Jeremy L. Berg

Luke 18:1-5

¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ “For some time he refused.  But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men,  ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ “

I grew up in Pelican Rapids – a small, quiet town in west central MN right on the edge of the lake country.  Even at the height of tourist season, the sound of emergency vehicles is relatively rare.  As with many small towns, everyone seems to know everyone else, so when you hear sirens, there is a good chance someone you know is in trouble.

I was 5 or 6 when I made my first overnight trip to Minneapolis.  I was amazed at the number of sirens.  Years later, I moved from small town, northern MN to Mpls.  I made a promise to never take sirens for granted, to not relegate them to background noise, to always remember that the sound of sirens, even though I may not who, means someone is in trouble.  Now 25 years later, when I hear sirens, I still stop and say a quick prayer.

A couple of months ago, at choir, the choir director asked for prayer requests.  One of the altos has a very sick friend (cancer).  This alto asked for prayer for her sick friend just as she had every Wednesday for the past couple of months.  I am ashamed to say, my reaction was a silent groan and thoughts of “Not again!  We prayed about this last Wednesday.”  It was at this point, God reminded me of the importance of keeping promises – my promise to pray at the sound of sirens and this lady’s promise to pray for her friend.

Then, just a week later, He reinforced the lesson.  The sermon included a story about a man who had been to prison and now was free.  Through the faithful prayers and persistence of a co-worker he came to know Christ.  In his testimony, this man said he had clearly heard the gospel message 12 separate times before it finally clicked!  Clear evidence that persistence and faithfulness is often rewarded.

There are many examples of God’s promises to us – the rainbow promising there will never be another great flood, the promise of a child to Abraham and Sarah, the promise of a messiah.  He has faithfully kept his promises.

The lessons for me are “be persistent” and “faithfully keep your promises”.