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) 

   

Easter 6C - To Be Made Whole 2019

Easter 6C  * John 5:1-8 * St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC *  5/25/19

Lord God, heavenly Father, fill our hearts with love toward you.  Remove any anxiety or  fear of judgement as we encounter you this day.  Pour out, we beseech you, your healing mercies on us, our churches, and our country.  For we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do you want to be made whole?  Jesus stood before the man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years…

Now, if  Jesus asked me that, I imagine I or you would say YES!  But did you notice- the crippled man did not say yes…Instead, he started making excuses—I  didn’t have anybody to put me in the pool. 

A little background would help … just outside the temple precincts in Jerusalem was a pool which during Jesus’ day was thought to be a place of healing.  Sometimes known as Bethzaida or Bethzawa, it was fed by underground springs.  It was a trapezoidal shape and had porticos surrounding it.  Those in need lay in the porticos. 

            Some scholars think that the Romans had dedicated it to the God Asclepius – the Greek god of healing and medicine.  The idea associated with it was this:  When the waters seemed to move (probably the underground spring bubbling up), it was thought the divine presence (or an angel) was very close by and the first person who could get into the water would be healed…

The man Jesus spoke with said – I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool – that was his explanation –

Jesus said to him – Do you desire to be healed?

Have you noticed that sometimes what is said and what is heard are two different things?

            The man heard Jesus’ question as judgement – As in, you’ve been here 38 years, you must not really want it.. you must want to stay crippled…

            To be fair, though, sometimes it is easier to stay in that familiar place  than to change.  This reminded of an older couple at church I served… they argued constantly and loudly… I remember asking them – “Aren’t you tired of arguing all the time?  Why not think about stopping?  The wife looked at me and said – what ever would we talk about?  Sometimes its easier to stay in the old familiar places than to change.

            Jesus, though, in that question was going deeper – there was no judgement – He stood before the man and asked what is your heart’s desire?

What if Jesus stood before us, before you here and now  and asked that question?

Let that question percolate in you, if you will.

Do you want to be healed?   Imagine the change in this man’s life – 38 years is a long time – he’s gotten comfortable – it was a predictable life—

But when Jesus got involved – well, his world was about to get a lot bigger.

So often we live a small, safe life – we get used to our situation and we feel , for the most part, in control…

A clergy friend, Phil McLarty, who has served as both a Methodist and a Presbyterian minister  tells this story which is to the point…

“.. He was living in Odessa, [Texas] and served as a chaplain for the local Police Department. One night he got a call from dispatch, who asked him to meet a police officer at a run-down, flea bag motel in a very rough part of town. A man staying there had called the local AA chapter and said he had decided life was not worth living. They called 911, of course, and a police officer was sent over to intervene. When Phil got there, he found the police officer standing at the door of the man’s room.

The man was drunk, of course. He went in and sat down on the bed beside him. Sobbing and slurring his words,  Phil writes, he told me how he didn’t have much to live for any more, how he’d been injured on the job and was no longer able to work, how his wife had left him, and how he’d lost his house and car and most of his belongings. He said he spent most days in that depressing motel room by himself watching television.

McLarty asked.. “Why don’t you get out of this place and move into Lincoln Tower, where you can be around other people?”  Lincoln Tower was a very affordable, nice little retirement community nearby, where the coffee pot was always on, and there was usually a game or something going on in the game room. “Why don’t you move over to Lincoln Tower?” We could help make that happen?  he asked. “Oh no, the man said,  I couldn’t do that,” he said, “Why, this is where all my stuff and my friends are.”[1]

It is so hard to help people sometimes and addressing what seems to be an obvious need often does not solve the deeper problem.   maybe you’ve had an experience like this – I know I have..

Back to our gospel story –  Jesus said to the crippled man– take up your mat and walk -and he did… Notice - the man’s body was healed but he had a long way to go to be fully restored – if you read on.. you will notice that he didn’t even think to ask  the name of the one who healed him and when he found out  Jesus’ name, he promptly reported him to the religious authorities who were upset because Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath.  As one of my kids would say – that’s just messed up.

