Sermon Title: "The Shamelessness of Our Request"
Author's Name: Rev. Alex Knight
(John 14:6 NRSV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Let us to look closely at what Jesus said and see if we can find a way to unlock what He really had in mind. In the passage John's gospel, you see over and over again, what I believe to be the unique thing about Jesus in His earthly ministry. Up until this time when people thought about God, they thought about God as "God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." The Jews were so afraid of God they would not even write God's name. In the Hebrew scriptures, when they wanted to write down God's name, they put down four consonants: YHWH. You can't pronounce four consonants, . . . you have to have vowels to pronounce words. But they were so struck by the awesome, almighty power of God, they feared God so much they wouldn't even write His name. So in the Old Testament every time you see the word "Lord", it has translated from YHWH. Later some vowels were added and YHWH was translated, "Yahweh". The Germans transliterated Yahweh into Jehovah. All this goes back to these people who stood in fear of God, so much so, they wouldn't even write His name.
Then comes Jesus and He calls God, . . . "Father." Over and over and over again in this passage, as elsewhere, Jesus refers to this same God as Father. I think the greatest ministry of Jesus, the most unique aspect of His ministry was to teach you and me about the nature of God. God sent Christ to come among us to be our Emmanuel, God with us, so we would know God as Father. Do you see how this opens up an understanding of the intimacy of God? Jesus becomes the way and the truth and the life for us to be in a relationship with the one who created us. This is what Jesus is pointing to here and why He can say with such confidence if we ask God anything in Jesus' name, because Jesus is our way to God, to know God as Father, God will answer our prayers.
As a way of bringing this out, I want to look at another passage which I think reveals this truth. Let us look at Luke 11. The passage begins by telling us Jesus had been praying. It is interesting the only thing we have recorded in the Gospels that the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them was to pray. They never asked Jesus how do we raise the dead or heal the sick or how to preach. They asked Jesus, "How do we pray?" Why? Probably because Jesus prayed all the time and it says here in Luke 11 Jesus was in prayer, and when He stopped one of the disciples said "Lord would you teach us to pray like you?" Jesus gives them what you and I call the Lord's prayer. Then in verse 5, it says Jesus added this parable:
(Luke 11:5-10) 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; {6} for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' {7} And 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.' {8} I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of the very shamlessness of the request he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
Now to understand this parable we need to think a minute about the culture of these people. First, a man has a visitor come to his house at midnight. You and I would not answer the door. But for the Jewish people living at this time, they would perceive the person at their door as a gift from God for them to serve . . . therefore they receive them as a friend. The idea was if you were standing under the shadow of somebody's roof, because of the covenant relationship of the people of Israel, you in the house had an obligation to care for this person who came to your house. This is what happened in the parable. It's midnight, a man is traveling, he comes to a house, he knocks on the door, the person goes down, there is a stranger there who is then received into the house as a friend. The first thing you do with this new friend is take them and you set them at your dining room table and break bread with them. This was their way of expressing the covenant relationship between them. Next, whatever you have in the way of hospitality you offer to them.
Do you remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? Do you remember toward the end of story what had happened. Lot had met these strangers in his town. Now you and I know because we are reading it from the Bible, those strangers were angels. Lot did not know this. He just thought they were travelers in town. Do you remember how Lot received these strangers? He took them to his own home. It seemed so strange to you when you read when the townspeople, vile and nasty as they were, came to Lot's house banging on the door and they wanted these strangers. At the risk of Lot's life and the lives of his family, he refused to let them in the house because of the covenant relationship that required him to care of these people. Can you get a sense, even though we cannot fully comprehend it, can you get a sense of how deep this covenant obligation is to care for the stranger who comes to your house. This is not all unusual, even in cultures today. The last mission trip I made to Mexico we flew into Brownsville, Texas and there was a miscommunication so we were several hours getting across the border into Mexico. The host church had made arrangements with members of their congregation for us to stay with them in their homes. However, we had a church service to do right away and church services down there go a little bit longer than ours. By the time we were through it was pretty close to midnight and then we were taken to the homes where we would be staying. The home where I stayed was owned by people that were not members of the church, but their daughter was and they had agreed to have some of us stay there. We arrived at midnight and they took us immediately to the dining room and they put a meal before us. They had expected us earlier in the evening, at about six for an evening meal, and we got there at midnight. They were not put out at all. They were waiting for us and they served us a meal. Then after the meal when it was time to retire, they took us to the master bedroom, the only room in the house with an air conditioner, it had a window air conditioner. We were strangers coming into their house and they did not give us the guest room, they did not fold out the sofa bed, they gave us the master bedroom. They even made arrangements to bring a niece down from Texas who was bilingual because none of them spoke English and she was to be our interpreter for the brief times we were there. Now, back to the parable. This man who has received a stranger, feels a real obligation to provide for him but he doesn't have any bread. So what does the story say? It says he goes next door to his neighbor and knocks on his neighbor's door at midnight. Now for some of you folks, midnight is not late. But back before TV's and VCR's, midnight was real late. They went to sleep with the chickens. It was real late and this guy is banging on the door, waking up all the dogs in the neighborhood, waking up everybody around and saying, "My friend, I've got somebody who has come to my house and I don't have any bread,. . . I need three loaves of bread." Jesus says the guy on the inside says, "Give me a break . . It's midnight, . . . I'm in bed, . . . my family is in bed. I know you are my friend, but I do not feel like getting out of bed."
