Sermon for July 27, 2025: Ask based upon Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13 from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
 
The Lord’s Prayer
 
He 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.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, may your name be revered as holy. May your kingdom come. Give us each 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.”
 
And he 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 out of friendship, 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 asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would 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!”

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     When I was very little, my family lived in Texas for two years. As I was reminded this week, and every time I return, there are lots of creepy, crawly creatures in Central Texas. When we were living in a little trailer in San Marcos, the town where my sister Kellie was born, things occasionally got in that trailer. As you know, you can make a nice home in a trailer, but they aren’t always the most impermeable types of dwellings. I was about four and sitting on my bed, playing with my stuff animals when I moved one and saw something that wasn’t supposed to be there: A scorpion! In my bed! Kids who live in Texas learn early not to mess with a scorpion, so I immediately yelled for my dad, who came and dispatched the creature. He then got some duct tape and covered the vent that he thought the arachnid had used as an unsupervised door. Jesus assumes in today’s scripture that most parents would do what mine did (not leave a scorpion around a child).

     Our cat and house sitter, Kathryn, sent me this text message last week as Tasha, the dogs, and I rested in a hotel room in Baton Rouge, Louisiana: “Hi, Chrissy! Came back to the house after dinner to see this snake (dead) in the kitchen. Have y’all ever seen snakes in the house before?” No. No, we had not. She had already gotten the remains out of the house by the time she texted us. I called to her to check in. Kathryn, who is from Texas, where many snakes are poisonous, and who is often quite afraid of them, had no idea what kind of snake was in our house or even if it was alive when she first saw it. Without knowing what kind of snake it was, she grabbed up all the cats and stowed them in rooms away from the snake. Then, fortified by talks with her mom and friends, she went to check the snake and try to figure out what to do with it if it was alive. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for the snake, it wasn’t.

     The cats, whom she had tried to protect, had protected her first. Well, kind of. It was a garter snake and was of no danger to anyone larger than a small frog or long earthworm. But, still, Kathryn didn’t know all of that until we talked and I let her know that it wasn’t a dangerous snake. I also let her know that it was probably Snowball who dispatched the snake, though Annie the kitten is also a contender. She made sure to give Snowball extra treats and brought home a new cat toy for everyone to share. In today’s scripture, Jesus, who also grew up around snakes, many of which were poisonous, also assumed that most caregivers wouldn’t leave a snake around someone vulnerable.

     Because I know many of us in this room realize that scorpions and snakes are generally only a risk to humans when the creatures feel the need to protect themselves from humans, I am sure you didn’t hear Jesus’ words about them as him calling for their destruction. What I hope you heard instead is that it is the role of the caregiver to protect the vulnerable. Good caregivers do not hear a request for sustenance and give danger instead. In her commentary on this text, Rev. Niveen Sarras notes that Jesus understands God to be like a good parental caregiver when speaking to the disciples. Talking to those who might already be fathers or who assumed that the one day would be, he said, imagine yourself as a parent and what you would do for your child. Assume that God’s generosity is even greater than the generosity you would show your own child. Assume that your relationship with God can be as personal and intimate as that between a parent and a child. Within this kind of intimate relationship, one can ask for help and comfort. This is the heart of the kind of prayer he taught them: it builds intimacy and makes space for requests for support.

     Jesus’ disciples have asked him how to pray.  As Jennifer Wyant notes in her commentary, Jesus prays often in the book of Luke. She also points out that by this part of the Gospel, we’ve already had five different stories of Jesus praying (Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28). Seeing the depths of his connection to God, fostered, in part, by his regular prayer life, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray.
None of the scholars I read in preparation for this sermon argue that the Lord’s Prayer is the only way to pray. Instead, in Luke and in the version of this story in Matthew, Jesus’ goal is to teach them a form that they can adapt to different purposes. Within that form is the acknowledgement of the relationship at the foundation of the prayer (one that is generous, intimate, and caring) as well as some examples of the kinds of stuff that is appropriate to pray for. Naveen Sarras points out in her commentary that, while it has become common for Christians to address God as a parent, specifically a father, over the centuries, in Jewish prayers,  in the cases where God is called a father specifically, it is usually related to the “election and adoption of Israel.” She cites Deuteronomy 32:6 as an example: “Is not [the Lord] your father, who created you, who made you and established you?” Fathers had the right to appoint an heir and adopt new members into a family. Again, God is understood to be building relationships and connected people to each other.

