In the Middle of the Night

It was a hot summer afternoon in Memphis, we were driving down Sam Cooper in Chris’s 1979 Toyota Corolla Hatchback when the car began to make some unusual noises. We merged onto I-240 South, headed to the $2 movie theatre when it became clear that we would not see Mr. Holland’s Opus that afternoon. The car coasted to a stop, we gathered the little bit of change that was in the car, and we got out. The closest exit was Summer Avenue, and there was a K-Mart fairly close to the exit. We began walking, and as we walked we began discussing who we would call from the pay phone at K-Mart. Who would be home to answer our call? Who would be not only willing, but not put out, to drive out and pick us up? We made one call. He answered and quickly came and got us.

One day, Jesus was praying, and when he finished, one of the disciples asked him to teach them to pray. He tells them a parable. It’s the middle of the night, and a friend arrives tired and hungry after a day of travel. What would do you do? You would offer him something to eat and a place to spend the night, right?

Which in that day and place meant you would offer him bread. New Testament professor, Sharon Ringe, says that for all economic classes, bread was the heart of the diet in 1st Century Palestine. “…for a person of modest means, there would be little else but a few fruits and vegetables. Thus, the arrival of a guest required bread.” There were no stores to buy bread, and there were no preservatives to keep bread. It would only keep a day or two. So, it was made daily. Every day several hours were spent grinding, to prepare the flour for the next day’s bread. And every morning, dough was prepared and taken to bake along with the rest of the village’s dough.

So, when the host is caught without bread, he knows which friend likely has bread leftover from baking that morning. And he goes to the house of his friend and shamelessly knocks, waking the whole house, kids, animals, everybody…and gets bread for the one who has arrived in need.

Jesus doesn’t explain the parable except to say, “Everyone who asks receives, everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. God is like a good father, who only gives good things to his children, so God will absolutely without fail give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Traditionally, this parable has been troubling because the host, who goes to his friend’s house to get bread has to knock shamelessly. Some English translations have said that he knocked “persistently.” And it has led to questions of whether prayers that seem to go unanswered aren’t “persistent” enough. Did the person praying not want what they were praying for enough. But those questions emerge from two assumptions: The first is that Jesus meant persistent asking rather than shameless asking. It is the difference in knocking timidly (knock quietly and half-heartedly) and asking apologetically to borrow some bread. And approaching with confidence, my friend is here and hungry, please come share some bread with us! The second assumption is that the person who is being asked to provide the bread, the one who answers “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” is God. What if that person is one of us? What if God is the host?

Hear the parable again: In the middle of the night, a tired and hungry man comes to God in need. God receives him in and welcomes him. God doesn’t have bread to feed him, but you do. So, God comes to you. God knows that you have more than enough food for the day.

In the middle of the night, while you are sound asleep, God wakes you up. Try as you might, you cannot go back to sleep. I’ve had it happen to me, and it has happened to you. In the middle of the night, those opportunities that knock around in your thoughts and won’t be quieted. Opportunities to help, opportunities to serve, opportunities to give, opportunities to respond. And God won’t stop knocking, persistently, shamelessly knocking.

Jesus says the man responds, “Do not bother me; the door is shut now, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” How often has that been our response? Don’t bother me, God. The door is shut. I’ve locked everything I have up tight. Don’t even ask. Plus, don’t you see that if I get up and answer, it’s going to disturb my whole household? My kids are comfortable, and I want to keep them that way. If I jostle them, the peace and quiet of my life is over. I have everything just like I like it. Don’t bother me with the needs of some stranger…I know he’s your friend, but go ask someone else. Isn’t there someone else who has bread, God?
But, God doesn’t give up. God keeps knocking and telling you about this man who is tired and hungry until you get up and share what you have.

One of our members, here at Farmington is in need of a kidney transplant. Judith Cassidy is in end stage renal failure and on dialysis. She told me about needing a kidney several months ago and asked me to share the need with the congregation. And I have a brochure on my desk about it. I’ve prayed about it several times. God, who do I tell? How do we recruit a kidney donor? Put it in the newsletter? The readership seems so small. Then, a few weeks ago, I was talking to Rev. Susie Wiggins from Germantown Pres., and she suggested we put it out nationally to the denomination. The person who donates a kidney might not be giving their kidney to Judith, but if they give in her name, then she will be added to the list to be matched to a donor. And as I prepared this sermon, I realized that we have knocked on God’s door, and now it is time to make the path clear for the person who has been hearing God’s knock in the middle of the night.

There are people for whom the knock of God in the middle of the night is to be a live organ donor. I hope you will join in me praying for that person to answer God’s knock and Judith’s need and be a part of sharing the need as information is passed on to you in the newsletter this month about how to go about donating.

When we stood at the pay phone at K-Mart, we didn’t have someone else to call. We didn’t have more change to drop into the phone. We made one call. We knew that he would come. Not that he would fix the car, but that he would be there for us and get us out of the rain. In the same way, God answers the door when we knock. Not to fix our problems, but to be there for us and with us. Jesus says, “Like a father who gives what is good and not what is harmful to his children, God gives us the Holy Spirit.”

And then, God comes to my door and your door and knocks. The knock may be a concern about an elderly neighbor, a call to serve our community, an opportunity to share what you have with others – in some way you are being nudged to metaphorically leave the comfort of your bed with your children nestled snuggly and respond to the needs of those who wander in need at night. God is not leaving your door. God is shamelessly going to continue to knock because God has already promised those who have come to his door, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Will you answer the door?