Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] July 24, 2022 “How Much More” Luke 10: 38-42 – Common English Bible One day he was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” 2-4 So he said, “When you pray, say, Father, Reveal who you are. Set the world right. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.” 5-6 Then he said, “Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don’t have a thing on hand.’ 7 “The friend answers from his bed, ‘Don’t bother me. The door’s locked; my children are all down for the night; I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 “But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need. 9 “Here’s what I’m saying: Ask and you’ll get; Seek and you’ll find; Knock and the door will open. 10-13 “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?” Have you ever taken a road trip with a child who asks, all too often, “are we there yet?” Or, “how much longer?” Eyes rolling, you reply, “five minutes less than the last time you asked, dear.” Annoying, right? An hour later, “my dear child” might morph into “My dear God, how much more of this can I take?” That is, without losing patience, without losing your temper, without losing your mind. Well, this question comes up for me from that odd couple of verses at the end of the reading: “Which of you is going to give your child a snake if they ask for a fish? Which of you is going to give your child a scorpion if they ask for an egg?” Who would do that? Well, not even someone who has lost their patience, temper, and mind! The point being made is that even someone who has lost it will do the right thing. Or as the text says, “even people who are evil know how to give good gifts to their children, so how much more will our divine parent do for those who ask?” But first, tragically, we have to acknowledge that this is not always true and I don’t want to dismiss the experience of children whose parents were or are not loving or kind. But, Jesus promises, our divine parent is. As you heard, Luke places these verses in a passage that teaches the disciples what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. But compared to what we’re used to praying in church, it’s pretty bare bones. Just four requests, or as some say, four demands: 1)Bring in your kingdom 2)Give us bread 3)Forgive us 4)Save us from temptation Matthew and Luke both have these four requests but there are a couple of minor differences.
As you heard the text being read, you may have thought to yourself, wait something is missing. But neither Matthew or Luke say “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” That’s a later addition in the evolving liturgy of the church. But as many of you know, Catholics don’t add that line to the Our Father either. Any number of times I’ve visited a Catholic mass and been the lone Protestant in an echoing cathedral “For thine is the…” Sorry! Perhaps it’s happened to you too. Mark doesn’t include the Lord’s Prayer at all. Mark is the first of the gospels in our Bible written. Matthew and Luke both had access to Mark and used it extensively for their gospels, which is why there is so much similarity between them – similar but often in different order with different details for different audiences making different points. Both include the parable from today and those odd verses about eggs and scorpions, though Matthew uses bread and stones. But in Matthew, these have nothing to do with the Lord’s Prayer. C’mon guys. Get your stories straight! Again, Mark doesn’t include the Lord’s Prayer and Matthew and Luke didn’t have access to each other’s work, so how could their prayer be so remarkably similar? And this isn’t the only time they share something in common that wasn’t in Mark. Scholars maintain there was another gospel that was lost they call Q, for the word Quelle in German meaning source. Perhaps this is all more than you want to know, but maybe it will help you answer a trivia question. And even better, understand a little more of the complexity of this Bible we treasure. Jesus went on to a strange parable about a neighbor who is pestered for food in the middle of the night. If you’re wondering what it’s about: Imagine an unexpected guest shows up at your house at midnight. What do you do? At the time, culturally there would be no question that you would invite the guest inside your home and offer them something to eat and drink. It’s not something you’d even have to think about. That’s just what you do – no matter how inconvenient. But what if you have no food to give them? You don’t say sorry. You go next door to ask your neighbor, who would also be culturally obligated to respond. No questions asked. Except this neighbor did. He complained. We’re in bed. Leave us alone. But the guy who has a guest at his home ready to eat will not give up because it’s his obligation. To not respond would bring shame upon both their households. And so, if the reluctant neighbor is willing to get up and give as you ask, then how much more does our divine parent want to give those who ask. Therefore, ask, and like the neighbor be as persistent as necessary. You will receive. Seek, don’t take no for an answer, and you will find. Knock, and keep knocking, until the door is opened for you. Does that help the parable make sense? It’s a confusing one for sure. But wait. Have you always received when you’ve asked? It sure doesn’t always feel that way. Have you always found when you have been seeking? Has the door always opened when you’ve knocked? An honest person can only answer no. In fact, sometimes there have been so many disappointments, we may stop asking, not wanting to be let down. Or blame ourselves. But imagine a relationship in which we have stopped asking anything of a friend or spouse; a relationship where we have stopped trusting or even communicating all together. A relationship in which instead we ask, “How much more.” How much more of this can I take? Perhaps because it’s all give, give, give – all they ever want from me is what I can give them. Or maybe it’s betrayals. They promised never to do it again, six times ago. You’ve probably got stories of siblings or friends or former spouses about whom you’ve asked, “how much more of this…” Or a job, a volunteer organization, a church. Or God. I want to ask, how much more of this pandemic can we take? Are we there yet? I ask of the division in our country, how much more of this can we take. I want to ask of homophobia and xenophobia and domestic terrorism – how much more must we endure. Or suffer chronic pain and hurt feelings and lost loved ones. What more can we survive? But how much more than all of that does our divine parent want to give. Look at that neighbor, or that parent, or that friend. And how much more does God want for you? Here’s the interpretative question, the key question. Is this about how much more God will do for you? Or is this about how much more God loves you, hopes for you, will never give up on you? Or that God won’t ever stop asking, God will persist in seeking you, God will keep knocking until you answer. When we make this text about how much God does or doesn’t do for us, we have to admit that sometimes I’ve asked and not received. Isn’t that honest? I’ve sought and not found. Isn’t that painful? I’ve knocked and the door has remained shut. If this prayer and parable and odd saying about scorpions and eggs are about getting what we ask for, we may be disappointed. But know this: Whenever we say, “How much more can I take” of hurt and pain and loss, God’s response is how much more do I love you than that.[1] More than even all of that. Whenever we say, “How much more can I take” of feeling abandoned, alone, and rejected, God responds, whatever you are feeling, I love you more than even that. Whenever we say, “How much more can I take” of disillusionment and disappointment, God will say, “How much more than that do I love you.” Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be your name Your kingdom come, your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors And lead us now into temptation But deliver us from evil (For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever!) When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, it was not to a grand unknowable almighty being that we cannot possibly understand, but to something, someone as easily understood, though certainly not uncomplicated, as a parent. In fact, father is still too formal. Jesus prayed to Abba, a meaning closer to daddy than a strict authoritarian figure we may imagine. All to say, how much more do I love you than that. [1] Karoline Lewis, workingpreacher.org
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