St Luke 18:1-8
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
She was a widow. She was alone. She had no husband. Which meant that she had no provider. No advocate. No one to plead her cause. No one to provide her with justice or comfort. Her only retort was to continually go to the unrighteous judge saying, Give me justice against my adversary.
But he was a pagan. He cared not for the poor widow nor her cause. His rejection of her case is shorthand for his rejection of God’s Word, His covenantal loyalty to His people and His command to care for the widows and the fatherless. Even more perplexing is that he neither fears God nor respects man. He has no shame. No scruples.
The story seems straightforward. St Luke even catechizes us in the intent of Jesus’ catechesis: He told them a parable to show them they must pray continually and not grow weary. So thinking the parable is about the widow’s persistence as a model for our prayers as we wait upon God, how surprising then that the unscrupulous judge is finally broken down by a widow because she is beginning to undermine his reputation. I guess he cared what other people thought after all.
But even that is not the point of the parable. On the surface its about a persistent widow as an analogy for the Christian to be patient and long-suffering in their prayers to God. But in the end the parable isn’t about the widow or the judge. Its about God. And the underlying reality is the Good News that God is merciful and long-suffering and He will deliver His elect in Christ.
St Monica is a superb example of such a persistent widow. Known primarily for her more well known son, St Augustine, St Monica is best remembered for her fervent desire and many years of heartfelt prayer for her son’s conversion. He had been registered for Baptism as a child, but, in keeping with the unfortunate custom of that day, he was not actually baptized then. For various and sundry reasons to numerous for this evening, it was often the case that Holy Baptism would be delayed until after the wild oats of youth had been sown. I guess it’s sort of like waiting until puberty before allowing children to receive the Holy Communion.
In any case, Augustine drifted further away from Christianity into pagan philosophy and heretical sects. He fathered a child with a prostitute. He rejected Christian truth and lived as the prodigal son, squandering the good gifts the Lord had given.
So it was that his dear mother prayed, night and day, for many long years, with great tears and weeping, that he would be returned to the faith. That he would come to his senses and return home into the fellowship of the Church through repentance and Holy Baptism.
I recall, several years back, an angry father pronouncing a curse upon me wishing that my children would grow up and abandon the faith as his children had done. I have friends and family who have departed from the Christian Church and the Christian faith. I can’t really think of anything in life more painful than such apostasy in one’s children. I worry about my children. I don't know how I would bear it if one of them renounced their faith in Christ.
You may suffer this cross with your own children or family members. In such cases we not only have the return of the prodigal son , or the long history of Israel as God’s wayward and rebellious children, but we have the blessed example of St Monica. Not only her faithfulness in prayer. But that she trusted in the faithfulness of the Lord to answer her prayer.
He did not do so quickly, by any means, but He did at last call her Augustine to Himself by the Gospel, enlighten him with tremendous gifts, both spiritual and temporal, sanctify him through the washing of water with the Word, and preserve him steadfast in the one true faith. St Augustine became not only a Christian disciple of Jesus, but a faithful pastor and bishop. He is remembered as one of the four towering giants of the Western Church. Possibly the most significant and influential of all the Church fathers. Through the persistent prayers of St Monica our Lord not only blessed this dear mother who finally witnessed the Baptism of her son, but also blessed the entire Church through him.
St Augustine was baptized, famously, by St Ambrose of Milan. A pious tradition maintains that these two patristic giants emerged from the waters of that Baptism spontaneously singing the Te Deum. This is also the setting in which St Monica asked St Ambrose about the divergent fasting practices she had encountered while in Rome. The Archbishop’s famous answer to her was, “When in Rome, I do as the Romans do.” In other words, don’t raise scruples about certain spiritual disciplines, but cheerfully maintain, in Christian freedom, the unity of the faith in the bond of peace.
St Monica was widowed at age 40 and died at age 55. But she, by the grace of God, lived to see both her husband and her son baptized into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Such prayers, dear Christians, are not always answered in the timing and circumstances that we would prefer.
But we pray in faith according to the Word and promises of God. We pray in the Name of Jesus. We pray as a faithful community awaiting the coming of the Son of Man with hope and joy and eager longing. We pray as loyal disciples in the faithfulness of God the Father, the righteous and just Judge, as we watch for the coming of Christ Jesus; listening urgently and intently to His catechesis. As the teacher of the Hebrews writes, We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it (Heb 2:1).
For there is no other confidence than this. It does not rely on sight or feelings or experience, but solely upon Christ. His Word and promises. And in Him God’s answer to prayer is always “Yes!” and “Amen!” We might not be sure of anything, but we can be absolutely sure and certain of this: In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19).
I have no guarantees that any particular child, nor any other person, will be called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified in the one true faith. But when the Holy Triune God bestows His Name upon a child in Holy BaptismHe binds Himself to that boy or girl. And binds him or her to Himself. The baptized one is adopted as a son of God, united with Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, in His Cross and Resurrection and anointed with His Holy Spirit.
If we are zealous for and protective of our children, He is all the more so, and far more capable than any of us to guard and keep them from all harm and danger. He will keep their going out and their coming in from this time forth and forevermore. He will keep their life.
For the Father’s eye remains on the Prodigal Son, even when He has gone away into the far country, even when He is languishing in the pig pen. The Good Shepherd comes to seek and save the lost. He calls and gathers His lost and wandering sheep back into the sheepfold by His voice of the Gospel, the full and free forgiveness of all your sins. The Holy Spirit is the first and best Master of properly dividing and applying the Law and the Gospel. Of calling sinners to repentance and faith through the forgiveness of sins.
