Alright, if you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to the Gospel of Luke.
We're in chapter 11.
Two weeks ago we started this chapter.
The first four verses are Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray.
Let me just read the first verse of chapter 11 again for us.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.
And then what follows is the Lord's Prayer.
And we talked about the prayer and how we can use it as a guide in our own prayers.
And we looked at each of the lines of the prayer.
But now we come to verse 5.
Then Jesus said to them, and Jesus tells his disciples a sort of parable just on the heels of this.
This is all kind of happening on one occasion, in one moment.
He teaches them the Lord's Prayer and then he gives them this sort of parable in verses 5 to 8.
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.
A friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.
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.
I tell you,
Even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship,
Yet because of your shameful audacity,
He will surely get up
And give you as much as you need.
Now, I'm calling this a sort of parable,
Because it's not quite like many of Jesus' other parables.
It starts with this hypothetical situation.
Suppose you have a friend,
And you go to him and you say,
And suppose the one inside answers.
If we go with an even more literal translation of this,
We discover that Jesus gives this whole scenario actually in the form of a question.
Another good translation puts it this way,
Which of you has a friend,
And will go to him at midnight and say to him?
So it's a hypothetical situation,
But it's directed right at the disciples.
I like the way one commentator put it.
It's as though Jesus is saying,
Which of you has the nerve
To wake up the neighbor
And his family
At midnight for bread?
And so Jesus really personalizes it.
He's looking into the disciples' eyes
As he asks them this.
Would you do that
To a friend of yours?
What if it was a really good cause?
Already Jesus has got us thinking.
Now let's look at this hypothetical situation.
What are the key details here?
First, we notice the relationship between you and the other guy.
Friends.
Suppose you have a friend.
And you say to him,
Friend.
Next, let's think about the request.
The request is for three loaves of bread.
How many of you have ever gone over to the neighbor's house
To ask for an ingredient that you are missing?
It's critical to have it.
Or else the whole process is ruined.
We do that sometimes.
But then here's the critical detail.
Would you go to your friend's house at midnight?
And make a request like this?
The timing of this request
Is really what makes for the tension
In this whole interaction.
When's the last time that you went to a friend's house
In the middle of the night?
To ask for something that you needed?
We all kind of just know, don't we?
That that's something you shouldn't do.
I mean, your friend and his family could be sleeping.
Maybe you've had that situation before
Where you're sort of passing by a friend's house
And it's late in the evening
And you don't know if they're still awake
But you kind of peer in the window
To see if the lights are still on
Or if they're awake in their living room
And maybe if they are, you might
Stop in and say hi
But even then, it's not usually midnight.
By that time
Most people are in bed
Most nights of the week
And so you wouldn't just go over there
And start knocking on the door
Unless
It was an emergency
Well, in the scenario that Jesus gives
It doesn't really seem like an emergency
Especially
Not to us
Verse 6
A friend of mine on a journey has come to me
And I have no food to offer him
So it seems that we've got some unexpected company
Just arrived from a long journey
And there's some important context
That we need to remember here
I mean, Jesus tells this story
Over 2,000 years ago
So
They didn't have cell phones back then
They couldn't just text or call
An hour before they arrive
They didn't have vehicles back then
Much of the travel was on foot
People would spend entire days
Just walking on the road
To get where they needed to go
And by the end of the day
They were truly quite exhausted
Hungry
And tired
This was all before the days of electricity
And the light bulb
Travel at night was more dangerous
Because of bandits and thieves
So you tried to get as far as you could in a day
And you didn't know exactly
How far you'd get each day
You couldn't just tell your friend by mail
Weeks in advance
Yeah, I'll be there on that day
You tried to get there before sundown
Because at night
Everything just shut down
And went dark
And of course
This is before the days of Superstore
And Tim Hortons being open 24 hours a day
And so we kind of feel the plight of this host
He says
I have no food to offer him
They also didn't have fridges and freezers back then
Packed with all the goodies that they bought at Costco
Their homes were small
By the end of the day
As a family
You could quite conceivably
Have almost nothing left on the shelf
The bread basket be empty
And it's midnight
There is no other way
To get food
The only way
Is to go
Knocking
On the door
Of the neighbor
And then on top of all of that
We should know that in this culture
Hospitality
Was deeply valued
Providing for the needs of others
Was extremely important
Our culture has kind of lost some of that today
I mean we scarcely
Go over to each other's houses for dinner anymore
Many look at those in need of hospitality
And think
You know
That's not my problem
And so with those things in mind
Maybe we can
A little more appreciate the dilemma
Posed by Jesus' question
It's kind of a no-win situation
You have to either let this friend go hungry
After a long day of travel
Which is a deep disappointment to him
Or you have to disturb another friend of yours
In the middle of the night
And possibly his whole family
To get some bread
Either way
One of your friends
Is going to be
Feeling irritable
And so what would you do?
