Given By Rev. Madison Shockley July 28, 2019
Our reading is referred to as a passage on prayer but it also includes a parable called the friend at midnight. Most people think the neighbor was a terrible friend for not getting up to lend his neighbor some bread. This is not a parable about friendship though. It is about prayer. Jesus was praying and the disciples asked him to teach them about prayer. This is the parable Jesus told them. Jesus tells them to ask and it will be given. Knock and the door will be opened. Keep on knocking until you receive an answer. When we ask for our daily bread, we don’t expect it to come from the sky. When you are in need, you ask your friends. Persistence is the key to answered prayers. If you don’t get it from one person, ask another. Keep asking. Today, we might call Jesus a community organizer. Praying is asking, asking is knocking, knocking is praying. Every time you go out to demand social justice, you are asking, thus praying. Not every knock is equal though. Listen for the urgent knocks! If you don’t answer, someone will die. It is about midnight and desperation! Come knock with us at Pilgrim!
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