We may learn this from St Monica, who in fervent prayer and steadfast trust, reminds us: God will not forget nor neglect our children. We cannot love them more, nor care for them better, than He does. They are His. You are His.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
She was a widow. She was alone. She had no husband. Which meant that she had no provider. No advocate. No one to plead her cause. No one to provide her with justice or comfort. Her only retort was to continually go to the unrighteous judge saying, Give me justice against my adversary.
But he was a pagan. He cared not for the poor widow nor her cause. His rejection of her case is shorthand for his rejection of God’s Word, His covenantal loyalty to His people and His command to care for the widows and the fatherless. Even more perplexing is that he neither fears God nor respects man. He has no shame. No scruples.
The story seems straightforward. St Luke even catechizes us in the intent of Jesus’ catechesis: He told them a parable to show them they must pray continually and not grow weary. So thinking the parable is about the widow’s persistence as a model for our prayers as we wait upon God, how surprising then that the unscrupulous judge is finally broken down by a widow because she is beginning to undermine his reputation. I guess he cared what other people thought after all.
But even that is not the point of the parable. On the surface its about a persistent widow as an analogy for the Christian to be patient and long-suffering in their prayers to God. But in the end the parable isn’t about the widow or the judge. Its about God. And the underlying reality is the Good News that God is merciful and long-suffering and He will deliver His elect in Christ.
St Monica is a superb example of such a persistent widow. Known primarily for her more well known son, St Augustine, St Monica is best remembered for her fervent desire and many years of heartfelt prayer for her son’s conversion. He had been registered for Baptism as a child, but, in keeping with the unfortunate custom of that day, he was not actually baptized then. For various and sundry reasons to numerous for this evening, it was often the case that Holy Baptism would be delayed until after the wild oats of youth had been sown. I guess it’s sort of like waiting until puberty before allowing children to receive the Holy Communion.
In any case, Augustine drifted further away from Christianity into pagan philosophy and heretical sects. He fathered a child with a prostitute. He rejected Christian truth and lived as the prodigal son, squandering the good gifts the Lord had given.
So it was that his dear mother prayed, night and day, for many long years, with great tears and weeping, that he would be returned to the faith. That he would come to his senses and return home into the fellowship of the Church through repentance and Holy Baptism.
I recall, several years back, an angry father pronouncing a curse upon me wishing that my children would grow up and abandon the faith as his children had done. I have friends and family who have departed from the Christian Church and the Christian faith. I can’t really think of anything in life more painful than such apostasy in one’s children. I worry about my children. I don't know how I would bear it if one of them renounced their faith in Christ.
You may suffer this cross with your own children or family members. In such cases we not only have the return of the prodigal son , or the long history of Israel as God’s wayward and rebellious children, but we have the blessed example of St Monica. Not only her faithfulness in prayer. But that she trusted in the faithfulness of the Lord to answer her prayer.
He did not do so quickly, by any means, but He did at last call her Augustine to Himself by the Gospel, enlighten him with tremendous gifts, both spiritual and temporal, sanctify him through the washing of water with the Word, and preserve him steadfast in the one true faith. St Augustine became not only a Christian disciple of Jesus, but a faithful pastor and bishop. He is remembered as one of the four towering giants of the Western Church. Possibly the most significant and influential of all the Church fathers. Through the persistent prayers of St Monica our Lord not only blessed this dear mother who finally witnessed the Baptism of her son, but also blessed the entire Church through him.
St Augustine was baptized, famously, by St Ambrose of Milan. A pious tradition maintains that these two patristic giants emerged from the waters of that Baptism spontaneously singing the Te Deum. This is also the setting in which St Monica asked St Ambrose about the divergent fasting practices she had encountered while in Rome. The Archbishop’s famous answer to her was, “When in Rome, I do as the Romans do.” In other words, don’t raise scruples about certain spiritual disciplines, but cheerfully maintain, in Christian freedom, the unity of the faith in the bond of peace.
St Monica was widowed at age 40 and died at age 55. But she, by the grace of God, lived to see both her husband and her son baptized into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Such prayers, dear Christians, are not always answered in the timing and circumstances that we would prefer.
But we pray in faith according to the Word and promises of God. We pray in the Name of Jesus. We pray as a faithful community awaiting the coming of the Son of Man with hope and joy and eager longing. We pray as loyal disciples in the faithfulness of God the Father, the righteous and just Judge, as we watch for the coming of Christ Jesus; listening urgently and intently to His catechesis. As the teacher of the Hebrews writes, We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it (Heb 2:1).
For there is no other confidence than this. It does not rely on sight or feelings or experience, but solely upon Christ. His Word and promises. And in Him God’s answer to prayer is always “Yes!” and “Amen!” We might not be sure of anything, but we can be absolutely sure and certain of this: In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19).
I have no guarantees that any particular child, nor any other person, will be called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified in the one true faith. But when the Holy Triune God bestows His Name upon a child in Holy BaptismHe binds Himself to that boy or girl. And binds him or her to Himself. The baptized one is adopted as a son of God, united with Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, in His Cross and Resurrection and anointed with His Holy Spirit.
If we are zealous for and protective of our children, He is all the more so, and far more capable than any of us to guard and keep them from all harm and danger. He will keep their going out and their coming in from this time forth and forevermore. He will keep their life.
For the Father’s eye remains on the Prodigal Son, even when He has gone away into the far country, even when He is languishing in the pig pen. The Good Shepherd comes to seek and save the lost. He calls and gathers His lost and wandering sheep back into the sheepfold by His voice of the Gospel, the full and free forgiveness of all your sins. The Holy Spirit is the first and best Master of properly dividing and applying the Law and the Gospel. Of calling sinners to repentance and faith through the forgiveness of sins.
We may learn this from St Monica, who in fervent prayer and steadfast trust, reminds us: God will not forget nor neglect our children. We cannot love them more, nor care for them better, than He does. They are His. You are His.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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