Ask. Seek. Knock.

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.

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

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.

Matthew 7:11

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.

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.