READING: Luke 11.1-13
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.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
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 shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
“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. “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!”
SERMON: Luke 11:9-13
This morning I wish to look at verses 9 – 13 of our Gospel reading but firstly: Two friends were hiking through the green hills in Derbyshire on an uncommonly hot, stuffy afternoon. As the walkers continued they began to regret that they had chosen such a stifling day for a hike.
After a half hour, their path meandered near an enormous tree at the summit of a hill. They flopped down under its gnarled, dark green arms to catch their breath, fan their faces, and take on water. But even in the shade, the heat was oppressive.
“Take a look at the great view from up here,” one of the friends suggested.
“Too hot for that, we should be in a pub having a long cool beer” the other mumbled as he pulled his cap down over his face.
Then something happened…… It was nothing sensational. They merely began to feel a cool, light breeze. But how much happiness that breeze brought with it! They spread their arms and twirled in it. A moment later they detected on the breeze the loveliest scents on the countryside around them. Within minutes they were refreshed and chatting happily about what a nice day they had chosen to go hiking!
How that breeze changed their day!
It’s no coincidence that Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to a gentle breeze that blows through one’s life—and changes everything. A Divine breeze.
Most of us think we know something about God the Father: He’s all-knowing, completely powerful, perfectly good, and the Source of all life.
We also know the story of Jesus Christ, God’s Son: He came to earth as a mortal man, taught truth and did good to everyone, and in return was executed on a cross, only to be brought to life again by God three days later. Yes, we know something of God and of Jesus.
But who is the Holy Spirit?
Jesus first mentioned the Holy Spirit in a conversation with a man named Nicodemus. This spiritual leader had looked Jesus up so he could ask Him how to be saved. Nicodemus had always tried to please God by being a very religious man, which to him meant following with absolute precision scores of the rules and laws.
Jesus described a spiritual experience far more personal than that. You can’t get to know God by anything you do yourself, Jesus told him. You need the help of God’s Spirit. Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
Later, when Jesus was about to leave this earth to return to heaven, His disciples were sad and wondered how they could live without Him. So Jesus promised them, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. . . . He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16–18).
In other words, Jesus has accepted the limitations of a human body and can be in only one place at one time. But through His Spirit, He can be with all of us all the time, even in the most desperate circumstances. And not just with us; the Bible says the Holy Spirit will, if we let Him, live within us. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” asked the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is surely the most wonderful and most mysterious blessing of all!
What does the Spirit do if you’ve ever prayed in grief or discouragement and suddenly felt comfort, or if you’ve asked God for help in making a decision?
The Spirit does the very things that Jesus Himself did while He was with us: He comforts us, helps us to understand truth, provides spiritual direction and healing, helps us to admit when we’ve sinned, and reassures us of God’s love.
Essentially, the Holy Spirit is the spiritual presence of God in the lives of those who love Him. Since the Spirit is so central to Christianity, it’s no wonder that Christians find it troubling that there are times when they don’t sense the Spirit—when they feel all alone, even in desperate moments when they most need divine reassurance.
At times like that, one must remember that God’s Spirit comes in unexpected ways.
Are you expecting the Holy Spirit to come to you with visions and flashes of light from heaven? That sometimes happens, but not always how or when we expect it to.
Are you waiting for powerful spiritual emotions to overwhelm you? Sometimes the Holy Spirit does that. But not always how or when we expect it to.
Perhaps you’ve been praying for a feeling of holiness: a sense of awe and wonder and deep assurance. The Holy Spirit may do that as well. But not always how or when we expect it to.
Are you looking for instant deliverance from your grief and pain and problems? Yes, there are times when the Holy Spirit provides powerful comfort and instant guidance.
But not always!
You see, many different things may happen when God speaks through the Spirit. The Spirit may not speak in exactly the voice you want to hear or bring the answer that you’ve asked for. In fact, most often the Spirit comes quietly, like a soft breeze that blows through your life and is at first barely perceptible. Spiritual growth comes, as God once told a king, “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).
I recall sitting on a bench in a park one day watching a friend as he played with his little daughter whose name was Anna. Well Anna hadn’t been walking for very long.
