Unbound Generosity
Luke 11:1-13
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father,hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” 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; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 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.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
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The year was 1943. The month was October, and the place was the city of Rome in Italy. A roundup of Jews and other groups of people were underway and the Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII was in a precarious position. The Vatican had no army, no missiles, or tanks. All they had was their faith in the power of God. But in spite of their dangerous situation, Pope Pius XII ordered that Vatican City and churches in Rome open their doors and provide a sanctuary and refuge for anyone who was seeking protection from deportation. Whoever came looking for assistance received it. Churches gave food, provided water and medicine, and helped distribute false identification papers for those in need of them. In defiance of the law, human law, the Law of God took precedence above all else. When you, when we hear someone knocking on our door, we don’t turn them away, unless we want to close the door on God.
Pope Pius XII was not a perfect Pope, and in the eyes of many was deemed to be lackluster and ineffective in doing more to help Jews and other oppressed minorities. It goes to show that those in positions of power and privilege can do much to help others if they only exerted their influence in the first place. I want to think though that Pope Pius XII had this morning's reading in mind, with many other passages, when it came to taking a risk to embody unbound generosity. Unbound generosity meaning that it came from a place of understanding. An understanding that when someone comes in search of aide, you don't turn them away, because we know that Christ came to set the example of what it means to give of our whole selves. The knock on the door is a loud and clear call that is not something we can ignore. So what's important then is how will we respond. Will we offer food, shelter, or whatever it is the person on the other side is looking for regardless of who they are? Or will try to give them a scorpion, a snake, or our malice and hate instead?
But before we answer that question, let’s take a look at the more well-known part of this passage. This morning we hear familiar words, words that we say every Sunday. This morning we come across the Lord’s Prayer and more extensive teaching of Jesus that has to do with the prayer. Interestingly, it is at this point, in Chapter 11, that the disciples finally ask Jesus how to pray. Perhaps it was a cultural, a religious hurdle, or maybe the disciples were having feelings of inadequacy. Regardless of the reason, Jesus teaches them to pray, to invoke the name of God, to ask for the provisions needed for their spiritual journey, and to ask for the things that will get them through life as well. It’s a prayer that carries a punch, a prayer that has a lot of meaning if we stop and consider what it is for we are praying. “Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
This point brings us to the section that is the focus of our meditation this morning. This discussion that Jesus presents on what it means to pray fervently and what it means for us to open the door instead of closing it. In a way that is almost comically simplistic, Jesus asks those who have gathered around him to imagine what it would be like to go to a friend and ask for help. You would think it would be a simple thing for us to imagine, but Jesus throws in a curve-ball. In this exercise, Jesus assumes our “friend” decides not to help because it’s not a convenient time of day. It’s almost funny that Jesus assumes that our friend won’t help. Because perhaps Jesus knows that our initial inclination isn’t to offer help when we feel bothered. But it’s through perseverance, that act of continually knocking on the door, by which we are finally given what we need.
It’s an analogy that should be a source of comfort and encourage us to cultivate our own spiritual lives as well. It should comfort us because it means that even if we can’t find anyone to listen to us, God is there. If we feel as though something is weighing heavily on us, God is there and won’t shut the door in our face. And it should encourage us to cultivate our own spiritual lives because it means that we can have a conversation with God at any time. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2, 3, 4, 5 in the morning because God is always ready to welcome us in (and God, of course, isn’t bound by time so there’s that as well). Last week we considered what it meant to carve out time to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. This week are presented with a task to carve out time in our lives to have a conversation with God in our everyday living.
Just as God is there to answer the door when we pray, when we want to have a conversation, there is a response on our part as well that demands our attention. While we know that God hears our prayers, we in the here and now hear the prayers of those around us as well. We hear the prayers of those who are grieving, we hear the prayers of those who are hungry, we hear the prayers of those who have suffered injustice, fleeing persecution, abuse, and in all those situations they are the ones knocking on our door asking for a loaf of bread. God hears our prayers, and as I said, we already know that. In our mission to co-labor, co-work, with God, we find that we hear a number of different prayers as well. And like I said, in the beginning, our response to those prayers will reflect our ability to live generously in God’s grace or be constricted by the rules we place on ourselves. And if we are willing to break free from any earthly molds we made for ourselves or principalities, we’ll find that our lives together are blessed and made richer for it, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The reading’s we’ve had for the past few weeks reminds me of something that we don’t usually include in our Presbyterian tradition. There’s a passage that comes from a book that is in the Catholic version of the Bible called the Wisdom of Sirach. It contains a number of Jewish teachings and sayings that are similar to that of the Book of Proverbs, but in the Wisdom of Sirach 28:1-5, “The vengeful will face the Lord’s vengeance; indeed God remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Does anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Can one refuse mercy to a sinner like oneself, yet seek pardon for one’s own sins? If a mere mortal cherishes wrath, who will forgive their sins?” If we expect God to hear our prayers, then it should be reasonable for us, the hands and feet of Christ, should be able to hear and respond to the prayers of those around us as well.
Without ceasing, we are confronted with the question of how we will talk to God and care for others every day in various forms. We’re asked whether or not we will let in our neighbor, help them out when they require help. We’re asked whether or not we will allow God into our hearts to empower us to co-labor in this work of love. And we are asked whether or not we will expand our understanding of the image of God to those whom we have traditionally closed the door on for the wrong reasons. It’s a tall order, yes, but one that is crucial to creating a world where all are treasured, all are valued, and all are welcomed regardless of who they are. And when the going gets tough, PRAY! Pray without ceasing, pray with perseverance, because God is listening, because we who are your fellow travelers are listening when you need us to as well. Pray, and it will be in that time of prayer that we come to understand what unbound generosity truly is.
We may not be perfect, we may not always be kind and gracious people, but we are people with a heart that God imbued with a sense of purpose and love. So maybe it’s not comical than that the disciples asked Jesus how to pray. Perhaps we need that same spirit of humility as well as we continue to learn how to pray as well because we need to start somewhere and to live as Christ did let us pray that we begin by opening the door when we hear a knock. Amen.