Transcription

Connor
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Jeff
Chris. We’re back. We are back. It is good to be back. Better than ever, man. I’m improved. Don’t mail it in this time. Give it your best shot today. This is the end of the week. Chris
I was about to mail it in until you said that. Oh, really?

Jeff
Okay, okay.

Chris
Now I’m going to do. Now I’m going to do better.

Jeff
Let’s go win one for. Yeah. Okay. Let’s go. We have to get ourselves psyched up before we get into these. Yes. Yeah.

Chris
What is the fifth one we recorded?

Jeff
So. So yeah, it is. So, uh, today we have a very special one. Oh, I’m nervous about these. So the special ones are usually either what made Chris mad this week or some kind of movie thing. Yeah, yeah. So today is the movie quote race. Okay. Right. So I’m going to read some movie quotes.

Chris
Which I just found out we were doing this.

Jeff
You will have to guess what movie it’s from 30s ago. So you don’t know these. They’re not even on your show sheet. Nope. Right. Not. So you’re going to guess what movie it’s from, and the listeners will have to see if they can beat you. Okay. Okay.

Chris
So I’m going to close my eyes. I know that’s weird, right. But I’m going to really concentrate here.

Jeff
Okay. Ready? All right.

Chris
Yes. Go ahead.

Jeff
Number one ohana means family. Family means nobody gets. Yeah. That’s correct. That’s super easy.

Chris
Yeah, right. By the way, my daughter can do, uh, stitch. And she’s like, she’s like, oh, that means family. I can’t even do it. But she literally. It sounds good.

Jeff
Nobody gets left behind or forgotten. Yeah. There you go. Yes P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way.

Chris
Oh, that was super easy.

Jeff
So you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Chris
Oh, dumb and dumber.

Jeff
There you go. Number four. Wait wait wait wait.

Chris
You’re really ripping through these like it’s a race I wasn’t prepared. No, the race is to get the quote faster, okay? Not a race. Through all of these quotes, you have to get my brain a chance to read it. Yeah.

Jeff
No. It’s fun. It’s fun because.

Chris
You’re, uh, p Sherman. Uh, would you have gotten that one?

Jeff
No, I would not have gotten that one. What? Yeah, not at all.

Chris
That’s like one of the most famous quotes ever.

Jeff
Ohana I would have thought was Moana. Okay. Yeah. So I would have missed. I would have missed the first two.

Chris
Is the line forgotten or forgotten at the end? No.

Jeff
Just family means nobody gets left behind.

Chris
Okay, uh, he also says or forgotten or forgotten.

Jeff
Okay. Yeah, yeah. And so you’re telling me there’s a chance that’s the only one I would have gotten?

Chris
So you’re telling me there’s a chance? That’s right. More like 1 in 1,000,000. I got you, I read you, okay.

Jeff
That that part of it, the the the eternal optimism is fabulous. That’s great. He’s so in over his head. Yeah, right. It’s. I feel like I live most of my life. Right? Right, right. Okay. Here you go. Number four.

Chris
Number four. Okay, here we go.

Jeff
Greater good. I’m your wife. I’m the greatest good you’re ever going to get. Incredibles. Oh.

Chris
Very good. Frozen. Frozen.

Jeff
There you go.

Chris
But Samuel L Jackson, so he goes great. Oh no no no no, she’s responding to him. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
She goes, I’m your wife.

Chris
Good. I’m your wife. I’m your greatest. You see, he says, woman, where’s my super suit? That’s what he says. And she goes, I took it to the dragon. Why do you need to say this is for the greater good? That’s what he said. That’s so funny, Samuel L Jackson.

Jeff
He he’s so funny in that show, right? His voice is just great. Great. Okay, here you go.

Chris
Last one.

Jeff
And I would have gotten this one. Okay. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills taken. Yeah. Skills I’ve acquired over a very long career.

Chris
Yeah. Liam Neeson okay.

Jeff
See, man, you nailed.

Chris
Those, by the way.

Jeff
Before I got the sentences done.

Chris
On every one of them. Yes. Well, they were they were super easy. They were.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, I would have gotten two out of five. Yeah.

