Look at verse 26, chapter 17. 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:13.099 He says, just as in the days of Noah, people will be eating and drinking and marrying, 00:03:13.780 --> 00:03:17.979 buying and selling, planting and building, just getting on with life now, 00:03:18.579 --> 00:03:24.239 and looking forward to the best things that the earth has to offer in the short term. 00:03:25.459 --> 00:03:27.459 It's not that those things are wrong, is it? 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:33.979 But the challenge Jesus gives us is to look beyond what we see as important now. 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:36.859 And that is a challenge, isn't it? 00:03:36.859 --> 00:03:41.340 Because it is to think differently from the secular mindset, 00:03:42.579 --> 00:03:48.620 which says that what we hope for can only be based on what this life holds now, isn't it? 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:51.919 Looking forward to getting married. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.519 Looking forward to finally buying the house. 00:03:55.659 --> 00:03:57.599 Looking forward to selling a car. 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:00.239 Looking forward to a takeaway this Saturday. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:05.320 We're told all the time, aren't we, that we should be optimistic people. 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.020 That we should have self-esteem. 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:11.120 That we should be fearless and happy here and now. 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:15.159 Because we can look forward to those kinds of things. 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:17.819 And that we can believe in ourselves. 00:04:17.960 --> 00:04:20.420 We can hold our heads up high and smile. 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:23.300 Because we're hoping for things in the short term. 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:25.420 We're hoping for the best from those things. 00:04:25.420 --> 00:04:29.379 And Jesus warns us, doesn't he, with this challenge. 00:04:29.500 --> 00:04:33.340 Because it is easy to get sucked into that kind of short termism. 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:42.060 It's the temptation for Jesus' disciples who are waiting for relief from persecution. 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:48.020 To place all hope of rescue in something happening now. 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:51.599 Some political action now. 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:55.039 Some legal thing, action now. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:00.479 Some evangelical president or leader or prime minister or something like that. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:03.599 Now it's not that those things are bad things. 00:05:04.539 --> 00:05:10.419 But if you try and place all of your hope in those things, your hope is bound to dry up sooner or later. 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:19.740 If you only think short term, you forget along with the secular mindset and the secular culture around us. 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:20.740 That there is a heaven. 00:05:21.640 --> 00:05:23.360 And that there is a judgment day. 00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:29.080 And that there is a God who is coming who will address injustice and evil. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.759 But that is what many are saying, isn't it? 00:05:32.780 --> 00:05:34.220 That the Christian life is all about. 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.680 That you can have an end to suffering and persecution. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:38.720 That you can be rich. 00:05:38.840 --> 00:05:39.860 That you can succeed. 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:44.759 That you can be delivered from oppression and suffering now. 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:51.560 But try saying that to a Christian who is locked up in a North Korean prison camp. 00:05:52.500 --> 00:05:56.660 Try saying that to a church in Iran whose pastor has just been murdered. 00:05:57.840 --> 00:06:04.680 Try saying that to a Christian who is not allowed to take their child to church under a communist regime. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:10.639 Because if Jesus' return stops becoming the main hope. 00:06:11.340 --> 00:06:14.100 If he is not what we are really hoping for. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.720 Then hope really does erode altogether, doesn't it? 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:19.139 For people like that. 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:20.480 For Christians like that. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.840 And their pain is made utterly unbearable. 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:27.020 If that hope is removed. 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:29.799 And so as we wait. 00:06:29.799 --> 00:06:32.779 There is a fine line between thinking we have got it all now. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.879 And thinking that hope never will come. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.279 That Jesus will never come. 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:42.639 It is the fine balance of the now and the not yet of the Christian life. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:48.680 And we will stop waiting and praying if we go too far either way. 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:54.800 When we think we have got everything now that we need to sort all of the world's problems out. 00:06:55.840 --> 00:06:59.560 Or when we think we will never get what we need and what we are hoping for. 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:01.300 Jesus to come back and do it. 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:08.759 But Jesus shows us, doesn't he, that the delay of this final rescue and relief from persecution. 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:18.039 Is far enough away that Jesus' disciples will cry out to him for it day and night. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:21.599 They will long to see that day, he says. 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:30.240 But it's also certain enough so that that cry should not cease until it happens, until he comes. 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:32.899 But it's the challenge of waiting, isn't it? 