Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.07UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.54LIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.69LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.48UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.68LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.92LIKELY
Extraversion
0.17UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.92LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.71LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Intro
This is one of the few parables where we are told up front what it’s about.
We don’t have to figure it out.
In the case of this parable known as “The Persistent Widow,” Jesus told it to show that we “should always pray and not give up.”
But WHY would he want to tell us this?
How we answer that question depends on how we view God.
If we see God as some judge who is more interested in his law than us, then we may see prayer as the weight we need to add up enough to tip the scales in our favour.
And if this is the case, it’s easy to believe the lie that if we pray hard enough or long enough and get enough other people to join us, then God will be forced to bless us and grant our request.
But that is not how the parable is set up.
In fact, Jesus has crafted a story of contrast to show who God really is—a God who cares for us and who can be counted on.
Because of who God is, Jesus can tell us to not lose heart in praying.
The story of contrast Jesus uses creates the argument that if it is true for the lesser, then it is more true for the greater.
In this case, the lesser is a “judge”.
We are given a not-too-flattering picture of this particular judge.
Jesus tells us he neither feared God nor cared about people.
In short, he was only concerned about himself.
We see this self-centered judge in full colour as he refuses the pleas for justice from the widow.
One of the primary duties of a judge in Israel would be to see that the helpless would not get taken advantage of by an “adversary.”
This judge doesn’t seem to care about the widow or about doing his job.
But the widow wears him down with her constant pleas.
In the end the judge grants her request, not out of concern for her, but out of self-preservation.
He didn’t want to be bothered any longer and he feared risking his reputation.
Jesus uses this parable to argue that if the widow was granted justice by such a wicked judge, then how much more will a loving God hear our prayers and come to our aid.
His parable does not invoke the need to pray harder to win God over, but rather to see who God is for the purpose of placing our faith in him.
This faith gets expressed as we participate in prayer with God.
Here are some of the contrasts presented in the parable that can help build our trust in the Father so we can “pray and not give up.”
The widow was “praying” to a judge; we pray to our heavenly Father.
Have you ever noticed how children will search out a particular parent to present their request to?
Somewhere down the line they learned who was the softer target.
e.g.
My best friend and I lived about 30 minutes drive apart.
We spent many hours talking on the phone, but just about every weekend at church on Saturday we would work out a plan to spend the night at my house or hers.
Then we would approach our parents in a very calculated way as to achieve success.
Maybe you have done this in more sophisticated ways as an adult.
Craig and I cross the US border often to fill our gas tanks at a much lower cost.
Sometimes we purchase some groceries, perhaps a bottle of wine, sometimes we pick up packages at the depot.
As I approach the border, especially coming back into Canada, I try to pick the lane where I can see the border officer is a man.
I’ve found that generally the women border officers can be more exacting, like me, and I don’t want to pay duty.
They don’t tend to be as responsive to my friendly greeting.
It’s natural to seek out the people we think are more inclined to give us a favorable hearing or answer.
In the parable, the judge is not a soft or favorable target.
But the widow doesn’t have other options.
We may think we can go to other “favourable” targets to get justice or help for our needs other than God.
When we do, we may be casting ourselves on the mercy of a “judge” who cares nothing for us.
Much in this world lets us down.
But when we know that God is our Father—a loving Father who is completely for us—we can come to see that he is the one we can trust with all our concerns.
There is never part of God that is turned away from us or against us.
He is a Father unlike all others.
We see who this Father is in his Son, Jesus.
Jesus has revealed to us in his life, death and resurrection that the Father has already judged us as the children he will love for all eternity.
If there is something out of place in your life, there is no doubt that the Father is the One you want to talk to about it.
So am I saying that we should just pray to the Father about all our problems and concerns and not look for help anywhere else?
Is going to a doctor for treatment, for example, showing a lack of faith?
Is Lloyd having bypass surgery a lack of faith?
Is baby Liam having surgery to cut the muscle that was preventing him from getting food a lack of faith?
Not at all.
But our first stop, our “soft target”, if you will is the loving heavenly Father who has called you his precious children and will love you for all eternity.
Let’s get back to our comparison between the judge and our heavenly Father.
The judge cared only for himself; the Father cares for the whole world.
You probably know the empty feeling when someone agrees with you or grants a request only because it served their own purposes in some way.
Ever had someone do you a “favour” only to obligate you to do them one in return?
This lets us know that the person isn’t acting out of their care or concern for us; we call this self-serving.
The judge in the parable may grant the widow’s request out of his selfishness, but the Father acts only out of his love for us.
We can trust his answer to us is always grounded in his love for us.
If the answer to our prayer is no or not yet, it’s for our good.
If it’s yes, we can receive and enjoy it in full assurance.
We can also pray to the Father knowing that he will not abandon his love for others in his answer to us.
This is vital to remember: God’s answer to prayer always takes in account his love for ALL his children.
God doesn’t play favourites.
We don’t always know how our request will affect another person.
Just because we pray something that we think is good for us doesn’t mean that answered prayer would be good for another.
We come to trust the Father’s purifying work in our prayers, aligning our prayers with his good will for all.
The judge is “bothered” by the pleas of the widow; the Father welcomes and wants to hear our prayers.
Have you ever been granted a request only because the person didn’t want to deal with you anymore?
How does that feel?
If we believe God is like this then we are more concerned for the gift and we miss the giver.
The Father wants us to bring everything to him in prayer because he wants to be with us in everything.
He is not bothered by our prayers in the least bit.
Have you felt your prayer was maybe too selfish or petty?
Maybe you feel like your prayers are too scattered and incoherent.
Are you afraid this would annoy the Father to the point that he shoos you away?
It doesn’t happen.
Is it silly to pray for a parking spot?
I’ve done it many times!
Is it silly to ask God to help you find something you’ve misplaced?
One day when I was pregnant with Brent I lost my keys.
I searched through the whole house, and couldn’t find them.
I dispatched my kids to look, promising a loonie if they found them.
I needed to drive somewhere and locating the keys was getting increasingly urgent.
In frustration I called out to the Father in prayer.
“Lord, please show me where my keys are.”
No apparent answer.
Then I opened the refrigerator to get something, and there they were, cool as a cucumber.
The Father is not worn out like the judge in Jesus’ parable.
The Father wants to hear everything on our hearts.
Not because he doesn’t already know, but because praying opens us to receive more fully all he has to give us.
We share with others only to the extent that we trust them.
You don’t tell someone you just met about all your problems and shortcomings.
You don’t share the petty things either.
When we share everything with our loving Father, we show that we trust him.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9