Scriptural basis: Luke 11:5-13, Psalm 145
A man in the old west was being tried for stealing a horse, this was a very serious offense. Most who got caught were hung.
Now, the problem with this situation was that the man whose horse had been stolen had gotten the best of every person on the jury at one time or another. Each of them had been swindled, cheated, or conned in some way by the plaintiff.
At the end of the trial the man whose horse had been stolen was sitting there and the judge asked the foreman of the jury, "Have you reached a verdict?" And the chairman said, "Yes we have, your honor." "We find the defendant not guilty, if he will return the horse!"
Laughter broke out, and after the judge silenced everybody in the courtroom, he told the jury, "I can't accept that verdict. You need to reach another one." So they went back into the jury room and thought about how to render the verdict. Each jury-member thought about how the plaintiff, at one time or another, had gotten the best of them. So an hour later, the same thing happened. "Gentlemen of the jury have you reached a verdict?" the judge asked again. "Yes we have your honor," replied the foreman. "What say ye? The courtroom was deathly silent. You could have heard a pin drop. The foreman stood and said, "We find the defendant not guilty and he can keep the horse!" The courtroom burst into laughter again.
"Well, what's the moral of the story?"
A. If you cheat people and do wrong by people, sooner or later you are going to get yours?
B. If you want to have a friend, you better be a friend.
C. If you want others to help you, you better help others.
D. If you want justice from others, you better show justice.
Although these are all good morals, I wonder if you noticed they are self-serving.
In other words, I may treat people well, not because it is right, but rather because I want to be treated well. I help others not because it is right, but rather because I myself may need others to help me.
I struggle with my motivation in ministry, or doing good, sometimes it is simply, "self-interest."
Ouch or amen, but we really do for others in hopes they will do for us.
Luke 6:32-33 If you love those that love you, what thanks do you have? ... sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to those which do good to you, what thanks do you have?...sinners do the same.
We are to be a contrasting difference in this world … Matthew 5:45 That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Luke 11:5-13 Then he said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me , and I have nothing to set before him. Then the one inside answers, 'don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. '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. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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!"
In Jesus’ day hospitality was all-important.
Everybody was dependent upon everyone else. If you didn't help your neighbor, somebody could suffer seriously as a result.
In Jesus' day it was inconceivable that a person would not help their neighbor in village society.
Traditionally, this parable has been taught to teach persistence in prayer. However, if we understand the text, the emphasis is less on our persistence and more on God's willingness to hear and answer.
We have to think in terms of how people who heard the parable in the first century would have responded. So I will give you the version of the passage that I think it is.
Since Jesus' original hearers were peasants who lived in villages, and village life was down-to-earth and grounded in the principle of hospitality, and seeing it was unthinkable for someone not to be hospitable when asked to be, why would the person outside knocking need to be persistent?
I think Jesus is teaching something very different—in the context of the parable shows the great willingness of God to give to us, just like we give to our children.
Let's look at the text a little bit. In verse 5, Jesus says to the people, "Suppose one of you has a friend." Another way to translate this is, "which one of you having a friend" and we could even state it this clearly, "Can you imagine a friend who would do this?
The word "friend" is mentioned four times in verses 6-8. So now Jesus' hearers are thinking, "Okay, somebody goes and knocks on the door and asks for something, we know what's coming."
Not only is this person a neighbor, but this person is a friend. So, for two reasons, the person being asked should immediately respond.
However, in verse 7, Jesus gets us involved in the story by asking, "Can you imagine this? Can you imagine the man inside answering and saying, 'Don't bother me. The door's already locked. My children are in bed and I can't get up?.”
The people listening to Jesus, may have scratched their heads, thinking, "No, I can't imagine that at all. That's not the way we do things around here."
Jesus emphasizes this idea with a parable about a man who wouldn't do something because he was a neighbor, a friend, or because hospitality called for it, he did it because he didn't want to be thought of poorly by other people in his village.
That fits the context because in the text goes on to say, "If you then who are evil, do for your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who ask?"
It seems that Jesus is teaching something fascinating about prayer... When you pray, God will do anything that needs to be done in order for you to get what you need, because it is impossible for Him to be thought of badly! He is Faithful!
God is our Father in Heaven; in ancient culture, you had to go to the Father to get what you needed. If you wanted something for someone in the family, you had to go to the Father first.
Please hear the five life changing words from the mouth of our Heavenly Father? God is saying to each and every one of us, "I'll be there for you”.
You know when you're stressed, how wonderful those words can sound. And as great as they sound spoken by friends and family, they sound even more wonderful from the mouth of God, our God.
Sometimes, people are not there for us. Even those closest to us can let us down.
But this morning Jesus is saying, in this parable, "God will not do that.
Do you ever feel like so much depends on you in your relationship with God--that you have got to pray harder, try harder, and work harder? If so, relax.
Jesus is teaching that you don't have to be afraid to pray for anything, anytime, or anywhere. Whatever way He answers your prayer, it will be for the best-the best for you. Today’s message is a reminder that God is meeting our needs and knows exactly what we need before we ask." God says, "Just try me, I'll be there for you. "Sometimes we try too hard. We need to see God as a loving, caring, and generous Heavenly Father who loves to give good things to those who ask.
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