            But to here and now --   the Lord Jesus stands before us asking  - just as he stood before the crippled  man – no matter what our age is, no matter our life circumstances – do you desire to be made whole?   

Our God is the god who heals – who makes whole…

And that healing often takes an unexpected form-  sometimes that healing is physical and God acts through the care and expertise of medical folks. Sometimes,  relationships are healed and most often God heals us from the inside out – our hearts and minds are healed.

Before us  today is the Lord who wants to give us everything – who understands and lives the fullness and freedom and wholeness of life that God desires for us –

Think about our collect today—listen to how it starts…

“O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding…”

So, what to do – what if the Lord asks you that question? How would you answer?  What if he asks this church that question? What if he were to ask our country that question?  Or, would we rather stay comfortable in our infirmity holding onto an illusion of control? Or would we rather just keep arguing because its too much work to figure out what else to talk about?

            Now, let’s say you go home and think about this—and you come up with something that needs healing and wholeness.

If so, I want to invite you into the classical spiritual discipline known as discernment.  That is, don’t just do it (like the reverse of the Nike slogan) – bring your thinking to people you know who listen to God and ask them to pray  with you…

Consider if it opens the door to greater wholeness and healing or if it would bring injury to others (that might be a cue that it’s not from the Lord).. Spend some time in discernment. Don’t just do it!

Notice one last thing – the man did not answer yes – to Jesus’ question but Jesus healed him any way…love and mercy don’t keep score – it’s not a quid pro quo – you do this for me and I’ll do that for you.. You believe in me, have faith  and I will heal you..No, that’s not the Jesus’ way.

Jesus says, “Forget the Pool! This is about the overflowing river of life – that we heard about in our reading from the Revelation to St. John today –  this river pours out from the throne-room of heaven—it is the same river on the banks of which stand the tree of life whose leaves are given for the healing of the nations…  that shining river which flows through the Heavenly Jerusalem and in, through and out of Jesus – this is the river that brings healing to all it touches..

  Do you remember this saying of Jesus?   It comes from the  Gospel of John just a little way over from our reading today – “Jesus stood up and proclaimed.. if anyone believes in me- out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

Forget the water in the pool – it’s Jesus - the water of life, our resurrected Lord in whom the shining river flows – who can bring healing and wholeness to any situation.  He stands before us…asking the question – do you want to be made whole?  AMEN.

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[1] https://www.sermonwriter.com/sermons/john-51-9-do-you-want-to-be-made-well-mclarty/

Easter 2C - Peace be with You 2019

Easter 2 C  - John 20: 19, 21- St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC – 4/28/19

Risen Lord, you speak the word of  peace to us.. grant that this day we might hear that word as your word to and for us…and that we might be changed forever. Amen


Peace be with you… His first words to them… perhaps, unexpected… The last time he had seen them, they were running away – running for their lives as he was arrested at Gethsemane– And here they were, shut up in a room, scared to death,  for fear of the religious authorities ….They certainly did not expect to see him, despite what the women had said, and the Emmaus road travelers,… and when their face to face  moment came, did they expect to be chastised?  O ye of little faith! Or something stronger perhaps… but, instead, it was an unexpected, grace-filled response (to tag Fr. Philip’s sermon last Sunday) – for his first words to them were – Peace be with you.
 These are also His words to us. Here and now.
Peace be with you– I want to ask you --where in your life today do you need peace? –
 The word is Shalom which means not just – no fighting or  an absence of conflict or the ending of hostilities , say, as in a war….(although that can be part of it ) but, its so much bigger than that – it means – restoration, wholeness and healing of that which is broken.
What brokenness in us – in you and me- needs this word of healing , this word of peace today?
Is there something in your past that haunts you,  some current struggle, or anxiety about the future? Remember,  Jesus word to you, to us, today – Peace be with you.
This is a word that heals – and our world needs this peace.. the peace that passes understanding.. the peace that only Jesus our Lord can bring..
It’s the word that changes everything.
Jesus speaks peace to them and to us  and then he says – as the Father has sent me , so I send you—the word behind the word sent is the Greek verb apostello – you can hear our word – apostle in it.  As the Father has apostled me, so I apostle you.
And, then, he ties in the work of forgiveness which he entrusts to us.. There is not much that heals better than forgiveness.  Just an aside, truly we can only forgive because we have been forgiven.
But to be sent goes beyond even this… to the larger sense of righteousness.  This is not a word that we use a lot today but what mean is simply  bringing something into right relationship - with God and each other – this righteousness is  about healing brokenness with faithful mercy and loving justice.
There is an idea in Jewish thought that speaks to this – It’s the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam (pronounced tee-KOON oh-LUHM) means "world repair."   It means taking part in repairing the world by acts of  loving kindness, justice, and righteousness. [1] Would you agree with me that this old beautiful, broken world is badly in need of repair?
            There is a fine story from the Jewish mystical tradition about this very thing…it’s  told by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen .. I heard her tell this story on Krista Tippet’s program – On Being --  the story was given to her by her grandfather as a gift  on her fourth birthday.  [I love that idea… what if we gave each other stories for birthday presents] ..   This story is a grandparents’ way of explaining beginnings to a little one -- It’s called the Birthday of the World and it goes like this…

