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

July 23, 2022 – Words of Wisdom, Brenda Bradford Ottinger (Writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries)

“When you feel unknown by the world around you, take heart — you are fully known by the Lord.” – Brenda Bradford Ottinger

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

Fully Known

The beauty and the frustration of living within the family unit is that within this orbit most of us are fully known. There is little that is hidden from the family – though it appears that is becoming less and less a reality. But when I was a kid, I was fully known not only within my family, but within my school and even within my community. There was no place to hide.

Today we live in a different world. Not only are fewer people known within their communities, they appear to be hidden within their families. The online world allows too many people to escape into a world they can create for themselves – a world that is completely foreign to the world in which we live. We can create a dystopian world to live in. We can create a fantasy world to live in. But no one in those worlds truly know us.

G-d knows us fully because we are children of G-d. No matter the trouble we encounter, no matter the ways society dismisses us, G-d welcomes us and loves us. Remember that every day.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, you know us fully – you love us unconditionally. Help me to live into that reality today and every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave