( Luke 11:5-13 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Akündigungen459.41 KB ]
Dear congregation, Jesus uses parables to tell his disciples about God. He uses images to illustrate how God reaches out to people and how they can find their way to him. Our sermon scripture is about doors, open and closed, about friendship and about asking. Read Luke 11:5 - 13
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;
6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’
7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Imagine you have a boyfriend or girlfriend. One to whom you can go with all your worries and needs, even in the middle of the night. She or he is simply there for you. It is good when you can trust another person so firmly! Maybe it cannot even be explained rationally, but you feel it in your heart.
However, there are moments in life when such a friend is missing. Maybe there are friends and acquaintances around you, but there is not one you could or want to confide in when you have reached a really weak moment.
His friends want to know from Jesus, how one prays properly. Perhaps they want to have a very precise set of instructions so as not to do anything wrong and to please God. We all know how much easier it is to have clear rules and to work through a to-do list step by step. Well, his disciples ask Jesus about the things that are unclear to them. So Jesus answers them:
In God you have a real friend. There is no clear instruction manual for how this friendship is formed. Just be yourself. You can knock on his door at any time of day or night. Do not let up, badger him. Unashamedly, that is, do not let up or feel bad about it! There is nothing to be ashamed of before God. There is absolutely nothing that cannot be brought before Him.
Jesus knows about the power of prayer. And about the power of "insolent urging". This was also known to the prayers of the Psalms, who - individually or as a group or as a people - lament their suffering to God over and over until He finally hears them. Then their lamentation turns into rejoicing.
The power of prayer causes that to happen. That people turn away from themselves and turn towards the One who created heaven and earth and overcame death. To Him I will pour out all my pain, all my tears. He will take care of me. The power of prayer makes it happen. As often as possible. Any time and in every place.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For whoever asks receives; and whoever seeks finds; and whoever knocks, it will be opened to him.
Sometimes you may not feel it. You have asked God for something. And yet it does not happen, the hoped-for help does not come.
A prayer, dear congregation, is not an order like Takealot. Ordered and delivered. Prayer is first about asking something from God. In other words, it is about daring to admit that one's own abilities are limited. And it's also about allowing those secrets find a place; the ones you are not able to tell anyone else about, which lie dormant deep inside you.
Prayer means you do not stop searching. Or knocking on God's door of possibilities which are far greater than those you can perceive.
Different prayers have their place in our church service:
At the beginning we pray a Psalm together. Words from long ago that sometimes sound strange to our ears. When we pray them together, we connect with the people from the past who have made room for their longings, their hopes, disappointments and also their helplessness and lament. It feels good to be able to sink into these words, even though they may not be our thoughts at that very moment.
And it is similar with the creed. Words that people have found to express that which sustains them in life and death. Before us, too, there were people who searched for words for what they believed and felt. And we belong to this community of seekers and those who find.
Again and again, prayers form in our thoughts and sometimes we say them aloud. In worship I do this for all of us. For some a prayer may be exactly right, for others possibly not. But in the community of prayer, we connect with each other and open ourselves together before God.
During intercession we take the entire world with all its cruelties and our own guilt as well as all the people in their suffering, and bring them before God. In that we show we belong together and are mostly helpless. Yet we are united in the hope that things could and should be different.
Even if God does not intervene directly and puts things right as we might like: Praying together means looking for possibilities together. And making a place for our needs. That courage and hope are alive.
Praying is a higher kind of certainty. A person who prays does not trust himself with everything - but he trusts God with everything. A person who prays can be certain of himself, but then he also has a higher kind of certainty. This is how Jesus sees and says it, amazingly clearly. God gives, he says; God lets you find what you are looking for and opens it for you. With Jesus there is no doubt that God hears prayers and fulfils them in his way - in Gods way.
I believe during prayer possibilities that we cannot see or control ourselves can become real, and in that way doors open. That even happens when you pray alone, in silence in worship or at home or also when travelling.
In prayer there is a place for longing. For sadness. For anger. For what makes my inner self vibrate. For dreams and tears.
He is a friend who opens the door for everything that is un-ashamed. Because He has room for me to spread it all out in front of him.
So that in the end I can get up and continue or jump or dance. On lighter feet. And find new doors that open. God our Father in heaven will give his Holy Spirit if we ask him. He who guides us - without restriction or condition!
Amen