Chris
Um, the, uh, the taken one. I just watched that. Did you. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we were just flipping through and, uh, somebody and who lives in my, uh. So we have a family friend who’s staying with us, and, uh, one of the fun things is we’ll be, like, flipping through or something, and he goes, oh, I’ve never seen that. And then we all go, what? And then we’ll just watch it together, right? And, uh, and that was one of them. He had never seen that. Which, by the way, is a really rough, rough movie.

Jeff
It’s a rough movie. It’s a rough.

Chris
Movie. Uh, didn’t realize how rough it was.

Jeff
So there you go. Um. Congratulations, Chris. Thank you. You’re five for five, and I doubt. Yes, very many people got a point or two off of you.

Chris
Well, it’s one thing for your brain to know it. It’s another thing for you to say it out loud. Yeah, because, for instance, like Incredibles, I immediately knew what it was from, but my brain had to come up with the title Incredibles.

Jeff
Find the word. Find the word. Right.

Chris
So so I would I just want to challenge anybody out there who thinks they beat me and yet did not say it out loud before me.

Jeff
Oh, there you go.

Chris
Right. Yeah.

Jeff
Saying, oh, I know what that’s from. It’s not the same as saying The Incredibles. That’s correct. That’s right.

Chris
So unless you said it out loud, people, you did not. It didn’t count. Yes.

Jeff
That’s right. He’s changing the rules. That’s how Chris does what he’s adding to the rules.

Chris
It’s a race for the answer, not for the thought.

Jeff
Okay, okay. All right.

Chris
Okay.

Jeff
Oh, sorry. In trouble. Don’t mess with Chris today.

Chris
No, that’s right, all right. That’s right. It’s Friday. Actually it’s not. But yeah on our podcast it.

Jeff
Is Luke chapter 18. Yes. One through eight is where we’re at. And Jesus tells the parable of the very persistent widow, which is I think you and I have talked about this before, sometimes is on one side. You totally get it on the other side. It’s a little confusing to me. Yeah, yeah. So here we go. One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. Which, by.

Chris
The way, that’s amazing because not not not often do they actually give the context before a parable.

Jeff
That’s right. Yeah. Jesus said there was a judge in a certain city, he said, who neither feared God nor cared about people. And a widow of that city came to him repeatedly saying, give me justice in this dispute with my enemy. And the judge ignored her for a while. But finally he said to himself, I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice because she’s wearing me out with her constant requests. Then the Lord said, learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give you justice, uh, to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly. But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on earth who have faith?

Chris
Yeah, so that’s it. So you’re right about the fact that it is a very, very different, uh, idea. Right. And it reminds me of the, of the, of the other illustration, which is the kingdom of God is like the guy who knocks on door and says, give me bread. Right.

Jeff
And it’s his persistent knocking.

Chris
Yes. And he says from his odd date, what’d he say? Uh, audacious, uh, persistence or whatever. It was his audacity. And it’s the idea that, like, it’s exactly the same thing. That’s what. That’s what he’s saying, right? Only in this case, he’s talking about justice, right? He’s talking about a request for God to move on our behalf. Right. And he’s saying, like, you know, that God’s going to answer based on your persistence. Uh, even more so based on the request, right? Which is crazy.

Jeff
So, so when he says, you know, his goal was to show them that they should always pray and never give up. Uh, the note here says to persist in prayer and not give up does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions, right? Pontification right. Constant prayer means keeping your requests continually before God as we live for him day by day, believing that he’ll answer. When we live by faith, we’re not to give up. God may delay answering, but his delays always have good reasons. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith, and hope. So in my mind, the idea of persistent prayer is every time I’m tempted to worry, I take it to God and say, Hey God, this is something I’m worried about, right? Every time I’m frustrated, I’m not sure what to do next. Instead of me fretting and going, what am I gonna do next? What am I going to do? I’ll go to God. I try to remind myself to go to God and say, God, I’m not really sure what to do next. I need your wisdom and discernment. Right? So this persisting in prayer is instead of letting worry overtake me, I take my worry to God. That’s that. That is the or concerns or struggle or the fact that I still don’t have an answer. All those things and letting instead of letting them overcome me, I bring them to God.

