Year C. Eight Sunday after Pentecost July 29, 2001
Luke 11:1-13
Title: “How long do I have to pray in order to get what I want?” At the request of his disciples Jesus teaches them “the Lord’s Prayer” and further comments on God’s readiness to listen to and certainty that he will answer prayer.
This text is composed of sayings of Jesus and a parable. First there is a request for instruction in verse one, followed by a formal or “pattern” prayer verses two to four. Then comes a parable that speaks of God’s readiness to hear prayer, verses five to eight, and a statement that God will certainly answer prayer in verses nine and ten, even more surely and readily than will a human father.
In verses one to four, we have Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer. Matthew has a slightly different form, containing more petitions. Matthew’s version was probably developed and used in his communities’ liturgies. It is impossible to determine which version is closest to the original words of Jesus. The fact that there are two versions makes clear that the early church did not believe Jesus was teaching an exact set of words to be said, but giving an outline of sentiments and attitudes to be expressed. The prayer actually sums up the teaching of Jesus. It expresses the longing, constant longing, the disciples should have for God’s kingdom, their dependence upon God as their father for food, their daily needs, forgiveness, their new relationship of reconciliation with God and freedom, their need of his power to keep them free from yielding to temptation and return to slavery.
In verse one, the Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples: We have here the only request in the Gospels for Jesus to give instruction. The disciples wanted a prayer, characteristic of their movement, just like the Baptist’s followers had.
In verse two, when you pray, say: The Greek hotan means “whenever.” Jesus is giving the disciples a pattern of prayer for all occasions, to be used whenever they pray.
“Father,” This is the same simple form of address Jesus himself used when addressing God. Matthew has a fuller form, “Our Father in heaven,” which most Jews of his day would use. “Father” is more intimate and, at the same time, respectful. In giving the disciples the same word he used for God Jesus was initiating them into the same close relationship he enjoyed with God. Thus assured of God’s loving care for them, they could ask him for gifts with the certainty of being heard.
After the address come two sets of petitions. The first set has two parallel petitions pertaining to the establishment of God’s name or kingdom. The second set has three petitions pertaining to the personal needs of the one or ones praying.
“Hallowed be your name,” God’s name is, in effect, his reputation among human beings, but the term stands for God himself. People are to think and speak of him with appropriate reverence and honor. However, the petition is more than one of asking that God’s name as name be honored. God’s real “name,” his very self, is honored when earthlings act in accord with his revealed character. This petition is another way of saying “Your kingdom come” or “Your will be done.”
“Your kingdom come,” If God’s name is more than a title, his kingdom is more than a political state. It is a realm that can be conceived as outside the worldly realm and thus an alternative to it. Or it can be conceived as within the worldly realm, competing with it for allegiance. But God’s realm does not just sit there, taking up space, a geographical place on a map. His realm is also the atmosphere wherein he rules. When there is no competition between God and Satan as ruler of the world and of the person, then his kingdom will have come. Luke does not have the third petition found in Matthew’s version of this prayer, “Thy will be done.” It is really the same petition as the two mentioned here.
After, and only after, God’s “needs” have been addressed does the petitioner mention his or her or their own personal needs. These are kept general in this model prayer or pattern prayer, allowing the petitioner to make them more specific. They are for food, representing the natural world and human material needs; for forgiveness, representing human social needs; and for freedom, representing spiritual needs.
In verse three, “daily bread,” In the Greek the word translated “bread” artos really means “food.” May God continue providing food day by day. Without it humans could not live. Thus, this petition recognizes absolute dependence upon God not just for the original gift of life, but for the daily sustenance of it. Any and all physical, material needs come under the umbrella of this model petition. Of course, the petition can also refer to more-than-physical needs, such as the “bread” of wisdom or even the Eucharist, but its primary focus is on food itself.
In verse four, “forgive our sins,” this prayer has a “condition” attached to it. We can ask for forgiveness because we have given forgiveness. Forgiving is a prerequisite for being forgiven. There is no living in the “kingdom” without forgiving any and all who have sinned against us and forgiveness itself seems to be just about the only requirement, given the presence of faith.
