A couple of weeks ago we touched on the topic of perseverance. This week it comes front and center: ‘pray without becoming weary’ is the clear message from Jesus and the story of Moses. The example of Moses goes a little further and points out that it’s also good to have help.
Clearly both Moses (with his friends) and the widow persevere in their efforts, and are rewarded for it. But we need to consider carefully what exactly we are being called to do in persevering. Persevering may be nothing more than sheer cussedness, or endless nagging. Despite the success of the widow, I don’t think this is what Jesus is encouraging. And the story of Moses is not about some mechanical exercise in which, by sheer muscle force, God is coerced or cajoled into supporting the Israelites. Faced with stories like this we always risk succumbing to our literal minds. I’m sure the writer of Exodus understood that God was not going to be controlled by Moses waving his arms around, or holding them above his head for an unnatural length of time. The point of the story is rather that Moses as the spiritual leader is the force behind the success of the Israelites (not Joshua, the head of the armed forces) and that he doesn’t act alone – the power of God is exercised through the faith of the community (represented by Moses in combination with Aaron and Hur).
In the case of the story that Jesus tells, he’s not suggesting that the relationship between the widow and the judge is like our relationship with God – quite the opposite. God and the judge are diametrically opposed, that’s spelt out clearly. Jesus is not telling us to nag more. We are not being told to pray without getting weary because somehow that will break down God’s resistance and he’ll give into us. There is something much deeper at stake here. The key is in Jesus’ final comment: “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Jesus is looking for faith not stubbornness.
Our prayer is an expression of our faith. Our perseverance is not born of stubbornness, it is born of faith. We believe in a just God, we are not battling an unjust judge. We don’t have to fight for our salvation, it is already assured. So, as Paul encouraged his followers in Thessaloniki, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus”.