     Sarras also points out some cultural differences that would have shaped the disciples’ understanding of a father-figure. She notes that disciples who had been raised in Gentile Greco-Roman families understood fatherhood to have total control over the lives of their children and grandchildren. She says, “For example, a father decides whether his newborn child will be raised in the family, sold, or killed.” Jesus had to make sure that parenting generally, and fatherhood in particular was rooted in care for children and “act[ing] redemptively on their behalf.” The love in the relationship helps the child be confident that their parent will care for them, not harm them.

     Once they understood who to pray to, Jesus taught them a prayer format he had learned in his Jewish family and synagogue as he grew up. According to Rachel Levine, Jesus likely based the style of prayer he taught his disciples on an important Jewish prayer called the Amidah or the Shimoney Esreh. This, and others, were said regularly as part of keeping the promises of the covenant with God. I found a modern English translation of the prayer by Theodore Lichtenfeld that I’ll share with the whole sermon on the blog later this week. In current Jewish practice, there are also physical movements that accompany this prayer and parts to add during different holy seasons and in response to different parts a worship service. The Amidah would likely have been considered what Levine calls the “the minimum prayer we can say and be confident that we have fulfilled our obligation.” Jesus’ prayer is simplified further.

     You may have noticed that Luke’s version is a little different than the one in Matthew that most of us have memorized and we’ll say later in this very service. Here Jesus covers six areas of life:

• Father, may your name be revered as holy.- a reminder of the covenantal relationship between the one praying and God
• May your kingdom come.- a prayer for God’s reign of love and justice to arise in this time and place
• Give us each day our daily bread.- asking for help for basic needs
• And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.- a prayer for forgiveness and a reminder to forgive
• And do not bring us to the time of trial.- a request deliverance

Put more simply by Wyant, this is a summary of what we need most when we come to God: God’s presence, our needs met, forgiveness, and salvation.

     It is a shame that too many of our modern politicians have cheapened the idea of prayer in response to tragedy. They offer up “thoughts and prayers” and often, it seems, little else. This, combined with many believers’ experiences of “having prayer unanswered,” can make praying seem like an unnecessary, unreliable practice. I won’t tell you that if you pray the right way, like you’re saying some kind of password to God, that God will automatically do what you ask. And, I don’t think if something doesn’t happen that you prayed for, that means God is hurting you for some reason. I will bring us back to Jesus, in Luke, who seems to use prayer as a way to shape his own life into one of both contemplation and action.

     Remember, Jesus prays a lot in Luke, but he acts a lot, too, healing and teaching and comforting. His prayers connected him to God, to his community, and to the people he served. The rhythm of pray, act, rest, pray, act, rest sustained him into his greatest trials. When he taught his followers to pray, he taught them to remember the love at the root of their faith and to speak bravely of what they needed to survive. He reminded them of the call to make amends and forgive. And, he reminded them of the coming reign that they were a part of building. He didn’t tell them that God would fix everything if they said the right magic works. He did tell them that God loved them enough to listen when they asked. Let us all remember this God of good gifts. And, may we be part of delivering them. Ask, and we shall find God in each other.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
​Jennifer S. Wyant: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-17-3/commentary-on-luke-111-13-6
Niveen Sarras: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-17-3/commentary-on-luke-111-13-5
Rachel Levine: https://www.biblescholars.org/2013/05/the-lords-prayer-and-the-amidah.html
​Here is a modern translation of the Amidah, including the parts added for different season: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/278574?lang=bi