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:34.039 It's the challenge of waiting. 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:38.920 Secondly though, there is the confidence in waiting for his return. 00:07:39.760 --> 00:07:40.200 Confidence. 00:07:40.520 --> 00:07:43.640 And this is where we get into this parable a little bit more in detail. 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:51.560 In chapter 18, it is the picture, isn't it, of a widow before an unrighteous judge. 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:58.100 Who eventually grants her her request because he is fed up with her bothering him. 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:03.420 Now it's important that we see that this is a parable of contrast. 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:10.060 It is a picture, isn't it, of what God is not like that makes this parable work. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:16.100 And many people have got the parable wrong because they see it as an analogy of prayer. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:19.020 Rather than as a picture of contrast. 00:08:20.220 --> 00:08:24.379 Because this is not a story to tell us how to badger God. 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:33.000 Jesus is not saying if God's people make themselves like this widow and they make themselves a nuisance before God. 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:40.039 That he will finally and reluctantly grant them their request of justice and relief from oppression. 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:43.980 It's not a parable about nagging God. 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:48.379 And I wonder actually we think of God like that, don't we? 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:55.639 As if he's some ancient pagan God who needs to be pressured into doing something that he doesn't want to do. 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:58.420 But God is not like that. 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:02.080 And if we think of God like that, that doesn't give us confidence, does it? 00:09:02.779 --> 00:09:04.899 But it's not an analogy of prayer. 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:10.279 It is an argument by way of contrast to teach us to pray and wait. 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:13.699 Now let me fill you in on the picture a bit. 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:19.980 Widows in Jesus' day didn't necessarily fit our image of a widow today. 00:09:21.319 --> 00:09:25.779 Girls then would have married quite young, often in their teens, wouldn't they? 00:09:26.319 --> 00:09:31.740 So it's highly likely that a widow could have been much, much younger than we imagine her today. 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:39.159 And society was set up then so that these young widows were particularly vulnerable people. 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:44.360 They wouldn't have necessarily gained a share in their deceased husband's property. 00:09:45.379 --> 00:09:48.680 They were often left with no means of support at all. 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:56.200 And so a widow going to court asking for justice, for a share in property or for debts to be paid, 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:01.200 would have more likely received an unsympathetic hearing. 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:04.259 This parable is pretty typical actually. 00:10:05.460 --> 00:10:11.259 But what makes it worse is that this judge is especially unjust, isn't he? 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:15.519 Jesus says he neither feared God nor respected people. 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.259 He even says that himself as if he's proud of it. 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:26.659 And so the point is, even in such a scenario where the odds couldn't be more stacked against this widow, 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:30.779 she is awarded justice because of her asking, 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.959 how much more will God grant justice to his people who ask him? 00:10:36.019 --> 00:10:36.679 That's the point. 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:42.480 The parable assumes, doesn't it, that God's people who are in need 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:48.079 are in a much, much better position before God than this widow is. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:56.080 Before a righteous judge who loves justice and who does care about right and wrong. 00:10:57.420 --> 00:11:00.139 And so it is designed to give us confidence, isn't it? 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:01.400 Before him. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:04.920 But is that true? 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:09.579 Is God really a just judge? 00:11:10.199 --> 00:11:12.240 Not like this unjust judge. 00:11:13.459 --> 00:11:19.000 Does God really give justice to his people speedily, as Jesus says here? 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.360 Because as we look at the world around us, it doesn't appear to be the case, does it? 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:30.079 Can the persecuted Christian really believe this about God? 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:36.259 Can you believe this about God when you face all kinds of opposition and hate? 00:11:36.900 --> 00:11:42.000 When people call evil things good and good things evil in the world around us? 00:11:43.540 --> 00:11:46.460 Well to answer that, I think what we are asking, isn't it? 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.280 The question we are asking is, 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:56.160 is the delay of Jesus' return evidence that God is an unjust judge? 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:03.379 Is the delay of that request being met evidence that he is unrighteous as a judge? 00:12:03.939 --> 00:12:06.719 Because there is clearly a delay in that happening, isn't there? 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.039 In Jesus' return. 00:12:09.459 --> 00:12:13.360 And of course it would be the case that if a judge has a verdict to pass, 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.159 but he keeps adjourning the court sentencing, 00:12:16.939 --> 00:12:17.980 that wouldn't be right. 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:19.620 He would be an unrighteous judge. 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:26.720 But in God's case, it shows not his unrighteousness, 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:29.700 but something else about him which is also true. 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:32.159 His patience. 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.779 Because whilst justice is longed for by many, 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:42.740 God's justice for a lot of people is not good news. 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:44.159 At all. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:49.679 And so his justice is also tempered with patience. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:56.919 He is just and merciful, the Bible tells us. 00:12:58.139 --> 00:12:59.939 And so while we long for justice, 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.339 we are also glad, aren't we, that God has delayed, 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:07.039 that the Lord Jesus has delayed his coming, 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:09.379 even just for our own sakes. 00:13:09.379 --> 00:13:12.700 Because if he's going to deal with all the wrongdoing in the world, 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:14.399 then he's got to deal with me as well. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:20.700 But the unjust judge does act in the parable, doesn't he? 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:24.840 And he acts on the basis of what is true of himself. 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:28.419 What drives the unjust judge? 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:31.580 It's his selfishness, isn't it? 00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:33.500 And his own convenience. 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:35.960 He is not bothered one jot, 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:37.299 what is right or wrong, 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:39.139 whether this widow gets justice. 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:40.100 He doesn't care. 00:13:40.199 --> 00:13:41.059 He couldn't care less. 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.620 What drives him is what is most convenient for him. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.000 The fact that he doesn't want her bothering him. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:54.199 He does what accords with who he is as a judge. 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:57.759 And so will God. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:00.299 But by way of contrast. 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:05.859 God will act on the basis of what is true to himself. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.719 And he is both merciful and just. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:15.740 And he cannot answer the prayers of his people in any other way. 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:17.540 He cannot act in any other way. 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:21.480 And so as we think about God in this way, 00:14:21.560 --> 00:14:23.480 this gives us great confidence, doesn't it? 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:25.960 It's almost like a child, isn't it, 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:29.000 who knows what they're getting in advance for Christmas. 00:14:29.899 --> 00:14:32.660 So in October, they know what they're getting, 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:34.560 months in advance, 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.959 and they can say with confidence, 00:14:37.619 --> 00:14:40.659 I have got a train set for Christmas. 00:14:41.619 --> 00:14:46.019 Now they know that they won't unwrap that gift until the day comes. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:47.759 But even in October, they can say, 00:14:47.859 --> 00:14:48.959 I have a train set. 00:14:49.619 --> 00:14:52.359 It's on my parents' wardrobe in their bedroom at home. 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.759 And they can keep waiting, 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:57.480 and they can keep saying every day to their parents, 00:14:57.779 --> 00:14:58.580 Is today Christmas? 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:03.039 And God's people can confidently say, 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:04.740 I have justice. 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:08.120 And each day pray and wait, 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:09.519 saying, Is this the day? 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:13.860 Because God acts according to his own nature, 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:19.039 and we stand by contrast before a just judge, 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.740 who acts not according to his own convenience, 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:27.939 but who sees and will judge between what is right and what is wrong, 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:29.659 the Lord Jesus. 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:33.319 It's the challenge, but it's the confidence, 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.500 and thirdly, it's the end of waiting for Jesus, 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:38.000 the end of waiting for him. 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:40.659 As you go through the Bible, 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:42.019 there is a theme, isn't there, 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:44.199 with the way that God brings justice, 00:15:44.319 --> 00:15:46.299 and he sorts out wrong things in the world, 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:47.539 because there is a tension, 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:51.860 that there's a tension between a delay in that happening, 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:55.679 and a quickness of that happening. 00:15:56.839 --> 00:15:59.639 It is slow to happen, isn't it? 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:01.759 Just like in the days of Noah, 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:03.740 it looked like it was never going to happen. 00:16:04.779 --> 00:16:05.819 And then it's fast. 00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:08.659 Just like in the days of Noah, 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:11.000 just like in the days of Lot, Jesus says. 00:16:11.959 --> 00:16:13.779 It's long awaited, 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:15.379 and it's quickly given. 