Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: Chutzpah

In Chapter 9 of Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg talks about the Jewish concept of chutzpah.

Chutzpah is, in Tverberg's words, "utter nerve, sheer audacity, bordering on obnoxiousness" (page 118). She tells a story about elderly lady who boarded a bus she was on and sat down without paying. The driver asked where she was going, and the lady replied, but didn't get up to pay. Even though they were on the busiest street in rush hour in Jerusalem, the driver stopped, pulled out a newspaper, and waited for the woman to pay. Traffic came to a standstill and he refused to move. Eventually, the woman left the bus and the woman moved on.

Just summarizing the story above is making my heart race dangerously fast. Being from the South of the US, where you are always polite, don't make waves, etc., I'm stressed out just imagining this, haha. 

That woman had chutzpah—and Tverberg points out that it's part of the culture of the Bible as well. The first story she references with this is the story Jesus told of the Syrophoenician widow pleading with a judge for justice. She eventually wears him down and he decides to give her justice just so she'll go away. 

It's funny, because I used to cringe at that story for that reason. In my culture, it's rude and "wrong" to keep coming back after a "No". Imagine a child who wants ice cream before dinner, and the mom says "No", and the child keeps pleading, "Please, pleeeeeeeeeaaaasssseeeee, pleeeease!" (Even the thought of that makes me nervous!) I was taught, "No means no, don't keep asking." But there are so many stories in the Bible where people continue to plead with Him after a "No". 

Another example Tverberg gives is Abram 'bargaining' with God over not destroying Sodom and Gomorrah: "What if there are 50 righteous people? What if there are 45? But what about..." Even as a kid, I remember thinking, "Why does he keep going back at God like this? God could change His mind and say, '0, then, because you keep pushing it and pushing me.'" But as Tverberg points out, "Jesus liked a little chutzpah" (page 119), and then asks us the question that is the title of the chapter: 

What if we prayed with a little chutzpah? The point faith we're supposed to have is not supposed to be in the outcome, but in God Himself. What do our prayers reveal about what we believe about God?

Before moving on, I do want to say that Tverberg also talks about the danger of prosperity Gospel or "name it and claim it" theology. She says that most often the difference is the Jewish attitude of chutzpah in prayer is not for oneself, but on behalf of others (page 127). That's going to be really important to think about in my next post. But until then...

How can we pray with chutzpah for others? How does this concept widen our perspective on certain stories we've maybe ready a hundred times?