Then Jesus says this. He says even though because of the friendship, the neighbor might not get up, because of the shamelessness of the requests the neighbor will get up and give him the bread. Do you hear what this says about the nature of our God? The man went next door and did not think anything at all of banging on his neighbor's door and waking him up. This was the nature of their covenant relationship. Do you have a special friend like this? Do you have somebody in your life you can call and regardless of the hour, when you wake them up, they are going to say, "What can I do to help you?" They know and you know your relationship is so strong, you anticipate you will be received with love and appreciation even if you are annoying the person at midnight.
If you are totally unashamed, you are just going to go knocking on your friend's door, because you know the relationship between you two is so strong they will understand what your need is and they'll help you meet need. Now can you see this? Because this is what Jesus is pointing to here. A relationship where you can go to somebody without shame, without embarrassment, without a sense you are an imposition and you know you will be received.
Jesus says this is what God is like.
When I read this story you know what I think about? I remember when my daughter Tammy was four or five and I was eating a piece of candy. I had just unwrapped it, I was just ready to put it in my mouth and she reached up and took it out of my hand and put it in her mouth and then just smiled at me. Totally free with me, unashamed, knowing she's not an imposition. This is what Jesus is saying He has done for you and me? That you and I have this same relationship with God, through Jesus who is our way and our truth and our life. We have no shame as we go before God the Father, before His throne of grace, and say, "Oh daddy, this is what I need." We know we are not imposing upon God. We know the foundation of our relationship when we go before God the Father, is not our big tithe check to the church or that we just went through the year with perfect attendance or we prayed everyday or we read our Bible everyday or we've been nice to children. None of this improves our standing before God. We know when we go before God the Father we don't go saying, "God if you'll just do this, I'll be good. I'll give more, I'll pray more, I'll do more Father if you'll just hear my request." None of this applies. You do not hear the man in the parable going to his neighbor and conditioning his request with all these promises, do you? You do not hear him say, "If you will just give me this bread this one time, I will never ask you again." Because he'll probably come over the next night and do it again if another stranger comes to his house. Can you hear this in the parable? Their relationship is so solid he knows it's not an imposition to bang on the door at midnight.
The basis of your relationship with God is rooted in grace. You are His children. We sang the song "As The Deer" this morning, . . . "as the deer paneth for the water, so my soul longs for thee.. . " Don't you know God sings to you? God delights in your presence and in your love more than we delight in His love and His presence with us. Don't you know dear ones, we can't even begin to match God's love for us? He longs for us and desires a relationship with us, more than we could ever dream of longing and desiring a relationship with Him. When we come before Him, He loves us so much it's not an imposition to Him for us to bring our request to Him.. We don't have to bargain and say, "God I'll do this if you will help me" We can just say, "Abba, my heart is breaking and I need your help" He hears us and the scriptures tells us God delights in meeting our every need according to His riches, His glory in Christ Jesus. Not because we're so good, but because we're His children and He loves us. He desires to know us and for us to know Him in such intimate ways so we can experience His love and His touch in our lives. We can bang on His door at midnight and know we're not waking Him up and know we're not an imposition.
Jesus says God delights in fulfilling our needs. If we will seek, we will find. If we will knock, we will be answered. If we ask anything in Jesus' name, as we come to God our Abba Father, it will be given to us. Do you see this at all? Do you see the connection between how much God loves you and how He wants you to be as His little children and just come to Him.
We are going to sing this marvelous little song that talks about letting God meet our needs, "The Spirit Song." Then we are going to come and break bread and share in this cup of Communion together. As we prepare for Communion, I want to ask you, is everything in your life OK? You folks that are married, is everything okay between you and your spouse? Those of us with children, is everything okay between us and our children? Those of us whose parents are still living, is everything okay between us and our parents? Is everything okay between us and our neighbors and our siblings, our friends. There are only two kinds of folks in this world, . . . those have been hurt and those have been hurt more. Everyone of us when we come in here, we have a need. We need to be made whole by God. There's parts of our life we need God to touch and to bless and to make whole. Be it in relationships, . . . be it in a physical ailment that is troubling us, . . . be it our financial affairs, . . . whatever it may be. God's not limited, . . . our problems are not greater than God. Can you come to God this morning and as you share together in the bread and the cup with Jesus, can you shamelessly go before God and say "God I believe and I choose to accept the truth of your word, . . . you love me because I'm your child and I don't have to do anything to prove myself to you. I don't have to perform in anyway, I just need to receive your love. I ask you to meet my needs according to your riches and your glory of Christ Jesus. I need you to heal some relationships that are hurting and broken, . . . I need your wisdom, . . . I need your companionship for my loneliness. I need your compassion." Sometimes we just need a shoulder to cry on. God is for us. We can go to Him, shamelessly because of what Christ has done for us. I invite you to let the spirit of God who is here with us this morning guide your hearts and your minds as we sing this hymn and as we prepare to receive the cup. And I encourage you, whatever your need may be, Jesus invites you this morning to come to the Father we call Abba, and let Him meet your every need according to His riches and His glory is in Christ Jesus our Lord.