“Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?”

— Luke 18:7

“No justice, no peace.” You may have heard this slogan in the context of antiracism protests.

In January 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “There can be no justice without peace, and there can be no peace without justice. . . .” King spoke these words in connection with a protest about the Vietnam War and concerns about civil rights.

In our Bible reading for today Jesus tells a parable about a widow who keeps pleading to a judge because he will not give her justice. The widow doesn’t give up. She resists the judge’s unfair treatment by way of peaceful persistence. She keeps coming to him with the simple plea: “Grant me justice against my adversary.” And eventually the judge caves in. Reluctantly he says, “I will see that she gets justice. . . .”

Jesus uses this story to reveal something important about God. God is the complete opposite of an unjust, dishonest judge. God hears and responds to our prayers, promises to bring about justice (though it may not be right away), and gives us his peace.

Father, thank you for hear­ing our prayers and giving us your peace. As we seek peace and justice in this world, guide us to rely on you, acting with grace and peaceful persistence to help bring right where there is wrong. In Jesus, Amen.