Present Day Life and Religion

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Gen. xviii: 25 “Men ought always to pray.” Luke xviii: 1

THESE TWO SCRIPTURES bring us into the realm of ethics which has to do with the Tightness and oughtness of things. When a man is ethically sound, he is what he ought to be. Abraham with holy boldness applies the ethical test to God himself. He

rightness ^ees tnat woul<y De wrong to destroy the and righteous with the wicked, and he is equally

oughtness certain that it would be right to spare the many wicked for the sake of a few righteous. His horror at the thought of God’s doing wrong and his approval of his doing right make him ask the question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” This gives us the divine side of prayer from an ethical point of view. Is it right for God to answer prayer? Does the “Judge of all the earth” do right when he gives audience to such petitioners as Abraham pleading for Sodom?

The second text gives us the human side of prayer from an ethical point of view. It answers the question: Who is ethically right, the infidel who boasts that he never bows the knee, or the christian who prays? Is a prayerful life a moral life and, conversely, is the prayerless life immoral? In other words, can one who refuses to pray be ethically sound in his relations to God and man? Are ethical Associations that divorce morals from religion moral or immoral institutions? Jesus answers these questions: “Men OUGHT always to pray.” Prayer belongs to the realm of oughtness. It is an ethical proceeding, so that the institution which inveighs against praying is unethical in character. It would prevent God from doing right in answering prayer, ami man from doing right in praying. The philosophy of this is found in the teaching of Jesus Christ.

We will look first at the Divine side:

First, God is King, and it is right for a king to hear

and answer the petitions of his subjects. Prayerlessness

ignores, if it does not despise, the ruler of the universe

by refusing to consult or petition him about any

GOD AS j rrn5 i i”

KING need or grievance. lne prayerless man has placed himself outside the pale of civilization by denying to the ruler the right to hear the petitions oi his subjects. If he admits that there is a God, while at the same time he denies that he hears prayer, he has brought his God down to the position of a petty savage chieftan who lives for his own pleasure “without regard for the welfare of his subjects. Prayerlessness is, therefore, a species of barbarism.

Second. God is Judge, and it is right for a judge to hear and answer the prayer of a plaintiff. In the parable the widow has a grievance against her adversary, and pleads that he shall be punished. Though JUDGE the judge is unjust, his judicial position compels him to hear her plea, and her importunity constrains him to grant her petition. Now if an unjust judge is compelled by official position to hear the plea, and constrained by the importunity of the plaintiff to grant it, how much more will a just God respect his judicial position and answer without demanding importunity, u I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.” For men to reject God as the arbiter of their affairs and wreak vengeance upon their own adversaries is an index to the spirit of barbarism, where there is no recognition of judicial power, but every man is his own judge and jury. Prayerlessness is ethical anarchy. It ignores or despises the “Judge of all the earth” by refusing to consult or petition Him about grievances.

The parable of the Pharisee and the publican, which follows without break the parable of the unjust judge and the widow, carries with it the idea of God’s judicial position. It is really a parable of the just judge who has ip -slti introduced to you by contrast with the unjust judge, A we have a different type of petitioner. The widow’s plea was for herself against her adversary. The Pharisee’s plea is also for himself, though he recognizes no adversary. He tells God all the good things he can think of about himself and makes self the plea for self. He has come into the court not for defense but for parade, a most unseemly proceeding. He does not seek for a verdict of acquittal, because he has pronounced upon himself a verdict of approval. He simply addresses the Judge and then pays attention only to himself, going out as he came in inflated with his own importance. He has simply patronized the court, and evidently feels that the Judge ought to be complimented by the appearance of such a man before him. He stands as the type of those whose reverence for themselves displaces reverence for God.

The publican, on the other hand, comes unto God with becoming spirit and demeanor. His bowed head speaks his humility. He is unworthy to look up to heaven, much less to enter. Like the widow he would make a plea against his adversary — his own sinful self. He strikes upon his breast to indicate the home of that adversary — his own sinful heart. uGod be merciful to me a sinner” is more than a confession of guilt. A more literal translation is, “Be a propitiation, make atonement for me a sinner.” On this prayer is the blood of Christ. In it you can hear the heartbreaking of Calvary, as he who knew no sin is made sin for us. It is really a plea for mercy on the ground of Christ’s merit.

The Pharisee uses the name of God once and the assertive pronoun “I “five times. He would like to make a stream of mercy flow upward to God by the ,,, pressure of his own egotism. The publican links and the name of God with the dependent pronoun ME’’ u me,” and puts himself in the stream of mercy that flows downward from God through Jesus Christ on the cross. God shows his love, power and benevolence in a thousand ways, but I know of only one channel through which mercy, which means favor for guilty tinners, flows, and that channel is the cross of Christ.

It would not be right for a judge to forgive a man win has been proven guilty unless satisfaction to justice dk. be made. Without this satisfaction God could not be mercy U Just and the justifier of him that believeth.” may be Mercy without satisfaction to justice is a species injustice 0f injustice. It may be based upon kindness, but that does not rid it of injustice. The guilty one has not been treated as he deserves, but if his guilt has been atoned for by another, then mercy is prompted by justice to forgive. u If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive,” To punish sin after it has been atoned for would be an injustice to the atoner and unkindness to the one who has confessed the sin and accepted atonement. God righteously demands that guilt shall be punished, but Jesus Christ died the “Just for the unjust. “u He bore our sins in his body on the tree.” “With his stripes we are healed.”

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