God Responds
Service Link https://youtu.be/X1eJ9gcMZLY
Luke 11:5-10, 37-54, Psalm 69:1-6, 13-18
Does God hear us? Does he care? Will he really answer our prayers? These are all important questions, but the sad reality is that too often we have predecided the no. So, we never ask. God will often provide even when we don’t ask, like any loving parent, he makes the rain to fall on the wicked and good alike. The bigger question though, is what do we lack because we never asked God? It might be that God doesn’t respond the way we want, but he knows what is best for us. What do we miss because we don’t invite God in? More than you might think, because God does respond.
Last week, we ended with the story of Mary and Martha and how one of the greatest acts of love is not to busy ourselves with many tasks, but to sit at Jesus’ feet and invite others in. We came to this conclusion because love for God ultimately means a greater love for one another and because God is the giver of all good gifts. Today, we dig deeper into those ideas.
Directly following that, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray the Lord’s prayer as a way to rightfully turn to God praying for our needs and others. Then we get our first reading, where Jesus tells this story about a late night visitor and a host that has nothing to serve. It is hard to imagine this story in a modern context, because most of us wouldn’t bother our neighbor at midnight for a loaf of bread. We would go to a grocery store, or we would trust that a late night guest would have already eaten, or even more likely we would have had something to begin with thanks to fridges, freezers and the bounty we have. Already, thinking about all that we have, we have even less excuse to be hospitable, to invite others in, to take care of others. Today, God has given us such a bounty unlike the majority of history and yet we don’t often live as if it is that much of a gift.
Back to the story, in Jesus’ context people’s dependency on one another, especially their neighbors was even more obvious. Most would have been living day to day, not even week to week or month to month to make sure they had enough. Yet even still they would give to one another. Even when a neighbor wouldn’t give out of love, they would give to uphold their name and respect in the community, even if it was midnight like in this story. This would have been a very obvious example for Jesus’ listeners, but in the context Jesus is relating it to prayer to God. Trying to remind us that God really wants to respond for many reasons.
Of course, the primary reason is love. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that God is our loving Father and that is how we can approach him. We can look up at the greatest power over all things and draw close to him as our guard and guild. That is what prayer is, it is not a shot in the dark, it is a voice in the wind, it is not a tree following in the woods without anyone to hear, it is drawing close to God and inviting him to do the same, so that we might work together in answering needs and prayers. Jesus is encouraging us in this moment to be shameless in our audacity to turn to God in prayer and keep asking him for what we need. God wants to hear everything, even as small as a loaf of bread.
There are two things that we may miss in this story however. The first is about the neighbors desire to preserve his name. God has the same desire to preserve his name, even to protect it and lift it up. This is not because we can make God less or because God somehow needs our praise, respect and the glory. It is because we need to see him for what he is. The world needs to know that they can and should turn to him, whether it be in need, faith or service. We need to know that too. A big part of our praise is coming to know God better and reinforce the trust and relationship that we depend on.
How does this relate to prayer? Well, in a simple way he does want to uphold his name with us. But there is more, because there is a way to pray and share in prayer to allow God to step in, to live up to an even greater name than we see now. We often keep our prayers to ourselves, but when we share them or share in those prayers it gives others the chance to see God’s glory, closeness and love, building up his name for them. Remember the story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. When he prays he says, “God I know you always hear me, but I am praying so that they might see and believe”. Jesus literally prays in that moment so that those around him might understand that it is God working, so that they might have faith in God’s name. That should challenge our practice of prayer and the way we invite others in so that they too might see his name lifted high.
The other thing we should notice about Jesus’ example about the latenight guest, is that this person turns to his neighbor not for himself, but for his guest, he is even willing to be shameful to provide for his guest. This is important. God does care about us and providing for us, but in this moment Jesus shows us that it is even more important to pray for others and, I am still understanding this one, but that God is even more likely to respond when it is for the need of a community. Remember when Jesus says, whenever two or three of you ask for anything in my name, I am with them and will hear them. This reminds us again that love for God leads to a greater love for our neighbor.
Then as Jesus tells us, “ask and it will be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened for you”, we are reminded of the fundamental reality that we need to remember, “God will respond” x2.
This brings us to our difficult passage about Jesus with the pharisees and teachers of the law. They had a simple question, if not a bit rude, “aren’t you going to wash your hands”. This has special ponience to us today in a pandemic world, but Jesus wants to remind us of the most important things. We need to wash our insides as well as our out. We need to live out a life of God’s love and when we don’t we need to repent, changing our ways so that we do.
How does this relate to prayer and God responding? It relates because we are meant to be an answer to prayers. We are made in his image, blessed to bless, given dominion to care and lift up. All of humanity is given this, but we as Christians are especially meant to do this as we know God’s love and because we literally bear God’s name. We are Christians, little Christs.
When Jesus sits down with these religious leaders, he sits down with these people that are more concerned for their own name then for God’s or for the love of others. Jesus gives us someways that we are meant to love all. We need to give to one another, especially the needy at the same time that we give to God. We need to uphold justice, while we love God. We need to obey God, while also helping others in the struggle. We need to recognize our past so that we can correct it. We need to see the knowledge of God, take it and share it. This relates strongly to the Pope’s apology. We recognize that as a community of Christians we have failed to share, we have failed to love, we have failed to be an answer to prayer and so we have belittled God’s name. Now, we need to enter in, in a Christ like way, repenting, praying and being an answer where we can. God will help too.
It can be very easy to be like these pharisees or many people before us ignoring the larger need for love, the specific needs of others, or a particular moment because we are too rapped up in ourselves, but God has given us such a capacity to be an answer to prayers, in fact that is built into our very created purpose. God will respond too, but he purposely leaves us room so that we can live into his image. God responds in many ways.
I want to end with a story about God’s response that I think highlights a lot of this, it is not just my story so I have to be a little candid. One day, I was in the middle of nowhere with a friend. 4 hours away from a car, 6 hours away from any cell reception and 8 hours away from the nearest hospital. Something terrifying happened to my friend and we though there was very little hope. We turned back walking those 4 hours thinking there was nothing we could do. With nowhere else to turn, I prayed. I kept asking God to step in. I kept asking for answers or what we should do. The thing is that God kept trying to comfort me. God kept telling me that it would all work out. I continued to pray and God kept comforting me. I had a hard time believing because I was scared. Eventually, I told my friend God’s response, even though I still had trouble believing.
There kept being these little glimmers of hope and God kept comforting me until eventually weeks later all of that fear was taken away. Now, when this friend tells the story, they often share God’s comfort in the midst of it.
God hears us, he wants to love us, he wants to lift up his name. When we pray God will respond.
Questions:
Luke 11:5-10, 37-54, Psalm 69:1-6, 13-18
Luke 11:5-10
What is the context for this story? How does it relate to prayer and spending time with God in the Mary and Martha story?
Vs. 5-6 Jesus uses the the example of friend. Does God have even more reason to hear us then a friend, why? What is God to us? What are we to him?
Why would you ask for 3 loaves of bread? What is the need, especially in Jesus’ day? Would this of been extravagant? Why?
Would you be willing to do this for a visitor or a stranger? Do you do this with God?
Vs. 7 Is this a good reason your friend gives?
Vs. 8 What are the two reasons that this friend would give you bread? Does this mean that God wouldn’t respond out of love?
Why is God’s name and image important for us and others?
Notice in this story that the friend is being asked on behalf of another, what does this tell us about our own prayer?
Vs. 9-10 Do you believe this?
Does this mean that God will provide in the exact way we want?
What should we be looking for? What door is God talking about? How do these help us understand how and what we should be asking for?
Luke 11:37-54,
Vs. 37-41 There was a human tradition in Israel that people washed their hands to be ceremonial clean. Why might we be worried about the washing of hands?
What is Jesus more concerned about? Why is this even more important?
During Covid-19, we did learn a lot about germs and washing, but how was it even more important that people lived and acted in a certain way? How does this relate to the inward cleanliness Jesus is talking about?
Vs. 42 How does God want us to give back to him?
Vs. 43 Why did they feel insulted? Why was this both difficult but important?
Vs. 44 What does it mean that they are like unmarked graves that people step over? What does this say about the pharisees and the people doing it?
Vs. 46 How can the law be putting a burden on people, even God’s law? What does it mean to help people with this load? Why is this important?
Vs. 47-49 How are they testifying and approving what their ancestors did? How do they follow in their ancestor’s footsteps? Why?
Vs. 50-51 Why would all of this blood be on them? How does this relate to their inability to see God’s kingdom at hand? How does this relate to Jesus’ death?
Vs. 52 What do you think the key of knowledge is that the experts of the law took away? What is it they are meant to enter into? How have they neither shared it or entered in?
Vs. 37-52 What are some of the things that are important to these religious leaders, but what is even more important to Jesus?
Vs. 53-54 Why would this lead them to oppose, besiege and try to trick Jesus? What does this say about them?
What does all of this say about the common sins of humanity and even religious leaders?
How does this relate to God answering prayers? How are we meant to take part in this?
Psalm 69:1-6, 13-18
Have you ever fealt like this?
This is written by King David, who God was continuously faithful to. What can this tell us about our won prayers, experience and hope?
How is this psalm both a statement of faith and struggle?
Listen to Oceans and relate your feelings from that song to this psalm.
