When the Knock Comes - Sermon for Proper 12C

The Friend at Midnight - Jesus Mafa

Proper 12 C – Luke 11.7    “Do not bother me.”

 Be present, Lord Jesus, be present.  Speak to us through your living Word, speak to us in the small still voice..speak to us through our sisters and brothers..and enable us, by your grace, to listen and to hear.  

When the doorbell rings we have a choice about how to respond.  

Our doorbell rang the other day and John answered it.  Here is what happened. It was the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and John decided he would visit with them a little bit.  So, he did and later said it was a good conversation.  They prayed for us and then gave him a copy of the Watchtower.  He commended them on their missionary zeal, and everybody went home happy.  In years past he would have just not responded. 

Yes, there are many different ways to open the door when that ring or knock comes…we can answer in great joy as we welcome friends or family .. we can open the door almost grudgingly if we think it’s a salesman  or someone we don’t want to see– or we can even pretend like we’re not home – even though the cars are in the driveway.  We have a choice about how to open that door.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus teaches us about prayer in  a parable in which a friend goes to his neighbor and knocks on the door at midnight to ask for bread.  I want to look at this with you to see how God might be speaking to us through this text today.

Jesus covers a lot of ground in this parable in just these four little verses  A couple of background notes to begin:  

First of all remember, that in Luke, prayer is a major theme – it’s a golden thread that runs the whole of the gospel… and in this part of Chapter 11, Luke has  gathered some of Jesus’ key teaching about prayer –Jesus’ disciples say to him, “John, that is the Baptist, taught his disciples to pray – teach us to pray” and Jesus responds  by teaching them the prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer – that great treasure of the Church.    Luke, fine editor that he is, also adds this parable of Jesus as well as a few other of his sayings on prayer.  

 The traditional interpretation of this little parable about the Friend at Midnight  is that, just like the man knocking persistently on his friend’s door,  we are encouraged to be patient and persist in prayer… to not give up… keep knocking , keep asking, keep seeking…and there is some good counsel in that…I don’t want to take away from that interpretation at all but here’s the thing, the words of Jesus, in a way, are like diamonds… as we turn them, the light reflects and we see different facets…and Jesus’ words speak to us in different ways at different times. So we need to dig a bit…

One way of working with a parable is to imagine yourself, in this case, in each of the three characters and to ask – who am I most like in this?  Right now, am I more like the one who is knocking on his neighbor’s door at midnight asking for bread to feed a friend who has just arrived?  Or, am I  more like  the hungry traveler who has just shown up at a friend’s house in the middle of the night? Or,  right now, am I  more like the one who has been in bed, sound asleep for quite a long time when the knock comes? 

Where would you put yourself?

When we work with a parable , we also have to ask not only who I am most like in this but also who or where is God in this…and what does this tell me about what God is like?

 If the main point  here is to not give up in prayer…then,  we are the one knocking.  In the parable, Jesus tells us that the one who is already in bed will finally get up and give his neighbor the bread not because of their friendship but because  of the persistence of his friend – he is shamelessly bugging him and he wants it to stop so he can go back to sleep!  

What does this seem to say about God?  That we have to keep bugging him, pestering beyond all reason, and then God will finally give in and  we will get what we want?  (My kids certainly perfected that when they were younger).  Does it tell us that God is like a  parent who withholds until we have proven our self in some way?  I think Jesus would probably say that is missing the point! 

 If you read to the end of the passage for today, I think Jesus dispels that pretty well—He tells us that the Father is a giver who really wants to give us GOOD things –and Jesus says – no parent, if a child asks for food, is going to give that child a snake – something that would harm or potentially kill them.  No, our God is the giver who wants life for us…and wants to give us good things and lest we think this is about material goods, Jesus tells us that chief among those gifts is the gift of the Holy Spirit – the best gift of all – the abiding presence of the Living God in our lives.  

When the friend knocked on his neighbor’s door – the neighbor responded , “ Don’t bother me; the door is shut, we are all in bed.  I can’t get up and give you anything.”  I am imagining some other fairly strong language in there too. 

Now, we might think of ourselves as the one knocking on the door of heaven  but what happens if we flip the parable and we are more  like the one who has already gone to bed and that it is God who is knocking on our door.  Trying to wake us up.. 

How often have we said to God – don’t bother me –..  and that “don’t bother me” can take lots of forms – like sorry, Lord, I don’t have time to pray , this isn’t a good time,  I don’t have time to go to Church,  I don’t have time to help ….don’t bother me or  - at least,  not right now…

When it comes to prayer, attempting to speak with God, we most often pray in our times of need – sometimes, most painfully.  We speak, we may beg, and try to bargain  but it is so hard for us to listen and all the while God is trying to get our attention –

Because, our God is always reaching out to us – knocking on the door of our hearts and minds – wanting to give to us good things and to bless us and not hurt us… and the Lord does not give up – he is shamelessly persistent… God is present – with us always .. like the air we breathe which is unseen but which sustains us in every moment.  And yet, how often we have said –don’t bother me..just let me sleep.    How many blessings have we missed in that way?  

And, how often do we turn away  and say to each other – to our fellow human beings in whom God dwells –don’t bother me.. I don’t have time for this… Sometimes we say this to family members, and to others who seem to have inconvenient and untimely needs…Please understand… I am not judging you… I have done this.. I suspect we all have.  

 As Christians, we believe the spirit of God dwells in every person –and, that in welcoming others, we welcome the Lord…when we make a place, a space for others, and get ourselves out of the center, we also make a place for God  …and I know that you understand this and how even the smallest gesture can convey welcome— or not…

I want to tell you a story about something that happened to me – right here at St. Marks’.  In  the early 1990’s .. Father Carl Wright, now Bishop Wright, (he of brief tenure) was being installed as the rector of this church - St. Marks.   I had come to help celebrate as one of the clergy of the diocese but was not vested.  So, I sat in the congregation (right over there).  I sat towards the inside of the pew and an older woman (obviously a long time member) sat in the pew with me – just the two of us.   Right before the service began, she leaned over and said.. “I want you to know that I am not turning away from you – I just need to stretch out my leg because of this knee” and she patted her knee…I hadn’t even noticed that she was slightly turned away from me…but she had and she was concerned that I might interpret that body posture, her body language, as somehow unwelcoming. I was bowled over by her sensitivity… It’s been almost thirty years and I have never forgotten that small but profound act of welcome….

 Which leads us to one more thing to notice –in the parable,  the request is for three loaves which  here are more like rolls – this is enough bread for one meal for one person – and it is not a huge request.. It’s a  “give us this day our daily bread”  kind of request …No, a traveler has come but the need is actually fairly small and simple – a request to share what you most likely already have…in this case, it was a request to share leftovers. 

When the knock comes to our door, if we don’t listen carefully we may assume that we are being asked for more than we can give and its easy to feel overwhelmed.. Sometimes it really is just as simple as listening.  As St. Benedict says, we are called to listen with the ear of the heart…  

   God is knocking, God is speaking to our heart.  Can we hear what God is speaking to us?  

So, yes, persist in prayer… persist in speaking to God but persist most of all in listening …  This week I’d like to invite you to try to stay open to the presence of God in those you encounter especially those who may seem unlikely…God may be speaking to you through them.. or you may be a word from God for them.  Above all, stay alert for the knock on the door  whether it comes at midnight or in the morning or in the middle of the day……and be willing to answer that door – not grudgingly but with gladness.      

Let us pray:   

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Collect for - Proper 22 -BCP)