“Do not subject us to the trial,” Lit, “Do not let us enter into temptation.” The Greek word peirasmos refers to inward temptation and seductions and to outward tribulations and trials that test faith. The petition is not that one “not be tempted” at all, but that one “not yield to or enter into temptation.” The verb reflects a Hebrew causative form. The thought is not “do not cause us to yield to temptation” but “cause us not to yield.” This petition recognizes the existence of the “spirit world” and that there are hostile forces in that world that have an impact on human behavior. While humans are responsible for their own sinful decisions, these “spirits” can tempt humans to succumb. Humans need spiritual help to combat spiritual forces.
In verses five to eight,this parable of a Friend at Midnight is meant to encourage continual and persistent prayer, despite a lack of an immediate response. God is sure to answer, even though we may not know his motives for delaying or why he eventually does answer in the precise way he does.
In verse eight, “because of friendship,” the point is that the man gets up and helps his friend. His motive for responding to such an importunate request may simply be because they are friends or it may merely be because of the man’s persistence. The awakened sleeper and his household may not particularly like the persistent knocker at that particular hour.
Because of his persistence: “Persistence” translates the Greek anaidaeia. The word means “shamelessness” and it associated with the embarrassment which ordinarily comes from being naked, having one’s private or “shameful” parts exposed before others. In this context it means sheer impudence, unabashed and unblushing persistence. The point is not that we are to nag God and wear him down. The focus of the parable is on the unreasonableness of the request and the surety of the response, no matter what the motives for responding might be. God will answer even if our prayer may contain elements that are offensive, even if we do not ask it “right” or “at the right time.”
In verses nine and ten, “ask,” the imperfect tense of the verb means to ask and keep on asking, ask again and again. You will receive.
In verses eleven to thirteen, “if human fathers give good gifts to their children, how much more so will the divine Father”. Be assured.
Sermon
The Lord has given us a format, a skeletal structure for prayers of petition. First, he says, “The most important thing is to address God right. God is your Father. You enjoy an intimacy and even informality with him because of your union with me, his Son. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. Informal does not mean disrespectful. ‘Father’ is a name which fits the bill just right.”
Secondly, Jesus says, “First things, first. Be more concerned with God’s general plan than with your own private plans. More with God’s “needs” than your own. Pray for them first. Doing so will get you out of your self-centered shell and put you in contact with the big picture. Only then can you see your own personal or communal needs properly. Otherwise, your prayer becomes an address to a Sugar Daddy.” Whether we summarize it under the symbol of name or kingdom or as in Matthew will, we are to pray first that God will continue to be God, that he will be our God and Father and that his character, rule or sway may dominate, permeate and penetrate every aspect of the universe, our planet, our communities and ourselves.
Having centered our attention and adjusted the focus of our lens onto God and the big picture we can now present our own private, personal or communal needs. In effect, Jesus says, “These, too, are to be kept to the basics. No praying for Mercedes Benzes, swimming pools or good weather. No Sugar Daddy stuff. Food, forgiveness and freedom from sin- pray for them. They will keep you busy enough. And remember, there is a certain reciprocity in your relationship with God, your Father. If you do not forgive or give to others you should not expect a favorable hearing with God.”
The Lord’s Prayer might be a skeleton for prayer, but it is also a summary of the Lord himself, his life, the way he lived his life, his character and name. He wants the same behavior from us and same relationship for us.
The Persistent Friend at Midnight can be misunderstood if we think prayers of petition are only about our needs, be they merely petty or truly pressing needs. The point of the story is the attitude and actions of the man in bed, standing for God, not the man at the door, standing for us. A self-centered approach would have us looking at the knocker, ourselves, rather than at the provider. We no more understand God’s motives, loving motives, than we know exactly why the man got out of bed in the middle of the night to meet the shameless request of his friend. It does not matter. The man did it and that’s what counts. We do not understand God’s love and generosity. We are the recipients of it and that is what counts. If we do not know why God grants our requests and do not need to know, neither do we know why he refuses them or delays granting them. In the end, God will always be God, never someone we can manipulate.
If we who are evil at times can still rise to the occasion, if only the occasional occasion, and do good, how much more so will God who is all-good and always good, do good for and to us. We have not only his word but his works to prove it, if, indeed, proof there need be.
