Sermon: Luke 11

Sermon 7-14-13  

Bible Text: Luke11:1-13

Prayer is a tricky thing. God promises to hear our prayers, and in this story from Luke, God even promises to answer them—“ask, and it shall be given to you”. But how does God answer prayers? And when? And how will we know? And what will the answer be?  And my favorite excuse: if God knows everything already, why do we have to pray? Wow.  Thinking about praying is more exhausting than praying! 

In these chapters 10 & 11 of Luke, there are several different and seemingly unrelated things going on: seventy Jesus followers are sent out to do the work of the kingdom, as Jesus does: healing, preaching, teaching; Jesus has a conversation with a lawyer in which Jesus makes the bad-guy Samaritan the good guy; they visit Martha and Mary at home and “the rules” are once again re-defined; demons are cast out in God’s name; followers are challenged to be light, not darkness; and Pharisees and lawyers challenge Jesus about “the rules”.  Many short episodes, but through it all Jesus is teaching about what it means to belong to the kingdom of God. Sometimes “the rules” in God’s kingdom are a lot different than “the rules” in this world of Samaritans and Pharisees and Torah—Jesus is teaching them how to live in the new life God gives them. 

In this part of the story, Jesus is praying—have you noticed, he does that fairly often, especially before something challenging comes his way. First point about prayer: it seems to be a regular thing, putting rhythm and pace to the day and the days.  His disciples now ask him to teach them how to pray, and he sketches out a frame for prayer, which we now know as the Lord’s Prayer—almost.  It isn’t exactly the same version we use in worship (what we know is closer to Matthew’s version), but the elements are there.  We know this prayer—it’s the basics of life: food, good relationships, freedom from oppression.  And for those who follow Jesus in the kingdom of God, it’s a commitment to reflect that kingdom that we so desire here on earth, in our actions, our choices, our values.

Then Jesus goes on to tell some stories—about a person who has a need late at night, and a friend who may not respond out of friendship, but will respond to get rid of the neighbor; about parents who give children things that are good for them, not things that are dangerous.  And the promise that God hears when we ask and wants to give us good things. 

So this is where all those questions come in—how, when, where, what, why? Does God answer prayers, but we miss it?  Does God give us a different answer than we expect? Does God answer some but not others, and does that have to do with who God is or who the pray-er is? 

This image has come to mind about how we approach God in prayer:

Sometimes God is the person on the phone taking catalog orders—waiting for us to call to tell God what we want; if it’s in stock, we get it, shipped out in 3 business days.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but you have to admit sometimes that’s how we approach God in prayer: we know what we want and we expect God to give it to us, as advertised. 

But that is not what Jesus is talking about here. All the stories around this Lord’s Prayer are Jesus teaching the people what it means to live in the kingdom of God. In the presence of God, demons flee, illness is healed, enemies become neighbors, and the extraneous rules are suspended so we can sit down with the Divine and focus on what matters. This is a way of life, a relationship—not a shopping list. In this image,  God is the beloved—the one you call even when you don’t really have anything to say; the one you want to check in with throughout the day just to hear her voice; together you make plans, coordinate life, build relationship. So we don’t have to worry about “the right words” in our praying or even what the answer will be. We pray because we are in love with God who is in love with us and we want to know each other better. We pray because that’s what living in the kingdom is about. Jesus’ stories show us that God is paying attention in this prayer relationship.  God is the actor in our prayers—we pray, but God is the one who answers the prayers—we ask God to give us bread, to forgive us, to bring in the kingdom, to save us from the time of trial.  We can’t do those things without God—so we pray.

And the answer to the prayer is not yes or no—the answer is God! Jesus tells us that the Father—this loving and good parent who is in relationship with us no matter what—wants to give us the Holy Spirit, the very essence of God blowing through our world, part of every breath we take. God does not wrap the answer to our prayer in a package for FedEx, detaching God from the prayer. God sends the Spirit into this world, this life, this kingdom—God joins Godself to us, giving us new life in which we are fed, forgiven, and free—the answer to the kingdom prayer, the Lord’s prayer, is God.

So let’s don’t worry about how to pray, when to pray, what to pray.  This is not a speech contest—it’s a love affair.  Sometimes we have a lot to say and we need God’s undivided attention for hours; sometimes we only have time for a quick 140-characters-or-less Tweet. Sometimes we can’t wait to be done with the meeting so we can talk to God; sometimes we take God for granted and forget to call for days.  It’s OK. I think God always wants more of our attention, but I also think God is more patient than we are about being neglected.

You’ll be surprised to know that I have not written any prayers for worship today. These are called the “prayers of the people” or the “prayers of the church”.  So, church, it’s your turn to pray. We’re going to practice together today, so we know what to do alone, tomorrow. Pray about what’s on your heart—and remember, the answer is GOD. 

Jensen, Richard A. Preaching Luke’s Gospel: A Narrative Approach.  Lima, OH: CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 1997

Tiede, David L.  Luke.  Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1988.