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:18.059 And there's a tension between the two. 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:22.179 And the way that justice will come, 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:23.620 and it will, 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.200 that evil will end in the world, 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.799 is also to help us to have confidence while we wait. 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:33.200 Because notice, 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:37.679 neither Luke nor Jesus are concerned with chronology here. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.239 They don't give us a date, do they, 00:16:41.359 --> 00:16:42.599 on which this is going to happen. 00:16:42.699 --> 00:16:44.559 That is not going to help our confidence. 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:47.599 But what they do tell us, 00:16:47.659 --> 00:16:48.959 is the impact, 00:16:49.699 --> 00:16:51.599 and the abruptness of justice, 00:16:51.599 --> 00:16:52.639 when it does come. 00:16:54.459 --> 00:16:57.000 We've seen that when Jesus returns, 00:16:57.139 --> 00:17:00.019 people will be taken up entirely with external things, 00:17:00.219 --> 00:17:00.859 getting married, 00:17:00.979 --> 00:17:01.539 doing business, 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:02.559 getting on with life. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.359 And so when God acts, 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.940 it will happen suddenly, 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.659 and it will intrude into a world like that. 00:17:11.419 --> 00:17:13.299 And there will be no appeals. 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:15.839 God is patient, 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:17.419 for a long time, 00:17:18.139 --> 00:17:19.799 for the sake of many, many people, 00:17:19.899 --> 00:17:21.000 but when he does act, 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:21.859 it is stunning, 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:23.279 and it's quick. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.299 And that's what Jesus means, 00:17:26.379 --> 00:17:27.759 when he says that his people, 00:17:27.879 --> 00:17:29.379 will receive justice, 00:17:29.859 --> 00:17:30.720 speedily. 00:17:31.899 --> 00:17:33.240 That final justice, 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:34.240 will come, 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:35.420 in a way that brings, 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:36.139 abrupt, 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:37.299 sudden, 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:38.059 quick, 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:39.720 gospel relief, 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:41.500 to his people, 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:42.599 who call out to him. 00:17:44.339 --> 00:17:46.079 And so we can wait, 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:48.000 because when it comes, 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.359 it will come soon. 00:17:49.819 --> 00:17:51.440 And we can slow down, 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:52.359 and we can pray, 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:53.759 and we can wait daily, 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:55.699 because it will be fast. 00:17:56.539 --> 00:17:58.000 And we can hold on, 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:00.139 because it will be hurried up, 00:18:00.219 --> 00:18:01.059 when it happens. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:04.500 So as we end, 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:06.119 we come full circle here, 00:18:06.199 --> 00:18:08.619 because there will be this deliverance, 00:18:09.659 --> 00:18:10.799 but the question is, 00:18:10.919 --> 00:18:11.959 will we wait for it? 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:13.740 Nevertheless, 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:15.979 when the Son of Man does come, 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.159 will he find faith, 00:18:17.500 --> 00:18:18.079 on the earth? 00:18:18.139 --> 00:18:19.099 Will he find us, 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:19.819 waiting, 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:20.759 and praying? 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:24.279 This parable isn't so much, 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:25.659 about our disappointment, 00:18:25.879 --> 00:18:26.439 with God, 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:27.559 when he doesn't give us, 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:28.939 what we ask for, 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:30.339 when we ask for it. 00:18:31.459 --> 00:18:32.399 But rather, 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:33.379 it is a warning, 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:33.779 isn't it? 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:34.559 It's a warning, 00:18:34.659 --> 00:18:35.919 of his disappointment, 00:18:35.919 --> 00:18:36.959 in us, 00:18:37.699 --> 00:18:39.259 when we stop asking, 00:18:39.379 --> 00:18:39.879 altogether. 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:41.720 Father, 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:42.540 and it's a spur, 00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:43.860 to keep praying, 00:18:44.780 --> 00:18:45.400 Father, 00:18:45.620 --> 00:18:46.840 thy will be done, 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:48.600 on earth, 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:49.440 as it is in heaven. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.980 Because he is a just judge, 00:18:53.780 --> 00:18:55.720 and justice will come speedily, 00:18:55.800 --> 00:18:56.200 with him. 00:18:57.300 --> 00:18:57.900 It's praying, 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:58.980 with the ongoing tension, 00:18:59.080 --> 00:18:59.500 of the now, 00:18:59.560 --> 00:19:00.240 and the not yet, 00:19:00.300 --> 00:19:01.140 and not to give up, 00:19:01.180 --> 00:19:01.600 isn't it? 