True, sometimes we pester God. We turn Jesus’ teaching about “keep on asking” into a mantra of badgering, nagging and niggling God. Even though Jesus said that God knows what we need before we even ask, he wants us to ask anyway. It helps us to fine-tune our requests, to sort out what is a mere “want” from a genuine “need.” Still, we pester. Jesus says that God does not like that any more than if you were pestered in the middle of the night by a nagging friend or spouse, but that it will not affect God’s answer one way or the other. He will always do right by us even if we pray wrong or too long or come on too strong. So if our prayer is not answered to our liking it has nothing to do with the way we asked and everything to do with what we asked for. If it is bad or wrong for us or will disadvantage another or disrupt God’s plans God will not grant the request to mollify us. So we can stop pestering. It will not work. God will not cave like human parents do.
The attitudes we bring to prayer are more important than the words we use to express them.
Prayers are not magic formulas to unlock God’s generosity, but a recognition of our dependency upon God and God’s freedom to grant what he wishes, not what we wish.
The Lord’s Prayer is more a format for all prayer than a formula for a specific prayer.
Persistence is not the same as pestering.
Persistence and Patience: Even though our heavenly Father and his Son and Spirit, knows what we need even before we do, even before we ask him, he still wants us to ask and to keep asking. We cannot really say why this is so. It remains hidden in the inscrutable, the difficult to understand, part of God, the part he has chosen not to reveal to us, his “private” part. However, given what we do know about God and about ourselves we can partially understand why God wants us to keep asking him for what we need. Given our tendency to limit our perspective to the present moment, felt emotions and self-centered vision, we do tend to mix what we want or think we need with what we truly need, what is in our best long-term interests. Asking again and again over time increases our chances of seeing things more in harmony with the way God sees them. Of course, we will never see anything exactly and as fully as God sees them, but we can come into harmony with his vision, even if we might not see fully. The more we ask and the longer we ask it the more likely we are to recognize what is simply silly, opportunistic, materialistic and or bad for us, not to mention bad for others. God will not grant us a favor that would be at the same time unfavorable to someone else. Since he is “Our Father,” we are all his children. Like a good father he will not give to one child something that would disadvantage another child. Thus, God will not make us king or queen of the world, simply because we are incapable of being fair and just to all. Nor will he let our team win the game just because we got there first with the request to win it. Nor will he change the weather patterns of the world just so we can have a picnic. Beginning our prayer with petitions that allow us to concentrate on God and his “needs,” if you will, helps keep us from being downright frivolous in requests to meet our own “needs,” which are really “wants.” God’s “needs” are really everybody else’s needs all together, expressed as his kingdom or his name or his will. God wants what is best for all. Persisting in our requests keeps them from becoming demands in disguise and keeps us aware of our helplessness without God. The passage of time teaches us that what we were convinced on a Monday, let us say, that we absolutely needed by Tuesday, but did not get even by Thursday or Friday that we did not need it as much as we originally thought or felt. God wants us to realize that fact on our own and to use his delays in answering to better understand him and his ways. Persisting in prayer does not mean pressuring God or pestering him, like a petulant, unreasonably irritable or ill-tempered; child would do. It means trusting that a non-answer at least, according to our formulation of the request, is really an answer. Then, we learn to thank God that he has the wisdom to not answer all our prayers as we formulate them. Returning to the format of the Lord’s Prayer helps us to rewrite or rephrase our original requests in harmony with the structure of his prayer. When we put God and his needs first we become content to let him be God and we be his children. The truth comes alive: Father knows best.
Intimacy: We can communicate with God any time and any place, wearing clothes, bedclothes, or nothing at all. We can be formal or informal, poetic or matter of fact, grammatically correct or not. Of course, we will never find God in bed. He never sleeps or even gets tired. We will never find him too busy running the universe to have time to listen to us. He wants us to learn from him, his “name,” his character and to imitate it. There should never be a time when it is too inconvenient to listen to him. He speaks to us even in our sleep, when naked in the shower or on the toilet, late at night and early in the morning, behaving and misbehaving. Our relationship with the Lord, Father, Son and Spirit, could not be more intimate, encompassing, pervasive, permeating or penetrating, thanks to Christ. Prayer is about asking, but it is more than that. It is basking in his presence, always and everywhere. Amen.
