Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C

There was a widow in that city and she came to him continually and saying, “Grant me justice against my accuser.”
​~Luke 18:3
 
Rise up Judge of all the Earth!
Let not mortal-kind prevail;
let the nations be judged before you.
~Psalm 91:19
 
It seems that questions about the fairness of our judicial systems is not new. The Luke text for this 6th Sunday of Easter is about a widow and a judge who disregards her. Why? She has no husband, no inheritance, no social standing. She has nothing. And the judge? He doesn’t care. He seems only to be out for himself, and she has nothing to offer.
 
But she succeeds. Why? She simply will not give up. The judge says it this way in Luke 18:5: “I will grant her justice, so that she may not ultimately come to violence against me.” He is concerned that she may come up and slap him in the face. He is, quite literally, trying to save face!
 
This story may not strike us as especially inspiring, but it offers an important lesson about the power of perseverance, and about the practice of it as a central behavior of Christian discipleship and of the realm of God’s Spirit. It may be one of particular use for us in this time.
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Acts 17:1–4, 10–12 † Psalm 9:1-14, 18-20 † Titus 3:1-8 † Luke 18:1-8
 
About the Art: Dou, Gerard, 1613-1675. Old Woman Reading, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57167 [retrieved May 12, 2025]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerard_Dou_005.jpg.

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