July 24, 2022 – 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Persistence: Ask, Search, Knock

Ever since I was in high school, I knew I was called to serve in ordained ministry. Growing up in a small Episcopal church, just outside of Boston, afforded me many opportunities to be active and engaged in the life of the church. From my earliest memories my family was in church nearly every Sunday morning. My parents sang in the small choir, while my brothers and I attended Sunday School. I served as an acolyte. And as I got older, my involvement began to shift and change; especially because by the beginning of my teenage years, I was basically the only person in my age group to attend regularly.

After I was confirmed, after I became an “adult” in the church, I faced a choice. Do I, like my older brother, use this as an opportunity to step away from the church? Do I, like so many of my peers, step away from furthering my spiritual development and focus on other activities, soccer or football? Or, do I stay involved, stay rooted in this little, but deeply connected parish family? Seeing the landscape ahead of me, my rector at the time plugged me into a few diocesan youth groups, and so I remained very much involved in my parish, but also now involved on a bigger, wider level. And it was during these years that my bishop asked me if I had ever thought of becoming a priest.

That little seed that he planted in the fertile soil of my mind, grew and grew over time. So much so, that by the time I was applying to undergraduate programs I knew I wanted to serve in ordained ministry. So I developed a plan. And it was a good plan. A linear plan. Go to school and get an undergraduate degree. Apply and be accepted to become a postulant for holy orders. Go off to seminary. And three years later, become ordained as a deacon, serve six months as a deacon, then become an ordained priest. It was a good seven year plan, with no wiggle room for life to intervene…that was my first mistake.

So, I chose a school that I thought would best move me along that path, even though my best friend from my earliest school days got into the same program as I did at a school in upstate New York. But I chose to attend a different school…that was my second mistake.

Those choices caught up to me in my third year, when I had no choice but to officially withdraw from my program to address my growing mental health issues. I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression and returned home to Boston to seek treatment. My grand plan, that perfectly linear plan, was dashed to pieces in just two and a half years. In those darkest moments, I had to realize that my call to serve would have to wait.

And wait I did, for nearly eight more years before my hope to become ordained was rekindled. During that time God had been knocking on the door of my heart, reminding me of God’s presence and God’s desire for me to live the life I was called to live. Even though I didn’t answer God’s call, God was persistently knocking on my heart, reminding me of who I was and what I was made for. In those eight years, I wasn't ready to let God in, to allow that hope to change my plans and my life. I was comfortable. I had a routine. I worked at a job that I was good at and if I wanted to I could’ve made a career of. But something inside me kept telling me that I was called to something else and I could never shake that. Until finally, after working for years at an auto parts company as a warehouse manager, I answered God’s call on my heart and I found a school that would help me finish my degree in two years or less.

I was finally back on my plan. Sure there were curves and roadblocks on the path I walked. There were experiences that I would have never anticipated or even thought to plan for, and yet there I was, back to realizing my dream. Perhaps a little later and a little older than I wanted, but clearly I wasn’t ready before. I didn’t know it, but God sure did. Nevertheless God’s persistent presence in my life, leading me, calling me into something deeper, has led me right to where I am today. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Persistent Prayer

The important word today is persistence. And persistence is the key word in our Gospel.

In our story, there is this kind of funny story about the man who bangs on his neighbor’s door at midnight to borrow some bread.  At first he is told to go away, “I am in bed and so is all the family.” But he keeps on knocking, and by now everyone’s surely awake. Probably the kids are crying. The goats and the chickens and the rooster, who have all been in the house as well, would be making a racket, too. And because he carries on knocking, the man opens the door and gives him the bread.

And Jesus says, the reason he gets up and opens the door is because of his neighbor’s persistence. The Greek word used here is a very strong one, and means kind of a shameless persistence. Won’t take no for an answer!

This story is in the first part of Luke’s chapter 11, which is all about prayer.  The disciples have asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and he gives them the model of the Lord’s Prayer – and then this funny story of the man knocking persistently on his neighbor’s door, and then the three-fold admonition – Ask and it will be given to you.  Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you.

There is this mysterious thread running through Scripture, where God, it seems, loves us to be persistent, to desire something with all our heart and soul and to not give up asking. Of course most famously there is that marvelous story in Genesis chapter 32 of Jacob wrestling with the angel, but really with God.  He wrestled with him all night, and even through his hip was put out of joint as he wrestled, he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  And the angel blessed him because of his persistence – fighting with God, and not letting God go until God blessed him. How could you dare to do that, yet God seems to honor that.

In the Gospels, in Mark chapter 7, a Gentile woman begs Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. No, Jesus says, it‘s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.  But she won’t let him go. “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Jesus is so moved by her persistence that he cures her daughter.

Earlier in Mark’s Gospel, chapter 2, four men carrying their paralyzed friend tried to bring him to Jesus. They tried and tried, but there was such a crowd they couldn’t get near him.  So they removed the roof of the house and let down the mat on which the man lay.  They actually removed the roof!  That’s persistence!  And Jesus healed their friend and he walked again.

Persistent prayer is not about knocking on the door of God’s heart so much that in the end God gets fed up and answers our prayer. Persistent prayer, and why it seems to be so honored throughout Scripture, is because it reflects a deep desire and passion – it so often comes from a place of great love.

The source of this persistent prayer is love. And it is that love which touches the loving heart of God.

So What?

And that can be true for us, too.  If you find that your life of prayer right now has grown stale, or even dried up completely, maybe you need persistence.  But persistence in the sense that Paul prayed – with passion and deep desire. As Paul says, rejoice in the Lord, pray without ceasing. Pray from the very depths, the very core of your being.

And when you pray for your loved ones – intercessory prayer – pray with that same passion and intensity of love.  You don’t really need words – if a loved one is in need of healing, remember the story of the four friends holding up their paralyzed friend on a mat before Jesus to be healed. Without words, just imagine holding your loved one before Jesus. It can be very hard work. But they didn’t give up. And neither should we.

This is the persistent prayer which God loves and honors and blesses.  God takes the offering of our desire and our love and uses it for good.

Today, Jesus says to us:

Ask, and it will be given to you.
Search, and you will find.
Knock, and the door will be opened for you.

If you want your life of prayer to be transformed; pray like that.  Pray persistently; pray your heart’s desire. Tell God what you most deeply desire and long for. Open your heart to God.

Be passionate!
Pour out your heart to God.
Dare to say, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Anything could happen!

Amen.