Persistent Trust - Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost (October 19, 2025)

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:27–34 | Psalm 119:97–104 | 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 | ​Luke 18:1–8

“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” (Luke 18:1).
 
It’s not always easy to trust those in charge, is it?
 
Even in the best of times… when we’re faced with big challenges and tense situations, it can be tempting to question how those in places of authority are making their decisions. But when we find ourselves in communities that are deeply divided… and when our leaders start to act in ways that lead us to believe they really don’t have our concerns or best interests at heart… trust naturally becomes that much harder for us to exercise.
 
And of course, some of this mistrust is definitely warranted. Both ancient and recent history is full of stories where people have said and done all sorts of things to get into positions of power. But then, as the old saying goes: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In many ways, the questions of who we will trust are foundational for our lives, and it actively shapes how we will choose to engage with those living around us, and the actions we feel we must take.

As a recent example, just yesterday millions of Americans took part in the ‘No Kings’ protests… peaceful gatherings in cities across their country geared to give voice to the grave concerns many of their citizens now have about the current direction of the government of the United States… coming together in droves to declare their shared distrust for those wielding power.
 
While I know many Canadians may share their concerns, and would support their movement… it’s kind of strange for us given the fact that we actually do have a king. And yet, despite our different approaches to government, we Canadians still expect our leaders to act with integrity, justice, and mercy, or to be held accountable when they don’t. That’s not to say we don’t have our own issues around trusting our elected, appointed, and anointed leaders, and we too have to work hard to find ways to build both trust and trustworthiness into our own society.
 
In another recent example of how serious and divisive the lack of trust can be, a major divide between Anglicans around the world was announced this past week. On Thursday, leaders within the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON for short, a movement that involves a very large portion of the Anglican Communion, have declared that they are no longer in communion with, and reject the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England, no longer having faith in their leadership.
 
Serious tensions within the worldwide Anglican Communion are not new, and in recent decades there have been several serious disagreements, and disputes among different groups on matters of theology, the interpretation of Scripture, and what it means to be faithful to God’s ways today. And now, as the leaders of GAFCON no longer trust in the leadership of Canterbury, they are officially braking off ties and severing the bonds of fellowship between us.  
 
This news deeply grieves my heart… and I pray for a way forward for us all to move towards true reconciliation… however remote it may seem at the moment, and however long it may take… and I hope that you all will do the same.
 
And I know that a lot of people are grieving that the Christian Church and the nations of the world are so deeply divided, and that mutual trust and trustworthiness seems to be so hard to find and hold onto these days.
 
And so, I think it’s very timely that our Gospel reading today presents us with a clear invitation to practice trust… specifically, to place our trust in the Living God, our Heavenly Father to do what is right in our lives and in our world… and then do our best to act accordingly. 
 
Our passage today is a parable… a short story meant to drive home a particular point… involving two people at the very opposite ends of the power spectrum: on the one hand we have a judge, and in the other we have a widow.
 
Now in the context of this story, judges are kind of like government officials: representatives of a higher authority, and responsible for upholding justice for the sake of their communities.
 
But in this story, Jesus points out a big problem: this judge is an unjust judge. Jesus says that this judge “neither feared God nor had respect for people.” (Luke 18:2). In other words, they were unmoved by any sense of accountability… and instead of feeling duty-bound to do what is right, they just wanted to do… what they wanted to do. They are a prime example of someone entrusted with power, but who is not at all trustworthy to use it.
 
And on the other hand, we have this widow… this person with next to no power of her own, and who was now in a very vulnerable situation… counted among those who had lost a large part of their social network, and support system.
 
Sadly, our world knows a lot about this kind of scenario… powerful people who couldn’t care less about the plights of those who find themselves living on the margins.
 
But even so, we’re told that this widow does something important: she persists in pursuing justice. She keeps on petitioning the judge over and over… apparently not held back by their own seemingly powerless position… and eventually the unjust judge gives in!

Not because they care about justice, or the widow’s case… but just so that she’ll leave him alone. It’s purely an act of self interest for him. But for the widow, it’s a real win.
 
Against all odds, her persistence and perseverance pays off, and her cries for justice were finally answered. Case closed. And we can safely move on, knowing that all we need to do to get what we want is to not give up… right?
 
Well, that’s not really what St. Luke tells us this parable is about. It’s not about you and I getting what we want. And it’s not even about the power of patience and persistence. This is a parable about learning to trust God… about our “need to pray always and not to lose heart.” (Luke 18:1).
 
In fact, were in danger of misunderstanding the whole thing if we think the point of the story is that we need to lobby God relentlessly so He will step in and do something for us… as if the only way to ensure we get His attention and concern is through pestering him. 
 
No, this parable is far more concerned with helping us come to believe that our prayers and concerns matter to God… and that we can trust Him… even when He seems to be silent… relying on Him even when we’re really tempted to lose heart.
 
And the crucial point that makes this all clear… the premise that often gets missed when we hear this story… is that the Living God is NOTHING LIKE the unjust judge! 
 
This is a story of contrasts! Of highlighting how much more trustworthy our Heavenly Father is… and inviting us to lean on His great mercy, and compassion, and justice, and holy, life-changing love… practicing persistence in prayer… in the way we engage every single day with our true Saviour King.
 
In this short story, Jesus makes the case that if persistent engagement is worthwhile even with a human judge who is completely untrustworthy… HOW MUCH MORE is it worthwhile when dealing with the Living God, who unlike so many of us really can be trusted to do what is right?
 
And this story also asks us to explore the very nature of what it means to trust… challenging some of the popular assumptions we might have, and offering us another way forward.  
 
First of all, it shows us that trust… that faith is not abdication… just sitting back and doing nothing, while hoping it will all work out. The widow certainly doesn’t do nothing… she keeps getting up and doing something very difficult. Her faith pushes her to take action, and not to give up just because it gets hard.
 
Second of all, this parable can help us to see that trust… that faith is not meant to be a form of manipulation… some sort of influence, or magic we can make use of to make others, or the universe, or even God give us what we want just because we believe it enough… or pester Him enough. Despite his annoyance, the unjust judge is not forced into answering the widows petitions… he chooses to act in ways that are completely consistent with his own interests and character… that is, he acts out of his own selfishness and deep desire to be left alone.
 
So then, if faith and trust are not about abdication or manipulation, what are they about? What does faith look like?
It looks like a life of persistent engagement… an ongoing relationship that actively relies upon the other to be trustworthy… that is, to do what is right. It means even when things don’t go the way that we had hoped or expected… even when we’re hit hard by life’s big challenges… even when it seems like the one we’re trying to trust is not listening… we still do not give up… because we trust that despite it all they truly care about us, and that in the end, they will not let us down.
 
That’s what faith looks like. That’s what Jesus is inviting us to practice… not abdication, or manipulation, but a commitment to persistent engagement with the Living God… seeking to grow closer to Him, and to understand more and more of His holy ways… and to not give up when things get really hard, and we face times of deep discouragement… leaning on the hope we have received, and the sustaining power of His love.
 
I know that it seems like so many things are flying off the rails in our world right now. It seemed that way on Good Friday too… and yet we know that Easter Sunday came all the same. 

And the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord calls us not to give up on the Living God! It invites us to trust Him to do what is right, to trust in His steadfast love right to the end. And for our part, it calls us to persistently engage with Him through prayer, and learning together to walk in the ways He has taught us. 
 
We can trust God for so many good reasons… too many to list right now. But the most important reason we can trust God is because He has already shown us His heart… His deepest desires and plans… His whole agenda for us and our world… revealing it once and for all time in the life, and death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
In Jesus, we see that God did not come among us to be served but to serve! To restore and transform our broken lives, our broken fellowship, and our broken world.
 
And He came not to play favourites or pick sides… but seeking out and welcoming in the lost… inviting everyone to come to Him and find rest… especially all of us who are weary and heavy laden.
 
And He came, not out of selfish ambitions, but in complete self-giving love… laying down His life to spare and to save the very ones who betrayed Him, and hated Him… turning His enemies into beloved brothers and sisters, not through coercion or fear, but through the  shedding of His own blood, enduring the cross and rising again for them… for us… and for us all.
 
We can trust God persistently, engaging with Him even when it’s hard and we’re tempted to give up and lose heart because in Jesus, we have come face to face with God’s unfailing grace, and steadfast love.
 
And so, when this God who loves us and gave His life for us calls us to trust Him, and follow Him, will we?
 
When He calls us to not give up praying for, and seeking, and working towards justice, and mercy, and real reconciliation…
 
When He invites us to come to Him with all of our burdens and heavy hearts… with our frustrations and anger, and with our cries for help…

When He challenges our selfishness and calls us out for being complacent about the plight of those suffering around us… will we respond as those who believe that everything He does flows from His great love for us all?
 
A love far more powerful than any ruler or authority or movement… a love far more enduring than our deepest divisions… and far more persistent than our deepest griefs and pain… the same love that conquered death itself when Jesus our Lord rose again from the grave… and which is now able to work within us through the gift of His Holy Spirit.
 
So, like the widow in the parable: may we never give up on God and lose heart. May God’s own Spirit empower us to pray always because we trust in the Good News of Jesus Christ our Saviour King… that in Him we have come to know that the Living God truly loves us and our world, and that in the end, He really will do what is right. Amen.