Sermon for July 28th, 2013

Luke 11:1-13

11He 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.’ 2He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.’

5 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; 6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” 7And 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.” 8I 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.

9 ‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If 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!’

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

When my 8-year old son, Grady, wants something, he'll warm up to it in a very clever, roundabout sort of way. He usually starts by quoting me. Dad, do you remember how you said it's important for kids to learn responsibility and hard work? You also talk about how you want to exercise more and get in shape. Well, I've been thinking (here it comes...). I've figured out a way we can do both. Taking care of a puppy would teach me responsibility, and you could walk him every day to get more exercise...

When my 5-year old daughter, Abby, wants something, she uses an entirely different approach, although it's just about as subtle. She'll wait until I'm sitting down, and then she'll crawl into my lap. I love you, my Daddy. Do you love me? I would be soooo happy, Daddy, (and here there's usually a dramatic sigh) if only I had a puppy...

My favorite approach, however, is my one year old son, Jonah. He will come bursting into the room, running at me as fast as his little legs will allow, nearly knocking both of us over, and at the top of his lungs he will exlaim, "Dada! Doggie! Dada! Doggie! Dada! Doggie!"

{joke about husbands & wives}

Ask and it will be given to you, search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. That may just be the most dangerous verse in the entire bible. So many times I've witnessed this one verse blown out of all proportion in two different directions, no less. On one extreme you have those who us this verse to justify treating God like a personal vending machine: Just put the right prayer in the right slot, and God will reward you with candy, a luxury car, a five day cruise, or lots and lots of money. Whatever YOU want, really. On the other extreme are those who sincerely approach God with real, heartfelt and often desperate needs that seem to meet with nothing but divine silence. Lord, you said to ask and it will be given to you. I asked. Why did you still let my loved one die? I have known many for whom this verse was a promise broken...and the final straw on a journey away from God.

Like so many verses in the Bible, this one is most dangerous when it is taken out of context, isolated and all by itself. But we find it in the middle of a series of teachings on prayer, prompted by the disciples' request to Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray." First, Jesus gives a simple, model framework to work with, one that embodies some core principles. Next he gives two illustrations of those principles