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 a lot about how you want to exercise more and get in better shape. Well, I've been thinking (here it comes...). I think I've figured out a way we can accomplish both at the same time. You see, 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-dog...

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!" There is no subtlety whatsoever in a child that young. And when it comes to prayer, I think there's a lot we could learn from that example.

Writer and novelist Anne Lamott has said that there are really only two prayers: "Thank you, thank you" and "help me, help me, help me." Everything else is just a variation on those two. The "thank you, thank you" is a way of acknowledging God, acknowledging that God is in control, and that every good thing comes from God. To continue the analogy with my own children, this is why my oldest son quotes me first, why my daughter tells me she loves me, and in Jonah's request, it's all the enthusiasm in that first word, "Dada!" When we pray as Jesus taught his disciples in the gospel of Luke, the first words are "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come." Thank you, thank you.

But notice how quickly the "help me, help me, help me" comes: 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.

One line for God, and then immediately three for us. Give us...Forgive us...Bring us. Not even a polite "please" in there. Just gimme, gimme, gimme. And yet...this is the way Jesus is telling us we should pray.

In Matthew, right before the same teaching on the Lord's prayer, Jesus says "When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." In other words, keep it short, keep it simple. No frills and flourishes. Just get to the point. Thank you, thank you. Help me, help me, help me. Jesus' model prayer is 25% about God, and 75% about us. That may sound lopsided, but if God already knows what we need, chances are he also already knows who he is and what he's done, without us reading his own resume back to him at the beginning of a long-winded prayer. A simple acknowledgment will do. Thank you, thank you. Help me, help me, help me.

Right after the model prayer, Jesus gives two illustrations. The first is about persistence. Jesus tells the story of a friend who refuses to help you out in your hour of need...because that hour of need is at midnight. There's a difference between a middle-of-the-day friend and a middle-of-the-night friend, right? How many of you have ever had to be a middle-of-the-night friend? How about a 3-oclock-in the morning friend? That's a really good friend. The person in Jesus' story is not a middle-of-the-night friend. He says no, go back to bed, come again in the morning! But here's the twist--Jesus says that even if the love of friendship is not strong enough to open the door...persistence is. If you annoy your friend long enough, eventually he will open the door just to get you to shut up! The point of the illustration is this: If a lousy friend will eventually open the door in the face of your unrelenting persistence, how much more quickly would a good friend respond to your need? How much more quickly even than that will God--who loves you more than any friend ever could--how much more quickly and completely will God respond to your need?

The second illustration is similar: If your child asks for a fish, will you give her a snake instead? If your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? Of course not. If even young, imperfect, inexperienced parents know what to give their children (and what not to give their children), how much more does God know what his children need? How much more is God inclined to nourish and take care of us?

So far, so good. However...(and this is a big however)...in between those two illustrations, Jesus says something else. Something you've probably heard quoted many times; something that is enshrined in picture-frames and bumper stickers; something that entire books and movements have been based upon. I consider it to be one of the most dangerous two verses in the entire bible.

Luke 11:9-10. "Ask, and it will be given to 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."

Too many times I've witnessed this one verse blown out of all proportion in two entirely different directions, no less. On one extreme you have those who use 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, you got it. Santa-Claus God.

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 people for whom this verse was a promise broken...and also the final step on a journey out of faith.

Like so many passages in the Bible, this one is most dangerous when it is taken out of context, isolated from the passages on either side of it. Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. First of all, what is the "it" that will be given to you? Anything you want? Actually, in the original Greek of this passage, there is no "it." A closer translation would be "Ask and you will be given to, search and you will find, knock and you will be allowed in." What is given, what is found, and what is opened are not specified.

In the illustrations right before and right after this verse--the one about the midnight friend and the one about parents and children--the things "asked for" are all food staples: three loaves of bread, fish, and an egg. Notice also that in Jesus' prayer, what we are told to ask God for is "our daily bread." One of the most basic human needs is nourishment, to be fed. So perhaps when we ask, seek, and knock, what will be given to us is not whatever we want, but rather what we need to carry on.

But I think it's even more complicated than this, because if you ask my three children to distinguish between what they want and what they need...they have a hard time. Despite our advanced intellect and years, I suspect most adults have similar difficulties. And in any case, in both illustrations, it is not the job of the person asking to determine what is needed. It is the job of the person giving to decide that. It is our job to be specific in what we ask of God, and indeed he places no limits on what we can ask him.

Prayer is the place where God's goodness connects with our needs and desires. Prayer is the place where God and mankind come together.

{joke about husbands & wives}