Chris
Um, so my buddy and I, Jeff, you know, him. We just got in this massive argument, uh, fun, fun, lighthearted, massive argument over the idea that, like, he’s a fan of this book some lady wrote that’s number one New York best seller list. And the title of the book is, uh, it’s sort of the slogan or the motto that he’s adopting for 2024. And it says, I choose wonder over worry. I choose wonder over worry. And and he goes, isn’t that great? Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that a great title? And I said, yeah, I said, I understand what she means. I said, but I said, it’s not that clean. And he goes, what do you mean? And I said, well, the word wonder can also mean to doubt. Like I wonder, right. But but she’s using the other definition, which is to wonder, amazement.

Jeff
Imagine I said, I’m going to be amazed by the world and let uncertainty just be right now.

Chris
Now, if you if you if you read it in the context of a book, you immediately assume that it’s the amazement definition positive side. But if but if, Jeff, what you’re saying is you’re using it as a slogan for your life for 2024. I choose wonder over worry. It doesn’t feel clean to me because I wonder about the word wonder. See what I did there? Yeah, and so and so and so and so anyway, so so then he decides to send all this. He’s like, well, guess what. Uh, everybody in the New York best selling disagrees with you. They think it’s a great title and all these accolades and blah blah, blah. And he’s just really giving me a hard time. And then I copy and paste Webster and I circle it and I go see the two definitions. Jeff. I’m like, I’m like, as a wordsmith who somebody who does this for a living, I wordsmith, I said this, it’s just not clean. I said, I just don’t like it. Well, then he gave me a hard time for claiming to be a wordsmith, and and it never ended. Oh, no. Now, all that to say which which when.

Jeff
Somebody loses an argument, then they become. They take it personal, right? Right, right, right. Jeff, if you’re listening. Yeah. You lost the argument the minute you made it personal, right?

Chris
That’s right. That’s exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Jeff
Because now he wants to argue wordsmith instead because he doesn’t have any more argument for his his side of the argument. Yeah. Yeah he lost.

Chris
Yeah. But geez why would I bring that up. You were talking about uh, having did you say something about having a positive attitude or.

Jeff
Bringing my worry to God instead of letting worry overtake me?

Chris
Yes, yes, yes, yes. And by the way, uh, sorry to jump off of that rabbit hole, but rabbit trail. But the, um, the thing that also stands out to me is that Jesus often times in his parables, like he purposefully uses at times Samaritans, right? Or a bad guy or a bad guy or somebody most like the least likely. Right. Okay, well, he’s using the least likely person in this case to get a judge to, uh, serve justice on their behalf. Right. Because widows were looked at and put in the categories of orphans. Right? Right. They’re the ones that people had to take care of.

Jeff
Yeah. And back then there was no social net. So orphans and widows were a drain on society. Yeah. Right.

Chris
Yeah. And a widow, uh, would have, you know, oftentimes women themselves didn’t have a voice in the court of law. And so therefore, if you didn’t have a husband, then that means you’re sort of on your own, and which means you don’t have the ability.

Jeff
And the fact that she wasn’t scooped up and immediately remarried meant she’s undesirable. There were so many elements.

Chris
To old or something.

Jeff
Right? There were so many elements to being dismissive to an unmarried widow. Yes. Right.

Chris
And so so let’s keep that in mind. So Jesus chooses the least likely person to get a judge to do something, uh, on, on her behalf. In other words, she’s getting stuff done as a widow. Right? And that is the most it’s the least likely person to get stuff done. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And so what he’s really doing is he’s saying even the least of these are more likely to get to get God to move on their behalf if they’re just persistent.

Jeff
Right. So, um, we have to be careful with the judge. The judge is not equatable to God because the judge is unjust. What he’s saying is God is superior, that even if a bad guy is willing to answer a persistent widow. Yeah, yeah. How much more will God take care of the vulnerable, his vulnerable children?

Chris
God isn’t the unjust judge, but God is a judge, right? Right? Right. So. So he is the he is bad.

Jeff
Judges can make good choices when because of of of a vulnerable person’s persistence. Right, right, right. And how much better is.

