say:
Luke 11:1-13
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 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 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 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!"
+++++++++++
This is our gospel reading for today, and in that most sermons by Episcopal priests are from the gospel, many competent sermons will be preached on it. Some will address and try to smooth out or even sweep under the rug the elephant in the room issue of why, professing a loving deity, the faithful must bang and shout and bang and bang and yell at the door in order, first, to be heard, and second, to wear out The Man's patience in order to stir any action. And many in the pew will still be left with memories and first hand experience of knocking, banging at the door, only to be answered with silence: Hello? Hello? HELLO? ANYBODY HOME?
The pathetic response, "Sometimes God says 'No'" is utter nonsense to let the Deity off the hook, and not only the Deity but especially the pious one who feels the need to explain away the silence from the other side of the door. No, any God who has to be rationalized and explained away is far too small to have been the Creator of all that is, seen and unseen. And it is not that "we don't have enough faith," which is simply an extension of the rationalization "sometimes God says 'No'".
Perhaps the Truth is that we don't have the knowledge of God that theologians and the church, and preachers over the ages, have alleged. Maybe we need to look deeper at the immensity of creation. To look deeper and especially more humbly.
Maybe, as a dog shakes vigorously as he comes out of the river, we need to shake off our certainties. Maybe everybody needs a telescope.
T+
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 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 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 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!"
+++++++++++
This is our gospel reading for today, and in that most sermons by Episcopal priests are from the gospel, many competent sermons will be preached on it. Some will address and try to smooth out or even sweep under the rug the elephant in the room issue of why, professing a loving deity, the faithful must bang and shout and bang and bang and yell at the door in order, first, to be heard, and second, to wear out The Man's patience in order to stir any action. And many in the pew will still be left with memories and first hand experience of knocking, banging at the door, only to be answered with silence: Hello? Hello? HELLO? ANYBODY HOME?
The pathetic response, "Sometimes God says 'No'" is utter nonsense to let the Deity off the hook, and not only the Deity but especially the pious one who feels the need to explain away the silence from the other side of the door. No, any God who has to be rationalized and explained away is far too small to have been the Creator of all that is, seen and unseen. And it is not that "we don't have enough faith," which is simply an extension of the rationalization "sometimes God says 'No'".
Perhaps the Truth is that we don't have the knowledge of God that theologians and the church, and preachers over the ages, have alleged. Maybe we need to look deeper at the immensity of creation. To look deeper and especially more humbly.
Maybe, as a dog shakes vigorously as he comes out of the river, we need to shake off our certainties. Maybe everybody needs a telescope.
T+