“In the beginning,    there was only the Holy Darkness,
the Ein Sof, the source of life.
Then, in the course of history,
at a moment in time -  this world,
the world of a thousand, thousand things,  emerged.
 it emerged from the heart of the Holy Darkness as a great ray of light.  (Remember, let there be light)
And then (perhaps because this is a grandparent’s story to a child) there was an accident. 
The vessels containing the creation light, the wholeness of the world, broke.
And  the  light of creation, the wholeness of the world
was scattered
into a thousand, thousand fragments of light.
And the fragments of light fell…
Fell  into all times, happenings, and into all  creation and into all people, 
where they remain deeply hidden until this very day.
 The whole human race is a response to this accident.
We are here because we are born with the capacity to find the hidden light in all people and all events,
  to lift it up, to make it visible, to restore it to itself  and to make it whole once again,
and thereby, to repair the world.”

“This is a very important story for the world today. The restoration of the whole world, tikkun olam,  is a collective task.   It involves all people who have ever been born, all people presently alive and all people yet to be born. We are all  sent to be healers of the world. “ (Dr. Reman)

 And it ”… opens a sense of possibility.  It’s not about healing the world by making a huge difference.  It’s about healing the world that touches you. That’s around you. Around us.  This is where our power is.
Today so many people feel powerless to deal with the world’s wounds”  (Dr. Reman) …but this story reminds us that we are not powerless to repair the world.

Sometimes, you and I  may have ideas about grand things we would do for the world – if only, if only …I had the time, the money, the connections, the power…(If I were a rich man)  .. well, you know how it goes….(please notice… I don’t want to dissuade anyone from trying to  launch a big idea because I am sure there are some big ideas here..) but for most of us, being sent – being apostolically sent  doesn’t have to mean launching a grand scheme or going half way around the world –  it means looking for the light and  healing the parts of the world we touch…with the medicines of  truth and mercy.
            Jesus said -- As the father has sent me, so I send you…
You and I, this Easter,  are sent with a message and given a job – to declare Peace be with you, and in that telling of peace, we are given the wild, effective energy of resurrection power..

Later, as we leave church  today – let the love and energy of the peace we pass to each other -  go with you into the world – don’t leave it at the door..  BECAUSE we are Jesus’ people for the healing of the world, for the gathering of the fragments of light buried  deeply in our fellow human beings and in that which unfolds around us.  We are Jesus’ people for the restoration of shalom. And, thank God, it is not all up to us,  remember, remember, remember , we are not in this by ourselves… remember the Lord’s promise to us – I will be with you.  (repeat that)… It is God working through us to bring this Shalom, this peace into being…
            So, starting here and now… … where in your life today do you need Jesus’ healing word of  peace?  Where are the places in the world you touch?  Where is there brokenness?  In our family? At work? In our neighborhood? In our community?


Today…Hear the wildly unexpected word our Lord has for us  – Peace be with you. And…As the Father has sent me, so I send you.  Amen.

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[1] https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/tikkun-olam