Chris
Yeah. It’s the snake and the rock thing, right? Yeah. Uh. And. Yeah. And the kingdom of God isn’t a carcass either, right? That’s right. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. But but the comparison is, is, uh. I just think it’s fascinating how he chose a widow. Yeah, right. And the.

Jeff
Most vulnerable.

Chris
Yes.

Jeff
Oftentimes just totally invisible.

Chris
Yeah. And so what what does that mean for. For us, it means that if you’re a person who who thinks that, how? Why would God listen to me? Why would God move on my behalf? Uh, you know what? What can my prayers do? How can it make a difference? Uh. And yet what God is saying is, he’s saying, hey, you know, just to be consistent, be be passionate, bring your request to him, you know, before him every day. And because of your faithfulness, because of your persistence. Yeah. Uh, he may answer you based on those things.

Jeff
I was talking with a lady, uh, not long ago, and she said, I think in our society, the most invisible person in our society is a middle aged woman. Mhm. And I said, why? And she said, because when I was young everybody paid attention to me. I was pretty. She said older women get reget attention because they’re the grandmas. They’re the, they’re the wise women. So younger women will listen to a grandmother but not a middle aged woman. Middle aged woman is just a Karen. Right. And she said, so I think that there’s probably an opportunity for ministry to people who feel invisible, because it doesn’t matter what you say right now, you’re just not heard. And so I think that lots of people feel that way. There’s people who feel like, you know, I’m poor, I have no voice. And so there’s an entire industry right now, a grievance industry in America that just tells you because you have a disadvantage of some sort, you should rise up and be angry, give us money and we’ll speak for you. Right. And so there, I think our society is taking people who feel voiceless and exploiting them in order to get legislation passed, in order to get some other agenda. So they’re out there burning down cities, knocking over stuff, pitching a fit, throwing a fit, and sending money to people who don’t care about them at all. But they’re taking advantage of them because they’re highlighting the fact that they feel voiceless. I think a lot of the problems in our country are because so many different segments of society, we’ve been segmented, one, to believe that our grievance is greater than everybody else’s grievance or our our struggle is greater. Everybody else’s struggle, we’re all victims. We’ve had this victimhood mentality. And so because of that, then, uh, what they what they’re tapping into is so many people feel like they don’t have a voice, which is weird because social media has given people more voice than ever before. So the same person who feels like nobody listens to them probably has 500 friends on social media, right? Right. But nobody’s listening. And so at the same time that our platform has gotten greater, more and more people feel less like they have a voice. And I would just say here, if you feel like you’re one of those people that you don’t have a voice, that’s exactly who he’s talking about. And the persistence of this woman, the constant prayer God hears. That’s what Jesus is trying to say. So if a bad judge is willing to listen, how much more is a good judge like God going to listen to you when you feel like you’re the most vulnerable? When you feel like you’re the least listened to, when you feel like you’re the least cared about, God hears you. God cares about you. And when you got God on your side, you’re not vulnerable.

Chris
Yeah, right. Uh, you know, this reminded me of when I. When I read this, I always think of the children of Israel crying in slavery. Yeah. You remember, remember those phrases in the Old Testament where, uh, where God says, I’ve heard the cries of my people? Yeah, yeah. And he said that several times.

Jeff
So many times all throughout the prophets.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. And so and so, uh, it’s it’s one of those things where if you think about how long the people were in anguish, it was hundreds of years. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Jeff
In Babylon it was 70 years.

Chris
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And and again, those were, those were all with purpose and, and and uh, some, some, you know, consequences.

Jeff
Of their sin.

Chris
Yeah. Things like.

Jeff
That. But he heard their cries, right. And he responded, yeah.

Chris
That’s the thing. The thing is, is like there’s a part of me that goes, oh, well, why did it take so long? You know? But yeah, there’s consequences of sin.

Jeff
An entire generation. It was an entire generation.