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:04.279 In 1947, 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:06.099 the African-American scholar, 00:19:06.219 --> 00:19:06.939 Howard Herman, 00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:07.879 gave a lecture, 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:09.319 at Harvard University, 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:11.119 on the meaning, 00:19:11.219 --> 00:19:12.659 of the Negro spiritual, 00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:15.819 and what his aim was, 00:19:15.899 --> 00:19:17.219 to tackle claims, 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:17.919 at the time, 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.019 by slave owners, 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:21.039 that these songs, 00:19:21.159 --> 00:19:21.939 that these slaves, 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:22.459 were singing, 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:23.559 were actually making them, 00:19:23.639 --> 00:19:24.539 worse as workers, 00:19:24.639 --> 00:19:25.740 it made them docile, 00:19:25.859 --> 00:19:26.299 they said. 00:19:26.399 --> 00:19:27.079 They didn't want them, 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:28.179 singing these songs. 00:19:28.180 --> 00:19:30.340 But he argued, 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:30.620 no, 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:31.680 that wasn't the case. 00:19:31.840 --> 00:19:32.160 He says, 00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:33.279 the facts make clear, 00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:34.920 that these songs of faith, 00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:37.060 served rather, 00:19:37.259 --> 00:19:38.860 to deepen capacity, 00:19:39.840 --> 00:19:41.039 to endurance, 00:19:42.580 --> 00:19:43.799 and to the absorption, 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:44.820 of suffering. 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:47.299 The truth, 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:48.580 within these songs, 00:19:48.779 --> 00:19:49.700 taught the people, 00:19:49.820 --> 00:19:51.480 to rise high in life, 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:53.759 to look squarely, 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:54.259 in the face, 00:19:54.259 --> 00:19:55.000 of those facts, 00:19:55.100 --> 00:19:55.700 that argued, 00:19:55.860 --> 00:19:56.799 most dramatically, 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:58.160 against all hope. 00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:00.420 And enabled them, 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:01.900 to reject annihilation, 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:03.000 and to affirm, 00:20:03.120 --> 00:20:04.279 a terrible right, 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:04.980 to live. 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:07.240 It was because, 00:20:07.360 --> 00:20:08.680 those Christian slaves, 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:10.320 knew about a hope, 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:11.640 beyond concrete, 00:20:11.779 --> 00:20:12.480 political action, 00:20:12.600 --> 00:20:13.279 in their day. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:15.799 Their hope was not, 00:20:15.900 --> 00:20:16.539 in the present day, 00:20:16.620 --> 00:20:16.900 at all, 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:17.360 was it? 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:18.279 Their hope, 00:20:18.360 --> 00:20:19.340 was in a future day. 00:20:20.360 --> 00:20:21.519 In a judgment day. 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:23.759 A day they knew, 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:24.980 they would have to wait for. 00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:28.599 But waiting for Jesus, 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:30.120 and hoping in Jesus, 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:31.579 they made a worthless life, 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:32.259 worth living. 00:20:34.019 --> 00:20:35.200 John Newton writes, 00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:35.900 by prayer, 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:36.880 let me wrestle, 00:20:37.360 --> 00:20:38.480 and he will perform. 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:40.440 With Christ in the vessel, 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:41.860 I smile at the storm. 00:20:43.299 --> 00:20:44.019 It's a very, 00:20:44.140 --> 00:20:44.940 very different way, 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:45.500 of hoping, 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:46.200 isn't it? 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:48.240 From how the world operates. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:51.620 If you can erode hope, 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:53.039 in the Lord Jesus, 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:53.960 then suffering, 00:20:54.059 --> 00:20:55.160 becomes unbearable, 00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:55.700 doesn't it? 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:58.240 And that is what we do, 00:20:58.279 --> 00:20:59.200 when we lose sight, 00:20:59.259 --> 00:20:59.880 of the return, 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:00.839 of the Son of Man. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:03.640 But Christmas is coming. 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:05.839 And so, 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:07.240 in the slowness, 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:09.460 we know it will be quick. 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:11.900 And in the delay, 00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:13.660 we know it will be sudden. 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:15.740 In the crying, 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:16.799 we will suddenly, 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:17.640 be smiling. 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:20.380 Waiting and praying. 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:21.980 Waiting and praying. 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:23.019 Waiting and praying. 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:25.839 Because Jesus says, 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:27.660 he will give justice, 00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:30.380 and he will give it speedily. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:32.380 Let's pray.