The Gospel for TUESDAY, May 3, 2005 (Rogation Day)
Luke 11:1-13
Now it happened that he was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, this is what to say: Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.’ He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him;” and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it to him for friendship’s sake, persistence will make him get up and give his friend all he wants. ‘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 to you. For everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asked for a fish, would hand him a snake? Or if he asked for an egg, hand him a scorpion? If you then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
"God DID YOU HEAR ME the first time?"
Almost all of the commentaries remark that the latter half of this text speaks to the goodness of the "persistence of prayer."
On the other hand, God is perfect, after all, and we believe that He knows how many hairs there are on each of our heads. Shouldn't we be excused when we look askance at someone telling us that the text encourages us to continue praying because God will eventually get worn down and answer us?
It is not God's response to prayer, but rather our approach to prayer, that this text addresses. When we -- as the Quakers say -- "center down" and concentrate on a prayer request for someone, in Jesus' name, we are asking for God's justice and mercy, and we are loving others as Jesus loves us.
Whether our prayers are answered is really not even at issue.
A Reflection
The writers (perhaps even the good Doctor Luke, himself) continue to address Theophilus, to give him a most "ordered account" of the whole story of Jesus. The first part of today's text is either an independent version of Jesus' response to "Lord, teach us how to pray...," or one borrowed from Matthew and slimmed down into a Greek-digestible portion. And it's one we have all studied before. But I've never taken the right approach to the latter portions of this text.
The metaphor created here is about how humans interact with humans, not how humans interact with their Creator. If we for a second suppose that our repeated pleas will suddenly change the One Who spoke the universe into creation, we probably need to change our drug regimens. The One Who calls Himself "I Am Who I Will Be" does not need us to nudge him along in the proper operation of His Creation.
But what is the reaction to human adversity of a heart steeped in the love of Jesus? How shall we react to hunger, poverty, nakedness, confinement? None of those was described in Genesis as, "And God saw that it was good." None of those is a part of Wisdom's plan, she who was with Him as the Spirit calmed the chaos of earth's first day.
Indeed, what is always our response to tragedy?
"Oh, God!"
Yes. It is when we stop having that response that we have become dead in spirit, when we have stopped the prayer of the persistent neighbor. Because the neighbor was asking for his "friend on his travels," as we need always to be aware of those whom we meet on their travels. And because of his compassion, he waked his neighbor -- and his family -- at a late hour.
We are called, then, to ask for the Holy Spirit's comfort for us and for our fellow humans, at all times, in all places, and for all sorts of our human relations. And in discharging that call, we ask our Father for the same blessing to be on us, as bread we need for today.
A Collect
Father, we have so many questions that we sometimes think we know some of the answers; teach us to listen when we come to you in prayer, that we may learn the difference. Amen.
2:45:50 PM 
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