Chris
Yeah. Uh, but yet God said, I’ve heard the cries of my people. And so, you know, think about it. You know, they’re crying. Nothing’s getting done. Nothing’s getting done in their eyes, right? Uh, you know, God, why don’t you why don’t you why don’t you? And yet God says, I’ve heard every single cry. I’ve heard the cries of my people. Right. And it just reminds me it’s it’s exactly what when I, when I read that and it’s like what he actually said. Uh, uh, what did he say? I don’t fear, uh, but this woman is driving me crazy. I. Don’t you think? Goodness gracious. I’m sorry I lost my place, he says. Don’t you think that God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Well, that’s almost the same wording, isn’t it? Right? They cry out to me day and night.

Jeff
He will grant justice to them. The Bible says. Yeah.

Chris
Which, by the way, my favorite movie, Count of Monte Cristo at the very end, it ends with God will give me justice on the prison wall.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re right. So, uh, I was talking, uh, a while back, I did a funeral for a pretty horrific murder, kind of a situation. And, um, in talking with the family afterwards, uh, they were talking about forgiveness and the the the person who committed the crime also took their own life. So there was a sense of there will be no trial, there will be no justice, there will be no anything. Right? And they were like, what do you do with this now? One, how horrific is this experience? It’s it’s beyond it’s a horror movie kind of a thing, right? It’s beyond comprehension. I almost felt like I had no authority to speak on this, but they were saying, where do we find hope? And I said, believe it or not, the only place I think you’re going to find hope is when you relinquish relinquish your right to be the judge and let God be the judge. Because in Romans chapter 12 and in the book of Deuteronomy, vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. I said so if you need justice. If you carry this bitterness around and this hatred around, you will never find justice, right? But if you’re willing to give it to God and let God be the judge. The idea of a sinner in the hands of an angry God is terrifying, right? And and so.

Chris
And they responded well.

Jeff
So the one lady goes, well, that’s what I want. I said, you know what that is? She said, no. I said, that’s the essence of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not saying it’s no big deal. Forget about it, I don’t care. Forgiveness is saying, I don’t have to be the judge. God will do the right thing. And I said, listen to me over and over and over in the Bible. The Bible says he hears the cries of the people who are brokenhearted. He hears the cries of the people who feel marginalized. He hears the cries of those who have nowhere else to go. And this is what Jesus is trying to say. So you don’t have to be in a terrible situation. But this woman feels like she’s absolutely hopeless and the most vulnerable person in society, and nobody will listen. And the bad judge goes, oh, she’s driving me nuts. I’m going to answer, so listen, if we have a good God, which we do, we don’t have to beat his door down. We just have to keep bringing it to him. Right. So I give it to him and let him be the judge, or I bring my worry and say, God, I don’t know what to do. I need your help. And when we’re persistent with that, what we’re doing is we’re putting him on the throne. When we worry. We’re putting us on the throne like we’re the ones who have to solve the problem. Right. I’ve got to solve it now. Nobody else can help me. But when we say no, God, I’m going to bring this concern or this worry or this fear or this struggle or this lack of an answer, I’m going to bring it to you. We’re putting God back on his throne, and God is a good God, and he cares about his people. And so over and over it says, through here his children, right? And he cares about you. You’re not forgotten. And he does care. So whether it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened or whether you just feel invisible, he’s paying attention. He cares. Yeah.

Chris
And so as we wrap this up, let me just, uh, sort of piggyback off that and just say, uh, there’s probably a lot of faithful Christians who listen to the Bible, guys who pray daily, who, uh, go to God. And there’s probably a lot of people who are really struggling with desperately wanting God to answer them. And yet God has not answered them in the way that they’re they’re asking. And so they’re wondering, like, is it seems like he doesn’t even hear it seems like he’s not even paying attention. It’s like, God, just throw me a bone. To which I would just say, hey, we’ve all been there, right? Absolutely. But just know that as evidenced in the Scripture and especially in this passage, uh, just know that God hears every single request that you have day and night. That’s good. And he is with you. And, uh, he’s listening. And so just continue. Be faithful, continue to pray and have others pray with you and, uh, have them be persistent with you on your behalf.

Jeff
Always pray and never give up.

Chris
That’s right, that’s right.

Jeff
That’s why he told the story.

Chris
That’s right. Uh, well, listen, that’s a great place to end and we will see you hopefully on Monday on The Bible Guys.