And then
To make matters worse
Jesus adds on
To the hypothetical situation
You go over
You knock on the door
But things
Don't go
How you hope
Verse 7
And suppose the one inside
Answers
Don't bother me
The door's already locked
And my children and I are in bed
I can't get up and give you anything
Well that's not the response
That you were hoping for
Again we need to remember
A little bit of what things were like
Back then
People lived in small houses
If you were poor
It was just a one room house
And in the Middle East
Where the climate is different
Of course they were far less worried
About insulation
And heat loss
And triple pane windows
And weather stripping
On every crack of the door
So a man knocking at the door
Could quite easily wake up
Everyone in the house
And the conversation
Really could be had
From the guy in his bed
To the guy just outside the door
In these small and simple homes
It was common for family
To sleep all together
On mats
On the floor
If you've ever
Stayed with your family
In a hotel room
And had someone come
Knock on the door
After lights are already out
And everybody is asleep
That's maybe a similar feeling
You know
Even getting up
To go to the door
Could disturb everybody else
Not only that
But this guy wants me
To go and find something
For him
In my house
In the dark
And rummaging around
Am I going to have to
Light up a little lantern
To see
I'm probably going to
Wake the whole family
So the word
Bother
Really does capture it
Don't bother me
And maybe
If you're like me
You can almost hear
The words of an exhausted parent
At the end of the day here
My children and I
Are in bed
I finally got them all
Wrangled into their beds
They're asleep now
The last thing I want to do
Is wake them all up
Banging around in the kitchen
I can't
Give you
Anything
Go away
So we've got a friend
Who's somewhat desperate
For some bread
And we've got a grumpy parent
Who has just been woken up
By a knock on the door
And he isn't willing
To get out of bed
And yet the last words
Of this story
Are somewhat surprising
Verse 8
Jesus says
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
So at the end of all this
Jesus says that the man
Asking for the bread
Is going to get it
Not because
They're friends
But because of the asker's
Shameless audacity
Now we have to stop
And talk about that
Phrase or that word
For a minute here
It's actually apparently
A difficult word
To translate
It's used only once
In the whole Bible
Some translations say
Persistence
But the way the word
Was often used
In the time that this
Was written
It had this element
Of being shameless
It meant not caring
About what is proper
Or about the good
Opinion of others
To be described
With this word
Was usually a negative
Thing
It meant that you
Were rude
Or inconsiderate
And there might
Have even been
Almost an element
Of sort of
Boldness
Or persistence
To it as well
And that's where
This parable starts
To maybe get
A little bit confusing
We're kind of
Left wondering
What's the main
Point of this here
Was the man
Doing the right thing
Waking up
His friend
And possibly
His friend's
Whole family
To get this bread
For his guest
Was he justified
In disturbing them
To get what he
Needed
For his company
Is persistence
Really the point
Here
Maybe you've heard
This parable
That Jesus tells
In Luke 18
The parable
Of the persistent
Widow
Which is similar
To this one
That one certainly
Is about being
Persistent
And continuing
To pray
But in this parable
There's not really
That repetition
That keeping on
Knocking or asking
He's kind of
Initially refused
But then
The guy gives him
What he
Wants soon after
Kent Hughes
A preacher
And pastor
In his sermon
On this passage
He said
Shamelessness
Generally does not
Describe a good
Quality
But it can be
Bad or good
Depending on
The circumstances
If there are
Good reasons
To feel shame
Shamelessness
Is a bad thing
But if one's
Cause is good
Shameless
Insistence
Is good
Hughes suggests
That because
Hospitality was
So deeply
Valued in their
Culture
It was truly
A noble
And worthy
Reason to
Shamelessly
Knock on the
Door
Of his friend
At midnight
Asking for
Bread
He wasn't
Doing it
Just for
Himself
He was
Doing this
For another
Who was in
Need
He was doing
Something that
Ordinarily you
Would feel
Ashamed of
But he had a
Noble reason
There are some
Moments in life
Where we ought
To be
Shameless
And of course
Jesus is not
Saying that
Sometimes it's
Appropriate to
Sin
Rather he's
Commending this
Man for
Shamelessly doing
What was
Considered wrong
Or what would
Have been
Frowned upon
He sort of
Risked his
Friendship
Going against
What was
Proper
To help
Provide for
Someone's
Need
And I think
There does seem
To be a sort
Of courage
Or boldness
Required here
You have to
Be willing
Sometimes to
Offend
Or disrupt
Or disturb
In order to
Do the right
Thing
And it would
Seem that the
Man in his
Bed
Recognized that
Too
He recognized
That his
Friend was
Doing the
Wrong thing
Of knocking
On his
Door at
That time
But for
The right
Reason
And so he
Decides to
Get up
After all
And give
Him what
He asked
For as
Much as
He needed
But maybe
What's kind
Of perplexing
About this
Parable
Is
What's the
Meaning of
It
What are we
To learn
From it
Look at
What follows
This parable
Jesus goes
On in
Verse 9
He says
So I say
To you
Ask
And it
Will be
Given to
You
Seek
And you
Will find
Knock
And the
Door
Will be
Open to
You
For everyone
Who asks
Receives
The one
Who seeks
Finds
And to
The one
Who
Knocks
The door
Will be
Opened
Jesus continues
He says
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
So how
Does that
Fit with
This parable
That we
Have just
Heard
We're kind
Of used
To deciphering
The parables
Of Jesus
By figuring
Out who
The characters
In the
Parable
Represent
So by
Now we've
Probably all
Figured out
That this
Parable is
Not about
Ethics
Really
Or about
Hospitality
Or about
Just being
Bold and
Doing the
Right thing
This parable
Is about
Prayer
That's what
Jesus was
Talking about
Before it
And that's
What he
Continues to
Say
After it
The man
Asking for
Bread
Is an
Example
Of how
We should
Ask God
For our
Daily bread
But then
Comes the
Question
Are we
To liken
God
To a
Grumpy
Man
Just woken
Up from
His sleep
Who is
Reluctant
To give
Us
Anything
Unless
We have
The shameless
Audacity
To knock
On the
Door
That's
Where
This
Gets
Perplexing
We
Wonder
Why
Did
Jesus
Say
It
Like
That
Not
Only
That
But
Jesus
Very
Clearly
In
Verses
11
To
13
As
We
Just
Read
Cast
God
In
A
Very
Different
Light
He
Casts
Him
In
The
Light
Of
Being
Our
Heavenly
Father
Who
Is
Good
And
Loves
To give
Good
Gifts
To
His
Children
When
They
Ask
And
So
What's
Going
On
Here
Well
Jesus
Is
A
Masterful
Teacher
And
When
You're
Teaching
Someone
Your
Goal
Is
Not
Just
To
Say
The
True
Things
That's
Part
Of
It
But
Your
Goal
Is
Also
To
Get
People
Thinking
About
What
Is
True
And
I
Think
That's
Part
Of
The
Purpose
Of
This
Little
Parable
He's
Still
Talking
About
Prayer
He
Just
Taught
Them
To
Say
Father
Give
Us
Our
Daily
Bread
And
Now
What's
This
Parable
About
It's
About
Asking
For
Bread
!
Jesus
Is
Telling
Us
Through
The
Parable
How
We
Should
Ask
But
He's
Also
Throwing
This
Twist
Into
The
Story
On
Purpose
Because
The
Person
Being
Asked
For
Bread
Is
This
Grumpy
Man
Just
Woken
Up
From
His
Slumber
Who's
Reluctant
To
Give
Anything
Yet
Does
So
Because
Well
I
Have
To
It's
The
Right
Thing
To
Do
It'll
Get
That
Guy
To
Leave
Me
Alone
And
Besides
It
Is
A
Good
Cause
And
So
I
Think
The
Point
Here
Is
To
Get
Us
Thinking
Is
That
How
God
Is
When
We
Come
To
Him
With
Our
Requests
Is
He
Like
That
Grumpy
Man
Just
Woken
Up
From
His
Slumber
Reluctant
To
Give
Us
Anything
But
He
Does
Because
He
Kind
Of
Has
To
Because
It's
The
Right
Thing
To
Do
Well
God
According
To
Jesus
In
These
Next
Verses
Is
Exactly
The
Opposite
Of
That
And
So
This
Parable
Really
Does
Two
Things
First
It
Encourages
Us
To
Come
To
God
Shamelessly
With
Our
Requests
With
Boldness
At
Any
Time
And
Second
This
Parable
Gives
Us
This
Sort
Of
Clever
Contrast
To
Help
Us
Realize
That
God
Is
Not
Inconvenienced
By
Our
Requests
He
Is
Not
Disturbed
By
Our
Asking
And
He's
Not
Reluctant
And
Barely
Willing
To
Give
Us
The
Things
That
We
Ask
For
Ourselves
Or
For
Others
Sometimes
We
Get
It
Into
Our
Hearts
And
Minds
That
God
Doesn't
Really
Want
To
Answer
Our
Prayers
That
He's
Reluctant
That
He's
Begrudging
To
Give
Us
What
We're
Asking
For
We
Get
It
In
Our
Minds
This
Idea
That
God
Is
Stingy
That
He
Has
Everything
That
We
Need
But
He
My
If even the grumpy man just woken up from his sleep, who's reluctant to give anything, will still get up and give the bread asked for,
how much more will God, our Heavenly Father, who is not grumpy and who never sleeps or slumbers,
how much more will He be willing to provide each day's needed bread when we ask?
We get a similar sort of logic when we come to verses 11 to 13.
Another statement of the sort of lesser to the greater.
He says, 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?
Of course, the answer is nobody would do that.
If you then, says Jesus, 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?
Jesus basically is saying that even sinful, even evil men give good gifts to their children when their children ask of them.
And so how much more then will God, who is not evil but good, who is generous, who is gracious,
how much more will He give us the things that we ask for, that we need?
Again, I think Jesus is challenging this lie that we sometimes embrace.
We embrace the idea that God is just like us.
That He is like sinful men.
That He is sometimes cruel.
That He is reluctant to give when we ask.
And maybe even that sometimes He gives us bad things instead of good things.
Either to teach us a lesson or to just get us off His back.
But no, says Jesus, your Heavenly Father is not evil like you.
I sort of chuckle every time I read this.
Jesus just called His disciples evil.
He says, if you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.
And just as a side note, Jesus never minimizes our sinfulness.
We are not all basically good.
We are all evil.
We are all sinners.
He speaks the truth.
But that's not His main point.
His main point is that your Heavenly Father is not like you.
He is truly good.
God is not like you.
How much more then will He give to you generously the good things that you ask for?
And even more, God will give you His own Spirit.
The Holy Spirit.
If you ask Him.
And so God is not just good and kind, but He is exceedingly generous.
As we read 13, we might think it odd that Jesus just sort of ends with this statement about the Holy Spirit.
There's another occasion where Jesus taught using similar words.
We hear it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7, verse 11.
There He says,
That happened earlier.
That was a different moment when Jesus said that.
That was the first time we hear that from Jesus' lips.
But then here on this later occasion in Luke 11,
with His disciples, Jesus changes the teaching slightly
and He takes out the word good things
and He puts in Holy Spirit.
He says,
How much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask Him?
Instead of just repeating what He said the first time,
Jesus just sort of fills in the blank
with one of God's greatest gifts ever.
And He goes right to the top.
He is willing, He is eager to give His own Holy Spirit
to those who ask Him.
This shows us just how not stingy God is.
Just how generous He is.
It shows us how lavish and gracious He is.
He wants to go far beyond the giving of our daily bread.
He desires to give Himself to us.
His own Spirit to live in us and with us.
He is not only good, He is not only kind,
He is exceedingly gracious and generous.
And if you think about it,
if He is willing to give us His own Holy Spirit,
would He withhold the little things in life
that we ask for?
The things that we need.
And so what's Jesus' point in all this?
How does He want us to respond?
Well, Jesus,
this is one of my favorite passages for this,
He tells us His main point,
gives it to us as clear as day in verses 9 and 10.
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.
The one who seeks,
finds.
And to the one who knocks,
the door will be opened.
This is His main point.
This is to be our response.
Ask your Heavenly Father,
and it will be given to you.
Just like the man in the parable
who came to ask for bread,
come,
knock on the door
of your Heavenly Father
when you are in need.
Come with boldness.
Come shamelessly.
He will open the door to you.
Because He's not some grumpy man
who's just woken up from His slumber
and is reluctant to give anything.
And only does so because He has to.
Ask,
and it will be given to you.
Because He's not like us.
He is a good
and exceedingly generous Father.
He's willing to give us
His very self,
His own spirit.
And so ask,
and expect to receive.
For everyone who asks,
receives.
Said Jesus.
One of the things that we often do,
and they did it in the Bible times as well,
when we really want to drive
a point home to people,
we repeat ourselves.
We say it twice.
Maybe even three times.
Well here,
Jesus says it six times in a row.
I mean,
think about that.
It's the same thing.
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.
He says six times.
We can't miss it.
We should not be timid or afraid
to come to God
each day
and just ask for the things
that we need.
To ask for forgiveness of our sins.
