In the Disney Pixar film, Finding Nemo, a clownfish named Marlin goes on a quest crossing the whole ocean to find his son. He encounters many dangers and obstacles along the way, including sharks and jellyfish. There were moments that he felt like giving up… when he thought his cause was lost, and he was on the verge of despair. But, thankfully he had his friend, Dory by his side, who encouraged him to persist by saying:
“When life gets you down, you know what you got to do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”
Like Dory and Marlin, Jesus calls us to persist. Just keep praying. Just keep going. Don’t give up.
We don’t need to wonder what this parable is about. Jesus says it in verse 1. “Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”
Do not lose heart. Continue in prayer and in seeking justice even when it seems out of reach.
In the parable, there is a widow seeking justice before a judge. The judge, however was corrupt. While he should have used his powerful position to serve others and judge justly, he cared only for himself and his own gain. He had no fear of God, no sense of awe or reverence for the Almighty, who calls us always towards justice and mercy and grace. And he also did not have respect for people. He was unmoved by the suffering of others. He likely operated his courtroom through bribes, deciding cases and doling out verdicts based on who could pay the most to line his own pocket.
The widow would very likely have been unable to pay the bribe, and would not have had the status or connections to otherwise influence the judge to decide in her favor, regardless of the obvious merit of her case. So what does she do? She comes up to him again and again and again saying “Grant me justice.” Do right!
And he said “no” over and over again.
However, she does not give up. She comes back day after day. No after No. Eventually, it was too much of a bother to keep refusing her, and out of fatigue, he gives in to her and grants justice. In other words, her persistence was stronger than his resistance.
Let me be clear that the judge in the parable is not at all a metaphor for God. God is contrasted with the judge. Unlike the unjust judge, God judges rightly. God is always eager to deliver justice, and God hears the cries of the oppressed.
If anything, God is in the place of the widow, who cries out for justice and will not be deterred from seeking it at any price.
Jesus recognizes that this world is filled with unjust rulers, and we will face troubles. We will experience injustice. And when that happens, we must be like the widow, never giving up.
Persistence, especially in community with others, is remarkably effective. Frederick Douglas famously said, “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted […]. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”[1]
And his words have proven true. Just take the Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955-1956 to end racial segregation on public busses. The Black community who participated in the boycott walked, carpooled, or found other ways to commute for 381 days. Over a year. That was not convenient. That was not easy. They persisted in seeking justice day after day at great personal and communal cost. They did not give up. And because of their perseverance, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public busses was unconstitutional.
And the way that we can be spurred on daily in seeking justice is through prayer. Just as Dory is the voice reminding Marlin to just keep swimming, to persevere, the Holy Spirit through prayer will give us the strength to persevere in righteousness, to not give up. To be reminded that God is with us. We are not alone.
Persistence in prayer is not about wearing down God; it’s about refusing to be worn down by evil.[2] It is about prayer being our fuel and sustenance for action.
If you are feeling worn down right now, whether it is by personal hardships, sickness, grief, anxiety, loneliness, or by the weight of injustice in the world—warfare, racism, military in our streets, corrupt politicians walking free while innocent people are unjustly detained under the false flag of “immigration enforcement.”
In the midst of this overwhelming injustice, I encourage you to persist. Persist in prayer so that you can persist in seeking justice. As Jesus reminds us, even unjust judges may grant justice due to persistent petitions. I encourage you to turn to God in prayer. And to pray together with others.
God, who is our source of light and life, desires that although we are in the world, we are not of the world (John 17:14-16). Meaning that although we as Christians and as the church live in the midst of evil and corruption, we do not let the evil of this world dim the light of Christ that shines in us.
In closing, I am reminded of the beautiful poem “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman. She says,
“When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast, we learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. […]
When the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light
if only we’re brave enough to see it,
if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, strengthen us, so that we are brave enough to persist in being the light of Christ in this world. Let us never tolerate injustice or turn away from the cause of the oppressed. Fortify us in doing right in all things. May our persistence be stronger than the resistance of the evil one. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it. Amen.
[1] Frederick Douglass in “an address on West India Emancipation,” delivered August 4, 1857. https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1245
[2] This line comes from a sermon by Rev. Frank Alagna, also from 10/19/25. His sermon is titled “The Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge”