11/17/02 T-25 INI Luke 18:1-8

Dear Fellow Redeemed by the blood of Him Who taught us to pray, "Deliver us from evil" or "the evil one."

How blessed we are if we can pray this petition of the Lord's prayer from our hearts. All will agree that the world is very evil. Some of the more enlightened people of the world also know that "evil" lurks within the human heart. It is human nature to want to identify or personify evil so that, recognizing the "enemy," we may fight against him.

When we pray "Deliver us from the evil (one)" from the heart we know that it is not ourselves but an alien power that threatens us and holds us in bondage. One of the great and comforting works of the Holy Spirit is to make the Christian feel this distinction between us and the evil which is in us and around us. In the parable of the persistent widow Jesus encourages us to pray "Deliver us from the evil" without tiring, until He fulfills His promise to come for us.

Deliver us from evil is the continual petition of God's chosen ones. The widow in this parable cried "day and night" for the judge to avenge her of her adversaries.

Our Christian hearts have been so converted by the Holy spirit through the Gospel of Christ, that we are constantly grieved by the attacks of our own sinful flesh. We say with the apostle Paul in Romans 7: "The good that I would, I do not; and the evil I would not, that I do." We long for the day when we will be delivered from what Paul calls "this body of death." Therefore we pray that the Lord would come quickly and destroy the evil which holds us captive and distresses us.

The elect or chosen of God also distinguish themselves from the evil outside of them. Christians are praying day and night for the Lord to deliver us from the evil of Satan and the world. The Psalmist David prayed: "Do not let my enemies gloat over me. . . . O Lord, You have seen it -- do not be silent. . . . since you are righteous, give me justice. . . ." (Ps. 35:11-26) And Again David prays in Psalm 74: "How long, O God, will the enemy insult us? Will the enemy scorn Your name forever? . . . Rise, O God, fight for Your cause, remember how a fool defies You all day long."

In the Book of Revelation those who lost their lives for the sake of God's Word are heard crying out: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth."

Many such prayers have been prayed by faithful Christians for hundreds, even thousands of years. Many saints have died and still the Lord has not come in final judgment to deliver His Church forever from the oppression of evil. But we are called by the parable of our text to be patient and to keep on praying! Why? Because "Deliver us from evil" is a

Petition of the elect which the Lord will speedily answer. This truth is taught in our text. The unrighteous judge has legal authority to right the wrongs suffered by the oppressed widow. The problem was that he did not care! Not only did he not fear God, neither did he have any regard for the rights of others, especially not those of a poor widow without money or influence.

What happened? Although the judge was no friend or relative of the widow; he was not afraid of God; and he would not gain anything for himself by helping her, YET he delivered her from the evil she was suffering at the hands of her opponent. WHY? He got tired of her persistent hounding! The judge did not want to be bothered anymore by this woman.

Therefore Jesus says: "Listen to what the judge said to this widow who meant nothing to him. Shall not the righteous God surely avenge His own elect people who cry unto him continuously to deliver them from the evil?" If the persistent widow's petition was granted, how much more certainly our petition will be granted. Consider the following:

1) The widow was a stranger, but God's praying people are His own elect -- His adopted children!

2) She was only one, while the praying saints are many, all praying the same prayer: "Deliver US from the evil."

3) She came to a judge who said, "Keep away from me!" We, on the other hand, come to a Father who invites and commands us to ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.

4) She came to an "unjust" judge, we come to a righteous Father.

5) She came on her own account. But when we pray "Deliver us from the evil" we are praying also for the destruction of God's own enemies!

6) She had no one to speak for her, but we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One!

7) Her persistence provoked the unrighteous judge, but our persistence is pleasing to our heavenly Father! YES, OUR LORD WILL SURELY ANSWER THE PRAYER OF HIS ELECT!

But what is the Lord waiting for today? Doesn't he see the gross wickedness in this world? Why is He taking so many years to come in the Judgment? Our Lord's answer is found in v. 8: "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." Remember that Jesus Christ speaks from His point of view in the timelessness of eternity. What may be a thousand or ten thousand years to us is the same as a day or a millionth of a second to him! Therefore the Apostle Peter could write to the Christian Church in his day: "the Lord is not slow to do what He promised, as some people think. He is patient with you and does not want any to perish, but wants them to turn from sins to him." (2 Peter 3:9, Beck Trans.)

Mother Mary thought she new the right time for Jesus to assist at the wedding of Cana when the host ran out of wine. She was wrong. The frightened disciples, tossed by the stormy wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee became impatient with the LORD and asked, "Don't you care that we perish." But He cared for them at exactly the right time! Martha and Mary of Bethany thought Jesus had come too late to help their dead brother Lazarus. But they were again happily mistaken about when "the right time" was. See how our Lord comes speedily to our assistance according to His own time-table.

But if this is true, then it's a big mistake to try to determine the time of Christ's coming as some do. There is a far more important concern the Christian ought to have. It's the question Jesus asks in v. 8: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on the earth?" The question that should concern us all is not how soon God will come to judge the earth and avenge His elect, but whether we will be prepared with that faith that continually cries out to Him. Or will we become conditioned to accept the evil which is around us and in us?

David hated evil and regarded all who were connected with it as his enemies because they were against his Savior God. Listen to his inspired words in Ps. 139: "Do not I hate them O Lord, that hate You? And am I not grieved with those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect (complete) hatred: I count them my enemies." Are the enemies of God, who openly despise his commandments and teach others to do the same -- even in the name of Christianity -- are these also our enemies?

Ask yourselves whether your association with evil at work or in school, and the sexual permissiveness being transmitted into your homes by the television are conditioning you and your children toward the acceptance of evil rather than the hatred of it. Ask yourselves whether you are finding it easier to love leisure and bodily comforts in this world, but harder to find the time to confess your sins, learn the Word of God and pray! Is the heart-felt prayer of a strong faith, Deliver us from evil," becoming a strange thought to your heart -- a petition that you find yourself praying only during the worship service on Sunday morning?

Dear Friends in Christ, the question of Jesus is a most penetrating one: "Who will be praying this petition from a faithful heart when He comes?" May we be granted grace from heaven through Word and Sacrament so that we may always have such a faith and cry day and night:

O Jesus Christ, do not delay, but hasten our salvation;

We often tremble on our way in fear and tribulation.

Then hear us when we cry to thee;

Come, mighty Judge, and make us free

From every evil! Amen.