To ask for
Him to lead us not
into temptation.
We have such a strong invitation
from Him
to do this.
Even to knock on His door
at any time.
Even in the middle of the night.
If you're here this morning
and you're not a follower of Jesus,
the first things
to ask for
are these things
that Jesus
has been talking about.
Look up to back
back up to verse four.
Here's one of the first things
we ask God for
as we start our
relationship with Him.
Forgive us our sins.
And He does.
He is merciful.
He is eager
to forgive us.
And then by the time
we get to the end
of this teaching
from Jesus,
ask and He will give you
the Holy Spirit.
one of the greatest gifts
of all.
Have you asked Him
for His Holy Spirit?
We read about this
in other places
in the Bible.
God is eager
to put His own Spirit
in you.
He is eager
to live with you.
And the Bible tells us
and it's true
we could give testimony
to it
this morning.
your life
will be changed
forever.
For the better.
Ask God
for His Holy Spirit.
He delights
to give Himself
to those who ask.
Many of you here
are already
children of God.
You've done this.
You have received Jesus.
You've believed
in His name.
The Spirit lives
in you.
And so if that's you
this morning
I want to just
encourage you.
Let these words
of Jesus
stir you
to ask
and to ask
more
and to keep
asking.
Keep seeking.
Keep knocking
on God's door
for everything
and anything
in life.
there is a promise
here
for us
and the promise
is that He will
open the door.
He will
give.
It's in our nature
to try and do it
all ourselves.
We're all sinners
and so we all try
to be independent
from God.
but I wonder
how many
of the pressures
and stresses
in our lives
would be alleviated
if we simply
threw up our hands
and said
Father
I don't have
what it takes.
I don't know
how to handle
this.
Would you
help me
with this?
Sometimes
we just
look at life
through the lens
of what we have.
How much
is in the bank
account?
How close
is the vehicle
to another
whopper
of a maintenance
bill?
How impossible
or difficult
the relationship
has been
that's in front
of us?
How challenging
the job
that we feel
stuck with
and we despair.
we feel
stressed
we become
anxious
like the man
in the story
we have a big
need in front
of us
but there's
nothing to
meet it
with.
I have no
food to
offer him.
have you
knocked on the
door of your
heavenly father
and asked
him to
provide?
This is just
a hypothetical
example but
you know
maybe I'm
thinking
and worrying
and anxious
I need to
save up
forty thousand
dollars for
a new car
and yet
all along
I can just
take that
request to
the Lord.
Lord would
you provide
me with
a new
vehicle
and he's
he's already
got a plan
to give me
a like new
used one
that only
costs fifteen
thousand bucks
and the
help that I
need to
save that up
so that I
have it
just as the
car comes
for sale.
but meanwhile
if I don't
leave that
request with
him I'm
carrying around
the number
the weight
of forty
thousand
even though
it will
never be
needed
and God
will supply.
How much
of our
stress and
anxiety is
us looking
at life
and fretting
about what
we don't
have
because we
aren't trusting
in what God
has promised
us to do
for us
when we
knock on
the door.
Or maybe
I'm worried
about this
difficult
relationship
in my
life.
Just
doesn't seem
to be getting
better and
I've asked
God to do
something about
it to fix
it and I've
been worrying
and I'm
stressing.
If I could
just talk to
this person
if I could
just say
this to
them and
say that
but maybe
God knows
that even
if that
conversation
were to
happen
right now
today
that underlying
issue in the
relationship
would not be
mended.
Maybe
there's
something
greater that
needs to
happen yet
in our
hearts
but also
in theirs
before
things can
be mended
and maybe
God is
even as
we've been
asking
actively
working
in their
heart
in their
life
and in
ours.
to answer
our
prayers.
Just
because the
answer
hasn't
come
yet
let's
not
stop
waiting
expectantly
for it.
For
everyone
who asks
receives.
That's the
promise.
Are we
trusting in
the Lord's
promise
when we
pray?
Are we
waiting for
the answers
to our
prayers?
Be
encouraged.
God is
good.
He is
exceedingly
generous and
he hasn't
forgotten
about the
things that
we have
asked him
for.
Lord Jesus
I pray
that you
would work
in us
now.
That you
would stir
our hearts
to a
deeper
trust
in you.
Take
the
burdens
that we
feel.
The
anxiety.
The
worries
and the
fears.
Take
them
off
our
hearts.
you
have
all
that we
need.
And we
can face
each day
with a
sense of
rest because
of that.
Thank you
for this
awesome
invitation
to come
and ask
for whatever
we need.
In your
name we
pray.
Amen.