Her Father sat her on the ground and helped her stand up. Giggling, she tottered away from him on her chubby, unsteady little legs. Despite her intense concentration, within a few yards she lost her balance and dropped with a well-padded thud onto her bottom—out of reach of her Fathers helping hands. Anna winced and began to whimper and to reach out, trying to entice her Father to rescue her. But he didn’t go to her. “Anna,” he said, “I know you can get up and walk back to me.”
“Shouldn’t you go and pick her up?” I asked my friend “I’ll stay right here to help her if she really needs me,” he replied. “But if Anna is going to mature, she’ll have to learn to do some things for herself. If I always pick her up, it may take her longer to learn to pick herself up.”
Sure enough, it took only a moment for Anna to get back on her feet, and with her eyes on Daddy, she carefully made her way back to his waiting hands!
Anna knew that her father was watching, and that made all the difference.
So it is with God’s Holy Spirit. We can be absolutely certain that God’s Spirit is always watching us and knows what we’re going through. Sometimes we have to face great disappointments; sometimes we grieve; sometimes we’re discouraged. And He doesn’t always reach out and rescue us. God knows that if we’re going to grow into spiritual maturity, we’ll have to learn to get back on our feet ourselves.
What makes all the difference is knowing that, like Anna’s father, the Spirit is always there, always watching, always encouraging, and always ready to help us when we really need Him.
When the Spirit speaks, it’s important that we listen. Without His correction, we might lose touch with God entirely. Perhaps the Spirit is asking you to cease committing a cherished sin. Perhaps he’s pleading with you to work closer together has Christians, Perhaps he is pleading with you to pull and work together in his name, Perhaps and I certainly pray that he is, Perhaps He’s pleading with you to commit your life to God.
As a Christian, the Spirit may be calling you to new, but more difficult, tasks— tasks perhaps to a life of service to others. So whatever He might be saying specifically to you, God asks you to believe that His Spirit is there, near you, watching you, pleading with you for through His Spirit, God is drawing you to Himself.
You won’t turn away from Him or shut him out will you? Amen
PRAYERS
Lord, we give you thanks today for so many things, a thousand miracles we take for granted every day. Thank you for the vitality and diversity of the natural world. Thank you for the regularity and stability of the created world. Thank you for the way the body goes on functioning with such remarkable ingenuity. Train our hearts to be thankful so that we live daily out of a deep sense of gratitude and humility.
Jesus, Lord of life in your mercy hear us
We know that our world is both wonderful and flawed at every point. We see the symptoms of a disordered world in every news broadcast. Bless we pray those parts of the world which are especially damaged and in need of healing at the moment. Give them leaders of genuine calibre, and the support of the international community. And keep us from the sin of thinking that their problems are nothing to do with us, for we are all children of one heavenly Father.
Jesus, Lord of life in your mercy hear us
In the Church we hope to find a different way of living and sharing together, and so often we are disappointed. The flaw in creation is also in us and in the Church. Forgive us for distorting your gospel into our own possession and the likeness of our own prejudices. Give us joyful and generous hearts which allow you to work through us to bring meaning and beauty into your Church and world. Persuade us out of our arguments, inspire us out of our pettiness, and set us free to be agents of your Kingdom.
Jesus, Lord of life in your mercy hear us
We pray for people in any kind of need for whom this talk of ‘life in all its fullness’ would ring very hollow. Be close today to the lonely, the bereaved, the despairing and the desperate. Bless with hope those who are unemployed, homeless, deserted or friendless. Give your deep healing to the sick, the disturbed, the damaged and the lost. In our hearts we name in silence some of those we know to be in dark places today.
Jesus, Lord of life in your mercy hear us
You, Lord, came to give us life, and to do so you had to lay down your own life to bring us back to God. Help us this day to live as those who have been given the glorious liberty of the children of God, and who want to live our lives in gratitude and joy. So make us ready for that day when all that is good is caught up in the life of heaven and Christ is all in all.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
And so we bind our prayers together in the words that Jesus taught his disciples…
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen
Revd Kevin.
Associate Priest at St.Wilfrid and St.Thomas
