Sometimes in our lives we come across people who are so persistent and preoccupied with a single, specific issue that they focus on nothing else. Their entire being is consumed by hammering away on one topic or problem. One of my dear friends often describes such a person’s persistent actions by saying, “They are like a dog on a bone.” They simply cannot stop chewing on an issue or pet peeve. Now, this can be a very harmful type of behavior, especially when the focus is something that is totally irrelevant and one’s action is used to manipulate, create discord and division, attack others, or stir up destruction within an organization or community. However, such persistence can also be a good thing if the dogged person is tirelessly working to bring about change for the common good, change that is necessary, is healthy, and brings forth reconciliation, peace and justice.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells the story of a persistent, stubborn woman who simply does not give up. She is like a dog on a bone.
I think, far too frequently, when interpreting this parable, an assumption is made that the unjust judge is God and we are to pray to God as this widow who was so persistent with the corrupt judge. When such an understanding is asserted, we get far too preoccupied with the unattractive comparison of God as an unjust judge and consequently we don't get into the deeper meaning of what Jesus is communicating. This story is parable, and remember, when we hear a parable, we can place ourselves in any one of the characters. Also, Jesus’ parables are meant to be cognitive time bombs that shock us into new understandings as we think about them over time.
The scene of this parable unfolds in a place that is something like a hall of justice where a judge is seated on his judgement seat and throngs of petitioners are gathered about, some represented by lawyers while others are just shouting their requests from the crowd. And, this widow is in that crowd every single day when the court convenes. She wants vindication against an unnamed adversary. She wants justice! Day after day after day, she is present shouting out for the justice she deserves. And, every single day the harsh, unsavory, immoral, corrupt judge, who “neither fears God nor respects people,” ignores her. Yet, this poor, defenseless widow obstinately badgers the corrupt judge until he finally relents and renders a favorable judgment.
Now, we must remember the writer of Luke is communicating to a Greek audience, people who would picture a typical Roman judge. Judges in that culture had vast power within their jurisdiction. If they wanted to, they could decide cases based on personal whim alone and they frequently did just that. The judge in this story is such a judge, and he is depicted as having no concern for justice. Jesus says the judge felt no “reverence” for people, but also no sense of “shame” in how he treated them. And, the contrast in the story is between this powerful magistrate who can do whatever he feels like doing and a poor widow who must simply take what she can get.
It is significant that Jesus portrays this woman as a widow. Widows, at that point in time, were powerless and the poorest of the poor. On the “power scale,” the judge is at one end and the widow at the other. Widows in the ancient world were incredibly vulnerable. And, threaded throughout Hebrew scriptures we find widows listed along with orphans and resident aliens as those persons deserving special protection. The fact that this particular widow, unattended by any family, daily goes to beseech an unsavory judge who neither fears God nor respects people, highlights her extreme vulnerability. In her single-mindedness, she is like a dog on a bone as she daily, stubbornly persists in her pleas for justice. She keeps haranguing this judge, apparently making a public spectacle of herself...and him. She mercilessly bothers the judge. And, in fact, a more vivid and accurate translation of the judge's complaint when he says, “she keeps bothering me,” would be “she is giving me a black eye." She's embarrassing him and calling into question his reputation by persisting with her case. She is speaking truth to power. When discussing this brave widow’s actions, one theologian suggests:
Like all black eyes, the one the widow's complaints threaten to inflict have a double effect, representing both physical and social distress. That is, the judge complains that the widow's relentless badgering not only causes him physical harm but also risks publicly embarrassing him. For this reason, he says -- perhaps justifying his actions to his wounded sense of self? -- that he relents not because he has changed his mind but simply to shut up this dangerous widow.
This judge finally decides that if he doesn't grant the widow's petition, she will wear him out - either figuratively or literally. So, eventually, despite his callousness and his lack of integrity, he gives the woman what she wants.
In our own time and in our own culture, we have been experiencing a steady drumbeat of news, giving us reports of injustice after injustice perpetrated by one group or another. And what has been done? Many of us do work for justice in a variety of ways and, when that longing for justice burns in your bones as it does in mine, seeking justice becomes part of the fabric of your life. In this country, over time, some civil rights laws were established; and they have brought some progress, though such progress often comes quite slowly. Globally, we have seen some of the worst offenders brought before international tribunals and tried for crimes against humanity. Many organizations like the ONE Campaign, Bread for the World, and ELCA Advocacy have been working to raise awareness regarding issues of human rights, equality and poverty. And, these organizations have been working hard to encourage lawmakers to enact policies that will help the poor and feed the hungry as we work to end extreme poverty in our time. But, quite frankly, there are many who, seeing such things, have spoken words of lament but then gone right back to doing whatever else it was they had been doing. So, I wonder: what does this parable mean for us today?
If this parable offers a mirror for our lives, then maybe the face many of us will see when we peer into that mirror is the face of the judge who daily hears the cries of the poor and vulnerable and does not respond. Or, are we like that vulnerable woman, tirelessly petitioning the judge for justice?
When Jesus told a parable, quite often the deepest meaning in the story is the message of what God is like, what God is about, and what God is doing in this broken world. So, as we hear the gospel in this parable, just maybe the really good news for all of us is that God is the one who is like that widow – unrelenting, persistent, assertive – like a dog on a bone. God is the one who does not and will never give up. God has not, does not, and will not ever give up on us, even when we have acted as though we "neither feared God nor had respect for people." Just maybe, the real message in this short little story is that, because of God’s great love for us, God became vulnerable like that poor widow, even to the point of being nailed to the cross like a common criminal. And, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s reign has broken into this world and continues to break into our world, bringing forth justice for all people. Now that is the kind of good news worth sharing. That is the kind of message for which each one of us can live and act like a dog on a bone!