July 24, 2022 – Pentecost +7C, Luke 11:1-13

[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:
 Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
  Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins,
   for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
  And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:1-13

In the parable Jesus tells in the Gospel lesson, we see that it is for a “need” and out of “fear” that the man approaches his friend’s door at midnight.  You know, it your doorbell rings or there is a knock on your door at midnight, it seldom is good news, Amen?  If we choose even to respond, to push by our fears to see who is knocking, the person who is ringing or knocking is also in need, and possibly afraid. I have often said that nothing good happens after midnight – unless it is Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. At midnight, the colors lose their distinctiveness, their clarity – and so do people.  Martin Luther King, Jr. writes in his sermon:

“Midnight is the hour when men desperately seek to obey the 11^th commandment: “Thou Shalt Not Get Caught.”

This still seems to be true in our country today. At midnight the liar excels, the cheater beats the system, the thief learns the ropes, and the slick becomes master of their domain. In other words, at midnight many of us are happy to be at home, hunkered down under our blankets, because the world seems scarier at midnight. And then, the knock comes, and we are afraid even more. But I want you to notice something about this Gospel lesson. First, it begins with the disciples of Jesus complaining that Jesus hasn’t taught them to pray like John has taught his disciples. And once Jesus gives them a formula for prayer, he tells them a parable, actually a funny story. But, when you look at it closely, you realize that we are the ones that Jesus says go knocking on our friend’s door. We, like Jesus disciples, are seeking….guidance. They go asking for guidance on how to pray, and we go to Jesus in prayer asking for guidance. It is through prayer that we go knocking on G-d’s door hoping that G-d will answer, and might give us some guidance in now to maneuver through this scary world.

Jesus says, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight…”

My friends, this is what prayer should be like – like you and I are approaching a friend, whether at midnight, or at the break of day, or even in the middle of the day, prayer should be like having a conversation with a friend. When we have a need, we go to G-d looking for some help. When we are in the midst of a deep, deep darkness, we knock, and we knock, and we knock on G-d’s door with prayer, after prayer, after prayer. We knock hoping to find some relief, if not some answers, if not help or hope. And if we knock, we sure hope that G-d will answer.

But the message of this parable is more than just pray – the message is never stop praying, for G-d hears every prayer, every utterance that comes out of our mouths. G-d hears our prayers, G-d is listening. And knowing that G-d is listening, we need to be persistent, if not shameless in our praying. 

Pastor Dave