“Everyone Who Asks Receives!”

Meditation on Luke 11:1-13

 July 28, 2013

***

      Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them,     ‘When you pray, say:
 “Father, hallowed be your name.
   Your kingdom come.
   Give us day by day our daily bread.
   And forgive us our sins,
     for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
   And do not bring us to the time of trial” ’ (or as other translations say, do not bring us into temptation, but rescue us from evil).

   And Jesus said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ Luke 11:1-13

***

     My husband was away for a few days this week visiting his sister and brother-in-law in New York.  So our two youngest sons and I were on our own.

     Now Jim does most of the cooking and grocery shopping in our household.  So when he is away, Jacob, James and I have to figure out how to feed ourselves.

    We did OK!  But the meals were not as fancy as when Jim cooks. The first night—Monday—was my turn to make supper. My sons and I decided at the last minute to have grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup, since we had not remembered to defrost any meat.  Grilled cheese has always been a favorite in my house, especially for the noon meal. Then, if we have any turkey or ham, I add a slice or two to our sandwiches to jazz them up!

     Well, we sat down to eat together—my two sons and I. We finished our sandwiches.  We finished our soup. 

     And then Jacob looked across the table at me and said, “I wish I had another sandwich.” 

    Since I was still eating, I suggested he make another himself. I motioned to the ingredients sitting out on the counter.  And the warm frypan on the stove.

     Now Jacob isn’t much of a cook. So I asked, “You remember how to make grilled cheese, don’t you?” I explained about greasing the pan with margarine (not butter or it might burn) and spreading a little margarine on one side of each slice of bread—so the sandwich gets nice and crispy on the outside.  I usually put two slices of American cheese (or some cheddar, if we have it) between two slices of bread—white, wheat or rye.  And then I add a slice of turkey or ham, after warming it a little in the pan.

    Can you make a grilled cheese without the turkey or ham?  Sure!

    But can you make a grilled cheese without the cheese?

    No, because then it’s not grilled cheese anymore.

***

   In today’s gospel, we don’t learn how to make grilled cheese.  We learn something much more important. How to pray.  The disciples had never heard such passionate prayers before—prayers from the heart.  This kind of prayer did not exist before Christ came to earth and dwelt among us.

     Jesus called God, “Abba!” In today’s American English, that’s not “Father,” it’s “Dad” or “Daddy!”

    We seek our Daddy in prayer like a toddler climbs into his Dad’s lap just for the joy of being held by the one he loves, the one who makes him feel safe, secure, and loved!

     We seek our Father God for his forgiveness and for the power and grace to live in right relationship with Him and one another. And we seek him every day!  For if you love someone, you don’t just talk to them once in a while or just at mealtimes.  When you love them, you want to talk to them and be with them all the time.

     When Jesus says, “Give us today our daily bread,” he is not saying, “God, give us food for our bodies.”  “Bread” in the Old Testament is God’s Word—without which we cannot live on earth as God calls us to live, and without which our souls will perish. 

     Moses warns the Israelites not to forget about God during times of prosperity—when our bellies are full and we have more than just what we need. He says in Deuteronomy 8:3, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

     Jesus quotes this scripture in Matthew 4:4, when he hasn’t eaten for 40 days in the wilderness, and the devil tempts him to turn stones into bread.  Jesus says, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

  

***

    The final part of this passage, when Jesus tells the story of the friend who wants something desperately from another friend, though it is very late and the friend has already gone to bed, teaches us 2 things and offers a promise.  One thing is that we must persevere in prayer.  We have to keep on coming to God, seeking Him, and relying on Him all our lives. 

    The second thing is the most important ingredient of prayer. Just like we can’t have a grilled cheese without cheese, we can’t have prayer without asking for the power and presence of God Himself—the Holy Spirit! If we want to pray like Jesus and live in God’s righteous kingdom right now, on earth as it is in heaven, then we need His Spirit.

      We can’t love him and love and forgive other people without the Spirit doing it’s transforming work inside of us, giving us wisdom, compassion and humility and strengthening us to do His will.

     Then here’s the promise.  Everyone who asks for the Spirit receives the Spirit!  No one is turned away.   

     Because God loves us—much more than we can understand as flawed, sinful human beings.

     Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

 

Let us pray.  

 Heavenly Father, we praise your holy name!  Thy kingdom come!  May your will be done on earth so we may live as it is in heaven.  Give us your Word and your Holy Spirit every day, every moment, so that we may know your will and be strengthened to obey.  Forgive us when our prayers have come from a lukewarm heart or a distracted mind! Forgive us when we haven’t loved you like a young child adores her loving parents. Keep us from forgetting you and turning away from you in times of prosperity, when we have more than just what we need.  Help us to always remember all the things you have done for us—especially for sending your Son to die for us so that we may be forgiven and receive everlasting life. Empower us to keep on sharing the love of Christ with all people we encounter in our daily lives. Remind us that Christ is with us always—to the end of the age.   In His name we pray.  Amen.

“The Stranger”

Meditation on Luke 10:25-37

July 14, 2013

***

      Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ The lawyer answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ But wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 

      But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 

      Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ Jesus asked. The lawyer said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ Luke 10:25-37.

***

    Asma Gull Hasan knows what it is like to be “the stranger.”  The one who stands out from the crowd, even in America, the great “melting pot.”

    The Pakistani-American woman writes of her experiences in her book, “Why I am a Muslim.” As I share with you an excerpt from her book today, I invite you to consider what it might be like to walk in her shoes.

   Asma writes, “When I was a baby, my grandmother told me the story of Asma bint Abu Bakr and her own sister Asma. She spoke to me in Urdu, the language of her home country Pakistan, while I dozed in and out of naps as a baby does.  As a child, my parents spoke to me in the tongue of their youth—British-Pakistani English.  But when they wanted to tell each other secrets, they spoke in Urdu, not realizing that I had already dreamt in the language as a baby.  I grew up in Pueblo, Colorado, where the locals spoke to me in Spanish, though I knew hardly a word.  When my mom talked to her siblings on the phone, she sometimes spoke in Punjabi, a secondary language of Pakistan.  I spoke American English, the language taught in school.

    “With all these languages in my head, I guess I could not keep them straight.  In first grade my teacher told my mother that I was ‘retarded.’ My mental disability, she said, meant I would never learn to read or write English without special help.  I sat quietly as my teacher told my mother I was retarded.  I had a disease, my first grade self thought. I accepted it.  I knew that all the other kids in the class knew the alphabet better than me.  It took a lot longer for them to say it than for me: ABCKLVZ was my alphabet, roughly.

      “My mother was defiant at my diagnosis. She said to the teacher, ‘My daughter can read. You just don’t know how to teach her.’

     “That day, before we had dinner, my mom called me downstairs to the playroom in our basement. ‘Sit down here,’ she pointed to a spot next to her on the couch. She had a book of the alphabet in her lap.  I began learning British English from my mother every day after school for an infinitely long hour.  English had, until then, been a haze to me, a blur of black and white letters and pages, out of focus and flashing by me.

    “ ‘Make the sounds,’ my mother would tell me. ‘C sounds like cuh, cuh.’

    “ ‘Cuh!’ I said breathily one afternoon. ‘ah-tuh. Cuh-ah-tuh.’ Recognition shook my entire little body. I knew what that was!

    “‘CAT!’ I squealed proudly.

    “‘That’s right,’ said my mom.

    “When the Prophet Muhammad received the first Qur’anic revelation, he had been meditating alone in a cave…He was a religious man without a religion.  He had heard of Christians and Jews and wondered why his people did not have a movement like those.  Out of nowhere, an apparition appeared before him. It was not a person, but it looked like one.  The apparition squeezed him hard. Muhammad felt like he couldn’t breathe.

    “‘Read!’ the apparition commanded him. It was the angel Gabriel…

    “Muhammad knew very well he couldn’t read. He was illiterate. Having been born an orphan into a poor family, he was not educated.

     “‘I can’t!’ he must have thought, pleadingly.

    “The angel insisted again, ‘Read! …  Read in the name of thy Lord who created You.’

    “…Muhammad’s mouth began moving with the most amazing words: “‘Read in the name of thy Sustainer who has created—created man out of a germ cell! Read for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One who has taught (man) the use of the pen—taught man what he did not know.’

    “Muhammad received the first revelation of the Qur’an.  Islam was born.  It would change the life of Muhammad, his wife Khadijah, and eventually the lives of over a billion people, including me.

    “Muhammad, despite receiving revelations till his death 22 years later, never learned to read. Reading was a luxury in Pre-Islamic Arabia.  In fact, even today most of the Islamic world is illiterate…

      “But I was lucky enough to be born to a mother who could read and taught me British English.  The homework my mother sent me off to school with would read ‘colour’” instead of ‘color,’ ‘theatre’ instead of ‘theater.’  I would return home with the graded paper, which my teacher had marked as incorrect with these spellings.

     “ ‘No wonder she thought you couldn’t read!’ My mother said. ‘She can’t even spell!’

    “By the end of the year, I was the strongest reader in my class… Not bad for a ‘retarded’ Mongolian.”

***

    In our gospel today, a Samaritan helps a stranger, a Jewish man, in need, after other Jewish people have passed him by.  The hatred between Jews and Samaritans had gone on for hundreds of years. Both sides claimed to be the true inheritors of the promises to Abraham and Moses and the rightful possessors of the land. These “enemies” lived in separate communities and avoided contact with one another. This helps to explain why the Samaritan woman at the well was so surprised when Jesus, a Jew, showed up and spoke to her as kindly as if she were his Jewish neighbor.      

     We Americans are blessed to live in a country that has made great efforts to overcome barriers between people.  Discrimination is illegal and crimes motivated by racial or religious hatred carry stiff penalties. But despite our progress, prejudice continues, even amongst Christians, commanded to love God with all our being and our neighbors as ourselves. And to show mercy to all people who are in need.

      Like the lawyer who questioned Jesus, hoping to uncover Jesus’ heretical views about the wide-reaching grace of God, some Christians try to convince themselves that it’s OK not to see people of different religions as neighbors, especially when it comes to our Muslim neighbors since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

     Here in tiny Renville we have few if any Muslims living amongst us. Still, we only have to drive 25 miles to encounter Muslims in Willmar, who are Somali refugees.  They stand out from their neighbors of German or Scandinavian descent, with their dark skin, the bright fabrics the women wear from head to toe, and the language they speak.

     As a newcomer to Renville 2 years ago, though I am pale skinned and speak English, I still felt like an outsider—“the stranger.”  People would look at me curiously, point, and whisper amongst themselves when I walked into a store or the restaurant. And though I feel less like a stranger than I did, sometimes even now, something will remind me that I am not from around here and will always seem a bit odd to my neighbors who have lived here all their lives.

      So I wonder what it feels like to be a Somali refugee, to be SO different, the “stranger” who truly stands out from the crowd. How do they feel when people stare?  Do they wake up bewildered some mornings, asking themselves, “Where am I?”  How difficult it must be for them to adjust to Minnesota winters!  It’s hot year round in Somalia. They have four seasons—a dry season from January to March, a season of long rains from April through June, and 2 more seasons of short rains the rest of the year.

     When young Somali children go to school here for the first time, are they afraid? Do they think they have a disease, like Asma did, if they don’t learn to read English as quickly as their native English-speaking classmates? 

     I am sure of one thing.  When Jesus commands us to love God with all our being and our neighbors as ourselves, he means for us to love EVERYONE and have mercy for all, and especially for the stranger in need, the one whom others may simply pass by.

    Let us pray.

Gracious Lord, thank you for speaking to us through your Word, reminding us of your command to love you with all heart, soul, mind and strength and also our neighbors as ourselves.  Forgive us for failing to love ALL our neighbors as you call us to do.  Thank you for your love and patience for us every day, though we struggle to do what we know is right and be the ever generous, grateful, and gracious people you want us to be. Forgive us if we have ever been fearful, unfriendly, or suspicious of people who look and seem very different than us, who speak a language we don’t know and come from a faraway place. Open our eyes to the needs of people around us and to the needs of our neighbors across the globe.  Move us to acts of kindness. Lead us so we might be your hands and feet, voice and heart, mercifully serving as your Son has taught us to do.  In His name we pray.  Amen. 

“Go, Wash in the Jordan”

Meditation on 2 Kings 5:1-14

July 7, 2013

***

    Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’

     He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’

      So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. 

      But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

***

         Evening approached as I pulled up in front of the hospital in Granite Falls about a year ago.  I had received a call that one of my parishioners was there for tests.  She was in pain, and doctors weren’t sure why. 

        When I walked into her room, she smiled brightly, despite her suffering and anxiety.      

          “I knew you would come,” she said. 

          We talked for a little while about how she was feeling, what was happening, and how long she expected to stay.

          Then I asked if I could pray. Without hesitation, she said yes and reached for my hand in faith.

          Hospital visits and prayers for healing are an important part of my work, as one called to proclaim the hope of Jesus Christ and help people in need.  The gospel message is forgiveness for all who repent and trust in Jesus. It is being reconciled with God and the gift of everlasting life in His Kingdom. And it is also healing of heart, mind, body and soul.  

          When we are sick or injured, particularly if the illness or injury keeps us from being with the people we love and doing the things we want to do, it’s not just our body that suffers.  We may become frightened, anxious, lonely, sad, angry or depressed.

          But even when we are not sick or injured, we still need our Lord’s healing. Every person has broken places inside of them. We can’t escape suffering, pain and brokenness when we live in a sinful, fallen creation. Every one of us is broken, though it may be hard to admit our own brokenness. Pride can get in the way. 

         Though we are saved the moment we believe and call upon the name of the Lord, our sanctification in Him is a life-long, gradual process, the stripping away of the old, sinful nature, layer by layer, day by day.  We are still broken now, but we are in the process of being healed and being made more like Christ, little by little, until we see Him face to face.

             

***

      Our reading in 2 Kings introduces Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram—what is now Aleppo in central Syria. He is a great man, who has found favor with God, though he is not an Israelite. And in spite of the Lord being with Naaman and giving victory to Aram, Naaman has “leprosy,” which in the Bible can mean any type of skin affliction.  It’s not likely what we call “leprosy” (Hansen’s Disease) that causes pain, blotchy, widespread infection of the joints and leads to gross disfigurement and loss of limbs.  His affliction is troubling and uncomfortable, perhaps even unsightly, but not severe enough that he is forced to live away from everyone else.

      Interestingly, it’s an Israelite girl, whom the Syrians captured on one of their raids and made to be a servant to Naaman’s wife, who suggests that Naaman go and see the prophet Elisha.

        Naaman tells his lord—the Syrian king—about the prophet who heals. The king encourages him to go and see him and gives him a letter for the Israelite king.  Naaman goes, taking with him gold and silver and ten sets of beautiful clothes as payment or a gift for his cure.

     Well, there’s a problem with the letter; it leaves out any mention of the prophet.  It says, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that YOU may cure him of his leprosy.”

      The Israelite king gets mad, thinking the Syrian king is trying to make him look bad. “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of leprosy?! Just look and see how he is trying to pick a fight with me!”

      Elisha hears what has happened and sends a message to the Israelite king.  “Let him come to me that he may learn there is a prophet in Israel.” Then Naaman, the war hero, with all his horses and chariots, rides up to Elisha’s door.  But the prophet doesn’t go to meet Naaman and all his entourage. He sends a messenger who says, “Go, wash in the Jordan 7 times and your flesh shall be restored and  you shall be clean.”

       Naaman is angry that Elisha didn’t bother to come out to him and do some wonderful magic trick. And what he tells him to do is so easy it’s ridiculous.  Naaman feels humiliated. AND he’s mad that Elisha tells him to bathe in an Israelite river! You hear his pride when he says, “Are not the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?”

       He turns to leave in a rage, but his servants approach him—again the servants are the voice of wisdom. They try to reason with him.  “If the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash and be clean?”

     Naaman is persuaded. He immerses himself 7 times in the Jordan, as Elisha, the man of God, has told him to do.

     And his skin is restored and made “like the flesh of a young boy.”

     Even better, as a result of his physical healing, Naaman becomes a believer in the God of Israel. His healing is heart, mind, body, and soul.  He is forgiven for his sins.  He is made clean and whole!

***

    Friends, it is not until we let go of our pride, like Naaman, and have faith to admit our own brokenness to God that we will be healed, heart, mind, body, and soul. Spirit transformed into Christ’s likeness, more and more, day by day. Our gracious, merciful God continually stretches His arms toward us, inviting us into new life with Him through His Son.

      He urges us to go, wash in the cleansing waters of His Spirit. Wash away our guilt and sin. Wash away the pain and suffering, the anger and grief we have carried so long.

        Go, wash in the Jordan. Be forgiven, healed and made whole.

Let us pray. 

Heavenly Father, forgive us for when we have hidden from you when we are angry, sad, or hurting—instead of turning to you for help and healing.  We give you thanks for your unfailing love and for always being here with us, wanting to hold us in your arms, despite our unfaithfulness to you. Thank you for the gift of your Son, whose suffering and death made a way for us to be in loving relationship with You and with one another in Him. Thank you for your Word to us today reminding us how our pride can get in the way of our own healing. Remove our pride and help us to see that there is no shame in brokenness and needing your love and healing every day.  May your Spirit continually work in and through us, transforming us into people that you can use to accomplish your Will. Lead us now to gather at “the river,” where your Spirit’s living waters will cleanse and make us whole. In Christ we pray.  Amen.